Where to D&D?

[Ivor_The_Mad]

One thing I don't see much on the forums is what people do outside the realm of D&D. For example where you D&D, so I have 2 questions. First Where do you normally set up? At a party members house, library, school, comic book shop. Second where is a good place to do D&D or what people consider when choosing a area. I personally think a place that is quiet or with not many people is best and its always good to be comfortable. (Mainly because when we do D&D around people who are unenlightened we tend to get strange looks.

(Also I might add that this it not meant to invade your personal lives. My apologies if this is taken the wrong way)

[nickl_2000]

We play at the DMs house (when I am not DMing one shots). Both the main DMs don't have kids, so they have a decent place to play that is both quiet and have room to spread out. Also it's a bonus because then the DM doesn't have to travel.

[BBQ Pork]

Ideally? On a dining room table in a private home with few distractions .

No strangers wandering around. Players don't get self conscious.
Access to snack and a toilet. A large flat surface for miniatures to work on.

[Protato]

My friends are in different states across the U.S, and so we play using Roll20. There's a local store near me but it only runs AL games and I don't enjoy that versus the ones I play with friends.

[wallyd2]

I invite my friends and family over to the house. If we have a small group I will set up in my game room. If its nice outside, we head to the garage. I definitely like to have a secluded area though, with the least amount of interruptions. As a kid from the 80s... local places around those that don't understand D&D would make me extremely nervous. :)

[PhoenixPhyre]

One thing I don't see much on the forums is what people do outside the realm of D&D. For example where you D&D, so I have 2 questions. First Where do you normally set up? At a party members house, library, school, comic book shop. Second where is a good place to do D&D or what people consider when choosing a area. I personally think a place that is quiet or with not many people is best and its always good to be comfortable. (Mainly because when we do D&D around people who are unenlightened we tend to get strange looks.

(Also I might add that this it not meant to invade your personal lives. My apologies if this is taken the wrong way)

I've played both in a FLGS (Friendly Local Game Shop) and in party-members homes. And at a school, but that's a separate thing entirely.

FLGS
Advantages: Public, wide variety of players, no host issues (meaning you can still play even if the host isn't there, usually).
Disadvantages: Public, wide variety of players. Often more noisy, especially if there are card games like Magic going on or multiple tables of players. Sometimes cost money to play (entry fees/table fees).
Best for: Games with strangers, finding new players or large, multi-table events. Better if centrally located for players. Easier to join a new group.

Home
Advantages: Relaxed, quieter, more comfortable. Often better food :smallredface:.
Disadvantages: Dependent on the host. If they quit/get mad/get sick/etc your group has to find a new home or misses a session. Can be out of the way or too small, some people don't like inviting others into their homes. Harder to attract new players or to find those games.

Public libraries have room and are quiet and "safe", but I'd be worried about scheduling as well as noise levels. Also can't really bring food or drink, which kinda stinks.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

Nice. I typically play at my school. Its not the best place and i would like to find a better option but its the most convenient for now. I might try holding it at my place.

Edit: I think in general any place that has good snacks is a good place to meet.

[Sigreid]

Used to play at one player or another's house. Now we're scattered across the country so we play using fantasy grounds. Before that we played using team speak and a free dice roller. Fantasy Grounds is better. Tried Roll 20 and to be blunt I couldn't be bothered to mess with it.

[NomGarret]

I do both the FLGS and home route with different groups and echo the comments above. Additionally, at a home someone is a host. Even among friends this means some level of cleaning up, coordinating food, keeping pets out, etc. On the other hand, you’re likely to have more forgiving hours than in a public space.

One other piece that’s key is decent lighting. You need to be able to see what you’re doing, but more than that I’ve had plenty of stories of people dozing off because of low mood lighting.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

I do both the FLGS and home route with different groups and echo the comments above. Additionally, at a home someone is a host. Even among friends this means some level of cleaning up, coordinating food, keeping pets out, etc. On the other hand, you’re likely to have more forgiving hours than in a public space.

One other piece that’s key is decent lighting. You need to be able to see what you’re doing, but more than that I’ve had plenty of stories of people dozing off because of low mood lighting.
Ah yes. I know from experience that kittens often don't make the best D&D companions. I've lost 3 sets of dice already.

[LordEntrails]

Currently: Online via Fantasy Grounds and at my house.

In the past: At the library in a meeting room (for a new group of strangers). At a game store. At school. At other people's houses. At work.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Ah yes. I know from experience that kittens often don't make the best D&D companions. I've lost 3 sets of dice already.

The host for my main game is a couple with a new (~7 month) baby. She's already starting to grab for dice. It's a real risk.

The two dogs they have are better about that.

[kivzirrum]

Ah yes. I know from experience that kittens often don't make the best D&D companions. I've lost 3 sets of dice already.

This is the truth--I always have to guard my dice around the kitten.

As for where to game--when I was a kid, after school we'd go over to the public library, where there was a conference room they would let us use to game. That was not bad, but I prefer gaming at home. It's quiet, no distractions (beyond the already mentioned kitten, who usually keeps to herself for most of the session), and we can eat whatever we want--which usually means pizza and Indian food. Not stuff they'd have let us take into the library, back in the day.

I know some people like playing at gaming stores, but there's too many people at those for my taste. Not looking for new players or for any sense of community, but if one is looking for that, I'd definitely suggest giving the game store a whirl.

[Throne12]

So places I've played at have been local comic shop, a video game shop, Denny's, and now I'm DMing at a friend's place.

[Xihirli]

My IRL groups play at a gaming center on college campus.

[Blood of Gaea]

In a spare bedroom in my house where I build the furniture (table, chairs, and bookshelves mostly). Before I did that, just the dining room table.

[Willie the Duck]

Three of us have large rec rooms or the equivalent to use as gaming space. Everyone seems to own the same Costco brand plastic folding tables (6' or 8') that are plastic but otherwise look like the kind of table anyone who has been to a US public school or church basement is well familiar with. Throw in some decent folding or office chairs, some good lighting, and appropriate heat/cooling, and you are golden.

[Blood of Gaea]

Three of us have large rec rooms or the equivalent to use as gaming space. Everyone seems to own the same Costco brand plastic folding tables (6' or 8') that are plastic but otherwise look like the kind of table anyone who has been to a US public school or church basement is well familiar with. Throw in some decent folding or office chairs, some good lighting, and appropriate heat/cooling, and you are golden.
On the note of Costco, they have some amazing LED hanging shop lights that are perfect for hanging directly over the table, I use two of them. I believe the brand was Feit Electric.

[Theodoxus]

One FLGS has a couple of gaming tables set to the side that are ok, but the whole store is concrete flooring, so noise levels become problematic - and if there are two games going simultaneously, it's hard to hear. I've recently moved out of that store because of that.

The second store opened in November and is specifically tailored to gaming, both private and AL games (I play AL on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and run my private game on Tuesdays.) For private play, they have a private room upstairs with a single table (can hold 12 easily) and its own restroom - definitely nice not having to go up and down stairs to relieve yourself.

They also sell snacks and drinks along with a great sampling of dice, minis and wargames and boardgames. It's slowly becoming my home away from home / mancave.

[quark12000]

Haven't been to the local game store in years, but when I was there all they cared about was Magic and Warhammer. Now I play Pathfinder at the DM's house biweekly. For D&D my only choice is online. It can be good and bad. Mostly bad.

[Jama7301]

When I was in the RPG club at my old college, I was able to freely reserve a conference room once a week on Friday. Was pretty rad. Had access to a whiteboard, large tables, niceish chairs, and a projector. Was helpful for what I needed. Lots of space, and if a session had to be cancelled due to a player having a prior engagement, we would still use it to play PS2 DDR or something else. That was fun.

Otherwise we've used whatever open room we could find at someone's house. Once we played at a local pizza joint, which was not approved of.

[Kane0]

I used to play at my FLGS, but they closed up so now I host. No kids, biggest table, bar fridge and enough parking to go around. A mate of mine living just down the street runs his PF game from home, going on something like 6 years now.

The local library is a popular spot for their meeting rooms, as is the shopping center community room that one of the game shops uses two days a week to host MtG and D&D games. I've heard of people booking out the party rooms of some fast food places too, makes sense if you are going to be getting food from them anyways.

[Ivor_The_Mad]

On the note of Costco, they have some amazing LED hanging shop lights that are perfect for hanging directly over the table, I use two of them. I believe the brand was Feit Electric.

That sounds cool ill look into it. LEDs are cool and add a cool touch to the mood. :smallsmile:

[Bubzors]

Been playing d&d with the same group of friends for about 12 years now. A few people have come and gone but the core group is there.

That being said we have always played at someone's home. Even when we had small houses/apartments in college. Currently run a weekly game out of my basement. Bar with plenty of booze, big table and a lot of room.

I couldn't care less about playing with strangers or AL, so I wouldn't even think to try a gaming shop. One time back in college I did I hated it

We attempted to play online once using roll20. Worked fine but the campaign died early and we went back to a friend's home

[Vykryl]

When I was in high school we games in the school library, at the park, or the DM's house. Really depended on if it was lunch time or we were cutting an assembly (they started kicking us out of the library during sssemblies).

After a long break in playing, it's usually the DM's house. Started at mine but the group out grew my place. Being able to control background noise and refreshments is something we like so we haven't looked for an outside venue. My wife and I usually provide dinner (and my ale), one player the drinks (pop for the kids and wine for the ladies), one player does desert, DM usually a veggie tray. Sometimes the DM's husband wants to cooks and we shift things around those nights.

I have an unaverage group in that we have 4 late 30s women, 4 teen/preteen girls, and myself as the lone male. My son and his friend have moved away leaving us short our two teenage boys. One of the ladies is single, the other two's husbands aren't interested in playing.

[ImproperJustice]

Our group has found a home at the local Panera.

We play when they open at 7am, order some breakfast and while we may get some odd looks, and curious passerbys, we have found that so long as we are friendly and open others respond the same.

Some of the workers like to take their breaks and listen in.

[Corsair14]

Depends on my time in life. In High School we played afterschool down near the media center/Library or at someone's house in the summer or on weekends. In college we had our own college gaming group and we would play in the cafeteria on Thursday nights often until 3 or 4 in the morning or over in a the new student center. As an adult with a job that doesn't allow me to play until the wee hours of the morning I prefer to play at someone's house again. Have never enjoyed playing in a public environment like a store or even at a con with a bunch of randos.

[hymer]

Where do you normally set up?
In my computer room/living room/gaming room. I have most of my gaming library on the shelves within quick reach, and I keep most of my minis in a cupboard with glass doors in the same room. Centrally situated is a decently sized conference table (110 x 220 cm IIRC) - too small is obviously no good, but too big is likewise annoying, when you can't reach. I have a smaller table in my GM corner, where I can load off any supplies I'll be needing. That place also has my screen, so I don't have to have one between me and the players and the mat.
There are two lamps right above the big table, but also various other lighting options, depending on whether I want a brightly lit room, or focus on the table, or something softer, etc.
Having my desktop computer in the same room allows me to have any media I need quickly available (music mostl, but sometimes an image of a place or an NPC that I didn't want to waste papaer on printing), and I can quickly print anything that turns out to need printing. Likewise, I have easy access to my older notes.
The room overlooks the garden with a garden door (glass) and a big window (both with curtains, in case I want to keep out light or potential prying eyes), so we can let in some air as needed. Theoretically we could sit on the patio, but the slightest wind makes that impractical, as does my pollen allergy. I sometimes step outside when I need to explain something to one player without the others overhearing.
The kitchen is one door away, so you can usually step out there without losing contact (if you aren't doing anything too noisy), and the nearest toilet is just a few feet away, albeit up a small stair. If you close the door, you won't hear what's going on on the other side, but I guess that's the point. :smallwink:


Second where is a good place to do D&D or what people consider when choosing a area.
A dedicated room is pretty good, obviously. But classrooms make excellent game rooms. Push some tables together, you have all the chairs you need, and the board can be very useful as a visual aid. These days there's likely to be more useful stuff in class rooms I'm sure.

[TrinculoLives]

I've only ever played in people's homes. Not my own, as I didn't use to have the space. That might change soon, but my house isn't very accessible either.

[ChainsawFlwrcld]

Now we mostly play at my house. I have a ton of mini's and books and a dinning room table that seats up to 12. The GM brings his prep prep and I bring all the rest.

In the old days we used to play on the living room floor of the person who had the deafest grandmother who wouldn't wake up at everytime someone rolled a natural 20.

Game stores are normally nice but there are a lot of distractions with people who want to ask questions or are looking for an invite. Private rooms in the college library were awesome too.

[Corneel]

While logistics might be less complicated when play is at the DM's house, I've found that later in my DMing years I actually preferred to game at another person's house. I think it can be a bit too much of a burden on the DM to have to both prepare and physically host the game, even if the players bring drinks and snacks.

We settled on a routine where I brought the game, the host player made sure there were fresh beers (which needed to put in the fridge before arrival) and the other players brought other things like snacks, and we alternated between players for hosting. It was rather organic and not something we explicitly discussed.

[Laserlight]

Generally we play at my place. No pets, no small kids, good neighborhood, and occasionally I cook (eg our rogue's birthday is tomorrow, so I made cheesecake for tonight). If we don't have a quorum, I have stacks of board games. When I travel, I give a couple of players keys to the house, and they water the plants and such before the game session.

I've played at a FLGS but the store made more money off Magic cards, so every time there was a schedule conflict, we lost.

I've played in a library study room but it was tough getting it for enough time.

Back in college, the gaming club got permission to use vacant classrooms on Friday nights.