While the world is a little upside down, we Gnomes sat down and had a long conversation about what we could do to help make the world a little bit better, a little bit brighter. The result of that hard work and all that deep thought is now presented to our readers: The Book of Wisdom! Just click...
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My Interesting Foods article from last month received some pretty good interactions on social media, with a few requests for more things along these lines. I’ve brainstormed a series of articles about how to use “micro details” to make your world pop and become more interesting...
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subtitle: and how to make em work anyways. There’s a high overlap between nerds that like to roll dice and nerds that like Pokemon. I think it’s fair to assume that most any nerd you come face-to-face with has some stance on Pokemon as to whether or not they like it. I’ve been...
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Lately, I have been playing Free League’s Forbidden Lands. It is a game that I adore. We are 17 sessions in and having a great time. One of the things that I have noticed, is that there are some distinctive phases of the game. There are different in-game activities that the characters undertake,...
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Today I’m going to delve a bit into world building. I can see some readers checking out already because they run a pre-published setting like Forgotten Realms or Eberron. Don’t give up on me just yet. This article applies to all GMs, even those running someone else’s material....
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I believe anyone would agree that the right kind of music can improve any given situation. However I find that it’s done too similarly to video games; scenes and situations are given one song to codify them. That sort is often insufficient and distracting in tabletops as is, but scenes are...
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In the early days of published adventures, quite a few dungeon features were used in a clever* manner to add confusion to the mix. This confusion was largely placed on the shoulders of the players, especially those that tried to create a player map to track where the party had been and where they...
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Over the last few years, my gaming group has gotten really good at something… finishing campaigns. We have over the last two years and four campaigns been able to bring our campaigns to a satisfying conclusion before moving to the next game. This is in contrast with nearly all my past gaming where...
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With the start of the new year, some folks are starting to think about processing and paying their taxes for the previous year. I’m certainly one of them since I have more complex taxes than the Average Joe. Deductions. Expenses. 1099 income. W2 income. So on and so forth…. Another...
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“Are you sure?” “It’s going to be a high DC.” *Rolls dice behind the screen* If you’ve played tabletops to any degree you’re aware of these /things/ that gamemasters do. Some refer to them as ‘GM moves’ or just ‘things GMs do’ but,...
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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