15.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

Dec 7, 2011 by 23

RPG Faceoff – Determining The Right System

I recently did a review of Open Design’s Courts Of The Shadow Fey 4e adventure, an excellent little romp through the interaction between the fey courts and the mortal world. I was incredibly impressed by the adventure, and it reinvigorated an old similar campaign idea that I had been kicking around for a while. The game I’m playing in is trailing off and it will be my turn ...
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 ...
Jun 19, 2008 by 4

So You Want to GM a Roleplaying-Intensive Game, Part 3

(The first three steps, and my definition of "roleplaying-intensive," are in Part 1; tips 4-6 are in Part 2.) 7. Make Good on Your Promises By this point, you've made two promises to your players, one explicit and one implicit: Here's the kind of game I'm going to run. This is the explicit promise you made in in step three, when you pitched a roleplaying-intensive campaign to your players. The follow-through ...
May 21, 2008 by 13

So You Want to GM a Roleplaying-Intensive Game, Part 2

(The first three steps -- and my definition of "roleplaying-intensive" -- are in the first post in this series.) 4. Choose Your System Wisely Suggested by the Stew's own Patrick Benson in the comments on the first roleplaying-intensive game post, picking a system that reinforces the kind of game you want to run is critical. Some games are just better suited to a focus on roleplaying than others -- despite all ...

,

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.