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GM Gems: A Collection of Game Master Inspiration—PDF

4.60/5 (based on 12 ratings)
GMG4371E

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System-Neutral Tools for Every Game Master

GM Gems: A Tome of Game Master Inspiration is filled with a wealth of information and ideas to empower every aspect of your game. Never run boring, vanilla games and never be caught flat-footed!

Inspiration and Perspiration
This 80-page collection of tricks and tips is systems-neutral, so you can play it with any role playing game you choose. GM Gems is written by veteran Game Masters and some of today’s best known RPG designers, and includes:

  • Alchemical Mishaps
  • Empty Rooms Worth Describing
  • Extraordinary Campsites
  • Familiar Creatures with Unfamiliar Faces
  • Short Encounters for Short Attention Spans
  • Unique Taverns and Inns
  • Unusual Holidays
  • 100 Unique Treasures
And much, much more!

Includes the original 64-page systems-neutral edition and the expanded 80-page second printing that is updated for DCC RPG rules!

Project Manager: Stephen S. Greer
Project Developers: Lou Agresta, Rone Barton, B. Matthew Conklin III, Ashavan Doyon
Writers: Lou Agresta, Rone Barton, Russell Brown, B. Matthew Conklin III, Elizabeth Courts, Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon, Tom Ganz, Stephen S. Greer, David Hall, Stefan Happ, Ed Healy, Tim Hitchcock, Phillip Larwood, John E. Ling, Jr., Hal Maclean, Rob Manning, Greg Oppedisano, Greg Ragland, Craig Shackleton, Patrick Smith
Editor: Aeryn "Blackdirge" Rudel
Art Director and Graphic Designer: jim pinto
Cover Artist: William O’Connor
Interior Artist: William McAusland
Publisher: Joseph Goodman
Pages: 80

Product Availability

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Are there errors or omissions in this product information? Got corrections? Let us know at store@paizo.com.

GMG4371E

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Average product rating:

4.60/5 (based on 12 ratings)

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]

2/5 —

Wonderful stuff!

5/5 —

This product not only gives a GM so much cool material to use, but it also gives an imagination a kick in the pants! I find that just reading through this has inspired so much more detail in my games descriptions and added a truly unique style to my worlds. Thank you to all who worked on this and a hearty 'Good Job' to all of you!

One Nitpick Prevents a 5 Star

4/5 —

Where to start? I'll start with the negative first (very little), move through the neutral, and on to the positive.

The Ugly (negative): I really don't like the layout. This should not be attributed as fault of the writers. But it feels really cramped to me. “Clean” section breaks are rare, meaning if you aren't paying close attention as you flip through the book, you might not notice you left one section and are almost done with the next. And with most charts having one hundred separate entries, they often span several pages. Also, the Black print on Medium Grey background on every other chart entry can be hard to read for some. Now that thats over with.

The Bad (Neutral): This book, or PDF, will be most useful to those running Homebrew games, or those whose group never seems to follow a plotline. If you have those mythical groups of players that always follow the plot of an AP style game, or don't really care about the world around their characters, you won't have much need for this.

The Good (Positive): There is a ton, metric or otherwise, of material in here. While I pick on the layout, a “better” layout would require more pages, and therefor more cost. If you are the kind of person that loves window dressing your game, but have difficulty keeping it new and fresh – you really need this book. If you are the kind of person that found the Appendix section of the 1st Edition DMG the most entertaining, this is a must have book. It ties in well with those charts, and doesn't replace them in any way.
I have enough space to write about one of the twenty five sections split between three chapters, roughly organized by type. Alternate “Wonders” for the Rod of Wonders – brings the item back into its chaotic glory.
I dare say that everyone will find something useful, or at least fun to read, in this book.

Good book, great ideas

5/5 —

First, let me say that this is, indeed, an awesome resource full of all kinds of amusing, creative, and useful pieces of material. From alchemical mishaps through unique poisons to things in a pocket, there's a lot of cool stuff here.

One caveat: the book claims to be system-neutral, but there are a *lot* of things that directly reference the OGL/D20 system scattered through the entire book. While there are a fair number of genuinely system-neutral pieces, the overall book is very definitely biased toward the D20 system.

Excellent reference with a old-style gaming feel

5/5 —

I liked this book for two reasons. One, it has a lot of creative "fluff" to it, which is what I am all about. Second, it really has an old Judges Guild-type of suppliment feel to it, where the fantastical could erupt at any moment. Give me tattooed monks streetfighting and Goblins chanting 'Daddy!' at the hapless PC. When I get in a fix as to what to tell an adventuring party when they say 'now what?' I'll be reaching for this gem.

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As some of you may know, GM Gems was the lovechild of many Paizo posters who spent 1,000+ hours in an orgiastic fit of unbridled brainstorming (they tell me sex sells). Goodman Games is releasing our book in February and Joseph Goodman talks about it on this recorded interview on Pulp Gamer. We'd be so very grateful if you'd spare the time to lend an ear. GM Gems is discussed specifically between 2:25 and 5:35 into the podcast.

If anyone happens upon any further press or hype, point us to it from this post if you can. We're all quite excited about this work and truly hope you enjoy it.

The Writers: Lou Agresta, Rone Barton (the Jade), Russell Brown, B. Matthew Conklin III (Great Green God), Elizabeth Courts (Lilith), Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon (neddiheht), Tom Ganz (Dryder), Stephen S. Greer, David Hall, Stefan Happ (Farewelltokings), Ed Healy, Tim Hitchcock, Phillip Larwood (Phil L.), John E. Ling, Jr. (Zherog), Hal Maclean, Rob Manning (Drunken Nomad), Greg Oppedisano, Greg Ragland, Craig Shackleton (Rambling Scribe), Patrick Smith

Steve Greer was the project manager and Lou Agresta, Rone Barton, Matt Conklin and Ashavan Doyon were the project developers.
Sovereign Court Contributor

Yay, it's in the products listings!

When does Paizo expect to get this in stock?

Woo-hoo! I can't wait! :D

Rone -

I should note that on the paizo boards my username is Koldoon :)

Working on a project with so many authors was a fascinating experience and I hope people like what we came up with.

- Ashavan
Koldoon wrote:

Rone -

I should note that on the paizo boards my username is Koldoon :)

Working on a project with so many authors was a fascinating experience and I hope people like what we came up with.

- Ashavan

I started to write Koldoon, then left to answer the phone. When I returned I lost my bearings and wrote the other name. So sorry, Ash. <:) Derr...

Scarab Sages
Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Will this be included in the Goodman Games subscription?
Shem wrote:
Will this be included in the Goodman Games subscription?

There's a Goodman Games subscription? :P

Scarab Sages
Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Yes, you can download a form from their website and fill it out and send it in. I was tired of trying to figure out if something new had come out and amazon is a bit hit and miss with them. That was before I started buying most of my stuff here.

I'm attempting to find out for you Shem. :)
Scarab Sages
Pathfinder Maps Subscriber
Lilith wrote:
I'm attempting to find out for you Shem. :)

Thank you.

Contributor

Shem, here's your answer.

Joseph Goodman wrote:
At the moment we only offer subscriptions to the DCC series.

I have a feeling that if people start to request other products be added to their subs, he might change that.

Scarab Sages
Pathfinder Maps Subscriber
Steve Greer wrote:

Shem, here's your answer.

Joseph Goodman wrote:
At the moment we only offer subscriptions to the DCC series.
I have a feeling that if people start to request other products be added to their subs, he might change that.

Thanks Steve...

Preordered, because I love you people and I expect that this will be pretty useful.
Paizo Employee Director of Game Development
James Keegan wrote:
Preordered, because I love you people and I expect that this will be pretty useful.

Thanks James. I am willing to bet that you will find it useful, but if not for some reason, I will buy your copy back.

Sovereign Court

Available February.....

/em taps foot impatiently.
Contributor

Joseph Goodman has informed me that GM Gems will be hitting stores on February 11. He will also have a web freebie on his site to give everyone a little taste within the next few days. Go here to check it out in the next few days.
Koldoon wrote:

Rone -

I should note that on the paizo boards my username is Koldoon :)

Working on a project with so many authors was a fascinating experience and I hope people like what we came up with.

- Ashavan

Except that you sign everything with Ashavan - I'm not sure I'd recognize Koldoon as easily as I do Ashavan as I'm not sure that I've ever seen you not end a post "- Ashavan".

Anyway I like the authours so I'll get my local distributer to send me a copy...err, I mean I'll special order that for a customer (Hey I count as a customer of mine ... I think).
Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

[/selfish plug]Screw it! Order a few and see what happens.[/selfish plug]
Scarab Sages

It's nice to be able to put some real names to some of those avatars, at last! Especially the ones who've discussed their Dungeon/Dragon submissions; I can see if they succeeded.

Are all these people Were-Cabbages, or just a few?

Looking forward to seing a preview!
Snorter wrote:

It's nice to be able to put some real names to some of those avatars, at last! Especially the ones who've discussed their Dungeon/Dragon submissions; I can see if they succeeded.

Are all these people Were-Cabbages, or just a few?

You can find out here!

-Skippy my evil twin
Contributor
Snorter wrote:
Are all these people Were-Cabbages, or just a few?

Aw, GGG with the theatrics... ;) Snorter, YES. They are all WereCabbages.

Preview now available on Goodman Games (front page, direct link to PDF here).
Daigle wrote:
[/selfish plug]Screw it! Order a few and see what happens.[/selfish plug]

Yeah - I own an environmental bookstore, so gaming stuff does not really qualify but their is a kind of loop hole in the industry where one can always contact a distributer to special order products, so I opened an account with Lion Rampant (my local distributer) and every so often I special order gaming stuff for a 'customer'.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development
Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:
Daigle wrote:
[/selfish plug]Screw it! Order a few and see what happens.[/selfish plug]
Yeah - I own an environmental bookstore, so gaming stuff does not really qualify but their is a kind of loop hole in the industry where one can always contact a distributer to special order products, so I opened an account with Lion Rampant (my local distributer) and every so often I special order gaming stuff for a 'customer'.

You're damned clever!

~sighs~ Well, since it is you guys who wrote it, I guess I can buy it ant try it.

~grins~

::glances at the list of contributors, defies future wife and buys a copy:: WOOHOO! Man, I've got to post more!

I hope that this will be available soon so I can use my Green Ronin order discount on it :-)

Stefan
Contributor

It's supposed to be in stores today. Not sure when Paizo will be getting it, though.
Liberty's Edge

That's a unique and great experiment !!

Can't wait to see what famous paizonians have realized !

I wish it were to be translated in french...

I just think it's kinda cool that everyone got a link in the ad/store blog entry. Thanks to whomever pulled that off.

Matt
Great Green God wrote:
I just think it's kinda cool that everyone got a link in the ad/store blog entry. Thanks to whomever pulled that off.

Thank Vic. :)

Thank you Vic! :D
Contributor

Jeff from The Tome Show interviewed me about GM Gems recently. If you're interested, check it out here.
Contributor

As someone who got to browse the awesome brainstorm threads where these amazing ideas were spawned, I can say only this: This book is incredible. I am definitely buying it. It's like the Dungeon, Journey, City, Cast and what not articles in the back of the old Dungeon Mags, but on crack. Some of the most innovative ideas I've seen for topics so often left bland and undeveloped in our games. Most entries inspire entire adventure arcs in and of themselves. I highly suggest picking this up. It's packed full of goodness.
Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

You are too sweet, Nic!
Sovereign Court

Soooo. When does pre production start on GM Gems 2?
SterlingEdge wrote:
Soooo. When does pre production start on GM Gems 2?

I rather suspect it depends on how this one does! Have no fear though, the cabbages are ready to jump on a sequel if the opportunity comes through.

- Ashavan
Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:
Koldoon wrote:

Rone -

I should note that on the paizo boards my username is Koldoon :)

Working on a project with so many authors was a fascinating experience and I hope people like what we came up with.

- Ashavan

Except that you sign everything with Ashavan - I'm not sure I'd recognize Koldoon as easily as I do Ashavan as I'm not sure that I've ever seen you not end a post "- Ashavan".

Jeremy -

There was a time in the dim recesses of memory when I didn't. But you'd probably have to be looking far into the archives to find that time (though the once famous Wil Saves thread may have some of those posts).

- Ashavan
Koldoon wrote:
Jeremy Mac Donald wrote:
Koldoon wrote:

Rone -

I should note that on the paizo boards my username is Koldoon :)

Working on a project with so many authors was a fascinating experience and I hope people like what we came up with.

- Ashavan

Except that you sign everything with Ashavan - I'm not sure I'd recognize Koldoon as easily as I do Ashavan as I'm not sure that I've ever seen you not end a post "- Ashavan".

Jeremy -

There was a time in the dim recesses of memory when I didn't. But you'd probably have to be looking far into the archives to find that time (though the once famous Wil Saves thread may have some of those posts).

- Ashavan

I ain't touching that thread with a 10 foot pole.

Sovereign Court Contributor

So i just noticed: GM Gems is live for purchase at Paizo! In plenty of time for all you folks with your 25% off coupons. For everyone else, it's still a bargain at the Paizo's baseline 10% below MSRP!

[/corporate shill]
The Exchange RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
Rambling Scribe wrote:

So i just noticed: GM Gems is live for purchase at Paizo! In plenty of time for all you folks with your 25% off coupons. For everyone else, it's still a bargain at the Paizo's baseline 10% below MSRP!

[/corporate shill]

Already did, along with another two hundred and thirty some dollars of gear. All for $170!

Sovereign Court Contributor

Don't tell me it's sold out already!
Rambling Scribe wrote:
Don't tell me it's sold out already!

I'm not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad thing...;)

I have a few people ready to buy, and I told them to go through the Paizo store for their copy.

GM Gems shows up as currently unavailable, are you guys going to be selling it again anytime soon? If so, I'll keep my friends in a holding pattern.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

Gah! I hadn't ordered mine yet! Order more! Order more!
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Well, I have good news and bad news.

The good news, if you're associated with the creation of this product, is that our distributor has sold out, and needs to order more!

The bad news, if you're looking to buy this product, is that our distributor has sold out, and needs to order more.
Vic Wertz wrote:

Well, I have good news and bad news.

The good news, if you're associated with the creation of this product, is that our distributor has sold out, and needs to order more!

The bad news, if you're looking to buy this product, is that our distributor has sold out, and needs to order more.

Sold out?

Yay!

Drat!

Thanks for the fill-in, Vic.

Is there a way to know how long that might take? I ask only because I have some customers waiting to buy it and buy it here.

I'm in the "Hooray! Drat!" camp myself...that's awesome! And yet...not cool for those that want this!
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