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Award-Winning GMing Advice

Gnome Stew won the silver ENnie Award for Best Blog in 2011 and 2010 -- thank you for your support! Online since 2008, we've published 1,109 articles packed with GMing tips and advice, as well as two books for GMs. Our top 30 articles make a great starting point for new readers.

"I check Gnome Stew every day." -- Monte Cook
"fantastic blog for game masters, dungeon masters, and rpg fans" -- Wil Wheaton
"If you aren’t reading Gnome Stew, you’re missing out." -- Wolfgang Baur

Nov 14, 2011 by 5

Do You Do Things as a GM That You Would Hate as a Player?

There's a gulf between GMing theory and actual GMing, and standing in the middle of that gulf is you, the GM. You decide how to bridge what you know about GMing and what you actually do at the gaming table, and for me this is one of the trickiest aspects of GMing. I know a lot about GMing. I've been a GM for over 20 years, published two GMing ...
Nov 9, 2010 by 10

Oh God I’m On Fire!

As soon as I saw this comment from Chando42 in our Suggestion Pot, I started writing -- this one's a doozy! In fact, there's so much too it that there's no single theme that can tie together this article. Instead, I'm just going to tackle it piece by piece and try to offer useful advice for each element. It's pretty freeform. My hips, I have shot from them! The truth ...
Oct 12, 2010 by 29

Nice Myth, Ugly Truth: We Gamers Are Not That Smart

Have you ever heard the following said at a gaming convention, game shop, or at the game table? “The average RPG player is smarter than most people.” Maybe you have never heard that exact phrase, but phrases that imply the same thing count for the purpose of this article. RPGs are full of wonderful mental exercises.  You must read and usually apply basic math skills ...
May 12, 2008 by 26

5 Mistakes of the New GM

I love it when a new GM steps up to the plate! Good GMs are what keep our hobby going and expanding our ranks is a real benefit to tabletop RPGs across the board. Yet I've noticed that there are some common mistakes made amongst new GMs that veteran GMs tend to avoid due to their years of acquired wisdom and experience (i.e. - we have already made ...

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The only good gnome is a stewed gnome.

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Metagaming, Noooo

It's why you always kill the grand vizier.