2019-02-13 14:04
I love relationships in games. I’ve always been of the opinion that having relationships in your games adds depth, motivation, and to me, fun. I love playing family, friends, pare… Read More
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Treasure Tables is a weblog for game masters, written by a longtime GM.
2019-02-11 14:00
There are a lot of areas that are a part of the Airy Peaks, twenty-three last time I counted but I might have lost some and added some along the way that I’m forgetting about. Thes… Read More
2019-02-08 13:21
A number of years ago, I decided to try something bold with a campaign of the Kult horror RPG that I was about to run. I wanted to play around with past lives and the theme of du… Read More
2019-02-07 13:23
Join Ang, Camdon, and Jared for a discussion on different initiative systems and different ways to manage initiative in your games. Will these gnomes act soon enough to keep them out of… Read More
2019-02-06 17:50
About Jabari in their own words: Jabari Weathers is an illustrator and game designer who currently resides in Baltimore, Maryland. They also are (apparently) under suspicion of bein… Read More
2019-02-05 12:00
While it is by no means an element unique to me, my earliest gaming memories are deeply intertwined with 80s media, given the time when I grew up. Freddy Krueger showed up in my Ghostbu… Read More
2019-02-04 14:00
Last time I introduced the Airy Peaks, talked about the premise of this megadungeon, and the way I found to have a successful campaign around a megadungeon that lasted. Check that out he… Read More
2019-02-01 13:00
Hey folks. This will be a series of articles that shows off the Airy Peaks, a fantasy setting. Over the course of several articles with the Airy Peaks tag, you’ll find a bunch of s… Read More
2019-01-30 13:02
Not everyone uses ambient music during their tabletop sessions, and it really should be used as a tool whenever possible. Background music holds the power to change even a mediocre revea… Read More
2019-01-30 13:00
Here’s the bottom line – and if you don’t read anything else in this article, take this to heart: It doesn’t matter if it’s fun to play AS your chara… Read More
2019-01-29 13:00
If you’re like me, you really enjoy having visual aids at the gaming table. While I enjoy 3D terrain made by companies like Dwarven Forge and Mantic Games, their products are both… Read More
2019-01-28 13:03
A few nights ago as I left my dinner spot, a lady behind me on a scooter handed me a rose and told me she just liked to brighten people’s days. She rode around with a bouquet of f… Read More
2019-01-25 13:00
January is the time of the year when I am often learning a new game to run for my home group. This time around, we are gearing up for Spire by Grant Howitt & Chris Taylor. When it co… Read More
2019-01-24 13:20
Join Ang and get to know one of the newest Gnomes, Jen, in this “Meet a New Gnome” episode of Gnomecast! Learn about Jen’s start in gaming and her plans for future gam… Read More
2019-01-23 13:00
I, like I suspect many GMs, have a “player” that I have difficulty actually getting into a game. There are many reasons for this, but the one I want to focus on is a specifi… Read More
2019-01-21 14:00
Do you have too many games just collecting dust on your bookshelves?
Is it a struggle to get your players to try something new?
Are you just too busy to finish reading that new tome… Read More
2019-01-18 08:00
OMG, I have so much to do and time just keeps on ticking, ticking into the future…
I’ve written about the agony and frustration of organizing a gaming group before, offering… Read More
2019-01-16 14:30
It’s a new year, which means you’ve got an excuse to look for cool new people to inspire you. I’ve curated some of my favorite creators doing cool stuff right now in tt… Read More
2019-01-15 13:00
Enc
I had a lot of early influences that led to my later interests. I can just barely remember seeing Star Wars at the drive-in when it came out. The first birthday present I can remembe… Read More
2019-01-14 13:00
WHERE you play the game is important. I mean, it’s not as important as having good people, and a good game, but a well-thought-out game space can enhance the enjoyment of any eve… Read More
2019-01-11 15:30
Image Courtesy: Pixabay
As any number of language classes have taught most of us, stories are what happens when characters who have goals meet people, places, things, or ideas that preve… Read More
2019-01-10 13:01
Join Ang, Kira, Senda, and Wen for tools and tips for maintaining game tone at the table. Can these gnomes keep their tone steady enough to avoid the stew?
Download: Gnomecast #57… Read More
2019-01-09 13:00
Lonely chair in the spot of light on black background at empty room
As highlighted in a recent GnomeCast, Ang, Matt, and I talked about how to approach session zero and handle launching… Read More
2019-01-07 08:01
When a GM is plotting a campaign, one of the things she or he wants to do is identify points of conflict that will directly affect the player characters.
Published adventures will have… Read More
2019-01-04 13:00
Image Courtesy of Pixabay “I’d like to teach the world to sing, but they’re all tone deaf.”
If your table is anything like mine, bards are primarily known for rom… Read More
2019-01-02 13:00
It’s time for me to amble into my garage and offer up an assortment of the strange things that I find there. It’s a bit of a post-Christmas tradition here at the stew… Read More
2018-12-31 12:30
Starting off 2019 with gaming goals in mind. Personal, creative, and community building goals are top of mind here as 2018 winds to a close.
One of the things I love about traditional RP… Read More
2018-12-28 08:00
I’m not sure this cat wants to be flying, but I really want to snuggle him.
A couple weeks ago, I gave the players in my D&D game a mystery that involved some Tressym fleeing t… Read More
2018-12-27 13:49
Join Ang, Jared, John, and Phil for GM advice about what to do when players take your game in unexpected directions. Can these gnomes deal well enough with the unexpected to keep out of… Read More
2018-12-26 15:49
About DC, in their own words: I’m a Black queer non-binary game designer from the SF Bay Area in California. I started designing games officially a little over a year ago. Sin… Read More
2018-12-24 13:00
Many RPGs on the market assert that the PCs are heroic in nature, thus justifying higher stats, more skills, special abilities, better resources, and so on. I have absolutely no problem… Read More
2018-12-21 14:24
When you run a lot of games for a lot of different people, it’s easy to develop a reputation for running the kinds of games that come most easily to you. At cons, I’ve alway… Read More
2018-12-19 13:00
Content warning: This article talks about suicide and depression
I remember the first time I ever backed anything on Kickstarter. It was Fate Core in early 2013 and I had no idea what I… Read More
2018-12-18 13:00
No matter how well planned out an RPG session might be, it’s hard to argue the need for improvisation. Some of the most prevalent jokes about running games deal with the degree to… Read More
2018-12-17 13:00
In the past, I’ve written holiday articles about sinister Santas, and evil elves. This year I present a roughed out tongue in cheek Holiday adventure ready to be adapted to a syst… Read More
2018-12-14 13:00
Photo by:
Some games have quirks, traits, aspects, and other goods along those lines baked right into the game. I’m mainly thinking of GURPS, Hero System, Fate, and Savage Worlds… Read More
2018-12-13 13:19
Join Ang, J.T., and Matt for a discussion about the nature and use of session zero! Will this pre-game preparation be enough to keep these gnomes out of the stew?
Download: Gnomec… Read More
2018-12-12 13:00
This story has been told before, way back on the Treasure Tables forums, before they became You Meet In A Tavern, before that site also went defunct. Since none of those places exist an… Read More
2018-12-10 11:00
In an unpublished dissertation, Alice Pitt (1995 – Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) noted that “learning about content is not the same thing as learning from it. … Read More
2018-12-07 08:00
It’s the tug of war between whose fun is most important.
Where’s the line between the game the players want to play and the game the GM wants to run? Is the GM bad if they&rs… Read More
2018-12-05 08:01
So, both as a designer and as a player I prefer fantasy roleplaying games that have a slightly darker backdrop than, say, the Forgotten Realms, which retains its hopeful outlook at all t… Read More
2018-12-04 13:00
I really enjoy books about roleplaying games. Not just products that are rulebooks, supplements, or adventures, but products that discuss the process of roleplaying. I enjoy products th… Read More
2018-12-03 14:32
Sometimes you play one of those games that’s just so good, you can’t stop talking about it. I’ve already written several articles inspired by the Tales from the Loop ga… Read More
2018-11-30 11:00
I am in the car on my way home from Thanksgiving at my parent’s house. It is the second leg of the trip, and I am now a passenger. We are due home in about two hours, just in time… Read More
2018-11-29 13:13
Join Ang, J.T., and Senda for some tips to help you learn to play a game right out of the book without someone to teach you! Will our gnomes learn enough to avoid the stew?
Download:&n… Read More
2018-11-28 13:00
There are a lot of reasons why I go to gaming conventions. I get to meet new people, try new games, and see old friends. One truth that remains constant throughout the varied cons I&rsq… Read More
2018-11-26 13:22
He ain’t heavy, he’s my clone. (Image Courtesy of Pixabay.com)
A couple of months ago, a friend sent me this great Lifehacker article about how using audio descriptions in st… Read More
2018-11-23 09:00
My #tableselfie for the class. I forgot to take it until the end, so we missed a couple students.
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking to an honors seminar class at Finger Lakes Co… Read More
2018-11-21 13:00
It’s that time of year where family members from near and far gather together for the wide and various holidays of the winter season. This is a great chance to game with some folks… Read More
2018-11-19 15:27
Welcome back, folks! I hope you found Part 1 enlightening because we are going to take it a level deeper today. You’ve crafted your beautiful D&D work and now you’re rea… Read More
2018-11-16 13:11
Welcome to the next installment of our Gnome Spotlight: Notables series. The notables series is a look at game developers in the gaming industry doing good work. The series will focus o… Read More
2018-11-15 13:58
Join a whole stewpot full of gnomes ready to share their Thanksgiving messages with you. We at Gnome Stew and Misdirected Mark would like to thank you, all our podcast listeners and blo… Read More
2018-11-14 16:00
I’ve worked on the publishing side of tabletop RPGs for almost seven years, now. One part of that process which is newer to me is one that I think is the most vital: editing. A goo… Read More
2018-11-13 13:00
I was extremely young when my family took me to see Star Wars at the drive-in, and there were a lot of details I didn’t remember until years later when I viewed the movie again on… Read More
2018-11-12 15:04
In early 2016, Wizards of the Coast and OneBookshelf launched the Dungeon Masters Guild, a site with a new kind of license that allows fans of D&D to publish and sell their own D&am… Read More
2018-11-09 13:12
Or how I learned to stop worrying and embrace fans of streaming RPG games
It has finally happened to you. You, the veteran Dungeon Master, are adding a new player to your gaming group… Read More
2018-11-07 09:02
I was recently invited to a friend’s house to take part in their playtest of the second edition of Pathfinder RPG.
The first week went fine. Gameplay quickly revealed that m… Read More
2018-11-05 13:00
I was reading the Pathfinder item creation rules recently and I was struck by one piece of the RAW. Aside from some exceptions, creation of magic items requires “materials”… Read More
2018-11-02 12:00
This is part 4 of my review of the Pathfinder Playtest from Paizo. You can see part 1 here, part 2 here, and part 3 here. In this part of the review, I’ll finish up my comments in… Read More
2018-11-01 12:45
Join Ang and Wen for an interview with Jodi Black and Shane Hensley of Pinnacle Entertainment Group about the Savage Worlds Adventure Edition Kickstarter! Have they earned themselv… Read More
2018-10-31 12:00
What types of stories scare you the most? Is it the madness of the unknown from Cthulhu or the social and body horror of Bluebeard’s Bride? Some find terror in the monster’s… Read More
2018-10-30 12:00
“and all the men and women merely players” — William Shakespeare
Halloween is nearly upon us, and soon, no one will look twice at a person dressed as the murdero… Read More
2018-10-29 13:00
It’s 2018, and with the release of Crazy Rich Asians we’re starting to see a proliferation in high profile projects by Asian American and Asian Canadian creators in film… Read More
2018-10-26 09:00
Sometimes this is what it feels like when the stress gets piled on…
Last week was kind of super awful. I don’t want to get into the specifics, but I was stressed by both a h… Read More
2018-10-24 12:00
What is it that separates the games that we tell stories about for years after we play in them from the bulk of adventures that are fun but disappear from our memories? How can we guide… Read More
2018-10-22 12:00
Table… layers… nothing?
Recently I was thinking my encounter tables seemed kind of dull. Taking some inspiration from this great article series from Justin Alexander, (spec… Read More
2018-10-19 12:00
It is fair to say that I have run a number of campaigns. Some epic, some pretty good, and plenty that were meh or worse. Over time, I have gotten a good feel about if a campaign has what… Read More
2018-10-18 12:11
Join Ang, Camdon, and Taylor for a discussion about Taylor’s recent Gnome Stew article “Skipping Stones: RPGs Without Conflict.” They may be exploring the idea of… Read More
2018-10-17 12:35
So you may be expecting this to be another one of those articles going on at length about how much smarter RPG nerds are than other people. It’s not that. But we do have an article… Read More
2018-10-16 12:00
The drow have become a fixture in Dungeons and Dragons, and that brings a lot of baggage to the game, since they live squarely at the corner of “a lot of players like even sentien… Read More
2018-10-15 12:43
The night we started back in on our Tales from the Loop game was nearly breathless with excitement. We’d taken about a six month break and played another truly epic medium size ca… Read More
2018-10-12 12:00
Participant safety can be enhanced with a few add on mechanics. Here’s how.
Recently I’ve had a few conversations about using safety tools in role playing games and it seems… Read More
2018-10-10 12:00
This is part 3 of my review of the Pathfinder Playtest from Paizo. You can see part 1 here and part 2 here. In this part of the review, I’ll comment on Advancement and Options, and… Read More
2018-10-08 13:21
*Black Lightning: My Man!
Today’s guest article is by Chris Spivey, talking about how the TV show Black Lightning makes fertile ground for a great superhero game and how to run one… Read More
2018-10-05 12:44
Image courtesy of Blue Sword Games:
If you’re like most people, you’re capable of effectively keeping track of seven plus or minus two “things” at a time. This p… Read More
2018-10-04 12:25
Join Ang and Chris on this special 50th episode of Gnomecast! Our hosts discuss their personal history with RPGs, the state of the hobby today, and what their futures might hold. E… Read More
2018-10-03 13:00
For years I’ve been kicking around a system in my head for simplifying hex crawls, point crawls, West Marches style games, megadungeons, etc… Something that keeps but abstr… Read More
2018-10-01 12:00
Writing convention descriptions can be a challenge, but getting the right players to your table will set everyone up for a fun time.
The more conventions I attend the harder it is to dec… Read More
2018-09-28 12:30
Mix tapes, horror movies on VHS, magnetrine ships, and robots; it must be time to talk more about Tales From the Loop. You are totally right. So, get some fresh batteries for your… Read More
2018-09-26 12:00
This is part 2 of my review of the Pathfinder Playtest from Paizo. You can see part 1 here where I cover the first three sections of the book (Overview through Classes). In this part of… Read More
2018-09-24 13:30
I’m really interested in the types of ways games make me FEEL. In general, I’m less concerned with the plot of a game session, the world it’s in, or even the types of… Read More
2018-09-21 07:00
What you hope to see when you take out the big bad…
Roleplaying games are this sometimes weird mix of game and storytelling. In old games, story was almost a reluctant side effect… Read More
2018-09-20 12:56
Join Tracy and Wen in this episode of Gnomecast featuring two gnomes interviewing each other! Learn about Wrath & Glory—the new Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying gam… Read More
2018-09-18 13:00
Myself and six others gathered around a table strewn with red heart shaped beads, plush fantasy animals, and adorable character sheets. We were here to play Golden Sky Age, a Dragon Age… Read More
2018-09-17 12:00
The big news from the Paizo arena is, of course, their Pathfinder Playtest. I picked up a copy of the physical rulebook at my FLGS about a month ago with the intent of writing a review… Read More
2018-09-14 12:30
Recently I came across another video featuring the float test for testing die fairness. For those not familiar, the float test consists of floating your dice in a dense bath of salt wat… Read More
2018-09-12 07:01
The big, bad villain.
You know, your Black Knight, Puppet Master, Wolf in Sheep’s Clothes or Evil Mastermind.
Not every adventure requires one. But if you’re stuck fo… Read More
2018-09-06 12:15
Join Ang and get to know the not-so-new Gnome Taylor in this “Meet a Gnome” episode of Gnomecast! Learn about Taylor’s start in gaming, his game design work, and his f… Read More
2018-09-04 12:00
My brother and I had a weird ritual when I was in high school. On Easter, we would stay up until my niece fell asleep, hide eggs for her, and then watch the Blues Brothers. There was so… Read More
2018-09-03 13:21
No matter how much you love gaming, inevitably there may come a point when you just don’t have the creative juices flowing to make the magic happen at the table. Sometimes it&rsqu… Read More
2018-08-31 12:00
Roleplaying can create empathy for others and provide the opportunity for self discovery.
Today’s post is a very personal one addressing self exploration through role playing. This… Read More
2018-08-27 12:00
Three days from the time of this article going live, I’m going to be running a one-shot adventure at my FLGS at their first attempt at running a one-day convention at the store. I… Read More
2018-08-24 12:00
There is a thing about designing a setting that I have come to learn as I have gone from designing and playtesting Hydro Hacker Operatives, that I did not realize. Eventually, the setti… Read More
2018-08-23 12:32
Join Ang, Taylor, and Troy on Gnomecast for a follow-up discussion of Troy’s Gnome Stew article “Troy’s Crock Pot: Take It Outside, Kiddos” and reasons… Read More
2018-08-21 12:00
There is something about space opera that just begs for the inclusion of rogues, thieves, and criminals. Sure, Star Wars has Han, Lando, Boba Fett, and Jabba the Hutt, but even Star Tre… Read More
2018-08-20 12:06
Donna “Danicia” Prior is the Sparkly Princess of Social Media & Community Management. She is currently the Organized Play Manager for Catan Studio and the Executive Direc… Read More
2018-08-17 07:00
The end is just a new beginning, right?
When I play an RPG, it’s all about the story. Sure, I enjoy the mechanics and tactical stuff too, but if the narrative of the game is lackin… Read More
2018-08-15 09:00
Today’s guest article is a follow up to our sampling of podcasts article. Keith Garrett stepped into the guest gnome hat (we should really clean that thing after each use) and did… Read More
2018-08-13 08:14
A Task in Need of a Tool
Back in March, I was in a position I didn’t expect to be in. I was doing a lot of pre-work to have actual play and live streams of my new version of I… Read More
2018-08-10 13:32
A few months ago there was something I was excited about on kickstarter. I know; that’s pretty much every day these days, isn’t it? But this was a small thing, really, and I… Read More
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