Food at the gaming table

[ClockShock]

Our gaming group play after work on a weekday, and by necessity we eat while we play.

Unfortunately, everyone seems to get distracted when food is presented and the atmosphere of the session quickly dissipates. The DM is trying to describe a monster while they have a mouthful of noodles (which is only appropriate when you encounter Cthulhu), the barbarian is swinging a breadstick around instead of a battle-axe, and the wizard is off somewhere rummaging in a bag of crisps instead of their component pouch.

Obviously I exaggerate our poor table manners, but the food does break up the flow of the game.

Does anyone else have this problem? Have you solved it? Have I gone beyond normal expectations for a gaming session?

I can think of two options:

- Everyone eats before/after the session (or have a midway break for downtime and food consumption). In our case, this would cut quite far into the time we have to play, and potentially mess up travel arrangements.

- Setting appropriate food. Where we eat something that wouldn't be out of place for our characters to be eating, to help keep the mindset. I'm possibly overthinking things now.

[Lanaya]

I've always had food breaks partway through the session. Having a break to chat, stretch, etc in the middle helps to refocus everyone, it's hard to stay totally engaged in a session that could easily be lasting four or more hours. That being said, I don't tend to play games with a strong atmosphere; if you were doing a horror-style game or something similar that relies on constant immersion you'd be better off doing it before or after the game.

If time is a big issue, could you try eating before you arrive? McDonalds drive-through is hardly a meal fit for kings, but it's technically still food, doesn't take long to eat and should keep you going.

[JusticeZero]

Midgame breaks for food, with discussion of the world as a whole during the meal.
If thefood is related to the setting was a mimor plus.

[Jay R]

When we've just learned something important, and need to think and make plans, we tend to reach for the food - not during a battle.

[Metahuman1]

My group pretty much always has food present at sessions, and is usually consuming it during the sessions. Usually this is snacks, nuts, chips, soda, candy, ext.

If were gonna break, the reason is cause we need more room then we have to have gaming and more substantial food. But this is not often.

[Eldan]

Back when we were still playing around tables instead of on Skype? Antipasti and snacks while playing, then a break for a proper meal in the middle.

[Erasmas]

We have done setting appropriate foods before and this is usually awesome (but it does take a long time and a lot of table space to accommodate).

But many times we eat while in combat, which works fairly well... since that is when the level of "believable immersion" is arguably the thinnest anyways.

[Herabec]

My group eats before the game, during the time we're just chatting and catching up on the week's events. Therefor, this is never really an issue.

[Mr Beer]

I cook. You stop playing when you eat something I cooked. Plus I GM so I can use the break.

[hicegetraenk]

When we play with our monday-group, we have to order food. We all meet at a friend's flat immediately after work. Cause we work in very different regions in our town, we can't easily get something from a drive-in or something. Especially since there is just a single one, way out of reach to be reasonable.

So we order pizza and such stuff. We order when we meet, then start playing, and when the food arrives, we make a 15-20minute break. I tend to create strongly story driven campaigns and try to set a certain atmosphere. Usually I spend a lot of time preparing adventures with everything there is, from dungeons, treasures, monsters, npcs, towns. When I let someone play this adventure, I want them to pay full attention. So no eating dinner while playing.

The usual snacks though are always a problem. I don't know if we are a very snack-hungry group in comparison to others, but we have a lot of candy and such on the table. It kinda sucks if you try to tell something while someone's unwrapping chocolate, another one spills coke and the other two peel nuts. I tend to put this stuff away because of that, so that it is not constantly on the table and in the mind of everyone, and not blocking the line of sight to me or e.g. battle maps.

[Manly Man]

I once did a D&D marathon, where I was in a basement for three days, leaving only to go to the bathroom, pick up the pizza at the door, get more drinks from the fridge, or put more coffee on.

Never again. -_-

Currently, I usually just don't eat during the games, though drinks are common enough. If we get hungry, I usually put something on quick, we eat just as fast, and get back to playing.

[supermonkeyjoe]

Snacks at the gaming table are fine, often there will be a bag of sweets or crisps open on the table, when it comes to actually eating anything substantial though it generally halts play, pretty much because it's both difficult and rude to try and play with a mouth full of food.

[BWR]

Snacks are fine while playing. Food means a break. If we have pizza, for instance (the number one gaming food), we have to put it somewhere, and that somewhere is usually on the middle of the table, over the battlemap. We don't want people talking with their mouths full or getting books greasy, so it's break time, and a great way to make time for more out of game talk. Since most of us don't see each other apart from game night, we have a lot of other stuff to catch up on.

My girlfriend's group eats while playing, mostly because they will all bring their own frozen pizzas or canned meals and prepare them here. So rather than taking an hour or so waiting for everyone to heat their pizzas and eat them, they just eat and play at once.

[Killer Angel]

You cannot have a gaming table without snacks.
That said, the midway break option, is brobably the best one.

[DigoDragon]

the barbarian is swinging a breadstick around instead of a battle-axe

I'm reminded of the samurai from the old The Tick comic book with the sword hidden in a loaf of French bread.


In my group we generally break in the middle of a session for dinner. During the game we do snack, but we've all agreed to finish chewing prior to our turn in combat so as not to slow things down.
As far as what kind of food we snack on, I generally try to bring in stuff that isn't greasy (like pretzels) so that the handouts aren't stained in fingerprints.

[Joe the Rat]

You cannot have a gaming table without snacks.
That said, the midway break option, is brobably the best one.

Amen!

That said, for our after-work Dads & Daughters game, we usually eat before we play (and use the time for all that not-playing-the-game silliness). This is less about disrupting play and more about our DM being rather fussy about keeping books and character sheets clean.

When we play at my place, we also break partway for snacks or treats. Mrs. the Rat's desserts are not to be missed.

[TheCountAlucard]

As others have said, snacks are fine, a whole meal should necessitate a break. And I like the idea of themed food; I've done that before, for that matter. Shadowrun necessitates a lot of soy sauce, though.

[Alejandro]

If stopping to eat is enough to seriously disrupt your limited gaming time, then I suggest everyone eat beforehand, or at least all agree to show up with Subway bag in hand and eat, briefly, then start playing. Otherwise you may just have to put up with it.

[Erasmas]

In my experience... you could usually tell how 'loved' a character was by the stains and eraser smudges on the sheet. We always thought of pizza grease and soda stains like battle scars - becausd they've seen a lot of action.

[SethoMarkus]

Sort of related to this, I have a question regarding dining etiquette while at the gaming table.

A few months back I was part of a Pathfinder group that met weekly for a game. Each game session, (mostly) everyone would put in an order from a local pizzeria and chip in their share of the bill (generally the DM and her boyfriend covered the tax/delivery fee, but everyone would chip in a dollar or two extra for tip). I say mostly everyone because I was the only one not to place an order (or chip in money, though I didn't eat anything either). I feel like the rest of the group ostracized me for this decision, despite me informing them that I had already eaten dinner before arriving, and I was already a bit of an outsider in this group. The game ended prematurely shortly after, due to time constraints and scheduling difficulties. The truth is that while I had eaten dinner before arriving, my fiance and I were tight on money at the time and couldn't really afford to order out. The DM and her boyfriend were aware that we were tight on money, but I never said anything to the rest of the group.

What is the Playground's opinion on this sort of situation? It wasn't as though I was mooching off of the other players by eating food and not paying, but was I being rude in not partaking in this group's game-night ritual? Was it just not meant to be? Should I have come clean about not being able to afford ordering out?

I guess my question is whether or not eating at the table is expected across different groups, and is it expected to be an all-or-nothing endeavor?

[ClockShock]

It seems a lot of people solve this with mid-game breaks. I might have to find some things I can prepare beforehand so we can take a quick half hour to eat at an appropriate point in the game (after encouraging people to put the dice away for a few minutes).

I'm also glad to hear that other people have gone with setting appropriate meals - at least on occasion.

I disagree about the snacks though. Drinks are fine, but I can't be having people munching away of a bag of cheesy corn snacks all night. Too much faffing.

Sort of related to this, I have a question regarding dining etiquette while at the gaming table.

...

In our group, not having the money would be a perfectly valid reason. In fact, it would probably go down better than just 'I ate beforehand'.

See, if everyone chips in and orders food it's a group activity, and there's a subconscious expectation that everyone participates. Even if you're not too hungry, you order a side and put a dollar or two in to be part of the group.

Especially if you're new

As soon as it's clear that you can't really afford to spend money like that, it's more understandable that you wouldn't participate, and you won't be subconsciously labelled as the one not joining in.

For us, odds are someone would offer to pay your part, or at least order a side for you (which is not to be rejected out of politeness).

[BWR]

In my experience... you could usually tell how 'loved' a character was by the stains and eraser smudges on the sheet. We always thought of pizza grease and soda stains like battle scars - becausd they've seen a lot of action.

Totally. Wine stains have replaced soda stains on the sheets of some players, though.

[Dayaz]

We tend to eat at the table, but since there is usually 4 or 5 of us we just wait til right after our turn and then much quickly, and when it's 2 players before our turn we stop shoveling and wait for our turn.

[Alejandro]

It would be a lot better to just say 'I do not have the extra money to order food, but I enjoy gaming with you' and leave it at that.

[Mr Beer]

I guess my question is whether or not eating at the table is expected across different groups, and is it expected to be an all-or-nothing endeavor?

Not paying and not eating is fine, I would probably say "hey we're saving money so I eat beforehand" or even "I'm on a health food kick and eat beforehand" if you think that will be better received. I wouldn't consider your behaviour rude though.

[Kiero]

Have a break in the middle for food, or else do it before you start if everyone is too hungry to concentrate before.

[CritPinecone]

One group I was in had the stained character sheets. Constant snacking/eating in a murder-hoboish campaign. It wasn't a big deal.
Other group is a little more into roleplay, so whoever DMs makes sure mid-session we'll have some reason to stop at a tavern or make camp so that the eating fits into the rp.

[Manly Man]

In my experience... you could usually tell how 'loved' a character was by the stains and eraser smudges on the sheet. We always thought of pizza grease and soda stains like battle scars - becausd they've seen a lot of action.

This makes me wish they'd go back to making character sheets out of that durable, heavy stuff they did for AD&D. I still got sheets of it lying around somewhere that are perfectly usable, as well as nearing forty years old.

[Belril Duskwalk]

At our gaming sessions, depending on what time the game is starting we either eat before we game, or we plan a break mid-game. Given your timing, I would suggest the eat before you game option, possibly at the location the game will occur. I don't know about your group, but when mine meets there is usually a half hour or so between when the players arrive and when the game actually starts. This time is mostly taken up by talking about how our week has been and occasionally running a few new ideas past the DM about what we have been thinking of doing with our characters. Now, all of these discussions could just as easily occur over a slice of pizza or other food.

If you're pressed for time I would consider having somebody either order or pick up food on the way in, do all the small talk and pre-game book-keeping while eating then start the game when the food is finished.

[holywhippet]

I cook a bit so I usually turn up to each game with cake/muffins and biscuits I've made myself. Previously I'd also do a run to the noodle shop before the game begins but lately I've been picking up people for the game so we've just been ordering in pizza. I haven't noticed it disturbing the game at all, then again we are playing Dresden Files so it isn't overly filled with combat.