Category: Game Mastering

Challenging The Tropes: What I Learned

Paragons of an honorable code, antisocial loners forced to socialize, and gremlins looking to set the world on fire. When I started the Challenging the Tropes series, I thought it would be a fun examination of character types. I didn’t realize just how much it would teach me about improving the ways I run games and tell stories.

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Challenging The Tropes: The Chaos Gremlin

The Chaos Gremlin archetype looks at the chaotic square on an alignment chart and says, “I’ll take two.” These are the people who read, “In a TTRPG, you can do anything you can imagine,” and just said, “Bet.” The fantasy of a Chaos Gremlin is one of ultimate freedom. They embody the no gods, no kings, no masters mindset. They’re the epitome of “Doing it for the plot.” And they don’t see a reason to follow the rules because rules are all made up anyway.

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Challenging the Tropes: The Paladin

In the D&D cultural zeitgeist, the paladin is often characterized as a stick-in-the-mud or worse, a narq, but there’s so much more to this trope beyond the memes. So let’s take a closer look and figure out how to use the fantasy of a stalwart champion to create absorbing character arcs.

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It Came From The Stew Pot

Hey you. Yeah, you. Do you know about Gnomecast 21? Why isn’t it in the archives? What are they hiding? If you value your safety… don’t go searching for Gnomecast 21…

Gnomecast 21 poster with a beared gnome and the words "I survived Gnomecast #21

What Are People Saying?

What are people saying?

“If you aren’t reading Gnome Stew, you’re missing out.”

Wolfgang Baur, Kobold Press

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