Last month, I introduced some aspects of GM/player interactions, and I’m going finish off what I have for you on this topic here and now. Make Things Interesting GMs should set up and introduce interesting/difficult choices to the players. They don’t always have to be life or death. They don’t always have to be “save […]

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GC_237_New-Campaigns_final.mp3 Join Ang, along with Jared and guest Andy Jaksetic as they talk about starting new campaigns and everything we need in place before we can start to think about session zero. LINKS: Matinee Adventures Origins Game Fair DC Justice League Unlimited RPG

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/GC_236_Interupting-Life-final.mp3 Join Ang along with Josh and JT as they talk about how to navigate the curveballs life throws at us and gets in the way of us playing RPGs. It’s going to happen at some point or another, so let’s figure out how to handle these speed bumps! LINKS: Podcasts JT Listens To Just […]

The tabletop role playing experience is a collaborative one. That’s a well-established fact. To properly collaborate, everyone at the table needs to be aware of the interactions at the table. I’m not talking about what NPCs the PCs know or how the Big Bad Villain interacts with their lieutenants and such. I’m talking about the […]

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GC_235_short-campaign-considerations_final.mp3 Join Ang along with Jared and Tomas as they talk about short campaigns. They cover the major differences between a traditional long campaign with a short one, the reasons we might want to run one, and many things to keep in mind. Links: Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG Pirate Borg Starter Set Goth Borg

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/GC_234_Fictional-Positioning_finals.mp3 Join Ang along with Chris and JT as they talk about Narrative Positioning! What even is that and what does it mean for our games? They dig in and have a conversation about it. LINKS: The Streets of Avalon MinMaxed Tentacles and Tales Origins Game Fair 2026

Never let it be said that Gnome Stew doesn’t keep up with the times. We’ve heard all this buzz about LLMs and CCCs and ROPs and whatever and we know that the future is AI. It’s one of the few rare advancements in technology that comes with no downsides and has no drama around it. […]

10 Years Wow. I’ve been roaming these halls and avoiding the stew pot for 10 years now. Just wow. Rough Start I’ve been writing for Gnome Stew for ten years now. My first article dropped on March 28, 2016. It was an attempt to describe the differences between gaming, narrating, and simulation. This is a […]

My Blades in the Dark campaign is due for some free play soon. After every four or five Scores, I do one whole session that is just free play. No scores. Every character gets their own mini-story for the evening. This is in contrast to where our score sessions are a self-contained story, where the […]

https://polygamero.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/GC_233_Player-Types-The-Pros-and-Cons.mp3 Join Ang along with Jared and friend of the show, Carl Lehman, as they talk about four different player types we often see at our tables. We go over the good and the bad they can bring to the table and offer advice how to turn these tendencies towards helping the game. Links: Symphony […]