Your recurring villain appeared right on schedule, but through a string of lucky crits, they’re now on the ground bleeding out. The players completed the dungeon, but in the process destroyed the McGuffin that you had planned to have aid them on their quest. In their defense, they thought it was...
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When you are planning an encounter for the game you are running, and you carefully select what monsters you want to include, what are you thinking about? Are you thinking about relative threat levels, fun special abilities to play with, or are you looking for something that makes the monster feel...
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In the world of tabletop RPGs, few practices are as divisive as the fudging of dice rolls. Most people have strong opinions on the subject either way, and it’s often difficult to find a middle ground. This article attempts to take a balanced, neutral approach to fudging. While at times, it...
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Two weeks ago, on the Zoom call for my Forbidden Lands game, we did a quick check of who was vaccinated and when, and realized that we would all be fully vaccinated (including the 2 weeks post shot), for our next session. So, I asked if everyone was comfortable returning our game to being...
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Please consider the following content warnings before proceeding forward with the article. I will touch upon real-life trauma and tragedy as I explore “the line” in horror gaming. In this think piece, I’ll be exploring “the line.” What’s the line? You know the line. That line in horror...
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In my last article, I talked about jumping into the GM’s chair in case of emergency. This time, I’m going to talk about a more planned approach at selecting the next GM. There are a few approaches that can be taken, so let’s dive into it! Volunteering The best scenario is when a...
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You have all been in this situation. I got my campaign set up and through session zero. The characters and their roles have been selected and everyone is set. Then through no fault of their own, one of the players has to drop the game because of their work schedule (which is totally cool, because...
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If you’re a player in your RPG group, but also have the ability to run a game, I suggest you be prepared to run a game at the drop of a hat. Your current GM can suffer from burn-out, overload from Real Life, work stresses, or just might run out of ideas as to what to do next with the game....
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In combat, when it comes to envisioning the locations of the various participants, there are two general options available: battle grid and theater of the mind. With battle grid, you typically have a battle mat with 1-inch squares forming a grid. The surface is either dry-erase or wet-erase, which...
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Put away the ski mask, you absolute sociopath. This is about doing bad things in gaming, and what you do on your own time is between you and your defense attorney. If you’ve been gaming for any amount of time, you’re familiar with most of the old adages about how to make a good game: “show, don’t...
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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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Focal Point
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Masks
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