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
It has long been known that index cards are the duct tape in any GM's kit. Cheap, plentiful, and versatile, index cards are great for everything from taking notes to improvising terrain for miniatures. So start using index cards if you do not already.
Now that I have tackled the obvious choice for any GM's kit, let me share with you three items that I think should be just ...
As part of our holiday-themed entry during the Gnome Stew break, here’s a rundown of building your own Excelsior-class (refit) starship as a Christmas gift and prop for your Star Trek game. What? Doesn’t everyone do this?
The building of a 50 year old starship from a 15 year old model in pictures.
I will confess to two great passions — among many — that include Star Trek and gaming. ...
“Life is like a box of ammo.” – Duke Nukem At Con on the Cob (about which much more later), I ran across one of the cooler props I’ve seen in the last year (including Gen Con). These are the AmmoCounters from Das Spiel Unker (a German pun for ‘The Basement Gamer’). Some background: In addition to RPGs (and parentheses), I ...
As much as I enjoy writing sometimes a video is worth a thousand words. With that in mind I bring you the pilot episode of what may become a new series here at Gnome Stew: Video Gnoments!
Episode 1 is all about props. What to look for in a prop, how to acquire them for cheap, and how to use them in your games to immerse the players deeper ...
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 ...
Building a world
Mo spread Simon C's way to use a deck of cards to generate characters who relate to their cultures-- kowtowing to social pressures, rebelling against their peers, and more.
Paul Tevis pointed out Superstruct, a game/future forecasting of the world in 2019, after one of several drastic changes. It's a big collaborative project that started October 6th and runs through November 17th.
Speaking of ways for the world ...
