Do you sit when you DM?

[Numion]

I just usually sit at my desk, while the players sit around the room, either on the bed or chairs. We've never gamed around a central "gaming table" or somesuch, because there's no need; we don't use miniatures.

Sometimes it takes a little effort to pass around the maps and notes, but little excercise doesn't bother us.

 

[WizarDru]

I've never been able to find a comfortable spot to run the game from, so I spend at least half of any given session on my feet. I tend to walk in the kitchen to get some more coffee, DMing as I go, talking through the pass-through. We have two tables, one of which is a card table, where the battle-maps usually go.

I used to sit at that end, for easy access to the map. As the game has gone up in levels, that's become less necessary, and now I sit furthest away from it (but closer to the power outlet for my laptop). But even then, I still like to stretch and stay mobile, especially when talking as certain NPCs or monsters. Just feels more natural, to me.

 

[Griswold]

I usually sit, though sometimes for dramatic effect I'll stand.

G.

 

[Ruined]

Most times I'll remain stationary, sitting while running the game. A lot of it depends on the locale we play at. Once I ran a game sitting on carpeted stairs while the players looked on. Why? I can't really remember, but it was fun at the time.

 

[Tuerny]

I do a mixture of both. I notice that in particularly exciting scenes or when I am GMing a combat scene I tend to walk around alot.

In more placid times when I am resolving actions or just watching the players rp I am more prone to sitting down.

 

[Aaron L]

I've got a bad back. I sit.

 

[Victim]

I DM in a classroom. Sometimes I sit to look at my notes or because I'm lazy. However, in combat I do alot of standing. I don't have a battle mat, so I just use the chalk board. SO I stand up to draw and adjust the map, write down initiatives, etc.

 

[Speaker]

From the moment my groups begin to game, I'm up and moving!

My players are constantly treated to the sight of their DM pacing, gesturing wildly, and prancing around the living room. It does keep them awake and alert!

Part of my movement comes as a byproduct of my abject nervousness in any position where I have to speak before others. You would never tell from my voice alone (my players call me 'Speaker', hence my screen name), but I am on the verge of a very mild nervous breakdown whenever I speak. My hands tremble so wildly that the movement can be seen from a few meters away, my heart beats twice as fast, and my stomach clenches. And though my voice keeps its own time and pace, I have found that it is quite distracting for my players to watch my body hum in motion to my words.

To minimize this effect, I gesture wildly, hop from foot to foot, and verily pace the length of our gaming room during a long description or monologue. Even if it wasn't a necessity, I'd still keep moving in comfortable gaming situations--I have yet to have a player fall asleep, after all .

 

[Shallown]

Our Gaming area is basically a couch with a love seat that forms an l shape. The coffe table is along the couch with one end in front of the love seat.

I Gm at one end of the couch using the area beside the couch to keep materials/notes I may need. Usually 1-2 people are also on the couch and two more on the love seat. the other two grab chairs from the kitchen and sit across from the couch. Everyone has access to the coffee table for fights when I use a battle pad. (50 sheet paper pad marked off in 1 inch squares from office depot).

I roll out in the open for fights so I have no GM screen just a dry erase for initiative with cheat sheets of the net attached to the back for quick rules referencing.

When I actually role play outside a fight I tend to walk around and use physical indicators and body langauge to roleplay. I find sitting "constricts" my role play ability unless the person I am being is also sitting.

When I run Amber (diceless) I walk and move the entire time. I seldom, if ever, look in any book the entire session. I know all the NPC's I need to know by heart and rules are never an issue. Also since often I need to step aside to tell someone or do something in secret it is easier since most times I am already up.

 

[Buttercup]

I usually sit, but I'm extremely short (5' exactly) so I have to stand to reach across the table to draw on the battlemap, or to move counters, or to reach the pistachios.

The idea of using a stool intrigues me, because that would make me tall enough to use a DM screen. That new Kalamar screen rocks, but without a stool, I could never use it!