In the days of yore (e.g.: prior to my introduction to the Internet in 1994), I’d spend countless hours at the library doing world research for RPGs and game design and generally educating myself. Sure, there were some “crossover years” where I tried to do research on the...
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Today we have Ang along with Phil & Senda. Today their going to talk about playing for an audience. With Panda’s. No. Wait. They’re the Panda’s. Just listen. It’ll make sense quickly.
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Let me share with you some of the best GMing advice I have ever received. I learned it from the game Dogs in the Vineyard, by Vincent Baker. The advice, which was advice on how to run Dogs goes something like this, to paraphrase… Your job as the GM is to set up problems, but never to solve them....
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With my 7+ years GMing I’ve started to notice a pattern I create in the campaigns I run. While it can seem applicable to campaigns made by other people, such as the ones being streamed, I find it easier to contemplate this in my own games I run, as I have a total view of what is behind the...
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http://misdirectedmark.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GC_157_Splitting_the_Party-_Final.mp3 You go down that hallway and I’ll go down this one. You want to split the party? Is that a good idea? Well, Ang, Thomas, and Chris are here to tell you why it is, some tips for how to do it well, and...
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B2: The Keep on the Borderlands If you’ve been in the RPG hobby for long enough (almost four decades for me), then you’ve at least heard of The Keep on the Borderlands. The module was published by TSR in 1980 (and updated in 1981) to support the Basic D&D system box set created by...
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It’s rare that I play any TTRPG exactly by the book. Rare? More like impossible. Between rulings, house rules, and other types of changes, I am always adding or changing things in the games I run. Some things are added in or changed before the game gets started, some in the middle of a session,...
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It is commonly accepted that role playing game sessions and campaigns are built upon three different pillars, each providing its own experiences and style of interactions. These pillars are social, exploration, and combat. Each one is important (if not vital) to a well-rounded role playing...
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We’re talking about our favorite baddies and then get a little deeper into the variations of adversaries in our ttrpgs.
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Part of the game master’s job at the table is to make trouble for the PCs. This can be puzzles, obstacles, monsters, hostile environments, traps, riddles, or any other host of things. However, the trouble that gets the party into the hottest waters are relationship troubles. This can be...
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Written by a team of veteran Gamers and Gamemasters, Gnome Stew is a widely read gaming blog with multiple awards, ennies, and thousands of articles. We’re dedicated to helping gamers have more fun at the gaming table.
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