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.
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I just recently kicked off a new campaign, running Triple Ace Games’ All For One. I had the fortune of having two months to plan this campaign before I ran my first session, while I was closing out my most recent Corporation game. While I was getting ready for this campaign, I had some discussions with my players about our views of how the campaign would run, the types of ...
Over at the Suggestion Pot, Gnome Stew reader and high-level Cleric BishopOfBattle cast Divination (or maybe it was Find the Path; I’ve taken too many negative levels in d20 to be an expert). Anyway, he asked: How do the Gnomes go about getting better player feedback? Often articles mention "Ask your players" but I often have difficulty getting useful (or sometimes any) feedback from ...
My object all sublime I shall achieve in time To let the punishment fit the crime - Gilbert & Sullivan, “The Mikado” Consider the following: A player has just conceived and executed a plan so audacious, clever, and funny that she gets ...
Treasure, magic items, technology – the sorts of things that player characters usually acquire by facing challenges or spending resources. That is the typical formula for most games. The players must have their characters accomplish something in order to gain the reward of an item. Why not just give these things to the PCs though? Some readers might be laughing at this idea right now, and ...
I've got a little story for you today, it came from my last game session and it centers around the kinds of rewards we, as GMs, give to players. Sure there are rewards of straight in-game currency, there are rewards of items that boost the characters' stats and abilities, and there are rewards of plot relevant items or information that help move the story along. There are also ...
Rule-Breaker Cards My previous article on rewards mentioned ‘rule-breaker cards’ (also known as ‘swash cards’ or ‘adventure cards’). Put simply, a rule-breaker card is a one-shot exception to the normal rules of the game. Some gamers find that they add a welcomed element of chaos and opportunity to the game, and provide everyone with a ‘spotlight moment’. But some gamers don’t like that they also mess with ...
What’s your party fighting for? Traditional RPGs like D&D reward the party for overcoming obstacles and defeating foes. Many modern RPGs reward the party for advancing the plot, playing to character traits or goals, or even for losing a challenge (Dogs in the Vineyard). Some groups simply give a standard reward each session. Why is this important? Because your players will work hard to earn ...
I was running a Star Wars campaign a few years ago (revised pre-Saga) edition. One of the most helpful sections in the core book was a list of stat blocks for NPCs. As I wanted these stat blocks to be challenging for the PCs, I decided that the PCs would be standard by-the-book characters.
When I showed up to the first session, I discovered that the group had a ...
