Gnome Stew

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/CG_204_runningVSplaying_finalV01.mp3 Join Ang, JT, and guest Alex Thomas as they talk about the difference in the skills needed to run games versus play games. They dive into what they like about both and why it’s important to have both sets...

Adventure Design: Supporting and Opposing NPCs

by J.T. Evans | Jan 8, 2025 | Game Making, Game Mastering, GMing Advice

In any adventure, the party of player characters (PCs) will inevitably encounter other intelligent creatures and people. These are the non-player characters (NPCs) of the world that are largely controlled, run, an enacted by the game master. There are moments (and some systems greatly support...

Five Things I Learned in 2024

by Phil Vecchione | Dec 27, 2024 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

It being that time of the year, I decided to reflect again on my year of gaming and see what lessons I learned. This is the second year I have done this. Overall, this year I gamed less than 2023. There were two main reasons. The first was that at the start of the year, I had some terrible back...

Review: Shadowcat Magazine

by J.T. Evans | Dec 23, 2024 | Reviews

Full disclosure before I launch into my review of the promo issue of Shadowcat Magazine: I received the PDF for free (you can too!) from Chaz Kemp, the creator of the magazine. Additional disclosure: Chaz and I have been good friends for a number of years now, but that has not colored my review...

Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault Review

by Jared Rascher | Dec 20, 2024 | Reviews

An interesting side effect of having multiple iterations of D&D 5th edition based on the 5e SRD is that some content allows publishers to produce content that works in their game but may also be helpful to people who aren’t utilizing the entire ruleset. One of the most prominent examples of...

Gnomecast 203 – Resolutions Old & New

by Poddy Gnomington | Dec 18, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CG_203_Gaming-Resolutions-2025_final.mp3 Join Ang, JT, and Tomas as they look at what they hoped to accomplish RPG wise in 2024, how that turned out, and what they’re hoping for in 2025. Links: Libby JT’s Amazon Link JT’s Website...

Tome Of Maps: City Battlemap Book Review

by Tomas Gimenez Rioja | Dec 13, 2024 | Reviews

Snowys Maps has been kind enough to come to me to talk about their product. They offered me 2 of their spiral booklets for free (just a press review version which is not the complete one) and allowed me to speak my mind of them. When this happens I try not to post negative reviews, talking...

Adventure Design: Maps and PC Handouts

by J.T. Evans | Dec 11, 2024 | Game Making, Game Mastering, GMing Advice

Players love getting handed real-life, physical artifacts that tie their characters into the ongoing adventure. There are oodles of props, maps, handouts, images, and so on that can be tossed over the GM screen into the middle of the gaming table. Not everyone has time, energy, or skill* to get...

Alien: The Roleplaying Game – Building Better Worlds Review

by Jared Rascher | Dec 9, 2024 | Reviews

Usually, I try to be more timely with reviews here, but I kept running into interesting hurdles while working on my review for Building Better Worlds. I had heard rumors that Alien: Romulus would remove Prometheus and Alien: Covenant from the movie timeline going forward. Then, we received news...

Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide Review

by Jared Rascher | Dec 6, 2024 | Reviews

You may have noticed some significant developments in fantasy games that rely on the 5e OGL for their core rules. Not long after the Great OGL Debacle of 2023, Kobold Press announced that they were working on their own set of 5e OGL fantasy rules, and part of the draw for this set of rules is that...

Gnomecast 202 – Surviving the Holidays

by Poddy Gnomington | Dec 4, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/CG_202_Survivingtheholidays-Mixdown-1.mp3 Join Ang, Matt, and Senda as they talk about how to help your gaming group survive the inevitable scheduling woes of the holiday season. Links: Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons 1970-1977 Grinding...

Adventure Design: Combo Encounters

by J.T. Evans | Nov 27, 2024 | Game Making, Game Mastering, GMing Advice

“I stand there and swing my sword.” Even though this approach can be effective, it’s horribly boring. That’s why games in recent decades have expanded combat options to include different combat maneuvers, cool tactical choices, ongoing spell effects (positive and negative),...

Challenging The Tropes: The Loner

by Josh Storey | Nov 25, 2024 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

Tropes are frameworks for plot beats and character arcs. Cliches are the overused versions of those beats and arcs. Cliches, generally, should be avoided, but tropes are useful AF. They work like signposts, guiding your decisions when it comes to story elements and, in turn, speeding up your session prep.

Setting The Table

by Phil Vecchione | Nov 22, 2024 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

Recently, one of my gaming groups decided to change games. We decided to go back to an old favorite Forbidden Lands. As we were sitting around the table, finalizing our decision, I started to survey our table situation and thought about how would we arrange all the components of the game. This got...

Gnomecast 201 – Oops! All Bards

by Poddy Gnomington | Nov 20, 2024 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GC_201_oops_all_bard_final.mp3 Join Ang, Jared and Josh as they talk about what to do when you have characters in your game whose mechanical abilities overlap and you can’t rely on traditional ‘niche’ protection to move the...

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