The real world.
Specifically, I enjoy playing in my game room because all of my books are with in arm’s reach, there’s a television for sharing visuals, and the Dice Cup of Shame is available for anyone who forgets their polyhedrals. Decals from the original vector graphic version of Asteroids cover one sloping wall, while another wall features Iron Man’s head and hand bursting through. Posters – made from metal – of represent Weyerbacher Brewing, Millennium Falcon, and Wolverine’s first fight with the Hulk.
Another wall is filled with IKEA bookshelves, themselves fully loaded with role-playing games and an extensive collection of Hellboy and B.P.R.D. graphic novels (as well as a smattering of other books). The aforementioned TV sites on another IKEA bookshelf, this one stocked with a few decades worth of board games. Hooked up to the TV, should we get board, is an Xbox One, a RetroPie, and an Apple TV (for screen casting). A massive bean bag chair, nicknamed Betelgeuse, takes up a corner of the room. I love it … but it’s huge.
There’s no table; whenever we game, we breakout folding tables and chairs. They in the room well enough, but truth be told, it can be a little cramped if we have 6 or 7 people playing. We usually move to my dining room in that scenario.
Runner-up in the real world is any of my friends’ houses. I’ve got two Plano tackle boxes stocked with game master supplies (one for Dungeons & Dragons, another for Savage Worlds) and enough room for a book or three. That becomes my roving game master box, so I’ve got a little bit of my game room with me where ever I go.
Second runner-up in the real world is game conventions. Big, small, with friends or with strangers, I don’t care. I just like to get together and sling dice. Preferably while playing a game I rarely get to play at home.
Finally, online gaming gets an honorable mention. It’s typically using some combination of Discord and a virtual desktop (Roll20, Owlbear Rodeo), with me usually in my game room (but occasionally in my work office for my lunchtime campaigns). It’s not my favorite, and I’ll always prefer real-world gaming, but it got me through the pandemic, and its lets me play with folks I may never catch up with in the real world.
- This post is part of the RPG a Day 2022 event. Catch up on Nuketown’s posts via the post category and learn more about the event at its community page on Facebook.