Gnome Stew won the silver ENnie Award for Best Blog in 2011 and 2010 -- thank you for your support! Online since 2008, we've published 1,151 articles packed with GMing tips and advice, as well as two books for GMs . Our top 30 articles make a great starting point for new readers. Today's guest article was written by reader Andrew Bell.
RPG Review: 2300AD Core Rulebook (2012) by kafka This is the best release of Mongoose since the main Traveller rules it is a complete and self-contained universe that one can expand on their own or buy supplements for. I am so impressed with this endeavour that I can hardly wait to see more in this line. Colin Dunn has not only restored Traveller as the King of all SFRPGs but also improved the brand name of Traveller. Although, Mongoose certainly deserves some credit for first and foremost employing him and secondly taking a risk by actually resurrecting this fine old game. RPG Review: HackMaster Player's Handbook 2012 PDF Version (2012) by baakyocalder The Player's Handbook gives you twelve races and over twenty classes to play. This is an exhaustively tested rules set showing the devotion of the authors to make a book that will stand the test of time.
Mystery scenarios for roleplaying games have earned a reputation for turning into unmitigated disasters: The PCs will end up veering wildly off-course or failing to find a particular clue and the entire scenario will grind to a screeching halt or go careening off the nearest cliff. The players will become unsure of what they should be doing. The GM will feel as if they’ve done something wrong. And the whole evening will probably end in either boredom or frustration or both. Here’s a typical example: When the PCs approached a murder scene they don’t search outside the house, so they never find the wolf tracks which transform into the tracks of a human.
An Essay by Justin Alexander I think every GM probably has a story about the time that they spent hours carefully detailing some piece of lore or a particularly intricate conspiracy... only to discover that their players didn't really care. Or you complete a dramatic and powerful series of adventures featuring the unraveling of a conspiracy wrought by the Dark Gods of Keht... but three months later you mention the name "Keht" and are met by blank stares from the players. But often -- even as you're meeting with this kind of frustration -- the players are still having a great time.