What materials must a Player have/bring with them at a game session?

[JoeGKushner]

As a player, I try to bring the following:

1. Character. I'm always surprised when people try to bull their way out of what their character has an can do.

2. Scratch Paper.

3. Pen

4. Dice.

5. Miniature. I like painting so this one is a no-brainer but 4e and the whole plate off as a default for fighters pisses me off with the wide selection of miniatures that are standard with what appears to be full palte armor.

6. Snacks. I like to eat and drink so I try to bring both and enough for the gorup. Sometimes I'm not so successfully but usually am.

Might be more than the average bear but...

 

[Wolf1066]

I keep the character sheets with the rest of my gaming data, I have a case filled with cheap mechanical pencils (a couple of bucks for a 4-pack) and erasers, and I have two spare sets of dice in case the players don't own any or forget theirs. I also provide small spiral bound notebooks so the players can jot down notes or write notes for passing info not meant for general knowledge.
I supply coffee, milk and sugar and the occasional packet of biscuits. The players also turn up with snacks which get shared around.

I was going to choose "Just themselves" but it is kinda "prepared and polite" to bring your own dice so I ticked dice.

But so long as the players bring their enthusiasm, humour and role-playing abilities, I've got pretty much everything else covered.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

In order of importance:
Character sheet.
Pencil.
Campaign Notes and more paper for the continuation thereof. (Some of my players are darned territorial about their campaign notes.)
Dice. They can borrow mine, but my dice hate everybody.
Miniature. Again, I have some that they can borrow, but for some games I set aside a box o' plastic bits, and let folks assemble their own mini. (My homebrew is 17th C. - the Games Workshop plastics work just fine.)

Most of these are fine to leave behind at the game location - they won't go wandering off, so I count leaving as bringing, in this instance.

The Auld Grump

 

[Starfox]

I said character sheet, because that is the only MUST - and sometimes the GM keeps those between sessions.

That said, it is customary for players to take on voluntary contributions, like buying/making tea or bringing cake. The best example is the dining club I recruited to my game table. We now take a 2h break in our Saturday session while they prepare and all of us eat a very hearty meal.

They do their hobby, I do mine, all of us enjoy.

 

[Orius]

Dice. They can borrow mine, but my dice hate everybody.

Lending massively unlucky dice to a player isn't a problem that I can see.