Comments on: Warstories: Worst. Playing Environment. Ever.

By: Gaming Environment « Crafty Gamer Girl

Gaming Environment « Crafty Gamer Girl — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 05:39:33 +0000

[...] A post from Newbie DM about less-than-ideal gaming environments made me think about where I game. Honestly, my problem actually has little to do with location [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:46:00 +0000

We were a bunch of university kids living in residence, so we just used the common room most of the time. However, near the end of the year the common room started to get used by other groups(watching TV, playing video games, etc.). We started using a townhouse one of the players lived in. Her housemates were all fine with it, and we had enough room.

We’ll probably end up using a townhouse for our sessions next year, unless we have a lot of interest in D&D from incoming freshmen. If that happens, our DM might try and make an official D&D club at our school, and we’ll be able to use one of the rooms in there.

By: erebus

erebus — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:17:45 +0000

My group actually took over the exec conference room at my school, and we go there every tuesday. No distractions, we even have access to a projector screen that displays monster art and battle maps. Quite handy. When I played a few years ago, it was in a run down dorm with no chairs, so i can sympathize with bad gaming eviroments.

By: CJPost

CJPost — Thu, 13 May 2010 16:41:08 +0000

The space sounds very similar to ours. We are fortunate to have a table that expands since our game can range from four to seven people. Gaming group is every other Saturday afternoon/evening so we don’t have to deal with people’s work schedule as much. However, there are KIDS! We (the DM and I) have a four-year-old daughter and a six-month-old son. Another of the players has a one-year-old who sometimes comes, and the other couple in the group is expecting their first child in late September. Needless to say, I’m wondering how this is all going to play out with all of the little familiars in the house during D & D time. At least we have toys and space for napping babies.

By: fighting-man

fighting-man — Wed, 12 May 2010 20:43:06 +0000

Based on reading all the comments, I consider myself very fortunate to have an understanding wife that lets me go to a friend’s house that has no kids. I play with 5 other people including the DM and only me and one other person has a child and we have wives that are willing to watch them once every 2 weeks or so. I can’t imagine ever playing at a house with lots of kids running around. I do know that one day, when my kids are grown up, and I am retired, I will have all the time in the world to play D&D and do other geek activities!

By: newbiedm

newbiedm — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:56:40 +0000

Duerma. You may be better off waiting for the kids to get a little older before even attempting to play anything. :p

By: Duerma

Duerma — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:43:53 +0000

I think I can one up you with my setup from last year. We have 3 kids, aged 4, 4, and 1. Another couple brought their kids – severely autistic 6, 3, and 1. (They had a sitter when we started but she was in the hospital for an extended stay at this point) Another guy had to bring his baby girl (6ish months). Husband arrived home about the same time everyone else did. I was DM, so I was busy setting up the play area instead of cleaning or cooking dinner. And we have an open floor plan, so all the screeching children were effectively in the same room as us. However, since I was DMing and husband was attempting to play, we couldn’t relocate to another room – we HAD to be amidst the chaos out of necessity.

AND THEN we had a displaced family move in with us, children aged 4 and 2, bringing the total to 9 kids, 6 and under. I think we had maybe one or two sessions like this before we just gave up.

We’ve since reformed at Guy with Baby’s house, and the only children present are the baby and my clingy 1 year old. It’s kind of amazing to get through more than one encounter in a session. :p

By: Juan Baez

Juan Baez — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:18:40 +0000

I have 3 main gaming locations (all for different campaigns). 1 is at the DM’s house which is cool, but sort of cramped, no distractions though other than a dog that has to go out like every hour. The second place is an apartment, no distractions other than upstairs neighbors wandering around loudly, very cramped though. And the third, my favorite place, Charlie Mopps pub.

We used to play at a gaming cafe and then they tried to charge us. With no other convenient place to go, I pitched the idea of us playing at Mopps to the owner and he was very welcoming, since we play at a time that business is fairly slow for them. I love going there, and good food and beer is a big plus. It’s a little dark, but we have plenty of room and it’s kind of awesome to say “you start in a tavern,” while in a tavern.

With the other places being quieter with far less distractions, I think we have the most fun at Mopps. Good atmosphere goes a long way.

By: dreadgazebo

dreadgazebo — Tue, 11 May 2010 14:28:41 +0000

@Sean

Hah, rooms! Why the hell even bother it’s not like they ever hang out in them. I feel your pain on that one.

By: Sean Brady

Sean Brady — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:44:50 +0000

This is pretty much how it goes for me as well. I work from home on game days, which allows me time to setup without having to worry about the commute. I make sure dinner is ready for when my wife gets home with the boys. In addition to my 4 and 1 year old we usually have at least 2 three year olds and a 9 year old over. My oldest wants to start playing immediately so I need to fight him to sit down and eat. My wife brings the little one up to sit with me while she eats (and he LOVES grabbing everything) and then she takes him down to eat. She typically works then, and leaves both boys up with us. Some nights are better than others, but I will say that in general it works out OK. Still it is not the perfect environment. I am fortunate enough to have a separate room for the kids to run around and play in (if they would only stay in there).