My group recently has been gaming between 6 pm and 9 or 9:30 ish.

As result theplayers be just getting there from work and may or may not have had dinner.

So, if we can we try to have dinner or food at the start of the game session.

This time I worked the meal into the gae story.

In t'Star Trek' lore there is a spicy dish that the Bajorans love called 'Hasperat'. In the Star Trek cookbook it is described as sort of like spicy or really spicy burrito.

The ship the players are on has a Bajoran Ship's cook. So I decided he was making Hasperat for the commanding officers - they hadn't paused to eat and he was worried about them (Yes my NPCs worry abbout the player characters)

So, Yesterday I went to the nearby KROGER'S store and got all the ingrediants I could remember for typical burritos.

Around 5:45 pm I started cooking the meat ad other ingedients - got lucky that two of the players showed early and one of them is a better cook than I am - she helped get things just right.

So , after everyone was at the table we each had made our own burritos or "Haperat".
In the game session story the ship's cook - Grem Edon had set up a fiekd kitchen on the planet they were on and he made this food for the crews f three shuttle crafts - and the two wayward ambassadors that our heroes had rescued...

Oh yeah, they also made first contact with a non-human race that was like a Dolphin looking version of mermaids or 'mer-folk'. There was a lot of role playing to get through a language barrier paired with accidental telepathy.

Anyone else work real meals into the story of your game sessions?

- Ed C.

I often start the game session IRL with food (people play better on a full tummy), and in-game at the tavern, so yes so it makes sense that the PCs are eating just as the players are eating. We rarely make a big deal of it though.

Since my group plays at a grocery store people grab what they want to eat beforehand and eat as we play.

As for in game, the group will go to the tavern or a local restaurant when they are in town.  Because we had a bard who was a cook, he always said he cooked a meal and that was taken care of.  Since he left I haven't been as good with rations as I should but I have said that I am going to start enforcing it so that should fix that issue.

Interesting concept...closest thing I can remember is pounding a 6-pack in about five minutes to illustrate how an NPC was drinking at a tavern. That did not end well.

We always have snacks during games, and usually adult beverages, too, but I've never actually seen them tied in-game. Might have to try that sometime.

My Saturday group plays at my house from 2 to 10ish.  We usually break from 6 to 7 for dinner.  We'll grill, order pizza, nuke stuff in the microwave, whatever people feel like doing.

Sometimes I cook for all of us.  I'll usually try to tie the food to the game setting somehow, stews or roasts for some fantasy games, street food for cyberpunk, etc.

Greetings!

Food is always welcome, of course. Periodically, I make some effort to tie the food being enjoyed to an environment that the group is involved with, or traveling through.

In the past, with one gaming group, I used to take everyone to a local Persian, Indian, or Greek restaurant for an early dinner before we got the game session started. I have always been enthusiastic about embracing food during the game session, often tying the food in with the scenario. My players always eagerly look forward to the week's game session.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK

Quote from: Koltar on May 06, 2023, 02:13:35 AM
Anyone else work real meals into the story of your game sessions?

- Ed C.

(Immediately imagines the players trying to hunt down the neighborhood pets while I run a "Stranded on an alien planet" scenario.)

No.

In my misspent youth, Friday night meant pizza and D&D (or some other food to go with another game). The player who got the coolest treasure often got voted to hit the drive-thru and pick up our orders.

Actual home cooking is rare, since it's just not convenient. One exception is during the summer when daylight extends to almost 9PM. I can grill burgers or chicken for several people very quickly.

Kinda sorta. 

My high school group frequently played at one of the player's house whose parents bought odd snacks.  The veggie chips came in 8 different shapes, and they assigned meanings to them like a magic 8 ball.    Sometimes, frex, they would come to an intersection, not know which way to go, and draw a chip from the veggie-chip oracle.  The chips meaning "left" or "right" were clear enough as answers, but if the answer was "yes" it would require some interpretation.  It was a fun tradition.