Quote from: Libertad;665376How 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.

Index cards would work really well!  For some reason my group has never really worried about initiative, we just wing it.  In our most recent campaign I'm playing a ranger, so I normally end up going first, then our rogue, then the monk and inquisitor.  We just base it on position, role, and what makes sense.

Quote from: RolePieces;665450I'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.

We have one person who is the party cartographer and he is in charge of mapping the dungeon, city, ruins, whatever.  He's a graphic artist so he's got a good grasp of representing on the page what is in his mind. Actually taking the time and mapping out rooms and such as you go makes sense, a turn is 10 minutes after all. And who's to say you as GM has to correct their mistakes - chase scenes are fun when the party gets lost.

Working from descriptions is easier than you think. A lot of the details you mention above are just not that important or obvious when first entering an area. The GM describes the scene briefly. The players ask questions about the location. The GM describes the details as appropriate. The players remember the stuff because they asked for it. This gradual unraveling is easier on the memory and imagination (and more fun IMO) than reading the infodump module players' text.

Quote from: languagegeek;665489We have one person who is the party cartographer and he is in charge of mapping the dungeon, city, ruins, whatever.  He's a graphic artist so he's got a good grasp of representing on the page what is in his mind. Actually taking the time and mapping out rooms and such as you go makes sense, a turn is 10 minutes after all. And who's to say you as GM has to correct their mistakes - chase scenes are fun when the party gets lost.

We used to do elaborate, detailed maps, to every detail. Until one day we assigned Rich to do the mapping. We were in a very large, complicated dungeon, and quite a ways in, when sombody notice his "map" was the equivalent of stick figures. Short, straight lines, all the same length, mostly 90 degree angles, no measurements of any kind. Just indications of where rooms were, how many exist there were, and relative directions. Bare minimum of info, and it could be drawn in character without even stopping.

And it worked brilliantly, as we ran like hell away from something.

Detailed, visually accurate maps are something of an affectation, really.

Quote from: languagegeek;665489We have one person who is the party cartographer and he is in charge of mapping the dungeon, city, ruins, whatever.  He's a graphic artist so he's got a good grasp of representing on the page what is in his mind. Actually taking the time and mapping out rooms and such as you go makes sense, a turn is 10 minutes after all. And who's to say you as GM has to correct their mistakes - chase scenes are fun when the party gets lost.

Working from descriptions is easier than you think. A lot of the details you mention above are just not that important or obvious when first entering an area. The GM describes the scene briefly. The players ask questions about the location. The GM describes the details as appropriate. The players remember the stuff because they asked for it. This gradual unraveling is easier on the memory and imagination (and more fun IMO) than reading the infodump module players' text.

I'm gonna talk to my GM and see if we can run a game like this.  It sounds like it would be more fun that way.  I just don't know how well all of the group members would deal without a map :/

Quote from: taustin;665545We used to do elaborate, detailed maps, to every detail. Until one day we assigned Rich to do the mapping. We were in a very large, complicated dungeon, and quite a ways in, when sombody notice his "map" was the equivalent of stick figures. Short, straight lines, all the same length, mostly 90 degree angles, no measurements of any kind. Just indications of where rooms were, how many exist there were, and relative directions. Bare minimum of info, and it could be drawn in character without even stopping.

And it worked brilliantly, as we ran like hell away from something.

Detailed, visually accurate maps are something of an affectation, really.

We normally draw maps out on grid paper and add details on top of that, so the idea of just having simple straight lines wouldn't be too big of a jump.  It's essentially the same when we use our acrylic dry erase grid.

We currently play in the lounge/dinning room as the condo doesn't have separation.
I have a stack of A1 sheets of paper from the packing move on the middle of the table that I will sketch tactical plans on (I might change to a battlemap if the paper runs out).
I write initiative and hp of damage etc at one end of hte sheet.
I have no GM screen all dice are rolled open.
If I have any notes they will be in a note book I never open next to me.
As we are currently playing a Homebrew game there are no rule books but I have printed out chargen, combat, mass combat and Psyke use sheets that everyone has copies of.
There are no minits we use tokens or coins if tactical combat demands and sometimes I nick wooden blocks from by daughters room to use as buildings or a land train or whatnot.
No computers, I have a mobile phone that I use to track the time.
Bowl of snacks, cups for tea, soda or whatnot.

In days of yore back in the UK we did much the same. We used to use minis (I have 1000+ painted lead minis to proove it ) but they end up being the marching order and then get forgotten about. We played with floorplans etc for a while but ...meh... I am drawn to dwaven forge but the investment of time seems too much. A lightboard gametable system I could just adlib stuff from on the fly would be my ideal format but currently they all seem to rely on you making stuff up in advance and there isn't enough room for innovation/laziness.
We used to drink Wine or beer but not popular here in Sing and we used to play 'occassional background music' but now I put the CD on and its quickly forgotten about.

We have done full format in costume games with props and in character feasts for food (roast suckling pig with all the trimmings for our wizard game is particularly memorable) but as we would all play I would have to pay a chef to come and cook it and the over head is a bit much compared to a couple of pizzas

When we were kids we often played sitting on the wall down by the woodwork room which is when we first dispenced with minis.

Quote from: taustin;665545We used to do elaborate, detailed maps, to every detail. Until one day we assigned Rich to do the mapping. We were in a very large, complicated dungeon, and quite a ways in, when sombody notice his "map" was the equivalent of stick figures. Short, straight lines, all the same length, mostly 90 degree angles, no measurements of any kind. Just indications of where rooms were, how many exist there were, and relative directions. Bare minimum of info, and it could be drawn in character without even stopping.

That's what my maps look like when I'm in charge of cartography. Hell, that's what not a few of my GM maps look like.

I prefer to play on the floor if there's enough room and things are reasonably clean - my own studio apartment is great for this but we play at some of my friends too.

I prefer no maps but just general arrangement/doodles on a sheet of paper, unless it's a game where positioning is really important, then a huge vinyl battlemat is go.

I don't really enjoy using miniatures unless they directly correspond to what they're portraying, and I don't usually have such available. So I prefer abstract counters with stuff scribbled on them or things to that regard. I use shogi pieces for Tenra Bansho Zero. I like to use candy for enemies as well - you get to eat what you kill.

I love all kinds of tokens, markers, dice and whatever else seems vaguely appropriate for the game.

Quote from: vytzka;665680I like to use candy for enemies as well - you get to eat what you kill.

Didn't we all do that at one time or the other...?

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;665716Didn't we all do that at one time or the other...?

I've known people who would do that with lead miniatures, if you let them. Oddly, I doubt it would have much effect on their IQ.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205So I've been wondering how other people play tabletop RPG's, since I've only ever played with one group.  Are you allowed to have computers/cell phones during the game?  What kinds of maps/boards/miniatures do you use?  Does your GM use a screen?

No maps (except for players themselves drawing maps of the dungeon so as not to get lost), boards or minis.

The GM is allowed to have anything he wants. Players can bring computers but not browse the internet or play games on them while the game is on.

RPGPundit

Depends on the game.

OD&D: This is an open table hexcrawl campaign. In the middle of the table there is a jar full of pencils; a stack of mapping supplies; a stack of "communal maps" (which have been passed around the bars of the setting so much that we just assume everybody has a copy); a stack of "Men & Magic" booklets; and a stack of house rule booklets (which also include a rough map of the campaign area).

At the beginning of the game, I've got two folders sitting in front of me. One of these contains all the character sheets for active PCs. The other folder contains blank character sheets for new characters. Once characters have been distributed/created, I put these folders off to one side so they don't get in the way.

During the game, as a GM, I don't have a screen in front of me. All I've got is a small notepad, my Echo smartpen, and a set of dice. Directly to my left is a small TV tray which has a GM screen on it in order to hide the hex map. The screen also has a few cheat sheets paper-clipped to the inside. My copies of the rulebooks are usually stacked there, but frequently end up on the table in front of me. Directly to my right is a second TV tray, this one containing a three-ringer binder and a stack of adventure modules representing the entirety of the campaign's content.

Godlike: Played in a Godlike game a few weeks ago. Everybody had a printed character sheet. There was a huge pile of "communal d10s" in the middle of the table. The GM had his notes on a TV tray placed off to one side. We used a Chessex battlemap to loosely sketch out some of the battlefields.

Technoir: In the middle of the table there is a jar of pencils and two metal bowls (which contain the communal d6's for the game). Everybody has a character sheet. I've got the rulebook and the pamphlet-printed transmission I'm currently using sitting on the table in front of me. I also have my Echo smartpen and notepad.

Eclipse Phase: I've run a series of one-shots using EP. My spare copy of the rulebook is tossed in the middle of the table for people to reference. I've also got a stack of the cheat sheets and reference sheets I developed for the system so that people can quickly reference those. My EP rulebooks and module notes sit on a TV tray to my right.

During the first few sessions of EP I played without a screen. I added a screen not because I was particularly concerned for privacy, but because I found it a useful way to stage the reference sheets for my use.

Ptolus / D&D 3.5: This is my regular, dedicated campaign that's been running since 2007 with a consistent set of players. The campaign is a lot more elaborate and has a lot more material for it.

In the middle of the table there is a Chessex battlemap. The miniatures for each PC are usually to be found hanging out somewhere on there. Each player has their own dice; there are a couple overlapping sets of rulebooks owned by various players.

Going clockwise around the table: The player to my left uses a printed character sheet; she also has a small, leatherbound journal that she uses to keep notes.

The next player uses a set of cheat sheets for common stats. He has his laptop on a TV tray next to him: He uses an Excel spreadsheet to track his spells, scrolls, and current hit points. He has a custom app that he programmed in order to set his fighter's Power Attack feat, etc. He uses a PDF version of his character sheet when he needs to reference the full thing. He frequently looks up rules for us using the online SRD. (I can often have him looking up one thing while I'm looking up another; super useful.) He also has a larger journal that he uses to record his daily spell research.

The next player uses a printed character sheet. She has a modified version of the previous player's custom app that her fighter uses to set his feats, etc. She uses the maneuvers from the Book of Nine Swords and she has a set of homemade cards that she uses to track which maneuvers have been used.

The next player uses a printed character sheet. She has a huge accordion file containing the hundreds of printed handouts and other clues that they've collected over the course of the campaign.

The next player keeps it simple: A printed character sheet.

Okay, now for my end of the table: I use three GM screens to block off the last 12" or so of the table. This is for privacy; my players hate it when they have to keep averting their eyes from me in order to avoid looking at the dungeon map. Behind this screen I have essentially my entire dice collection (roughly a dozen of each type of dice, including three color-coded sets of d20's that I use to mass-roll iterative attacks). I also usually have my Echo smartpen, notepad, and the stapled "Campaign Status" document I use to keep track of what's going on in the campaign at the current moment.

Directly on the other side of the screen are four metal bowls: They contain four different types of "generic tokens" that can be used on the battlemap. (There are green and grey standing shields from Heroscape; glass beads; and some other random stuff.)

Along the wall to my right there is a long, narrow table: On this table I place two craft cabinets that I use to store and organize my collection of mostly prepainted miniatures.

Along the wall to my left is a huge poster map of Ptolus: 7 feet high and 9 feet long. I use a laser pointer to indicate locations on the map.

Directly to my left is a set of three TV trays. These hold the collection of 15 three-ring binders and assorted file folders that contain the entirety of the campaign. There's also roughly a dozen rulebooks and supplements that get stacked here.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205So I've been wondering how other people play tabletop RPG's, since I've only ever played with one group.  

Most games I've played in have been played the same way. People sitting around a table with character sheets, pencils and notebooks. We used to have more beer, now we have coffee and orange juice.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205Are you allowed to have computers/cell phones during the game?  

As the GM, I have a netbook, which contains all my gaming PDFs, poltlines and so on.

Players all have phones and some keep track of Facebook and online games, which can be mildly irritating, but if they can put up with me then I can put up with that.

Having said that, the group I played with in the 80s had someone who would turn up with a book, take his round in combat, then sit and read until his go came up. That was irritating at the time.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205What kinds of maps/boards/miniatures do you use?  

We generally don't use miniatures any more, although we are thinking of going back to them. We do have a hexboard in on of the houses where we play, but we very rarely use it. Normally, for combats, we draw maps on a sheet of paper and use dots to show where people are.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205Does your GM use a screen?

No, I detest the use of GM Screens and have never, nor will eve, use them.

All rolls are made in the open, nothing is fudged, that way it stays an honest game, in my opinion.

I suppose the netbook counts as a GM's Screen in one way - to keep the scenario secret, but it's mainly for show.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205In my group we all have our character sheets set up in Excel or Word, so we all have computers, and most of us keep our cell phones with us too.  This can lead to some really annoying distractions when you're trying to discuss something important and someone is browsing the internet.  Also, we normally just use hand drawn maps, or pre-made if we are playing a Pathfinder Adventure Path for example.  Anyone make customs maps through a computer program?  Do any of you use dry-erase grids or boards?  Rolepieces.com is going to release a map building set soon, so the group I play with is currently testing that as well.

We keep our character sheets on Excel, but print them out for the games. It would be very cluttered having 4 laptops on the table.

It is interesting that you use laptops and then hand draw maps.

I have used Cyberboard before, which allows me to draw reasonable-looking maps, despite having no artistic skill whatsoever.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205We also don't normally use miniatures.  Typically we used buttons and erasers off of pencils as character pieces, but we have moved to the tokens from rolepieces.com as well.  What miniatures do you use?  Do you have the sets from the D&D Beginner Box or did you buy your own?

In previous games, we have used gaming tokens from board games, tiddleywink counters and numbered pieces of paper. Way back when, we used proper painted miniatures, but then they didn't match the characters so became confusing.

Quote from: RolePieces;665205I am curious to see how the rest of the community handles their gaming environment so I can try to improve mine.

The best thing is to find a playing style that suits your group and stick with it.