Gaming Room Setup Help

[IronWolf]

Interesting. And you don't find that this kind of thing impacts the experience at all? At the moment it's my top concern that somehow this will hurt the game more than help it.

It doesn't seem to have affected our game experience. We've been using this setup for about six years or so.

With that said, on the occasions we have played at another house where we use the dining room table we have had a good time there as well.

 

[cyderak]

I didn't build my game table in a weekend. Because of financial reasons we built it over a 1 1/2 year time span.

 

[Stormonu]

I've had a variety of set ups over the years, and couches never seemed to be problem.

Folding chairs, on the other hand, have been the worst, especially if people are antsy. I've had upwards of 5 of them destroyed over the years (of about 12 such chairs). So far, what I've seen work best so far are camp chairs (metal frame w/ heavy fabric or office chairs (high backed with arm rests) - though the latter tend to be more expensive.

My group was lucky enough to have someone skilled in carpentry put together two 5x5 plywood tables for us - they've lasted me almost twenty years now. Prior to those tables, we had great success with folding tables (6x3), so long as we had a plywood or other covering to span the gap between the tables (and a tablecover to make it look nice)

Don't also forget the shelving. You'll want something heavy duty as the typical superstore chipboard shelves tend to bend or collapse once you get a good gaming collection going.

 

[Gilladian]

I personally think a setup where the DM's table is slightly higher than the player table works really well. In my case, I have a "standing height" table for myself (and a barstool) while the players sit in padded dining room chairs. But a coffee-table height table for them (and BIG cushions - or beanbag chairs? - for those who LIKE sitting on the floor) and a standard height small table (end table, folding card table) for the DM sounds good, too.

I think your fear of the couches putting people to sleep is probably over-rated. Just hurl your dice at the snorer!

 

[lostingeneral]

I didn't build my game table in a weekend. Because of financial reasons we built it over a 1 1/2 year time span.

That's significantly longer than we've been playing. I do really like the concept of a custom table, but I'm not sure I can get that rolling until we're really set into playing; even though it's been months and everybody's still quite into it, I am vaguely concerned that it might not last.

I will definitely be saving a bookmark to your links for inspiration when the time comes, though.

I've had a variety of set ups over the years, and couches never seemed to be problem.

Folding chairs, on the other hand, have been the worst, especially if people are antsy. I've had upwards of 5 of them destroyed over the years (of about 12 such chairs). So far, what I've seen work best so far are camp chairs (metal frame w/ heavy fabric or office chairs (high backed with arm rests) - though the latter tend to be more expensive.

My group was lucky enough to have someone skilled in carpentry put together two 5x5 plywood tables for us - they've lasted me almost twenty years now. Prior to those tables, we had great success with folding tables (6x3), so long as we had a plywood or other covering to span the gap between the tables (and a tablecover to make it look nice)

Don't also forget the shelving. You'll want something heavy duty as the typical superstore chipboard shelves tend to bend or collapse once you get a good gaming collection going.

My main "shelves" are actually part of an old entertainment unit, meant to house huge collections of VHS tapes; hopefully they will hold. For now, they do a good job, at least. The camp chairs are an idea I really like for when I can cut out the couches, as an alternative to office chairs. They're much cheaper and easier to store, I'd imagine.

I think your fear of the couches putting people to sleep is probably over-rated. Just hurl your dice at the snorer!

I think that is suitable punishment.

So for now, I've gone with the coffee table with plywood on top. The plywood sheet was larger than I thought - 8'x4' - and while I believed I had cut it at some point in the past, I was wrong. It is quite large. The coffee table is much smaller, and the length of the wood extends well past it by about a foot and a half on either side.

But it's really the length that's the issue. I ran through a sort of "test encounter" tonight to see how the mechanics of a battle would actually work, and I've realized that the answer is probably "not very well." My DM station is situated at the end of the table, so I will have to stand during battles and lean way across the table (being careful not to jar the plywood too much) to move miniatures, etc. Also my reach is somewhat hampered by the rather large size of the table, so if the battle isn't close enough to me, then I suppose the monsters are going to suddenly become a lot lazier.

I have a fold-out table that's higher than the coffee table, upon which I set my laptop hooked up to the LCD monitor, which functioned well in the test.

I have some reservations about how this will go. If it doesn't work well, I'll just remove the plywood and play on the smaller coffee table (I have another one; maybe I'll double them up instead) for the time being.

My first game in the new room is tomorrow, so there's a good chance I'll be back to talk about how it goes afterwards.

 

[S'mon]

You need hard chairs (don't have to be office chairs) and a good-sized table, enough space for 5-7 people around the table with their stuff, plus a battlemat in the middle.

Edit: I think 6'x4' is ideal. Cut 2' off your plywood!

 

[Redcrow]

My setup is a couch, loveseat, and recliner for the GM. Currently I use a coffee table for the battlemat, but I'm trying to find a couple of folding tables with adjustable height legs for a little more space. With this setup keeping the focus low helps when using 3D terrain like WWG or FDG stuff. No food or drinks are allowed on the table while we game.

I have a couple of t.v. trays for my GM stuff and each player has a clipboard for their characters and notes. I have plenty of extra t.v. trays if any of the players want to use them, but they almost never do. I've considered tearing the tops off and turning them into lap-desks, but so far the clipboards seem sufficient for everyone.

For dice rolling, I bought a couple of small black vinyl covered file boxes at Mal-Wart and glued some green felt inside the lids. These make excellent dice trays and keep the dice from rolling off the table. I'm actually thinking of making a couple more of these so each player has their own.

 

[cyderak]

In addition to D20Pro Virtual Table-Top software I use the infinity engine gif animations for spells and monsters. The Infinity Engine animations are from Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape Torment PC games.

They really put a that extra little OOMF into our games.

 

[lostingeneral]

Thanks for the responses everyone, they've helped out lots.

Yesterday was our first session with the new system, and we had 5 players present in addition to myself.

It started off alright. The first encounter was reached almost instantly and it was a combat encounter, which turned out to be quite a long one, even by 4e standards (to be fair, this was driven in large part by our Purple Index Cards, which introduced very negative effects to prolong the battle).

Things got progressively worse as time went on, though, and the amounts of casual side-conversations and smartphone usage were pretty much off the charts by the end. I'm accustomed to a bit of distraction, but this was crazy. The game culminated with a completion time two hours earlier than usual when half of my players wanted to leave and get food, then come back, instead of just getting takeout (like pizza or something). At this point, I just declared the session done.

It might have been just an off night in general, but even with off nights at the dining room table it wasn't this out of control. I'm going to blame the couches and coffee table (read: giant piece of plywood) design, so I'm purchasing some office chairs (I still want it to be relatively comfortable, versus folding chairs or something) and a relative will be giving me a 6'x4' (almost exactly) table to play on, so hopefully I should be able to correct this for the next session. Also, the lighting was kind of dim and sleep-inducing, so I'm going to replace the old worn-down incandescents with productivity-friendly fluorescent light bulbs.

In other words I'm taking a page from "Motivational Techniques for Cubicle Drones." If it's not a real book, it should be.

 

[Mark CMG]

Check Craig's List for an office closing sale in your area. You might get better-than-Walmart chairs for a good price that will last longer and be more comfortable.