Category: GMing Ideas

Climbing The Dice Chain

In the old school-flavored Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, they use a lot of “funny” dice. And I don’t just mean the d20 that your uncle Tom can’t stop fiddling with, I’m talking about d16s, d14s, d7s, even the dreaded d24. DCC uses these dice to describe improvement and hindrances. As your warrior...

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Find a GMing Mascot

I can’t take credit for this idea — it comes from two of the other GMs in my group: Don, whose yeti bobbler (illustrated here) has been his GMing mascot for years, and Sam, who keeps a little skull on hand to improve his die rolls. I’ve enjoyed both of their mascots for the past...

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Little Ways to Shake Things Up

Particularly when you’ve gamed with the same group, on the same night of the week and at the same place for awhile, those traditions become an integral part of your gaming experience — and that’s a good thing. But it can also be a good thing to shake up that formula a bit from...

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Reasons Not to Use a GMing Screen

I’m a longtime screen fanboy, but since I started writing TT I’ve heard plenty of good reasons not to use one at all. I’m going to play Devil’s advocate for a moment, and say that you shouldn’t use a GMing screen because… It creates a barrier between you and...

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MetaPoints: RPGs Need These

Courtesy of Jeff Rients comes this comment on Mike Mearls’s LJ: I want to have my cake and eat it too. Give me a system where the default puts the onus of clue-deciphering and people-influencing on the player, but give that player some sort of scarce resource they can spend to make the issue...

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Technology that Improves your Game

Here’s a quick list of five gadgets that can improve your game — helping with organization, speeding things up and opening new avenues. Let’s set aside the desktop PC and printer — those are kind of a given. • Laptop: Having a laptop available at the table gives you...

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Keep a Backup RPG on Deck

Along the lines of Write a Backup Adventure, I’ve recently started keeping a fallback RPG ready to go for “gaming emergencies.” Right now, I have the fabulous new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, along with an entire three-book published campaign, just sitting on the shelf...

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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 like GMing tips, advice, and perspectives you have to hit Gnome Stew. The crew at the Stew doesn’t sleep, I swear. Great articles (by the tonne) plus a great community guarantees you’ll improve your GMing and make new friends in the process.

Johnn Four, RoleplayingTips.com

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