# Best Gaming room and Game table setups!



## FoxWander (Jan 21, 2002)

I'll be rearranging my house soon and plan to turn the downstairs family room into a gaming room and figured this would be the best place to get advice on what the best setup might be. I really want to make a room that has both a good gaming atmosphere and is setup the best possible way for ease and enjoyment of gaming. Some of my specific musings concern...

What's the perfect gaming table? 
   - A whiteboard surface with etched grid? Easy to get to for moving minis/counters but can be awkward to write on.
   - Gridsheet under plexiglass? Same as above, but character sheets and notes can be tucked under glass to protect from drinks, etc.
   - Normal table with whiteboard/grid on the wall? Easier to write on but how to stick minis/counters to it.

Should I use a table at all?
   - A table can keep players focused but can be uncomfortable for long sessions.
   - Sitting on recliners and sofas is more comfy but may be too comfy. Lack of focus, need character sheet and dice rolling surfaces, no easily accessible map for ease of combat.

Gameroom snacks?
   - Start a group snack fund or fend for yourselves?

These are just what I can come up with after being awake all night. Please hurl as many comments and suggestions as your carpal tunnel can stand!

What would YOU like to have in the perfect gaming room??


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## Liminal Syzygy (Jan 21, 2002)

As for the table, I would go for the second option, gridsheet under plexiglass.  

I would also definitely use a table.

One thing I think is incredibly helpful that you didn't mention, while expensive, I would have a laptop and a projector, to show shots of different graphics, maps, etc. so they didn't have to be printed out, and everything could be shown in full color.  Pretty effective to say "You see this!", dim the light with remote controle, and hit function-F8 on your laptop to show what they see. 

Also, depending on your tastes if you had a projector, you could run the combats completely on the screen with one of the apps available.

Of course, if money is no object, I would have a full home theater system with amazing sound to play music, a dry ice machine to pump in fake smoke, and a lights system for dramatic scenes...


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## Ashtal (Jan 21, 2002)

*Im my experience...*

I've had a uniformly bad experience with lounging on couches and chairs around a coffee table (if we even had a coffee table).

Now some games, like Amber, don't require maps and character sheets and dice.  You just need room for munchies.  Other games, a clip board with your character and space enough to roll some dice is all that's needed - but even then, sitting at a proper, non-lounging angle is good.  Keeps you focused on the game.

With D&D, I couldn't imagine NOT playing at a table, not having a battle map, or not having room for everything.  With out minatures, maps, character sheets, hordes of dice, GM screen, reference books...egads.  We also have no televisions - too tempting.  Mood music can be good, as long as tending to it doesn't impede play.  Instrumental/orchestral seems to work best for us (think Diablo 2 soundtrack, or soundtracks for movies like LotR.)

Comfortable chairs are good, but I'd rather spend the evening in a slightly uncomfortable chair at a proper table, than spending it lounging on low couches or the floor.  I might as well go to sleep with the latter.


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## Gargoyle (Jan 21, 2002)

I use a bonus room over my garage as my office and game room. 

I bought my wife a new dining room set a year or so ago and commandeered the old kitchen table, a plain wooden rectangular table that seats six, with six plain straightback wooden chairs. 

I agree with the above post about seating:  Upright seating that isn't too comfortable is the way to go.

I've also got a futon and some leather office chairs for additional seating.  The futon doubles as  a bed for guests.  A fold-out card table sometimes provides extra room for big games.

We measured the table, went to a home improvement store, and had a piece of plexiglass cut to size.  We have a Chessex hex grid mat and some combat reference sheets underneath the plexiglass, but we've found that we really don't use the underlying hex map.   Instead, we buy a large pad of grid paper, meant for using on easels at Office Max, and lay that on top for use with miniatures.   The paper has a lot of advantages.  I draw tactical maps on it ahead of time, speeding up play, and keep the maps after use, if they're not too marked up with notes and drawings of spell effects.  if the players return to the same place, I just pull out the same map.  And it's not messy like grease pencils or dry erase markers.  I still have a whiteboard, useful for keeping track of initiative.  

Bookshelves store my gaming stuff for easy access.  Two computers on desks provide internet access and occassional mood music.

I have a half-sized refrigerator as well.  A must.  

Plans for the game room/office:
- I need more storage and display space for miniatures and want to get a display cabinet eventually.  
- I'm going to have bathroom installed in the attic. 
- I have literally hundreds of Star Wars action figures (No sir, I didn't see you playing with your dolls again!  ) standing all over the place, and I need to put them in a display cabinet.
- Running out of bookshelf space.

Eventually, I'm going to build a separate building out back.  It will feature two offices, a storage area, and a huge gaming room/conference room/entertainment room.  I may be an old man by the time it's done, but it will happen...


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## KidCthulhu (Jan 21, 2002)

Let see:

Mini-fridge a must.  If you live near any kind of university or college, you can pick them up really cheaply from students at the end of term.  Just look for for sale notices posted at student centers, libraries, etc.   Also, a bunch of plastic utensils, napkins, paper towels, paper plates, etc. cuts down a lot on dishes and trips to the kitchen.

Pkitty, Sagiro and Tremere all use a "Piggy" or fine system to fund snacks.  Basically players pay small fines (.5-.50 cents or equivalent) for bad puns, out of game references ("Beam me up, scotty") and out of game war stories.  These aren't onerous, but they help keep the game focused, and the money adds up pretty quickly.  We then take the money and buy soda.  Some of our piggies have become so rich that they can buy dinner for everyone.  In our games, people tend to bring snacks, and it all works out.  You could certainly up the fines a little and provide all the snacks.

I'm really rather fond of gaming on couches and comfy chairs with small tables for drinks, character sheets, etc.  This may be because I'm short, and regular chairs are uncomfortable for long stretches.  Of course you need a central table for maps.  Often the GM has a folding table for their books, laptop and information presentation (maps).  

That said, we use our third floor room, with an old conference table and folding chairs.  It's nice to have someplace where you can leave all the gaming stuff and close the door on the mess.  Our rule is that all food related stuff has to come out (otherwise it smells bad, and the dogs get into the room and have a nasty little doggy picnic), and the rest of the stuff can stay where it is.  You can leave figurines in battle formation, etc.  It's great.

 A white board is a nice thing if you have room, especially for impromptu maps and information.  Sagiro occasionally uses a white board for initiative, so that people can see the order, and move themselves around as necessary.


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## Zerovoid (Jan 21, 2002)

I think a table is a must.  I've had some bad experiences without one.  My group did, and still usually does, plan in someone's college dorm room, and things get pretty cramped.  There's no table, and assorted chairs, and half the people can't see what is going on in combat.  There are two computers, and they are constant distractions, as people surf the web instead of paying attention to the game.  A table helps keep people focused.  While they're at the table, they can't do anything else, so ideally that means they really want to be at game and pay attention to it.  Unfortunately, there are many other things that can lead players astray, such as gaming books and magazines.

So, I say definately a table, but ideally with comfortable office chairs instead of hard wooden ones.


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## madriel (Jan 21, 2002)

Here's another vote for using a table.  It's a focal point for attention and people don't have to hunt for dice that have fallen into the couch.  If you're getting too stiff, call a quick time out for everybody to get up and stretch.

A mini-fridge sounds like a good idea.  Poll your group and find out if they want a group snack fund.  We usually just take turns bringing stuff.


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## Umbran (Jan 21, 2002)

I will chime in with... well, not dissent, but with different experiences.

Lounging on couches is fine if your players know how to keep their own focus.  Not everybody needs a straight-backed chair and a table to sit around keepo their mind on the game.  And a coffee table can also be fine - so long as there are end-tables for drink cups and munchies when you need to break out the battlemap.

As for the whiteboard on the wall idea - there's at least one decent way to do counters - I've seen many whiteboards (usually the "ceramic" ones) that have a metal backing.  Generally, you can stick your counters onto fridge magnets to use them on a wall.  Mind you, this board will benerally be far enough away from your players that standard sized counters will be too small.  You'll have to custom print your counters....


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## Bass Puppet (Jan 21, 2002)

The setup.....

I would use a table because it works. I went to Costco and purchased two 6' rectangular folding tables made with wood tops (not Plastic). We put use them together to form a square. It works so well that when I pull out the hex map, every person at the table has 12" of room in front of them. In result, each player can put there books, papers, folders, etc on the table with no overlay on to the map. We can fit two players, comfortably, on each side, with one side dedicated to the DM. I also use a wooden TV tray set. I use two of them to put extra books and maps so I can dedicate my "Important Info" on the table, Plus I like to roll the dice infront of my players. The other two I give to the Players so they may use them for extra room if needed.

But I guess it is really up to how many players you have. The more players, the more space you are going to need. 

My recommendation:

Two 6' rectangular folding Tabels with wooden tops & Metal legs and a Wooden TV Tray set (4).


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## JDragon (Jan 21, 2002)

Fox Wander, first of all have fun with the gaming room, and make sure what ever you do works well with your groups playing style.

The group I game with, usually uses someones living room with a 4' by 8' piece of plywood on the coffee table to provide room for everything.

This puts everything at the right level for people to be comfortable at the couch, during the role-playing portions of the game, but easy to slid up to the edge of the couch to get a good view of the combat.  Speaking of combat we stick with the chessex battlemats, mainly for ease of use and clean up.

As for my perfect gaming room I think I would go with the conference table with good chairs.  Shelves on a large part of the walls.  The rest would be poster maps or artwork that fit the type of game your doing, (IE fantasy , or Sci Fi).  I would want either a projector or large Monitor to display graphics as mentioned earlier.

Let us know how it goes.

BTW- you may want to search the old boards when they come back up for a couple threads on gaming tables.

JDragon


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## DungeonKeeperUK (Jan 22, 2002)

*Worst Gameing Place?*

On a basic point first, I agree a table to play round is always in my experience best..

But I have to say about my worst place to play in, many years ago in my teens we couldn't find any parent willing to let us into a room for the night to have a game... and thus we ended up in a 10'x10' leaking shed in a thunderstorm with barelwy enough room for the 5 of us to stand let alone play.... funnily enough it turned out to be a pretty good game, but we still didn't use that venue again......


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## Dalenthas (Jan 22, 2002)

Could it be that the games I play in/DM always suck because there's no table and people get confused? Is it possible that the lack of a focal point of attention is the cause of my group's suckiness? Nay, I say they'd suck anyway, but a table certainly couldn't hurt... as long as it was clear to start with....


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## Ycore Rixle (Jan 22, 2002)

As long as you have room for a large enough table, I'd go for the table with a grid under plexiglass.  By large enough, I mean room for a large central map, any battle maps, character sheets, reference books, and handouts.  I have never been able to fit all that on a table, but that's mostly because I've never had a big enough table. 

Above all, just do what your group is most comfortbale with.

Not to hijack the thread, but the 'Worst Gaming Room' post made me think of the worst place I ever played D&D... twenty years ago in the back of my parents' station wagon on a long road trip.  No dice, so we just asked the people in the front seats for random numbers.


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## Grim (Jan 22, 2002)

Lets see...

Our gaming room has:

A Big Table

A Battlemat BattleMap

A bunch of boxes of random minis, but we mostly only use minis for big badguys and the PCs.
A box of mini stands (the little plastic squares and circles) with different colored dots on them, so a combat with Goblins, orcs, and minotaurs just has the PCs, and some red, green, and blue squares.

A DMs screen

Plenty of dice (everyone brings theres)

Plenty of Soda (we should get a cooler, but we are too lazy) When the cans are empty, we stack them on the table or the battlemat in cool patterns. The DM sometimes uses them as dungeon features (collumns, walls, Stonehenge) or as minis for big monsters (The Mountain Dew Green Dragon, The Sprite Blue dragon, The Coke Red Dragon...)

A Kitchen in the next room, with snack breaks every hour...

And a bunch of really comfy, but still upright chairs.

And Good Lighting with a dimmer switch.

Sometimes we play music, but its not usually Classical. Its usually Nirvana or Creed. Heavy metal really gets us in the mood for Hack-n-Slash


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## Altalazar (Jan 22, 2002)

I custom built my house around my study (computer room) and gaming/rec room (both in my finished basement).  Ok, not quite, but close.

The rec room is in a finished walkout basement.  30x15 feet or so.  I got two 3 foot by about 9 foot tables with folding legs from Office max, and put them together, so they are about 6 feet by 9 feet combined.  Then there is a grid map (an old one) that overhead markers work quite well on.  There is room all the way around the table to seat six plus the GM at one end.  Lots of rooms for character sheets, with the grid map in the middle.  I keep three DM screens plus my dice plus a gun case full of miniatures at my end when I DM.

Simple, cheap (except for the house part) and the tables can have their legs folded up and then be slid along the wall in the unfinished basement.  Of course, since I moved in and got them, this has never happened...  heh.


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## Warrior Poet (Jan 22, 2002)

I always thought a nice luxury would be one of those blueprint/map filing cabinets often found in the offices of architects:  numerous drawers, stores a good-sized map flat, integral dust covers, drawers slide out easily, multiple drawers for various organization schemes ...

... have a board or surface nearby for affixing maps; when done, slide the map back into the protected drawer.

Warrior Poet


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## FoxWander (Jan 22, 2002)

*cough* BUMP!

Well not really. My wife and I discussed this idea today and came up with what might be a workable plan.

- large rectangular table, say 4' x 6'. Big enough for at least 6 people with the DM at one end. Gives plenty of room for books, dice and character sheets. And munchies of course. I'd like to drill out cup holders to prevent spilled drinks. I'd also add a felt die-rolling area in the middle so all die rolls can be seen by the dm. (Random thought: maybe instead of a rectangular table an octoganal poker table would be better. You know one of the specialized "poker" tables, with felt troughs for chips. You could keep dice organized)

- At the DM's end...
-- bookshelves for gaming references
-- a seperate desk for notes and the laptop
-- a whiteboard easel with grid and magnetized creature counters for mapping

- laptop has...
-- mp3's for background music and combat tracks
-- pics of the monsters, much better than fumbling a description
-- Ideally I'd hook it into a big screen TV as a second monitor and use some app to do the mapping on that. But we don't have the $$$ for that. Sigh.

For combat on the whiteboard easel we came up with an odd idea that might actually work. First off, the reason we thought an easel would be better is cause drawing maps on a battle mat on a big table gets awkward. With an easel right next to the DM drawing is easy. But how do the players move their counters you ask? Enter our odd idea- The Initiative Laser Pointer! Seriously, a decent laser pointer that can shot an arrow instead of just a dot. The players stay in their seats and pass the pointer to whoever's initiative turn it is. They use it to point out on the easel where their character moves, using the arrow to clarify the facing. We think it could work, and it could organize combat. If you don't have the pointer its not your turn so keep quiet. What do you think?

We're also leaning towards starting a group snack fund. I'm not sure I like the idea of fines to keep it stocked though. Besides physical punishment for bad puns and out of game references are so much more fullfilling.   (A "Yo-yo Koosh of Smiting" to the head does wonders) We'll probably get a mini fridge too.

Anyway. See I told you it wasn't a shameless bump. Please keep the ideas coming. And thanks to those who have already contributed.


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## FoxWander (Jan 22, 2002)

Oh yeah, one more thing. Well two actually.

I want one of those multiple roll-down map things for campaign world maps. You know, the kind in the front of the class in elementary school. There was a world map and a US map (for us Americans) and the screen for movies. I figure I can make one with a rack of several pull-down window shades. Just fix the map on the pulled down shade and roll it up. Cool huh?!

Also, for decoration, we own several assorted medieval weapons and we plan to display them around the room. We'll have decorative swords on plaques on the walls and a weapons rack with the more functional looking ones, axes and pole-arms.


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## Mungeon Daster (Jan 22, 2002)

*Headsets*

I always liked the idea of having everybody wear headphones and a mic. The DM would then have a switchboard that let him speak to the whole group, or any combination or individual. 

Great for those private conversations with that dopperganger that's infiltrated the party


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## Kid Charlemagne (Jan 22, 2002)

Warrior Poet said:
			
		

> *I always thought a nice luxury would be one of those blueprint/map filing cabinets often found in the offices of architects:  numerous drawers, stores a good-sized map flat, integral dust covers, drawers slide out easily, multiple drawers for various organization schemes ...*




You can get those fairly cheap at Ikea, if there's one in your area (if not you can probably get them online).  I've often thought the same thing, especially if you make lots of maps or use the Office Max flipchart grid pads to draw battlemat information.

I'd vote for a decent sized table, with a few end tables set to the sides to allow people to put books and chips and such without cluttering the main table, which shuld be clear except for battlemat, character sheets and PHB's.


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## Frostmarrow (Jan 22, 2002)

We usually play at a friend's game-store. This is really, really great. First, there is a coke vending machine which we open up so we can buy coke for our special discount price. We take turns bringing coffey. The room itself features a sturdy wooden table with eight semi-comfy chairs and two extra tables for the DM. On the table we have two extra-large Chessex battle-mats. The store is chock-full of minis, both painted and unpainted. (This is great as you can go into the store and pick out the perfect mini for your newly created character or a model building if the game calls for it.)

There is a pizza-parlour nearby and so is the local McDonalds. When we arrive the owner has put a pile of new books at our respective seats that we are expected to buy.  Once I forgot my dice so I simply picked up a new set on the spot.

The room is in the basement so there are only two small windows located at ceiling/ground level. The store is in a quiet neighborhood. On the wall behind the DM there is a black curtain with a jester's hat motif complete with bells. (Which the DM is expected to jingle whenever someone levels up!)

As we attend the store after business-hours we are never disturbed even though we often game for twelve hours. Etiquette demands that all cell-phones are turned off. The world could come to an end and we would never know. There is no television, no radio, no music, no computer just pens, paper, dice and imagination.

God, I love this game.


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## gariig (Jan 22, 2002)

Can people post prices.  Unfortunately, not all of us are made of money and are HS/college aged.  I'm looking to improve on my gaming situation.  We are using our dining room table and it can BARELY seat the 6 of us and it doesn't have room for DM stuff so I need a side table for that.  I was wondering prices on like tables(where is a good place for one) and the plexiglass is interesting for my important maps(How much is it?).

Gariig


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## Gargoyle (Jan 23, 2002)

Shop around.  Prices vary wildly for furniture and stuff like plexiglass.  I'd tell you what my stuff cost, but I don't remember.


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## Ninja-to (May 17, 2005)

Frostmarrow said:
			
		

> We usually play at a friend's game-store. This is really, really great. First, there is a coke vending machine which we open up so we can buy coke for our special discount price. We take turns bringing coffey. The room itself features a sturdy wooden table with eight semi-comfy chairs and two extra tables for the DM. On the table we have two extra-large Chessex battle-mats. The store is chock-full of minis, both painted and unpainted. (This is great as you can go into the store and pick out the perfect mini for your newly created character or a model building if the game calls for it.)
> 
> There is a pizza-parlour nearby and so is the local McDonalds. When we arrive the owner has put a pile of new books at our respective seats that we are expected to buy.  Once I forgot my dice so I simply picked up a new set on the spot.
> 
> ...





My God.

There IS a heaven.


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## John Morrow (May 17, 2005)

FoxWander said:
			
		

> What's the perfect gaming table?




Whatever table you go with, consider getting some half-circle wooden molding, paint it with tough glossy paint, and put it around the entire edge of the top of the table like a little wall to keep things on the table.  A friend's father built a gaming table when I was a kid and he put an edge like that on the table and it really helps keep the dice, counters, and spilled drinks from getting onto the floor.



> What would YOU like to have in the perfect gaming room??




An overhead mounted projector monitor and a flat screen monitor with a computer that can handle two monitors.


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## Chaldfont (May 17, 2005)

Something I've found really helpful is (well, I think this is what it is) an old, cheap printer stand I picked up at Goodwill. It's just shorter than the table and maybe a foot square on top. Its great for setting books, minis, a pint glass, dice, etc on so they are off the table until needed. I can put books inside the bottom too. Since its low, I can put DM notes or on-deck minis and the players can't see them.

I'd love to get a few more for the players, so they can keep their food & drink off the table and free up more space for maps & such.

Keep an eye out for good chairs at Goodwill or garage sales. Our old kitchen table (which is older than I am) has several chairs that are collapsing under aeons of use and re-repairs.

Whiteboards are great--I got one from my office salvage sale for a buck. We use it every session. Thin strips of corkboard for hanging maps and such on the walls would be pretty cool. We hang up dead character sheets on our Valhalla wall. I'm thinking of mounting one of those huge-mongous National Geographic world maps on the wall too. How cool would that be for D20 Modern/Spycraft games?


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## Mean Eyed Cat (May 17, 2005)

My house has a large family room in the basement.  I picked up one of those 6' folding tables at Office Depot for about $30.  Unfortunately, it wasn't long enough so I put a card table at the end and now it works just fine.  We use a wet erase battlemat and initiative counter that are taped to the table (so they don't slide off).  I also use a TV tray/table to set my GM screen on - which sits off to the side (I don't like having the screen in front of me).

For more details, here's some pictures:

Click here


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## 3catcircus (May 17, 2005)

If I had my way, it'd be a setup like we have in the conference room at work...

A large table with a built-in A/V setup that is spring-loaded and in the center of the table to hook up a laptop to, with a projector in the ceiling that displays on a motorized screen...


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## JamesL85 (May 18, 2005)

This is a little dated (before laptops with overhead projectors), but I still remember thinking that it was pretty cool.....The Ultimate Gaming Table!!!

But even better was a link to a group that had an artist paint murals on the walls.  I know there was one wall with a huge red dragon on it, and another that had an archway similar to the cover for the original Undermountain boxed set, but I can't find the link!!!!  I'll do some more looking......

James


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## MarkAHart (May 19, 2005)

Our group plays at my house, in the" library" area (where most of my bookshelves are).  We use three sturdy folding tables, with one table perpendicular to the other two, thus forming a rectangular table surface.  For chairs, I purchased a set of heavy duty, but comfortable, chairs from a used office supply store...brand new, the chairs cost $600 apiece (commerical office furniture always seems overpriced when new), but only cost me $75 apiece.

For the DM, I use a drafting table, set flat.  This gives the DM his own space for screen, notes, etc.

Typically, everyone brings their own snacks, although people share what they bring.  For soda, I have a fountain Coke machine (although I've given up drinking the stuff myself), and each person chips in $2 if they drink soda.

Since we are up to 8 players and 1 DM, I'm going to have to do some rearranging of the room to try and squeeze everyone in, although it will still be "cozy" to some extent.

We use a battlemat on the table, as well as Tact-Tiles.  For quick sketches, we have a whiteboard on a tripod.  All in all, this set-up works quite nicely.


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## sniffles (May 20, 2005)

I have several friends/GMs with similar gaming room setups. Two of them recently purchased split-level homes and both installed a gaming room in the lower level. One is using a big piece of masonite framed onto a smaller table to give it more surface space, but I don't think this is entirely satisfactory since the masonite tends to bend if you rest your elbows on it where it extends beyond the top of the table. His wife won't let him buy a mini-fridge because she says then she'd never see him again.  

The other person has the better setup (althought the first guy has more comfortable chairs  ). He has an 8-foot table. The room is surrounded entirely with shelving to hold his miniature collection and game aids. He also has purchased a lot of spare foam inserts for Games Workshop miniature cases and has mounted them on the walls on vinyl-coated wire racks. He has a wet-erase Chessex grid mat on the table at all times. There's also a large wipe-board on the wall behind the GM's chair.  The room does have a slight loss of traffic space, but he can keep it set up 24-7. Conveniently, there's a bathroom right across the hall. Unfortunately there's no room for a mini-fridge - we all bring our own snacks, and have to store them in the main fridge upstairs. 

I also play at a friend's home where we play in the living room. There's no table to put a battle mat on, and usually at least one player ends up sitting on the floor because there's not enough room for chairs. I do not find sitting on the couch conducive to good roleplaying. There's nowhere to put my stuff, nowhere to write unless I do it on my binder, nowhere to roll my dice except on the coffee table. I usually get very sleepy during those games because the light is poor, and I get a backache from leaning over to roll dice.

I'd say the best things to have in an ideal gaming room are good lighting, good storage, comfortable chairs, and easy access to the bathroom and kitchen. I think a fully finished basement with a kitchenette would be the perfect location.


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## Darmanicus (May 20, 2005)

FoxWander said:
			
		

> I'll be rearranging my house soon and plan to turn the downstairs family room into a gaming room and figured this would be the best place to get advice on what the best setup might be. I really want to make a room that has both a good gaming atmosphere and is setup the best possible way for ease and enjoyment of gaming. Some of my specific musings concern...
> 
> What's the perfect gaming table?
> - A whiteboard surface with etched grid? Easy to get to for moving minis/counters but can be awkward to write on.
> ...




Invite me along, I generally bring enough beers for everyone!


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## Ogrork the Mighty (May 20, 2005)

I too have had bad experiences with using a couch for seating. It was too low and the players just reclined and pretty much zoned out. It was much better beforehand with chairs. Not to mention the inevitable problem of the couch devouring pencils, dice, and whatever else it can get its grubby cushions on!


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## philreed (May 21, 2005)

DungeonKeeperUK said:
			
		

> But I have to say about my worst place to play in, many years ago in my teens we couldn't find any parent willing to let us into a room for the night to have a game... and thus we ended up in a 10'x10' leaking shed in a thunderstorm with barelwy enough room for the 5 of us to stand let alone play.... funnily enough it turned out to be a pretty good game, but we still didn't use that venue again......




I remember those days. We used to play in a boat that was in a garage.


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## Warehouse23 (May 21, 2005)

I was thinking about experimenting with a semicircular gaming table. Players sit along the curved half, and the DM sits along the straight half--sort of like at a blackjack table. I'm the kind of player who likes the stand up when the battle gets intense to be able to peer across the battle mat and try to get a good strategic view of the combat (high Int characters-- what can I say). I've always been nervous that DMs think I am trying to peer over their screen when I do that (although nothing could be further from the case). I think a semicircle would help negate that problem. It would also make players feel more equal-- there's something about a rectangular or circular set up that means a DM can't pay equal attention to all the players. 

Any experience with non-standard tables?


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## Silver Moon (May 21, 2005)

We have a dining room that is 12x27 feet in size which is perfect for a Gameroom.  With all the leaves in the dining table expands to 4x11 feet in size and we then put on top of it a 4x8 foot dry erase board permanently marked with 1-inch squares.    We use this room to game in from March to November.     

In December that becomes our Christmas room instead, with the tree and presents (with the leaves and sides down the table closes to a mere 4x3 foot size).   The kids then continue to use the room as a playroom for all of the new Christmas games and toys and we usually don't convert it back into game-room format until after the February school vacation.  

So for the three winter months we game in the family room instead, where we keep the fireplace running all weekends and usually have a pot of soup or stew simmering by game time.   That is also the "comfy-chair room" with two couches, a loveseat and some nice chairs to sit in.   I put a smaller 3x4 foot dry erase board (also with permanent 1-inch squares) on top of a coffee table for those winter games. 

We've hosted gaming weekend here before and between these two rooms and the table in the kitchenette can have three games simultaneously running without a problem.


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## Arbiter of Wyrms (May 25, 2005)

sniffles said:
			
		

> I'd say the best things to have in an ideal gaming room are good lighting, good storage, comfortable chairs, and easy access to the bathroom and kitchen. I think a fully finished basement with a kitchenette would be the perfect location.



While I agree that all of these things are critical for the ideal gaming situation, another item that's always an issue if there will be non-gamers around is that the gaming area be out of the flow of traffic.  I would love if my group could always play in the dining room, and though it's small, we could all sqeeze in.  The problem is that there is too much non-gamer traffic through the dining room, so we often end up forgoing the table and cramming ourselves into our small den, just to have some quietude.


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## Kid Charlemagne (May 25, 2005)

Warehouse23 said:
			
		

> Any experience with non-standard tables?




Not a non-standard table, but a non-standard use of a regular 3' x 8' table.  At one of the early Chicago Gamedays, Piratecat ran a Feng Shui game and set up along the long side of the table rather than at the end like most DM's set up.

The nice thing about this is that all the players were roughly equal distance from the DM.  There wasn't any issue of talking down the length of the table, for example.  In a regular D&D game, it would make it easy to pass notes or to draw on the battlemat.

The drawback is that it would seem to take up a little more table space than a "normal" set up.


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## weezoh (May 25, 2005)

I vote for a table every time I just need writing space etc. . . 

here are pictures of our gaming room 

the table is 2 ping pong tables that are older than me, painted with an almond color to give a good background under the vellum grid.

went to home depot and got the plexiglass, overall I think the cost was around $100


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## Talic (May 25, 2005)

We built a non-standard gaming table. It is halfround too. The players take the edge of the circle, as you said. and the DM has a mini station that pulls out from under the table along the long side.  The advantage to this setup is that it better focuses all of the players attention on the DM, not across the table at the antics of another player.

The table has an upper tier which has a piece of plexi over a grid laid flush with the table top. Makes it very easy for all to see and reach the board. A lower tier on the outer edge is about 15 inches deep for each player to have room for books, character sheets, dice rolls, etc. and helps keep things organized and away from the map. 

The workmanship and materials is kida on the poor side, but it was a fairly cheap build, and it works well. There are several simple improvements we plan to make when we have time, such as adding dice pits which can double as beverage holders, a narrow basket or slot at each station for books, and a tack board for each station.

If I loaded these images correctly, you can see the thing under construction as I seem to have lost the completed photos. But at least you get the idea. 
-The first image is the DM station. about 24x36 inches of space. The walls stick up about 2 inches higher than the top tier of the main talble and are hinged to fold down for easy storage under the main table.
-Second image shows the players table configuration. Not truely half-round as there are 5 stations with their angled faces toward the center.
-Entire thing was built on about $100 using two 4x8 sheets of melamine(very durable, no finish required, but a tough cut), a 24x36 sheet of plexiglass, bunch of bolts and brackets, and a dozen or so 2x4s (for legs, support, etc.)


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## Mark (May 25, 2005)

Wow!  Some great pics!  Keep em coming!


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## Jeff Wilder (May 25, 2005)

I use my second bedroom for a gameroom.

I have two folding tables from Office Depot -- I think they're 3'x8', or 6'x8' together -- and have hung various gaming maps (and Buffy and concert posters) on the walls.  We use a megamat in the center of the table(s).  I use a TV cart to hold DM supplies and miscellaneous stuff (SteelSqwire, magnetic tokens, Dungeon Stamps, Vis a Vis pens, and so on).  Although I hate using computers at the table, the room is equipped with a broadband jack, just in case.  I have a separate board for building Master Maze setups on ahead of time.  I use shelves in the closet to hold all of the most referenced books (aside from those that are actually in play); shelves in my living room hold my hundreds of other D20 books and thousands of D&D miniatures.

The gameroom is pretty nice to have.  It's easily big enough to comfortably hold a DM and six players.  It's nice enough, anyway, that I keep paying the extra $400 a month or so in rent, rather than get a smaller place.  (Come to think of it, I might start asking folks to pop in $5 or so a session to defray the extra cost.  That'd come to $150 or so a month.  Hmmm.)


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## Brottor Dankil (May 26, 2005)

FoxWander said:
			
		

> I'll be rearranging my house soon and plan to turn the downstairs family room into a gaming room and figured this would be the best place to get advice on what the best setup might be. I really want to make a room that has both a good gaming atmosphere and is setup the best possible way for ease and enjoyment of gaming. Some of my specific musings concern...
> 
> What's the perfect gaming table?
> - A whiteboard surface with etched grid? Easy to get to for moving minis/counters but can be awkward to write on.
> ...





I would suggest Tact-Tiles for your gaming surface (www.bc-products.net).  Excellent dry-erase surface with interlocking tiles.  Make the surface as small as 10" x 10" or as large as you want, the tiles are modular.  

You can pre-draw, revealing one tile at a time if you want.  Really speeds up gameplay.  

-Brottor


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## Roadkill101 (May 27, 2005)

I've got a spare room (for now) in the basement.  At one time it was setup for a gaming/generalized library room, and it slowly became the catch-all junk room for the house.  I have a large rectangular table down there and a 4'X8' piece of tile board on top of that, that I'd marked off in 1/2" squares and used a dry erase marker on top of that, to resolve combat.  The tile board hangs over the table edges maybe 4" per side which can be a bit of a problem if someone puts a lot of pressure on the edge.  But like I said the room has become the junk room, and most of my gaming is done at a friends place.
So I am currently in the process of looking into using either vinyl flooring of vinyl fabric to create a battle mat from.  Actually, I plan on making several mats, one for my downstairs table and one to take to my friends (his table is smaller than mine).
Once I get the room cleaned up again, I plan on adding/doing the following things to create atmosphere.
Paint the walls with a faux stone finish.  Add functioning oil lamps (using scented oils) or use candles and wall mounted candle holders, to provide mood lighting (I already have a black lamp in place, it can create a bit of a creepy feeling in conjunction with several candles so you can look things up clearly as necessary).
Scatter the bookshelves and storage cabinets in several locations (with all necessary reference material closest to the GM's seat) along the walls.  Including a small fridge.
Add to my collection of medieval weapons to hang along the walls (so far I've got a sword to hang up).
I have an ash-tray that is molded like skull (top comes off) to use as a center-piece on the table.
And eventually, I'd like to put in a second bathroom, my house only has one and it's upstairs.
The ideas of using a laptop or overhead projector are really nice, but unless one has the time (which I don't) to learn and use the necessary applications, they can be difficult to incorporate, not to mention potentially costly.


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## Talic (May 29, 2005)

Yep, it's official. I lost the photos of the completed table, so I'll have to retake them next time we play.

Fortunately, I did still have the 3D computer model I used to design the thing. So I Took a lil time to apply some materials to the model and export some images. Here's what we hoped it would be. Final product is close, minus some of the details so far.

*Highlights:*
-5 individual player stations
.-2 Dice pits/cup holders each
.-Book storage slots between stations
.-Tack Board for each station
.-Player attention focused on DM

-Individual DM station
.-4 Dice pit/cup holders
.-Book storage slots
.-Tack board
.-Clear slot for inserts
.-Walls fold down for sorage under table

-24x36" plexiglass battle board on raised teir; removable with grid under

-2 storage bins for minis, dice, markers, etc. built into upper teir


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## Romnipotent (May 29, 2005)

Talic, that officially rocks.  Lacks a bar fridge built in, and holoprojectors but I can forgive that.


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