In a recent game, my players reached an impasse. They had talked to two parties, which were in conflict with one another, and had gotten similar but not exactly the same information from both of them. The issue was that they felt that neither side gave them enough information to make a decision...
Read More
The situation was all-too-familiar — the characters had subdued a prisoner and were interrogating them. In this case, the game was Forbidden Lands and the prisoner was an Orc. They were able to extract the information they wanted with a few Manipulation rolls and no violence. The Orc’s intentions...
Read More
For long-running campaigns, quite a few GMs will provide a document that ranges from one page to several pages to set the stage for the players. I think these types of documents are vital for a good session zero to take place. However, I’m not here to talk about those longer documents....
Read More
Occasionally as GM, you’ll be running a game and expect the players to make a quick decision to get on with the adventure. But, all of a sudden, you’ll be facing a dilemma that many GMs before have faced. The players have fixated on a detail you hadn’t considered or thought was inconsequential....
Read More
I have always been interested in different types of RPGs ever since I learned about Top Secret after buying my 1e Player’s Handbook. Over the years, I have played all kinds of RPGs. In the last decade, I have been heavily into Indie games, over more traditional RPGs. Lately, I looked at the games...
Read More
I think this article is more geared as “player advice,” but I think GMs should pay attention as well. There are many ways to hook a character into the plot line of the story during session zero. Hooks Ties to locations, NPCs, and the other PCs make sure the PC is...
Read More
As followers of my posts know, I wrapped up a long-running D&D campaign recently. I’m already thinking ahead to what challenges and quests I can throw at those same “retired” characters by fast forwarding ten or twenty years into the future if and when we pick those...
Read More
A party at the palace. A meeting of the ruling council of a secret cabal. A tense negotiation between leaders. There are many situations in which game masters can find themselves having to play multiple NPCs during the same scene. These scenes can often prove challenging as the GM has to switch...
Read More
As you can probably tell, I’ve been in the midst of finishing up a campaign that ran for a good long time. We almost hit 16 months during the course of near-weekly gameplay. The ultimate battle against the twisted storm giant king leading an army against the walls of Waterdeep tested the...
Read More
Over the past year or so, I have been refining my Session Zero format, to make sure that it delivers what my group needs in order to get the game started. I have combined a number of tools and pieces of advice that I have tuned to get all the things I want out of a Session Zero. I just used it...
Read More
Written by a team of veteran Gamers and Gamemasters, Gnome Stew is a widely read gaming blog with multiple awards and thousands of articles. We're dedicated to helping gamers have more fun at the gaming table.
"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 —
Through our partner Engine Publishing, we've published six system-neutral books for GMs, with over 28,000 copies sold. Available in print and PDF.
Focal Point
Unframed
Odyssey
Never Unprepared
Masks
EurekaThrough our partnership in the G.E.M. collective, many of the Gnomes are affiliated with creating products through Encoded Designs. Available in print and PDF.
Misdirected Mark Productions
Rockerboys and Vending Machines
Character Cache
Hydro Hacker Operatives