2018-02-02 15:30
I’m fairly surprised that Phil isn’t writing this article. He’s my go-to person for organizational and project management tools to use for gaming, since he does it in h… Read More
Blog Directory > Home & Garden Blogs > Hobbies & Crafts Blogs > TREASURETABLES.ORG HOME PAGE hobbies-and-crafts Blog >
Treasuretables.org Home Page Blog
treasuretables.org
Tags:
table
playing
camera
status
setting
acircspirit fingersacirc
story
skill set
campaign
vox machina
Treasure Tables is a weblog for game masters, written by a longtime GM.
2018-01-31 09:21
I wrote a tweet Monday night, playing off of a meme, and it went a little viral.
Is your child texting about Dungeons & Dragons?
LOL: Loads of Liches
FFS: Feather Fall Saves
LMAO:… Read More
2018-01-29 11:00
She must be playing Call of Catthulhu.
One of the most exciting things the internet has given us (in my opinion) is the ability to play role playing games with geographically distant fol… Read More
2018-01-25 11:00
This episode of Gnomecast gets into the nitty gritty with Bob, Chris, and John talking about how articles get up on the site, the gnomecast gets made, and how the website is maintained… Read More
2018-01-24 15:05
I was playing in a game where Amit Moshe (City of Mists) was running us through a noir based supernatural game. As our characters were running around, using our powers to chase down a… Read More
2018-01-22 09:00
I’ve hit a rut recently where a few bad experiences have soured me on role playing games. I’m still in love with the various card/board/dice games that I play at random with… Read More
2018-01-19 08:00
Sow your fields so that you too may one day play again . . .
When I started gaming back in the RPG bronze age of 1986, the role of Dungeon Master was a job cloaked in mystery and t… Read More
2018-01-17 11:00
Back when I was working on my masters, I had to take some PhD classes in econometrics. To do that I had to go to the economics department, fill out paperwork and ask them to let me into… Read More
2018-01-15 11:01
I recently came across Chris Spivey’s Harlem Unbound and reached out to see if Chris wanted to provide a digital review copy. He sent us a copy from DriveThruRPG and I dug t… Read More
2018-01-12 11:04
It’s winter break. The temperature outside is a minus 12 degrees below zero. Don’t blame me if my gaming thoughts are tad disjointed. I’ve got cabin fever.
What&rsquo… Read More
2018-01-11 11:00
This episode of Gnomecast rings in the new year with John, Taylor, and Tracy discussing gaming and group styles thanks to Wendelyn’s Gnome Stew article “Role Playing G… Read More
2018-01-10 10:55
Crafting is one of the easiest and cheapest hobbies to get into. Most of the prolific youtubers who have way more talent than me make a point of using found materials and dollar store su… Read More
2018-01-09 13:00
Looking back on last year, if 2017 taught us anything, it’s that we really need to spend some time looking at how we view issues of gender, and how traditional views on the topic… Read More
2018-01-08 09:00
I’ve been thinking a lot about how roleplaying campaigns work. The part that fascinates me is the genesis of a campaign; how does it begin, what surrounds it? I’ve written a… Read More
2018-01-05 08:00
If your players get their hands on a +4 Sword of Ogre Slaying, give them some Ogres to slay.
In writing, there is a dramatic principle referred to as Chekhov’s Gun. This states tha… Read More
2018-01-03 11:00
I was talking to a fellow GM recently and they said (paraphrased): “You know what I like to do when I GM and you should write an article about: I like to sprinkle in random dressi… Read More
2018-01-01 11:29
Everyone is excited about their wand and tiara props! When players are a good fit with one another it is easier to have a good time! Understanding what you want from a game group is an i… Read More
2017-12-29 11:00
Sometimes skimming twitter the strangest things can start my gears turning. Several weeks ago, I scrolled past a completely non-gaming tweet that mentioned how people like to get reacti… Read More
2017-12-28 11:00
I’m sure we all have gaming related New Year’s Resolutions. Two years ago mine was to write a microgame every month (did it!). Last year it was to finish my two big projects… Read More
2017-12-28 11:00
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess w… Read More
2017-12-27 10:50
Today’s guest post is by Tomcollectice, and talks about how game crafting doesn’t have to be phenomenal artistry to be effective at the table. – Steady Hands John
Every… Read More
2017-12-22 09:00
Often we think of playtesting for rooting out bad rules—things that are broken, don’t work, or are not clear. But sometimes in playtesting we find a perfectly good rule that… Read More
2017-12-20 11:00
I’m a big fan of dice especially unusual dice, so back when it was open I backed PolyHero’s wizard dice kickstarter (Thanks Patreon supporters!). If you’d like to grab… Read More
2017-12-19 13:00
Last year, when I backed the Worlds of the Cypher System Kickstarter, I was intrigued by the idea of the Cypher System as a stand-alone system that could be used for multiple genres. Al… Read More
2017-12-18 11:00
I just finished reading “The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World” by Adrienne Mayor.
If you have any inclination toward including encounter… Read More
2017-12-15 13:35
My schedule lately has been… less than stable, so my gaming has been coming in small chunks. I’ve got games I play in and run that go off once a month or once every two mon… Read More
2017-12-14 11:00
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess… Read More
2017-12-14 11:00
I’ve been working in computer security, in some fashion, since the early 1990s. One of the key concepts in this field is to separate processes on computing systems, so they can&rsq… Read More
2017-12-11 11:35
viking fun!
“I don’t really feel comfortable a lot of the time in LARPs,” a friend confessed after playing my run of The Inheritance, a viking family drama LARP by Luke… Read More
2017-12-08 15:28
Today’s guest article is by Chris Baker, who talks about the role of dreams in gaming. – Never quite awake John
Most of us experience dreams as we sleep, but do your player… Read More
2017-12-06 08:00
It was played over the top and cartoony…
We all develop outlooks and philosophies that guide us through life, explaining how the world is supposed to work. This can feed into how… Read More
2017-12-04 11:00
Several years ago while I was working on my fundamentals before I started my stat degree, I took a creative writing class as an elective*. For one of the assignments, the professor had… Read More
2017-12-01 09:00
“What is your game about?” Your first reaction, the most obvious one, is to talk about the setting of the game—the elevator pitch. Hydro Hackers has an elevator pitch t… Read More
2017-11-30 04:13
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess w… Read More
2017-11-28 13:00
Fantasy Flight Games Ghosts of Dathomir Product Page
Fantasy Flight has been producing Star Wars RPG material since the introduction of Edge of the Empire in 2013. In that time, they hav… Read More
2017-11-27 11:00
“I know you think you can handle this,” our superhero mentor says to us as she heads off to fight evil in what we know is the wrong place. “But you can’t. Stay h… Read More
2017-11-22 11:08
Today’s guest article is by Craig Dedrick, who talks about holidays around and in gaming. He forgets to mention the best holiday of all – gnomexodus! It’s the holiday… Read More
2017-11-20 10:53
David Lynch, eating cheese, in character.
Today’s guest post is by Kira Magrann, who talks about obsessions and how to use them to fuel your creative desires. – John “B… Read More
2017-11-17 11:00
Like I said in my first post about campaign frames, we all use them Every time we sit down by ourselves or as a group and decide what kind of game we want to play, we’re establish… Read More
2017-11-15 11:00
Old MacDonald had a farm. E-I-E-I-O!
And on this farm he had some sheep! E-I-E-OH-NO!
By the way, you can google cyclops sheep to get pictures of what cyclops sheep really look like, bu… Read More
2017-11-14 13:00
Long before I ever picked up my first d20, my older brother received permission from my parents to let me stay up late on Sunday nights so I could watch syndicated episodes of the origi… Read More
2017-11-13 10:26
I have so many fond memories, in my 35+ years of tabletop role-playing, of sitting around the table with my gaming buddies . . . tossing dice, laughing when a “1” was rolled… Read More
2017-11-10 11:00
This article consists of prep material that works better if you’ve read the intro and Part 1 of this series.
Investigative Game Prep
I will say, investigation games take a lot mor… Read More
2017-11-09 11:00
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess w… Read More
2017-11-08 11:00
Engraving from the tomb of Niankhnum & Khnumhotep, taken from Flickr by user Kairoinfo4u and licensed through CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Our first history lesson comes from Ancient Egypt, and m… Read More
2017-11-06 11:00
**Initial note: the word “queer” has a complex history for a lot of people in the LGBT+ community. For some it’s a painful slur that brings up traumatic events, for ot… Read More
2017-11-03 09:20
Today’s Guest Article comes from Brandon Barnes, who talks about his experiences learning to paint while dealing with Red-Green Colorblindness. It’s an awesome look at lear… Read More
2017-11-02 08:00
There is no such thing as a Strict or Lax GM.
Whoa . . . before you jump to the comments section to yell at me, let me explain. The idea of a strict or a lax GM is an oversimplification… Read More
2017-11-01 10:00
After having read several great articles on Mike Shea’s blog, I picked up his book The Lazy Dungeon Master. It’s a fast read, and worth the $5.99 asking price, (It’s a… Read More
2017-10-31 10:56
“Now I see, cold, it was them he loved.Where is he now? Tonight my heart froze.”-excerpt from “Crust on Fresh Snow” by Rolf Jacobsen
“Winter is coming&rdqu… Read More
2017-10-30 10:00
With graceful fins and cruel sharp teeth, I have waited for years for this moment. Finally my revenge is nigh—the woman who sold me to a circus, once my love, is once more within… Read More
2017-10-27 12:00
Tabletop role playing has been part of my life and a core part of my identity for decades. It fills many roles for me personally including as a creative outlet, a method to meet people… Read More
2017-10-25 10:04
In 2014, I wrote “Three Cues from Your Character Sheet” — which was advice to players on how they could introduce roleplay elements without preparation, simply by ident… Read More
2017-10-24 12:00
D&D Beyond is an online service for managing content officially published by Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. The service grants access to online characte… Read More
2017-10-23 10:00
Writing with Style by Ray Vallese is a short PDF packed with advice for RPG creators. It’s written from the perspective of an editor who has more than twenty years of experience. T… Read More
2017-10-20 10:18
The beginning of this week saw the hashtag #metoo trend to increase awareness about how many women… Read More
2017-10-18 10:00
Many are the epic arms forged in your fantasy game. But sometimes the most powerful armaments require tools as powerful as they are. Enter these forges of power, able to bring forth the… Read More
2017-10-16 13:59
Tell me if you’ve heard this one: It’s Thursday night and you want to play a game. But everyone in the party is across town, and it takes too long to set up, so they’d… Read More
2017-10-13 07:00
GenCon, Masks, where they ended the beat the bad guy Guardians of the Galaxy style… by holding hands…
I’m doing things a tad bit backwards here. This week’s Gno… Read More
2017-10-10 10:00
I’m going to admit something right up front. I’m cheating with this review. I’m running a Dresden Accelerated game, and reading through this book is allowing me to rev… Read More
2017-10-09 10:00
“The sword of duquesne gets stolen by the naked man…”Community did an excellent episode where they played Dungeons and Dragons, and it was advanced! One of the thing… Read More
2017-10-04 10:00
One of the most time honored adventure hooks is the treasure map. Essentially they exist to get characters from point A to point B, maybe with a little adventure in the middle. Here are… Read More
2017-10-02 10:00
Frank Mentzer, gamer and game designer who started working at TSR in 1980, has launched a Kickstarter for a new game setting: Worlds of Empyrea. Here is the Q&A we did discuss… Read More
2017-09-29 10:00
For the past few months, I have been wrestling with this small but annoying problem in the Hydro Hacker playbooks. It is a section of the playbook that defines your relationships with th… Read More
2017-09-28 08:00
A few weeks back a buddy of mine mentioned on Twitter that he’d like to play an RPG where you travel around, eat weird food, and record it all for a reality show—not unlike… Read More
2017-09-26 11:00
I like to put my biases up front, for all to see. Going into this review, you need to know that I love my dog. Even when he wakes me up at two in the morning to go outside, or because h… Read More
2017-09-23 18:00
On this episode Hobbs is joined by Carl “Black Powder” Bussler. They talk Well of Souls, Black Powder Black Magic, and weird west gaming. Enjoy the show and let Jason know ho… Read More
2017-09-22 11:00
The following originally appeared on my blog, back in August, during the “RPG a Day” event. One of the prompts for that event was to mention where you go for your RPG reviews… Read More
2017-09-20 12:00
Bees. Bees have an interesting place in our world today. Not exactly domesticated, they are still an incredibly important resource for agriculture, pollinating billions of dollars of cro… Read More
2017-09-15 08:00
No we’re not talking about heists or con artists, but Long Convention Games. So let’s answer the first obvious question – what is a Long Con? From what I’ve been… Read More
2017-09-14 14:33
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess… Read More
2017-09-13 08:00
Composited from stock art and art by Juan Ochoa
If someone plays RPGs long enough, the thought of “What if I were a character in a game?” will inevitably pop into the brain… Read More
2017-09-08 07:01
Grab a vine and give a mighty Tarzan yell. Dungeons and Dragons is going to the jungle.
Tomb of Annihilation, the brand’s next adventure storyline is slated to be released Sept. 1… Read More
2017-09-06 08:00
If you keep up with news (from America if you’re not), you may have heard something about a wall. I’m not talking about current events today. I don’t want that much ha… Read More
2017-09-05 08:00
Bedlam Hall is a Powered by the Apocalypse game by Monkeyfun Studios that attempts to capture the feel of a household staff of servants in an estate in 1920s-ish England. The twist… Read More
2017-09-01 07:00
That moment she stepped off the ladder . . . right in the feels.
Wonder Woman made me cry. I was not the only one. Why?
Sitting in the theater on opening weekend, I watched as Diana made… Read More
2017-08-31 16:20
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess we… Read More
2017-08-30 08:00
If you write, draw, paint, sculpt, build, or do any kind of creative work, there has probably come a point where you’ve made something and have decided to show it to a close friend… Read More
2017-08-28 09:32
Many of us Gnomes just got back from the 50th Gencon, but many of us Gnomes were unable to attend for one real l… Read More
2017-08-25 07:01
I’m kicking back during a few days of summer vacation. As I sit by my backyard firepit, I was thinking of gaming-related things I’ve been enjoying that I thought I would shar… Read More
2017-08-23 08:00
Some of your stories may involve a higher power scale than starting off at “level one” or the equivalent in your game system. Perhaps the tale you want to tell with your pla… Read More
2017-08-18 08:00
The last new chapter of Hydro Hackers that I wrote was about Gear. It is the last thing I designed for the game. After this, I will be just adding text and mechanics to all the existing… Read More
2017-08-17 14:59
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess we… Read More
2017-08-16 08:00
For starters, take these tips with a grain of salt. First, different approaches to productivity work for different people. Second, I have to be the world’s worst person at parking… Read More
2017-08-14 08:00
Oh no, not one of THOSE!
There is one thing I can say on the internet in game spaces that I know will garner immediate eye rolls and groans of “oh, you’re one of those playe… Read More
2017-08-11 07:00
Drawing back the curtain and seeing the possibilities . . .
If you’re out and about on social media with a preponderance of RPG loving friends, you may have seen the #RPGaDay… Read More
2017-08-09 08:36
Gen Con Crowds in 2013 by Flavio Galvao
It’s August 8th, 2017 and Gen Con is about a week away. I’m going through all of my pre-Gen Con rituals – planning for the Gnom… Read More
2017-08-07 08:00
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: a character dies. Maybe the dice weren’t in their favor, maybe they made a tactical error, maybe they grabbed that glowing… Read More
2017-08-03 15:44
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess… Read More
2017-08-02 08:00
One of my long RPG love affairs is the well. I don’t know what exactly sparked it—a video game, a novel, an RPG adventure—but wells fascinate me. No RPG village is comp… Read More
2017-07-31 08:00
Have you ever been working on something, anything, and you get a brilliant flash of insight? Something hits you, out of the blue, and your mind starts racing. You’ve got ideas, pla… Read More
2017-07-28 08:00
One of the great joys and challenges of game design is playtesting. On one hand, seeing your creation doing what it is supposed to—and people enjoying it—is incredibly uplift… Read More
2017-07-27 16:56
Welcome to the Gnomecast, the Gnome Stew’s tabletop gaming advice podcast. Here we talk with the other gnomes about gaming things to avoid becoming part of the stew. So I guess we… Read More
2017-07-26 08:32
The fabled Wow! signal, the strongest radio signal from space that may reveal an alien presence…
While over at the house of my friend and fellow game writer and gnome, Tracy Barne… Read More
2017-07-19 08:00
I’m trying something new. As a GM, I like it when players come up with small contributions to the game. Players like bennies. So I’ve designed and printed out a handful of 3… Read More
2017-07-17 07:01
We play fantasy rpgs because we love magic interwoven in our adventures. Wizards casting spells, sly bards with their enchantments, priests with their miraculous cures — all of it spu… Read More
2017-07-14 08:00
There Are Many Articles Like It. This One is Mine.
It’s been, shall we say, a bit of a rough day. Nothing serious is wrong, but my partner and I spent some time in the ER very… Read More
2017-07-12 08:00
Social interactions are what separate roleplaying games (rpg’s) from most other types of games. For example, how often do you talk in character in Monopoly or checkers? However soc… Read More
2017-07-10 10:14
Frequent Guest Poster Keith Garrett has been getting into Tales From The Loop recently, and he’s been writing about it on his blog. He decided to doff a red hat and swing over wi… Read More
2017-07-07 08:00
There are plenty of advice articles out there (much of it here on Gnome Stew) about how to learn a new system without having someone teach it to you. If you’re attempting a high l… Read More
Subscribe to Treasuretables.org Home Page
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!