Quote from: Sommerjon;665289I play all over the place.
I however do have my own 'Man Cave'  I have a 16 x 16 foot shed that I just recently completed refurbishing into my ultimate nerdified gaming room.  I have a sound system, refrigerator, microwave, shelves for miniatures, and gaming books a 4x6 miniature table that morphs into an 8ft circular table for roleplaying(keeping the miniature surface or laying a square/hex grid over it).  I have a growing library of sound effects and mood music.  I have a Dm screen with 2 built in 15" flat screen monitors, one my side and one on theirs for displaying pictures

I don't allow smart phones or computers at the table.

Thats the kind of setup I was thinking of!  A place where I could have a table and some chairs, some accessories like screens, and basic appliances to store food and drinks for the group.

One of the best things I had, and wish I still did, was a projector set up in my family room.  I'd hook up my laptop to it and project illustrations, maps, and whatever else on the screen to the players.

Quote from: RolePieces;665310A wiki for a campaign is really cool!  The group I played with tracked a Dresden campaign we were running and kind of put it into a narrative, it was a  play by post, so just about everything was in character.  It was posted to reddit.com in a couple of posts, I wonder if I could find them.....

The player who typed up the notes on his laptop submitted the campaign to Alarums and Excursions. New tech, old publication.

I use a GM screen, laptop and a larger 28" monitor off to the side. I like PDFs because I an search them. I also keep a GM screen PDF open for quick reference. I use Evernote currently to track game notes/info, but will upgrade to Realm Works once that KS software from Lone Wolf is ready for us backers. I use the magnetic initiative tracker setup on one of those page stands. I am considering building a GM computer with a couple monitors to replace my GM screen and go completely electronic including dice roller, initiative tracking, etc.

I GM on a smaller 2' x 4' white plastic table with a TV stand (also white plastic) off to the side. The main table is two 3' x 6' folding plastic table with 6 fold up plastic chairs (all this from COSTCO). I use my desk chair.

I convert the living room in my apartment to the game room, and the dining room becomes the TV room.

This has been my preferred gaming setup for some time now. Works really well!

Quote from: trechriron;665327I use a GM screen, laptop and a larger 28" monitor off to the side. I like PDFs because I an search them. I also keep a GM screen PDF open for quick reference. I use Evernote currently to track game notes/info, but will upgrade to Realm Works once that KS software from Lone Wolf is ready for us backers. I use the magnetic initiative tracker setup on one of those page stands. I am considering building a GM computer with a couple monitors to replace my GM screen and go completely electronic including dice roller, initiative tracking, etc.

I GM on a smaller 2' x 4' white plastic table with a TV stand (also white plastic) off to the side. The main table is two 3' x 6' folding plastic table with 6 fold up plastic chairs (all this from COSTCO). I use my desk chair.

I convert the living room in my apartment to the game room, and the dining room becomes the TV room.

This has been my preferred gaming setup for some time now. Works really well!

Sounds like a great setup!  I like having electronics to simplify and enhance the games, they just end up being a distraction for my group

Quote from: Sacrosanct;665316One of the best things I had, and wish I still did, was a projector set up in my family room.  I'd hook up my laptop to it and project illustrations, maps, and whatever else on the screen to the players.

A projector is an awesome idea!  I've seen them for projecting game consoles so I guess it isn't much of a stretch to use them for RPG's.  I might have to try that out.  I'm sure I have an old projector laying around somewhere...

Forgot to mention my initiative board is metal dry erase coated surface with character names on magnetic strips so they can be moved in order if people ready or whatever and the dry erase allows us to keep track of rounds and spell duration or other effects. I have enemy 1-5 strips and two event strips for things that happen on a timed schedule or to help me remember environmental effects.

So far seems the best method to handle initiative as who's action is announced and who is next is also announced. Also helps make sure no one is forgotten, Most the time.

Quote from: RolePieces;665309So do you just have a map on the table where everyone can use it? or do you just go off of descriptions?

The players map from my descriptions. For truly complex stuff that really matters, I'll quickly (and roughly) sketch it out on my clipboard and pass that around.

It has varied enormously over time.  In my last city, two of the players had iPads and kept their pathfinder rules on them.  We treated the use of iPads the same as rulebooks.  Functional use at the table but reading on them would be rude.  

Some of my games involve computers.  Those make it harder to police distractions.  

I also play in a 3.5 game in a coffeeshop.  There is not enough room at the table for devices.  One player (a student) keeps his character sheet on his phone which is a bit cumbersome.  We do have a mid-game break were people have a chance to check phones, get more coffee, use the restroom and generally decompress.

We have converted the walkout level of my friend's 30' x 30' garage into a gaming room (I attached a panoramic of the room). We make extensive use of laptops, miniatures (WotC), and terrain elements (Dwarven Forge and homemade). We have three 4' x 8' tables to set up on in addition to three smaller 4' x 4' tables and a desk. We have enough seating for about a dozen people to play. The only thing we lack is internet access (we are just far enough away from the wireless router). But that's okay since, you know, we are there to play D&D!

How my group typically does things:

Maps are hand-drawn.  Almost all character sheets are physical copies.

Computers are allowed because most of my group has PDF products of RPG games.  It's pretty easy to search for rules with Ctrl F.

Cell phones are not really used.  No bans, it just hasn't come up.

Initiative is tracked with index cards, marked with play names and "NPC 1/2/etc" and "Enemy 1/2/etc."  Those who rolled highest are shuffled to the front, and at the end of every turn I shuffle the card to the back for the next in line.

Quote from: Artifacts of Amber;665334Forgot to mention my initiative board is metal dry erase coated surface with character names on magnetic strips so they can be moved in order if people ready or whatever and the dry erase allows us to keep track of rounds and spell duration or other effects. I have enemy 1-5 strips and two event strips for things that happen on a timed schedule or to help me remember environmental effects.

So far seems the best method to handle initiative as who's action is announced and who is next is also announced. Also helps make sure no one is forgotten, Most the time.

I should try to incorporate this sometime.  We regularly lose track of who's turn it is once one of our players starts looking up a rule for an action they are gonna take.  It really bogs down the session!

Quote from: RandallS;665347The players map from my descriptions. For truly complex stuff that really matters, I'll quickly (and roughly) sketch it out on my clipboard and pass that around.

I've never played straight from descriptions.  The group I play with is very map-centric.  Are there any special difficulties when working straight from descriptions?  Obviously the players have to pay alot of attention to your details and keep track of the environment on their own.

Quote from: Votan;665362It has varied enormously over time.  In my last city, two of the players had iPads and kept their pathfinder rules on them.  We treated the use of iPads the same as rulebooks.  Functional use at the table but reading on them would be rude.  

Some of my games involve computers.  Those make it harder to police distractions.  

I also play in a 3.5 game in a coffeeshop.  There is not enough room at the table for devices.  One player (a student) keeps his character sheet on his phone which is a bit cumbersome.  We do have a mid-game break were people have a chance to check phones, get more coffee, use the restroom and generally decompress.

My group has found that a mid-session break is essential.  All of us have jobs, two of them working in construction, so by the time Friday or Saturday rolls around and we start a session, they're exhausted and need a break to stretch their legs and get some snacks.

Quote from: Jacob Marley;665372We have converted the walkout level of my friend's 30' x 30' garage into a gaming room (I attached a panoramic of the room). We make extensive use of laptops, miniatures (WotC), and terrain elements (Dwarven Forge and homemade). We have three 4' x 8' tables to set up on in addition to three smaller 4' x 4' tables and a desk. We have enough seating for about a dozen people to play. The only thing we lack is internet access (we are just far enough away from the wireless router). But that's okay since, you know, we are there to play D&D!

I am seriously jealous!  After years of playing around a little 4'x4' table in crammed in someones basement, there are 5 of us now that my friend's sister got involved, I wish I had a place to spread out and have a more relaxing environment.