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
1,186 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
Over in the Suggestion Pot, Stew reader AquaFox said:
I haven’t seen many articles that give good insight on the GM screen. Its usefulness, what it’s there for, what its alternatives are. I would love to see an article like that on Gnome Stew, since I have not seen anything similar anywhere else.
I'm our resident screen fetishist, with around 10 screens in my library -- I love GMing screens ...
In the suggestion pot, I've hoisted up a sordid tale of brotherly contest and woe. Well, not really, but "earnestly guiding his kid brother to game mastery" just sounded too Lifetime movie, you know?
Salbic asked: Is there a way to “nudge” a GM who’s unwilling to change or grow?
In this case, we’re all pretty new to roleplaying. Our GM rejects any gamerunning-related reading (articles, blog posts) ...
Dragon Rider, A New Prophecy by ~valadant on deviantART
I was adding some tarragon and parsley to the suggestion pot earlier, and what did I come across? Jim C asking the following: Hey Guys,
I actually a couple of questions/suggestions/topics for thought, all from one game idea.
A while ago a friend of mine had an idea for a game about dragon riders. The game never actually happened; I think ...
Stew reader LesInk threw an interesting morsel into the suggestion pot the other day. It is about the concept of railroading and how you force an event to happen when the plot absolutely calls for it. The concept is an interesting one, and LesInk put forth a great solution along with the question and story. Dear Gnomies, I believe ...
Over the last couple of years, I have been lucky to play in two linked series of Star Wars Saga games. My experience with the system has been as a player, but my GM and I have discussed the system quite a bit. He'll chime in with comments in italics throughout the article.
Katana Geldar wrote a nice post about the recent announcement by Wizards of the ...
Looking for an article idea to finish this week off with, I went trolling through the suggestion pot. The most recent question caught my eye. Crushnaut asks: "I would like to work a rival, or reoccurring adversary into the next campaign I run. How do you guys work these into your stories? Do you use the powerful, yet utterly hopeless defiler as seen ...
The Gnome Stew suggestion pot has 2 questions about a tricky situation that comes up every so often. Parties and gaming groups that have grown too big. This is something I just finished dealing with in my current gaming group, so I thought I would tackle the issue. The first comment was from Zaraphina: Zaraphina I’m ...
Sometimes the journey ends painfully: a character falls to the evil overlord, the fall that no one could survive winds up being surprisingly accurately titled. In those cases, you can turn to your system and start working in a new character. It's a common event that most GMs learn to handle. Other times, it isn't the character that leaves the journey, but a player around the table. That ...
Scarecrow dropped this little nugget into the Gnome Stew Suggestion Pot, and it’s a great topic. Someplace I think we’ve all been as GMs. "Last night I finally ran my first game of Star Wars Saga. Everything was in place. I knew the rules, I knew the scenario. I was ready for them to fail as well as succeed. I was prepared to ...
In the Suggestion Pot, BryanB wrote: I was wondering if any of the gnomes have played Savage Worlds Explorer's Edition and what your thoughts about the system are. Also, what setting books have you used and which ones are your favorites? Since I’m pretty much the Savage-in-Residence (“Call me SIR”), I’ll field this one… But I have to thank the Savage Worlds Yahoo Group for their assistance ...
In many ways, level drain is one of the most devastating attacks in D&D and has been from the very beginning. Fighting an Orc and dying can be a chance to try out a new character, being raised from the dead has few consequences in recent editions (if you pay enough), but level drain is still terrifying. A bad saving throw or two can undo months of adventuring.
I'm ...
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! ...
Matt Cruikshank has a long, passionate article request in the Suggestion Pot. Hop over and read it in full if you like. One element I'll seize on is discussing open source/creative commons games.
John Kim maintains links to a vast number of free RPGs. Among them are a subset of open and licensed games, conveniently gathered together as open gaming examples. Eleven open games are highlighted at that link, ...
Gnome Stew reader Noumenon requested the following article in our Suggestion Pot:
I just want to know how you deal with spells like Hypnotism, Charm Person, and Suggestion. Monsters you know the PCs are going to try to kill, but how do you plan for them to start controlling your NPCs?
Martin's note: I want to personally apologize to Noumenon, who emailed me about this article just over one year ...
Raistlin50201 has a good question: How do you get your player to meet the first time?
I have been in a few dozen campaigns myself and am GMing one. In most that I played, I was in military situations so we were just ordered together as a unit. I also often hear of the classic “You meet in a tavern and decide to travel together” stuff. For my campaign ...
