Optimum Gaming Environments?

[EarthsShadow]

What are some of your optimum gaming environments? do you like it when you are all sitting around a table, huddled together, or do you like it when your sitting in a living room in the sofa, sitting back and relaxing?

Or, as a DM, do you like to stand and walk around, or sit behind a game screen?

 

[Mr Fidgit]

optimum gaming evironment would be any without screaming children or players or DMs on call

yesterday, our gaming group was so large, we used the table and the couches. the DM is typically behind a screen, unless he takes a player (or some players) out of the room when the group is divided. or he's firing up the grill

 

[Crothian]

optimum gaming evironment would be any without screaming children or players or DMs on call

yesterday, our gaming group was so large, we used the table and the couches. the DM is typically behind a screen, unless he takes a player (or some players) out of the room when the group is divided. or he's firing up the grill

Well, a bigger table or extra table might help that. That would really help having everyone together. As it was I had a hard time interacting with the PCs on the other side of the house where they were sitting.

I perfer the everyone around the same table, maybe a little music going but other then that no distractions. However, that can be hard to do.

 

[Umbran]

My group is a "couches around the coffe table" sort. We don't find that relaxed posture really detracts from the game.

 

[boothbey]

When I run, I prefer to have the players sitting around the table with me sitting on the side (not at the head of the table). This puts me in the middle so I can hear what everyone is saying better and allows more access to the center of the table for doodling maps and moving figures around.

Sometimes outside of combat I run from the floor with the party sitting at the table. This is odd, but I have joint problems and sitting in a chair all day and night gets uncomfortable. Sometimes I just need to stretch out. heh.

 

[Wormwood]

1. Table large enough to accomodate battle-mat, character sheets, books, food and dice.
2. Surplus of seating, couches or chairs.
3. Kitchen adjacent.
4. Front door access (smoke/phone breaks, food delivery)
5. A surfeit of beer.
6. A clean bathroom.
7. No kids. No pets.

 

[BlackMoria]

Our group games in our community college's boardroom, which is about a ultimate a gaming environment as you can get.

Multiple big tables. Plush chairs. Several pull down projector screens - 1 for the OHP and 1 for the Backlit Projector Panel for a computer, both of which we have used extensively. Internet connection for the laptop. Several Whiteboards, 1 of which actually has some fangled scan bar which scans and printsout anything written on the whiteboard.

What can be better......Life is good, yes, life is good

 

[seasong]

No table. Seating in a rough circle, spread out a bit.

If I could talk my players into a chill, starry night with blankets in a large tee pee, I would. Hm. Maybe a small fire at the center .

 

[StalkingBlue]

At my house, we play at my dinner table, sitting in comfy chairs. I use a screen only when I have a map or something similar to hide. We usually start out with music at low volume, then once are deeply into the game, we all forget about it and usually no one even notices when that first CD has run out.

Another group I play in hunches on sofas and armchairs around a small, low coffee table. Requires more juggling around of drinks, maps, dice and stuff than playing at a larger table, but is quite comfortable as well.

Yet another group I know plays in a studio flat without decent seating. Players lounge on the bed or carpet. A huge world map is spread out between them on the floor.

All these environments are great in their own way.



On the other hand, I've played in a group that meets in a civic hall, sharing a huge room with three or four other groups playing other game systems. Voices tend to echo in there, and there are always lots of additional empty tables and chairs around. People wander between tables to chat, lend and discuss books and movies, and there's more table talk than actual gaming on at the table on an average night.

Heck.

I'll take any gaming environment in a private home over that.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Among the 8 members of our group there are 4 kids of widely varying ages (10mo, 2, 8, 14). Normally you would have the 14 year old watch the others, but he is not good with kids at all. So generally we have lots of screaming kids running around. You get used to it after a while.
We used to play around a coffee table w/couches. Then the baby (now the 2 year old) started grabbing all of our stuff off of it so we had to move to the dining room table (added leaves allow 8 people plenty of room). The kids still need a lot of attention, and a great deal of our scheduling problems have to do with bedtimes for them.
We game at the 2 year old's house, so one of his parents takes some time away from the game to put him to bed. The baby (mine!) will fall asleep on his mother usually, but might get fussy first (which can break the flow of the game and distract her from picking out the right spells) (Hey, I'd help but I'm DM!). The older kids can generally amuse themselves, but still get really tired and irratable after a while.
Babysitters are too expensive to get every week (and we don't have much money to spare)

Otherwise, no music or alchohol, but snacks, soda and birthday cakes are common.