Aside from a lack of fear, one of the biggest problems in having player characters act realistically in a combat situation is the use of hit points (or a similar mechanic). The player knows how much damage her PC can soak before falling and can make tactical decisions based on the amount of damage that a creature/armed villain/martial artist/trap doles out. Ultimately, this is a matter of security. Players ...

I'm a big proponent of using everything my players give me, especially when it comes to PC backgrounds: If you put it in there, I assume it's because you want to see it in the game, and I'll do my best to make that happen. But why assume? As a player, I design character backgrounds this way. I include NPCs my PC would love to fight, fuck, or otherwise interact ...

There are lots of ways to metagame, including: Using out-of-character knowledge for your in-character benefit, generally regarded as a bad thing Discussing mechanics during a session, which runs the gamut from useful and fun to a terrible idea Considering the rules in a way that your character probably wouldn't, which I consider to be common to most RPGs, and often just fine Sharing mechanical tips with other players, a real mixed bag ...

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Today is a day for gathering with friends and family to reflect upon what we have and to show our gratitude towards each other. Regardless of where you live, what holidays you observe, or what you believe allow me this moment to extend the thanks of all of us gnomes to you our readers. Without you this site would be ...

When I was writing "My Players" and "Your Players," Not "The Players," this question was also kicking around in the back of my head, and it seemed like it was meaty enough for its own article: Whose campaign is it, anyway? In other words: When you run a game, is it your campaign? In terms of how you refer to it in conversation, I'd wager that -- like every GM I've ...

There are many ways to build a good character, but one aspect that often gets overlooked -- or conversely, over-worked -- is motivations. If you know what motivates a character -- PC or NPC -- you can extrapolate a lot of other things on the fly. The trick is not to make your motivators too broad or too focused. Too broad, and they're meaningless ("She's motivated by a desire to ...

There is a vast gulf between the phrase "my players" (or "your players") and the phrase "the players" when used to refer to your gaming group, or to another GM's group. It's not just semantics -- it really makes a difference in how you think about GMing, how you approach the games you run, and how you treat your group. It can be hard to break the habit of saying ...

Years ago, with a different group than I run for now, I had a friend who was a “colossal dick” at the table. He was a spot-light stealing player.  He had a solution to everything and wanted to take the party lead role in everything that was done. He was a friend of ours. Everyone was polite and didn't overtly challenge him, but the frustration levels spiked every ...

Over in our Suggestion Pot -- the section of Gnome Stew where you can request articles -- Crushnaut related the following problem: The game started off well. Everyone seemed excited about playing, but now I get the feeling that my player’s interest has waned, although they do not seem to want to admit it. I ask the players if they are enjoying the game and they tell me, “YES! ...

We've all been there: The game is going gangbusters, but it's getting late. People have work or school in the morning, and you have to stop soon -- even though the adventure isn't over. Before my baby daughter Lark was in the picture, I was up for gaming until two or three in the morning on Saturday nights. I could sleep in the next day without any worries, so ...

Happy players (and remember, you're a player, too) make for a good game. So how do you make your players happy? Try these four tips on for size... 1. Make props Have you ever met a player who didn't like props? Even the lamest attempt at making a prop of any kind makes my eyes light up when I play -- and if you go all out, I will frame your ...

Reading through the April '09 issue of Wired, I came across this quote from James Cameron (yes, that James Cameron): But the beauty of [adventures] is that they don't have to be logical. They just have to have plausibility. If there's a visceral, cinematic thing happening that [your players like], they don't care if it goes against what's likely. That's more or less how I read it, too -- I ...

I didn't come up with this, but it's become a truism in my current gaming group -- one worth articulating here: When it comes to choosing a game or campaign, player buy-in trumps GM interest. What do I mean by that? Let's talk about a few terms, then pull them all together into a useful rule of thumb (bearing in mind that these are all defined in the context ...

This is the fourth and final article in this series -- the home stretch. My definition of "roleplaying-intensive" is in Part 1, along with tips 1-3; tips 4-6 are in Part 2 and tips 7-9 are in Part 3.) 10. Driftable Mechanics (This topic was suggested by Gnome Stew reader Irda Ranger -- excellent suggestion, IR.) "Drift" just means taking an element -- usually a mechanic -- from one RPG and ...

Ah, the good old Scry and Fry. The term Scry and Fry was brought to my attention recently and it got me thinking about information gathering techniques in games. In most any type of game setting there is always some element of information gathering that the player characters engage in. Whether it is asking the village elder about the dragon’s cave, going into deep intel mode before attempting ...