When we first started gaming in our current home, I would set up one card table to DM from, one to put my battle-map on and everyone else would sit on the couches and use TV trays. This set-up worked just fine, except it was a little crowded. Everyone would have to pull themselves up out of the couches just to see what I did on the battlemap. Inevitably, a TV tray would get bumped and somebody’s soda would wind up on the floor, much to my wife’s dismay. Yeah, it worked, just not well.
But then, something miraculous happened and I was given a chance to up-grade. When my wife first suggested that we put up the ping-pong table in our family room, my first thought was not “great, now we can play ping-pong anytime we want!” No, my first thought was “Awesome, now we can use it for gaming nights!” I’m sure many of you would’ve had the same reaction. At first, she thought I was kidding when I suggested using the table for gaming. Funny how spouses can be sometimes, I thought she knew me better than that. 
So this is our typical gaming night set-up.
I gotta tell ya, I am loving it. There is plenty of room for each player, we currently have four. We can spread out the battle-map so that everyone has a front row seat to the action. And I (or our other DM) can have the whole other end of the table to spread out my notes, my laptop (when needed), DM screen, dice, etc.
So, is your game night set-up similar? Do you do the couch and TV tray thing or perhaps the classic diner table set-up? Is your current set-up working for you and your gaming group? Or do you need a change of environment?
The Ultimate Up-grade
As satisfied as I am with my current situation, I sometimes contemplate the ultimate gaming room. If I won the Lottery, Publisher’s Clearing House or perhaps an inheritance from an as of yet unknown wealthy relative, I think I would build a gaming room similar to this*, but with more open space, a SMART Board, and soda dispensers. A guy can dream, can’t he?
* I know this has gone around numerous times, but it’s just so damn cool!
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March 6th, 2010 - 3:28 pm
My gaming area is in my basement (I know…I know). We have a former kitchen table, with some office chairs as our main table, and a large dry erase board on one wall. We have some other racks and cabinets for holding dice, snacks, and other accessories. The space works great for up to 5 players, which is the maximum size of our group.
March 7th, 2010 - 10:37 am
W have everyone sit on the floor of the living room with the battlemat in the center. It works, but I’d rather we had a bigger table.
Mark´s last blog ..The Fearsome Beast from Below the Earth
March 7th, 2010 - 12:09 pm
At least you have a house big enough to game in.
March 9th, 2010 - 10:46 am
I’ve tried to find it but no joy – there was a website I saw a month or so ago, by a cabinet maker who just happens to be an RPG nut. The guy has designed the most awesome tables, really beautiful works of art, with space to store everything underneath, polished walnut DM screen etc. But anyway, that’s one for the lottery, I think they start at $15K.
We’ve got a rather large heavy oak coffee table that we got off ebay when we moved into our house (I think it was someone’s woodwork project, it’s purely functional and will outlast us all). In fact the main reason we got it was for D&D! We players put the battlemat, paperwork and snacks on this and the DM has his own separate little table. I like the idea of sitting round a vast ping-pong table though, lots more room!
In another blog I saw recently someone posted about unusual and atmospheric locations. Someone was planning a game underground in a subterranean cave, someone else commented on playing CoC camped near a swamp in New Orleans. The weirdest place I’ve played is a purpose-built stone circle in my friend’s parents’ meadow.
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March 9th, 2010 - 12:57 pm
@ DNSphil; Basement D&D is a classic. I wouldn’t mind having a nice, large whiteboard.
@Mark; Don’t you guys get cramped up on the floor? My players would get fidgety way too much.
@Steve; I feel your pain.
@Dungeonmum; I’d love to play in a subterranean setting or in a stone circle, but I’d skip the swamp game. (Mosquitoes love me way too much!)