Where do you meet to play?

[S'mon]

We rotate between the players' houses (I've found that it's generally too much effort to combine the roles of DM and host).

I find the opposite - I find I can get quite uncomfortable if I'm GMing a group but not hosting them. It probably depends on the host though, how well you know each other, etc. I think age is a factor - as we get older we tend to get more private.

 

[Dordledum]

Currently I work for a uni, so I can book teaching rooms after hours and use them as game rooms for the night/weekend. Good set up really, we get a white board free pens, projector against one of the walls. Lots of table space too if we decide to do 4e or some other game that requires a map/grid.

There's an idea, I work at uni too. But I rather not go there after office hours. Prefer to keep work and private seperated.

 

[Davachido]

Hm, I never thought of that - I think I'd be slightly embarrassed if my students found me running a D&D game in a lecture room!

You then invite them to join you at the table! That's how I've gotten some intrigued people to play some games. Especially when students pass the rooms and hear roaring laughter from characters ending up as red smears in paranoia. Thankfully though I draw a lot of players from the RP soc that is on campus so lots of willing players.

 

[Dioltach]

I find the opposite - I find I can get quite uncomfortable if I'm GMing a group but not hosting them. It probably depends on the host though, how well you know each other, etc. I think age is a factor - as we get older we tend to get more private.

It's not a question of comfort for me -- I've some of my players for twenty years. I just find that it interferes with game management to have to keep an eye on drink levels, snacks, hot food, etcetera.

 

[Lwaxy]

I wish the local school would let us some rooms, considering that I GM for their students through a community project they partially initiated. But it is not possible thanks to insurance issues. Basically, if something would happen to anyone on their grounds they would be reliable. This is a real problem with most locations in Germany.

 

[Jhaelen]

We rotate between the players' houses (I've found that it's generally too much effort to combine the roles of DM and host).

I'm not sure about the reasons (if there are any), but it's the same for us: We rotate between differernt players' houses but we (almost) never play at the current DM's house.

 

[Aeolius]

I didn't include online games because the poll was to focus on RL groups.

I'm out, then. I have not run a face-to-face game of D&D since 1994. I have not been a player in a face-to-face game since the late 80s.

 

[Piratecat]

We play at my house. One 4e campaign plays in a dedicated game room; the D&D Next playtest group and the other 4e campaign plays in the dining room (people have kids, and it's easier to wrangle them in a larger space); the Mutants & Masterminds group tends to flop in the living room (as we don't need a battlemap.)

 

[Henry]

We usually go round-robin, to spread out the hosting duties. It's been a while since we've had someone totally new to us join in, but if so, just like when I joined the group, we'd probably meet somewhere public for the first meeting, just to gauge their personality and make sure they're not totally psycho or something -- an "interview" if you will.

 

[NewJeffCT]

We meet at my house in my basement, where I have a table set up for gaming, as well as my collection of gaming books & miniatures.

However, with any new players, I meet them beforehand in some place public just so I can get an idea of their personality, gaming styles, etc. Usually, I meet them at a local Barnes & Noble or similar.