Gnome Stew | The Gaming Blog

What would you like to know if you were going to start GMing? I’ve been at this for so long that I have no clue how to answer that question, sooooo, I asked a bunch of folks I know who have low or no GM experience. These are the answers I got. A QuickStart rulebook with the basics that includes...

Published Adventures and Me

by Angela Murray | Aug 3, 2026 | GMing Advice

I feel I kind of suck running published adventures. I have been running RPGs for over twenty years now, but I feel like I skipped a step in the standard GM skills evolution by going straight to homebrew campaigns and adventures. Adventures written by someone else always feel like a bit of a...

Gnomecast 242 – Rise of the Lazy GM with Mike Shea

by Poddy Gnomington | Jul 29, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GC_242_Rise-of-the-lazy-gm_V01.mp3 Join Ang and Jared as they sit down with Mike Shea from Sly Flourish and talk about his latest GMing advice book, Rise of the Lazy Game Master, as well as a bunch of other topics related to creating content for the...

Three Mechanics From Blades in the Dark I Want In All My Games

by Phil Vecchione | Jul 24, 2026 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

Recently I crossed the 1st anniversary of my current campaign of Blades in the Dark, or just Blades for the rest of this article. For me, a game that goes a full year marks a very successful campaign, being able to keep the player’s interest, my interest, and remain mechanically fresh. So I...

Gnomecast 241 – Seeking Good Players

by Poddy Gnomington | Jul 15, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GC_241_Seeking-good-players_final.mp3 Join Ang along with JT and Tomas as they talk about what they think makes for good players. What qualities in a player make them excited to see someone coming back to their table again and again? Links: Rise of...

Gnomecast 240 – Initiative – The Misdirected Mark Podcast takes over the Gnomecast

by Poddy Gnomington | Jul 1, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GC_240_MMP-takes-over-the-Gnomecast_Initative_V01.mp3 Bob, Chris, and Phil take over the Gnomecast for a special return of the Misdirected Mark Podcast, at least for one episode. This time, they dive deep into initiative in tabletop RPGs, exploring...

Stop Self-Limiting Your Ideas

by Phil Vecchione | Jun 26, 2026 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

I was GMing my Blades in the Dark game, and my players were setting up for a score, one that was a bit outside of their comfort zone. As they were brainstorming, one of them said something like, “Well, we can’t do that, because they [the opposition] will clearly have done…”. Here’s the thing. I...

Gnomecast 239 – Perfecting Genre Details

by Poddy Gnomington | Jun 17, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/GC_239_Perfecting-Genre-details_finals.mp3 Join Ang, along with Jared and friend of the show, Carl Lehmann, as they talk about all the little details you need to have in place when playing RPGs in certain genres. We talk about genres with broad...

Gnomecast 238 – Teaching New Rules

by Poddy Gnomington | Jun 3, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GC_238_teaching-new-rules_final.mp3 Join Ang, Josh, and JT as they talk about how to teach new rules to your tables. They cover their best practices, the difference between one-shots and campaigns, and many other aspects of incorporating new rules,...

Campaign Management in Obsidian

by Phil Vecchione | May 29, 2026 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice

I feel like I may be a latecomer to Obsidian, but I am here to sing its praises. I have been using it for my most recent campaigns, as an information manager to organize all the campaign elements, and it has been fantastic. A game changer for me. Using it has allowed me to keep all my NPCs,...

GM/Player Interactions, Part 2

by J.T. Evans | May 22, 2026 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice, Player Advice

Last month, I introduced some aspects of GM/player interactions, and I’m going finish off what I have for you on this topic here and now. Make Things Interesting What are we going to do? GMs should set up and introduce interesting/difficult choices to the players. They don’t always...

Gnomecast 237 – New Campaign Beginnings

by Poddy Gnomington | May 20, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GC_237_New-Campaigns_final.mp3 Join Ang, along with Jared and guest Andy Jaksetic as they talk about starting new campaigns and everything we need in place before we can start to think about session zero. LINKS: Matinee Adventures Origins Game Fair...

Gnomecast 236 – Real Life Interruptions

by Poddy Gnomington | May 6, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GC_236_Interupting-Life-final.mp3 Join Ang along with Josh and JT as they talk about how to navigate the curveballs life throws at us and gets in the way of us playing RPGs. It’s going to happen at some point or another, so let’s figure...

GM/Player Interactions, Part 1

by J.T. Evans | Apr 29, 2026 | Game Mastering, GMing Advice, Player Advice

The tabletop role playing experience is a collaborative one. That’s a well-established fact. To properly collaborate, everyone at the table needs to be aware of the interactions at the table. I’m not talking about what NPCs the PCs know or how the Big Bad Villain interacts with their...

Gnomecast 235 – Short Campaign Considerations

by Poddy Gnomington | Apr 22, 2026 | Gnomecast

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GC_235_short-campaign-considerations_final.mp3 Join Ang along with Jared and Tomas as they talk about short campaigns. They cover the major differences between a traditional long campaign with a short one, the reasons we might want to run one, and...

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