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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

Jun 29, 2011 by 15

The GM Said My Character Got Raped, But I Disagreed

Reading Walt's recent Fair or Foul: Death by Fiat article reminded me of a related incident from many years ago -- one that's interesting to look back on, and which includes a surprising number of serious GMing problems. I was probably around 13 or 14 at the time, and was a the lone player in a solo Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campain. My character was ambushed by brigands and wasn't ...
Dec 22, 2008 by 10

A Reminder About Social Contracts

Social contracts. The concept isn't new to gaming, nor is it a foreign entity to the great gnome stew readers. While most of us are familiar with the concept, it is one that benefits from being brought up and discussed regularly. I'm hoping that this post will outline social contracts and point people to other sources that delve much more deeply into the subject. An outline and paraphrasing ...
Oct 3, 2008 by 10

So You Want to GM a Roleplaying-Intensive Game, Part 4

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 ...
May 27, 2008 by 8

Signposts: “This is important”

When I started up my current Mage: The Awakening chronicle, I made a conscious decision to not use battle maps. When combat or exploration comes up, I doodle sloppy maps on the huge white board in our game room, and adjust them on the fly. Signposts Could I have used battle maps instead? Sure -- but I wanted to put up a signpost for my players that says, "This aspect ...

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It's why you always kill the grand vizier.