I’m currently reading David M. Ewalt’s book Of Dice and Men  with the large D20 featured on the cover and I keep looking at the dice. I remember purchasing new dice, a dice bag, and dice earrings when first visiting Gen Con back in 2010. I attribute my renewed love of gaming and dice to […]

A very simple trick that I’ve used in many games and might have picked up from someone somewhere along the way is using the equivalent of a coin flip when I need to decide something quickly, or to see if I answer some player bid for advantage, or whether a guard can be persuaded. I’ve […]

A few weeks ago I was running my Night’s Black Agents (NBA) game, and the agents had just come off of one kinetic op, and right into another (because the timing was critical). They were banged up and their skill pools were somewhat depleted. Their opposition at the other site was not overwhelming but was […]

This episode of the Gnomecast features Ang, Phil, and John talking about getting around in RPGs. Download GC 149 Here: https://gnomestew.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GC-149-Journeys-and-Travel-Final1.mp3

Today we’re going to take a little bit of a break from diving through rulebooks and take a look at a tool for running games at the table. As more games have provided additional tactical options, it has become increasingly important to have a way to represent position, usually on a grid. Even in games […]

When searching for words of wisdom for all things tabletop, there’s lots of resources for how to be a good Game Master – but few for being a good player. The GM facilitates the game, but everyone at the table is responsible for cooperation and fun. For those of us who care deeply about making […]

  Dr. Lisa Su states that “Gaming brings people together.” There are benefits and drawbacks of playing RPGs with people we know versus people we don’t. There are advantages and disadvantages to gaming with the people we are closest to, and the people we’ve never met. This article discusses playing RPGs with friends, family, and […]

On this episode we’re going to talk about that GM skill of knowing when to ask for dice rolls and went to not. As the saying goes, “Y’gotta know when to roll ‘em, y’gotta know when to hold ‘em…”

In the 90s, when the World of Darkness became the hottest thing in RPGs, I was on the outside looking in. My friends went off to college, and our gaming got more and more sporadic. That meant that I didn’t really want to spend time learning a new system and exploring what all of this […]

  Like any vacation, Gen Con is a mixed bag of mostly fun and minor frustration. Sometimes you roll a 20 and occasionally you roll a 1. This year was a mixed dice bag, but I’m grateful to have the opportunity to visit Indy, enjoy the Con, and hang out with my gaming fam. In […]