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View Full Version : Good places to game when your house doesn't work?



JusticeZero
2013-09-13, 03:09 PM
I may end up having to trade for a RL game, if I can't pick up more players. (did I mention I allow Path of War and Psicarnam playtest material?) However, I live in a shotgun, which is a housing style common to New Orleans consisting of an already very narrow house split into a duplex down the middle, resulting in two very long and narrow apartments. There is nowhere in it suitable for a gaming table. Thus, I can't host a game.

The things that are necessary are weather protection, minor privacy, table space, predictability, electricity and internet. Internet can be substituted by phones.
Ideas for where to work include the following so far:
A restaurant. I once ran a game out of a McDonalds I lived near. We all nommed on burgers and whatnot while playing, and there was plenty of seating available. Nobody ever complained. On the other hand, if someone DID complain, we would have been out a gaming space, and I don't feel like devouring as much bad burgers as were OK in my college days. Also, the restaurants around me seem much stingier on seating for some reason.
On campus, inside. I go to college, after all, and I may as well use some of that space. However, they tend to close all the good spaces early, or unpredictably. Also, that heavily restricts access to players. "Do you go to X University?" "No, I go to University of Y." "Well, crud, you won't be able to park your car."
On campus, outdoors. There are some covered spots with power outlets nearby where i've held impromptu martial arts classes out of the weather. Alas, the tables in those places are tiny and made out of metal mesh.
In the park. All the concerns of campus outside, plus 'first come, first serve'.
Are there any other ideas I might be missing?

Edge of Dreams
2013-09-13, 03:23 PM
Find out if your campus will allow you to actually reserve a space. Often, classrooms or lecture halls can be booked by students for events, so long as you get permission from the right people. At the college I went to, there was an RPG club that was allowed to meet in a lecture hall for the main club meeting, then use an entire building of small classrooms for individual games.

Another idea is to look into local libraries and neighborhood community centers. These often have rooms that can be reserved or rented out cheaply for events and gatherings.

Finally, are there any comic book shops or game stores in your area? Many of those have table space inside the shop for people to play games, since that increases traffic to the store and therefore sales.

It may actually be in your best interest to find or start your own RPG Club of some sort, in order to get a more official-sounding group name and some clout. Many places are far more likely to let "The New Orleans Gamers Association" rent a room than "Me and my buddies who want to play games", even if those two titles refer to the exact same people.

JusticeZero
2013-09-13, 03:31 PM
Finally, are there any comic book shops or game stores in your area?
Unfortunately no. There is a game store theoretically within a couple miles, but one of those miles is not feasible to traverse.

lsfreak
2013-09-13, 03:33 PM
A restaurant. I once ran a game out of a McDonalds I lived near. We all nommed on burgers and whatnot while playing, and there was plenty of seating available. Nobody ever complained. On the other hand, if someone DID complain, we would have been out a gaming space, and I don't feel like devouring as much bad burgers as were OK in my college days. Also, the restaurants around me seem much stingier on seating for some reason.

Just a suggestion on this. Try and find out if there's a restaurant that's well-known for being a study spot as well. Weeknights after about seven the local Perkins (a 24-hour, casual restaurant) is filled mostly with students who get free refills on pop and otherwise study for hours. Such a place is probably going to be much, much less picky out seating.

zlefin
2013-09-13, 04:49 PM
I'd second looking to see if your university has an RPG/gaming group. They're fairly common at universities; and often not that hard to start up as well. This generally lets you reserve rooms (as long as no one else wants them)
Where I went, parking was generally feasible after 5-6pm; they generally let anyone park in the more distant lots at that point, not sure what it's like in your area; but there may be some good evening parking spots. Look for a lot that's not prime territory and that's mostly employee parking, so tends to be empty after hours.

Benthesquid
2013-09-13, 08:14 PM
How well do you know your players? Do any of them have houses that would be suitable?

tasw
2013-09-13, 11:17 PM
Many apartments have clubhouses that you can rent if you live there, check with your players and a lot of libraries have meeting rooms available pretty cheap too.

Cisturn
2013-09-13, 11:42 PM
Coffee Shops work pretty well too. Their typically open late, or even all night, plus they have outlets. My group back home have gamed at a Tim Hortons a few times.

huttj509
2013-09-14, 03:03 AM
Perhaps a local pub might be accommodating, as long as it's on one of their less busy day/times.

Let's face it, if you buy stuff, don't make a mess, and the worst it gets is a bit loud arguing about positioning, it's probably a whole lot better than some groups they get in there.

For that matter, I have some friends who use a room where they work after hours (with permission), and they're not the only group who does so, though that's probably a bit unusual (especially since I also have friends who deliberately don't mention gaming stuff, because it doesn't fit the group culture there. Different places are different.).

But yeah, if there's any sort of gaming club (board/rpg/video) on campus, they might have advice on places to look, and/or who to ask, even if you're not looking to recruit there (ah, hobby overlap).

Kane0
2013-09-14, 04:47 PM
Your local library might have bookable rooms too, which are often soundproofed and whatnot. Or the campus library if your lucky.

valadil
2013-09-14, 07:27 PM
I've done restaurant, campus indoors, and in a park.

Campus indoors is great. At least it was at my alma mater. We had a massive lounge that barely saw use. I also was lucky enough to live on the edge of campus, which meant we had no problem getting parking for people who weren't students.

Restaurant worked okay. It was a small group. We basically took over the party room of a Papa Ginos (regional pizza chain) and abused the soda refill policy. It probably helped that we weren't playing during meal hours. Never got kicked out, but we were always worried we would.

I'm still not sure why we played in a park. That was early in high school and I think we didn't want to be at school anymore but we also didn't want to be in anyone's parents' house. Playing WoD worked since we didn't use a map. Anything heavier would have been a problem. The game fell apart pretty quickly for reasons unrelated to the location, but I don't think we would have liked it in the winter.

What about FLGS? Most game stores have table space. It's in their best interest to let you play because you're a living advertisement for all those books you're using. Great way to meet players too.

Tyndmyr
2013-09-14, 08:37 PM
I've run game shop games. Nice, easy way to find like minded types. Common rooms in dorms, etc also work pretty well.

'course, now that I own a game shop, they're pretty much all gonna be there, but that's an unusual situation. I can say, though, that we love gaming groups coming in to play here, and will generally offer at least minor perks and publicity for those who run games in the store.

genderlich
2013-09-14, 09:40 PM
Campus indoors is the BEST. Someone's dorm room (as a last resort and only if there are few of you), a lounge in someone's dorm, a lounge in a different dorm that you can sneak into. My uni has a really massive building for one of its dorms, and its basement is full of huge rooms with couches and tables. Nobody even lives in that building, and some of us aren't even in college, but we still play there.

Techsmart
2013-09-14, 09:52 PM
Usually colleges have visitor parking of some sort. It's usually intended for potential students/donors/etc, but they usually don't know the difference. That being said, I don't know your college, and they may do things different. Other ideas...
Work - Most companies have conference rooms that, depending on their rules, you may be able to borrow after hours for unofficial purposes. That's actually what we do for our 2 pathfinder campaigns.

Library - some libraries have similar conference rooms that you may be able to borrow.

The mall - this kind of falls into the restaurant area. Unpredictable at best.

Community centers - the town I used to live in had a nice community center with lots of rooms that could be reserved ahead of time.

Tock Zipporah
2013-09-14, 09:55 PM
I don't recommend outdoors. Wind blows away the character sheets, dice roll off into the grass and get lost, and it's a general fiasco.

Ravens_cry
2013-09-15, 02:40 AM
Public Libraries often have rooms for groups (like book clubs) I believe. It might be worth asking about.