What will it take for you to go back to F2F gaming?

[CodeFlayer]

Yeah, after Hotenow blew you couldn't find a PoH at any price in Waterdeep for over a year. It turns out over the span of decades it was much cheaper to mass produce these potions way out in Thay with slave labor and pocket the difference. But when the disaster demand surge hit the market of course Thay milked it for all it was worth, laughing the whole time.

So we had to start over from scratch, building the tools to make the tools. But we have a saying now on the Sword Coast these days - "Never Again".

Hold Fast

 

[jasper]

I am dming for some of my Adventure League players every Saturday night; since Alabama moved back to safer at home from stay at home. As soon as the game store allows it I will be back to my Friday night Hardcover, Sunday Afternoon module schedule.

 

[Lem23]

Our main gaming place is a basement, which tends to get crowded and hot and humid with the other gamers in there too. Not going to be going back there until there are no more cases being recorded here, and then will still give it another few weeks.

 

[Umbran]

It will take the daily number of new cases in my state to drop to single digits for a couple of weeks, I suspect, before we'd consider it. Also, for testing capacity to remain high, and contact tracing established to keep the new cases down to those single digits.

If my state were not impacted by others, and our own reopening goes especially well... that could be August. As it is, places who are not on top of their game are probably going to inject new cases, delaying that.

 

[Retreater]

I had one group already online via Zoom (because we all live hours away), so the pandemic hasn't affected that one. The other two regular groups that met F2F will probably stay online going forward. It has allowed us to cut down on travel (an hour away sometimes), and game more frequently as child (and pet) care isn't an issue for the parents involved. Gaming in person also startles the host's dog, who had some trauma in her past. And in another group, I have a player who has agoraphobia, so online also helps him. Being able to sign into a game and play for two hours seems a good format for us - we're not in college anymore, and 5-6 hour sessions are a major time commitment.
Online gaming has been a revelation to me, and some of the best gaming I've had in years. I'd be down to go back for the occasional hangout (maybe in the fall, if there hasn't been another spike), but otherwise, nah, we're sticking online.

 

[R_J_K75]

They recently permitted indoor gatherings of up to 10 people where I live, and no one in my group or their immediate circle is high risk, so we're actually planning to have our first FTF game in months tomorrow.

If I have to go out in public to go to the store, or get gas. etc. I'll suit up and get in and out. Other than that I'm not going out unnecessarily. Pretty sure we can have indoor gatherings of up to 10 people here too as of last week. So we are actually thinking of playing in my garage next week so we can keep some distance between people with 4 or 5 us. We just need to figure out seating and lighting arrangements first. And it'll give me a reason to get the refrigerator in there cleaned and running, cause...gotta have beer.

 

[billd91]

Not sure, really. One DM expressed willingness to get together once the guidelines allow groups of 10 - they're moving into a new house with a good gaming space so he's itching to show it off. But he's deferred to one of our players because he is a transplant patient with a suppressed immune system. Given that risk, we may need to wait for an immunization or some level of measured herd immunity.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

That's my take on it for my home group. We're all up and running with our online setups, so until it is safe to do so, we'll continue online for the foreseeable future.

As for my open table at a gaming cafe, I don't know. It's currently closed by order, but eventually it's going to open up, if it makes it through the financial hardship. I certainly hope that's not until it is safe, but who knows what could happen? Would me we be set up with an extra table added to the two tables put together we were using prior to ensure we're six feet apart? Would masks be required? I don't know what measures would be needed, and I hope that I don't have to worry about it until down the line. As much as I don't want to tell a small business that's surely going to be struggling that I won't be running D&D (and thus depriving them of the paying customers that show up to play), I also don't want to put myself at risk if I don't have to.

Well, my most cautious friend is also my most pessimistic friend, and the main co-GM of my group, so...a vaccine probably.

 

[GMMichael]

My group used to get together weekly. But there was a lot of driving involved; all of the exhaust was pretty toxic. Plus, in the summer we have excessive heat warnings daily, so it's not really a safe idea to go outside. And we can't find any rulebooks on recycled paper, so...

What will it take for folks to get back to F2F gaming?

...being on lockdown and going digital kinda solves all of these issues.

 

[iserith]

Playing D&D online is so much more efficient that I curtailed much of my in-person gaming years ago. If I want to get together with friends in person, I'd prefer to play card or board games now.