49.png
 

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

Sep 9, 2009 by 21

What Do You Want From a RPG Convention?

Today I offer no advice, but instead I seek to hear from others. In the near future I plan on organizing a local mini-convention for RPG fans. Nothing against board, card, video, or war games, but I want to focus on RPGs exclusively. The plan is to hold this event at my local library where I can reserve presentation space for free as long as the event ...
Apr 20, 2009 by 13

RPGs Are Engines for Making Interesting Decisions

When you get right down to it, what is an RPG? It's an engine for making interesting decisions. When your players are playing in your campaign, at the most basic level they're doing one of two things: making decisions, or having stuff happen to their characters. Stuff happening to their characters is by far the less interesting of the two -- it's the decision-making that really matters. Game Mechanics and ...
Nov 17, 2008 by 51

The 12 RPGs Every Gamer Should Play Before They Die

Sometimes when I meet a fellow gamer for the first time, I'm amazed that they've only played one or two games -- and not from lack of opportunity (like having no group for several years, or something), but from lack of interest. "I play X. Yeah, I tried Y once, but I didn't like it. So now I just play X." Like what you like -- I'm the last person ...

,

What's Gnome Stew?

Written by a team of veteran GMs, Gnome Stew is the most widely read game mastering blog on the planet.

Subscribe

3,945 subscribers strong. Let us send Gnome Stew articles your way via RSS feed or email.

Our Books for GMs

Written by the authors of Gnome Stew, Eureka offers 501 system-neutral adventure plots and Masks provides 1,000 system-neutral NPCs.

Support

Click one of these links, shop normally, and we earn a small percentage (at no cost to you).

Connect

Tell us how we can make your time behind the GM's screen easier and more fun.

More Delicious Stew

The only good gnome is a stewed gnome.

Gnomish Stuff

Other things you'll find in the Stew.

Metagaming, Noooo

It's why you always kill the grand vizier.