DMs: Do you ask players to contribute money for materials?

[Drawmack]

Well I do not ask for $$$ to buy books, but if they want me to use a suppliment I don't own they need to buy it for me.

Although before I was a computer programmer I was a chef. so I usually cook and everyone chips in $5 - 10 for the food. Considering that this food would get about $30 a plate in a restaurant they are getting off cheep.

 

[pogre]

Gaming clubs often pool resources in the UK for period historical books or even rules sets. However, somehow rpg stuff just seems more personal - you want to know what is yours. I agree with the poster who stated all you really need is the corebook.

Pitching in on food is a different matter. Our group is blessed by a host who provides soda and often times snacks. When I hosted I did the same. When we order pizza we all pitch in though.

 

[Bonedagger]

I expect my players to bring their own paiper, pencils and dices. Unless we play in a rented room paying for location is per etiquette out of the question.

Similar I would never even considder paying to be in somebodys game. No matter what they need the money for.


I do however always keep my own books occupied under the game so if my players want to actually look something up they will need their own PHB. (My players know that if I see them look an encounter up in the MM under the game I will secretly add CR to that specific players part of the encounter without giving him the extra XP)

 

[Leopold]

Never. As DM, I buy what I want and need for my game. My cardinal rule, though, is that "if I don't own it, you can't use it". That way, I keep strict control over my game.

All I ask is that each player *must* own their own PHB, dice, and pencil if they want to participate in my game. Since they're all my friends, this was a non-issue.

Can't answer your second question (I game with close friends only).

i follow both these rules. Except when it comes to 3rd party books. I usually let them pick it up and look it over and if they want to play it i have to read it and approve of it. Else, I knix it.

 

[Sanackranib]

gaming costs

Everybody has the core rules, that's a requirement. I have enough dice that I can let my players use them, but they get the unlucky set ^_^ So, most of them have their own. I own like Tome & Blood, FRCS, and some other stuff. Nobody has really shown much interest in wanting to use them yet.

Its my general rule never to loan books.

It's good to see i'm not the oly one who lets the guy who forgot his dice to use the "Cursed Dice". I look at it like this: over the past 23 years I have literally invested 1000's of dollars in gameing books/dice/mini's/modules etc. so I don't think anything about requiring my players to have their own dice/PHB/and mini.
I have found if you have to pay for your own then you will treat others better.

My wife and I used to do drinks and dinner for everyone but it just got too expensive. Now everyone is on their own for food and drinks and we just provide a place to play, Occasionally one of my players will bring coffie from starbucks for me or spring for lunch but mostly it's ever man for himself arround here.

Thusfar it hasn't created any problems. as was posted above I too make it a policy not to loan out books, they have a bad habit of not coming back!

 

[zealot73]

I can't believe what I am reading!

Charging people to play games??? Gaming is it's own social reward. It's all about getting together with friends and having a few hours of fun. If I ever ran into a GM who charged per session we'd immediately ditch him/her and either get another or one of the current players would start running it. Everyone in my group is 28 or older with plenty of experience playing and DM'ing (our only problem is that we ALL like to DM) so it wouldn't be that big a deal. If I ever did pay for a game (besides at a Con) it had better be the best damn game I've ever played. Personally I think that DM's who charge for their sessions have really inflated egos. Gaming isn't about making money... it's about having FUN!!! Just like professional sports players, they've forgotten why they got into it in the first place.
I've got no problem with buying books and allowing our DM to borrow it (as an example, I bought a copy of Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil for this) for the game as long as it is returned to me in good repair. If my DM spills anything on it or otherwise defaces it he has always been good enough to buy me a new one. With that understanding we've assembled a large library of material that anyone in our group can use whenever needed. Of course that requires trust on the parts of the players. I've got no problems with that... most of the players in my group are military and the only one who isn't is a State Employee. Real easy to get ahold of.

 

[DustTC]

I think most DMs probably want to own all the important and cool stuff themselves. I'd personally hate to have to beg for books someone else owns.

As long as players own the PHB (or have a print-out of the SRD, though I've asked that we'd have at least have 3 PHBs at the table) and the splat book for the relevant class they want to play (who doesn't want some extra feats, spells and PrCs apart from the true rp hardcore people?), I don't see what else they would have to own (though an extra FRCS to go around would be nice). They're paying for the food and drinks and in the end and I'm still the one who owns all those cool books, so it all works out nicely.

If any of them wants to DM our next campaign, they'll have to buy the MM and DMG though. Maybe I'd let them use some other stuff, but only for short periods of time. This doesn't mean I'm a penny pincher (because I've made 75% of the expenses for our current game), it just means I'm not a complete idiot .

 

[Numion]

Only once. I asked my players to split up Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, since it was pretty expensive.

 

[Sanackranib]

costs

i could see a DM who was gonna run somthing like the return to the temple of elemental evil passing the hat to have the players pony up for part of the module. I download a lot of .pdf stuff so that hasn't been an issue in my game.

 

[The_lone_gunman]

Nope. Everyone usually brings snacks of some kind, but I would never charge my players or have them buy the stuff, that just seems wierd to me.

TLG