Heads up everyone who has a Gnome Stew registered account – we are going to be performing an account cleanup on the site and removing accounts without comments or ones that have remained unused.

Why? 

Commenting on internet blogs has changed a lot in the 13 years we’ve been doing Gnome Stew (jeebus I feel old) and registered accounts aren’t as effective at preventing spam or where internet communities gather as much. Since we’ve opened up commenting to not require it, we’re going to focus on better spam protections there and other ways to connect with the community.

What Accounts Get Saved?

If you have a comment on a post we will preserve the account. If you comment on this post asking to have your account saved, we will preserve it. Patreon linked accounts will be saved. Contributor (Guest Author) accounts will get saved.

What About New Accounts? 

We have turned off new account registration. If you would like to sign up for a registered account, our Patreon backers have account rewards and can log in with patreon.

How Does This Affect Patrons?

It shouldn’t at all and we are going to keep any past patreon backers accounts around as well.

So… what should I do if I want to keep my account?

• Comment on this post before 03/06/2021 with a comment asking to keep your account.
• You can also become a patron to help us keep paying authors and guest authors.
• Send unused inspiration / plot points to gnome stew authors to help keep them out of the stew. (Joking… maybe…)

The treasure horde in the form of a cake…

The friend that introduced me to D&D way back in the ancient times recently celebrated a milestone birthday and had the most amazing cake and cupcakes at his party.

All these amazing pastries were created by Cake Coquette in San Francisco.

Hey Gnome Stew fans! ENnies voting time is upon us and there are a ton of great products nominated out there. Of course, we’d love it if you’d vote for us in the ENnies for Best Blog, but we also reached out to all of the gnomes to get our individual ENnies picks.

Angela Murray

 Shadowrun Sixth World Tarot Deluxe, Catalyst Game Labs (Best Aid/Accessory)
This one is my pick mostly because of the art. I have adored Echo Chernik’s artwork for quite a few years now. I found her art booth at Origins one year and fell in love. One of her prints sits across from me in my office. I’m also a big fan of the Shadow Run setting, so getting to see her art bring that to life is enough for me. It’s also a pretty neat idea for an accessory.

Hobbs and Friends of the OSR, Misdirected Mark (Best Podcast)
I have to give this one to the home team player. The GnomeCast is part of the Misdirected Mark Network and Hobbs and Friends is another show on the network. While I am not an OSR player, I really appreciate the dedication and passion that Jason Hobbs has brought to his podcast. Even if we play different types of games, we’re all in this hobby together.

Up to Four Players, Up to Four Players (Best Website)
I LOVE THIS WEBCOMIC. I know I found it a few years ago and it only updates once a week, but I love what Aviv and Eran have been doing with the comic in the last year or so. They deftly weave education about RPGs, both in general and in specific, among a fun and engaging story with fun and beautiful artwork. If you’re looking to start a Savage Worlds campaign for newbie players, definitely have them read through some of these.

Camdon Wright

Harlem Unbound (Best Rules, Best Art – Cover, Best Setting, Best Writing, Product of the Year)
Chris Spivey has given the world a smart book about an incredibly important time and place in American history wrapped up in Lovecraftian mythos. It’s great looking, well written, thoroughly researched, and thoughtfully designed. I recommend it regularly to friends.

Bluebeard’s Bride (Best Production Value)
This is literal one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever own. The game itself leans into body horror and the psychological horrors of abuse and gender roles in a way that I’ve never seen before. I’m truly surprised that it wasn’t nominated in more categories.

Predation (Best Setting)
I was excite when I heard the premise of Predation and Shanna Germain really delivered. It gives us time travel, cyborg dinosaurs, and the best pet/familiar mechanic that I’ve ever seen in a game. She’s an amazing writer in general and this is the game that made me love Cypher System.

Jared Rascher

Star Trek Adventures (Best Rules)
I did a review of this product, and despite using the same base 2d20 systems that other Modiphius games use, it does an amazing job at modeling how to resolve situations in a manner that feels like the source material.

Predation (Best Setting)
I also reviewed this one, on my personal blog. I know what I am, and what I am is someone that is a sucker for cyborg dinosaurs mixed with time travel. This is a great setting, and one of my favorite Cypher System supplements.

Esper Genesis (Best Free Game)
I reviewed the full version of the Core Manual here on Gnome Stew, so I’m inclined to recommend the free version of the Esper Genesis rules. I wish they had struck new ground as far as using terminology like race in the game, but they also did some amazing things in their effort to make the game familiar, but still a unique space opera iteration of the 5th edition D&D OGL rules.

John Arcadian

Red Markets (Best Game)
Red markets is way beyond a standard zombie game. It looks at the tragedies of survival with a lens of what you’ll do to survive in the fringe.It’s a phenomenal setting and is well worth checking out.

Tabletop Audio (Best Free Product)
Oh man, I use Tabletop Audio for every game I run anymore. It’s phenomenally easy to use and really adds ambience. The care and attention they give to their audioscapes is phenomenal, and they are great to use on the fly.

City of Mist (Best Art, Interior)
City of Mist’s Art Style is phenomenal and captures that comic book feel perfectly. The design and layout really emphasize an incredible and evocative style.

Kira Magrann

Harlem Unbound (Best Cover Art, Rules, ETC)
This game is so important. It has Harlem in the title, on the cover, and in the fully realized spectacular setting of the book. I’ve never seen another RPG with Harlem in the title, and as a center for black history in America this is a monumental and important nomination.

#Feminism (Best RPG Related Product? lol)
Feminism is a series of short roleplaying games that can be played in one setting. I’m not sure why they’re calling it a related product but I’ll take what I can get. The games were created by women all over the globe, and there’s not another book out there like it. It has been displayed in museums, played in college design classrooms, and educates through play different feminist issues. VOTE FOR THIS ITS IMPORTANT.

Bluebeard’s Bride (Best Production Value but should also be best game)
Also a landmark game, designed by three women, gorgeous artwork inspired by the gothic horror themes within. Incredibly innovative because the mechanics of the game mimic the horror of abusive relationships and the feeling of being gaslighted. This game deserves so much more recognition than this!

Matt Neagley

Starfinder Core Rulebook: (Product of the Year, Best Art, Interior)
This is probably a shoo-in for Product of the year. Paizo has taken the lessons they’ve learned fro their wildly successful Pathfinder and applied them to Starfinder, simultaneously using Starfinder as a test bed for some of the system tweaks they’re rolling out in their upcoming edition. What’s not to love there? But where I really want to praise this book is the art. It falls into two main categories. Cool character art that makes you want to play the game and kick-ass two page spreads that would be as much at home as a sci-fi coffee table art book as they would be in a game.

Eclipse Phase Second Edition: Quick-Start Rules (Best Free Product)
So what can you say about Eclipse Phase? This game is the perfect blend of the two genres of sci-fi: the all action space-opera science fantasy and the highbrow “concept” sci-fi. The setting feels unsettlingly familiar and at the same time, truly alien, and it’s focus on transhumanism makes you think deeply about mankind and his place in the cosmos… While you’re tossing EMP grenades at sentient clouds of flesh eating nano-bots.

Sly Flourish (Best Blog)
OK, OK, I think we ALL know which entry for best blog I’m HOPING you vote for *cough* Gnome Stew *cough*, but let’s be fair, the other blogs on this list are great too and I would be remiss if I didn’t say that if you DON’T vote for us, Sly Flourish is a great choice. Hell, I like his articles so much I was convinced to buy his Lazy Dungeon Master book. What better endorsement is there than that?

Troy Taylor

Elven Tower (Best blog, best website)
Derek Ruiz’s nomination is significant. He’s a community content creator for the DM’s Guild, and a few other place, through his patreon account. It’s great that Derek, a yeoman game designer and artist, is getting recognition on a community content platform, one of the new avenues for publishing in the rpg scene. (Disclaimer: I contributed to a product that Derek also created material for).

Symbaroom Karvosti – The Witch Hunter, Jarningen (best cover art)
I haven’t a clue what this game is about. But I want to know more! Martin Grip’s bleak depiction of a snowy trek is so compelling. Modiphius is known for its great art, and this part of that tradition.

Dry Erase Gaming Tiles (best miniature)
Here is a product with so much utility. Maps that keep going. For a dungeon crawl, these puzzle-pieced dry-erase blank map cards get instant use in a fantasy exploration game.
(OK, I admit. I also want those Star Trek minis that Modiphius is selling, which gets a nod in this category, too. It’s a mini Worf! Who doesn’t want a mini Worf?)

Wendelyn Reischl

Shadowrun Sixth World Tarot Deluxe (Best Aid/Accessory)
I’ve been a fan of Echo Chernik’s work for many years and when she was pulled in to create the art for the Shadowrun Sixth World Tarot it became a can’t miss accessory for me.

Gnome Stew (Best Blog)
I’m proud of the diverse voices and in depth subject matter addressed by my fellow Gnomes at the Stew and it is only getting better. Representation matters and the Stew is where people can reliably go to hear fresh voices discuss table top gaming.

Harlem Unbound (Best Setting, Best Rules, Best Writing, Best Cover Art, Product of the Year)
While many role playing games specifically exclude racism from their settings, Chris Spivey and Harlem Unbound trust that players are capable of exploring this subject matter in a mature fashion through game play. It creates the opportunity for players to have visceral experience of the impact of discrimination in an effort to build empathy and understanding. In my opinion empathy generation is the highest calling of RPGs because it has the power to change the players in the real world. I applaud Harlem Unbound for creating the framework to thoughtfully explore this subject matter. This is moving role playing forward as a timely and relevant art form and as such has earned its place as one of the most important RPGs ever created.

John Arcadian interviews Cubicle 7 about The One Ring

Hey, let’s Talk At Gencon!

Are you going to be at Gencon? Do you have an RPG or a an RPG project that you want to be interviewed about on the Gnomecast? Are you a gamer that wants to talk about your Gencon experience? I {Head Gnome John Arcadian} will be at Gencon with a fairly open schedule and will be doing short audio interviews while there. I’ll be focusing interviews on a few specific areas:

• Interviews with Gamers about the coolest things they’ve seen and games they’ve played. 
  (We’ll be grabbing people randomly, but if you see John walking around and want to be interviewed, say hey.)
• Interviews with content creators about their projects and kickstarters.
• Interviews with people in the industry about the state of the industry.

If you want to be interviewed, send us an email at headgnome@gnomestew.com and we’ll try to fit as many interviews in as we can. Use one of the following templates to make sure we get all the relevant data. Replace the bracketed areas with your info.

Interview Me @ Gencon – Content Creator – {Content Creator – project} {Put this in the subject}

Name: {Name}
Project: {Project}

Why this is interesting or unique: {Wow us with your pitch, show us why it is different from similar things. Include two or three interesting things we can talk about or potential questions we can ask. Show us where your project will be interesting and unique for the listeners. }

Times and places: {Where and when are good times to talk?}

{Day / Time 1 – Place}
{Day / Time 2 – Place, etc. }

Interview Me @ Gencon – Industry Talk – {Name} {Put this in the subject}

Name: {Name}
Projects or Publications: {Project}

What do you want to talk about in the industry: {What sorts of things do you want to talk about in the industry? What sorts of interesting insights can you bring? }

Times and places: {Where and when are good times to talk?}

{Day / Time 1 – Place}
{Day / Time 2 – Place, etc. }

I’ll work to schedule interviews where they fit in my schedule and I’ll try to bunch as many together as possible, so shoot me an email and I’ll see what I can do.  If you are a fan of a particular content creator or game company, forward this on to them and have them contact us using one of the above templates.  The sooner the better as I add interviewsout my schedule, my open times will become more constrained.

Looking forward to talking with you @ Gencon 2018! – Head Gnome John

Familiars Of Terra

A fantasy world where every person has an incredible familiar. If you’re a fan of young adult fiction, see it come to life in this kickstarter. Using a streamlined system with playing cards, Familiars of Terra has an incredible and heartwarming style.

Westbound

Continuing the theme with card based mechanics, Westbound is a D&D meets the wild west style game. Billed as “The game of Revolvers and Rituals” westbound evokes a similar feel to Deadlands, but with a unique and interesting looking take.

Storyforge

Story forge is an offering of art, maps, story elements, and mechanics for games. The art and design are gorgeous and the idea is interesting.  If you are looking for something to add some specific art and small form adventures and content, check it out at https://d.rip/storyforge.

Capers – Prohibition with Superpowers

Set in the 1920s prohibition era, but with superpowers complicating the already tumultuous situation, Capers is a unique Role-playing game that uses a card-based mechanic. Capers is truly interesting and worth check out before their kickstarter ends!

Freedom Squadron – Soldier Toy Nostalgia From The 80s

In the year 2051, the battle between VENOM and FREEDOM SQUADRON rages, and world domination is at stake! Fueled by the nostalgia of 80s toylines, Freedom Squardon uses savage worlds to bring action to the setting. Freedom Squadron will scratch the itch for over the top action and make you nostalgic for your 80s toys!

Gears of Defiance – A Steampunk Resistance Game

You had me at last exile. Gears of Defiance is a narrative-driven tabletop roleplaying game that explores the themes of oppression, resistance, and family set against an industrial steampunk background. This game is inspired by tales of revolution such as Les Misérables and The Last Exile.

Spinners are just one way around the rules against dice.

Check this article out. 

It’s an interesting look at how inmates still play RPGs when behind bars, where even if the books aren’t banned, the dice probably are.

Misdirected Mark is back up and running and in the process of rebuilding their archives. The GnomeCast has been completed and should be available again through the Misdirected Mark Network’s website.

NOTE: If you were getting the GnomeCast through a podcast feed app, you will have to subscribe to the new feed. Unfortunately the old feed is unrecoverable. All previous episodes are available through the new feed.

Over the weekend, the Misdirected Mark website (which hosts the GnomeCast) was hacked and brought down. Unfortunately, the damage was more extensive than could be fixed with a simple back-up. Chris Sniezak is working hard to get the website restored along with getting the RSS feeds working once again. Priority will be given to getting the most recent episodes of all their shows (including the GnomeCast) online, and then working on rebuilding the archives. In the meantime, shows are still being released with direct links to listen, linked in the Misdirected Mark G+ community, or in their Facebook Group.

We at the Stew and Misdirected Mark apologize for the downtime, but want to reassure everyone that the network hasn’t gone anywhere and will be back with everything better than ever.