Back in October I posted about the tools and props I used in my D&D games.
Well since my game is ready and good to go, I took a few more pictures of how I organize my things to have the smoothest of Crunchy game sessions.
My DMing Corner:
I have a recently renovated room in my basement that I made into my Gaming room. That is until my children are old enough to ask to move their bedrooms downstairs.
It features an older kitchen table and 5 chairs (the usual number of players).
I organized the room so that my place at the head of the table (so patriarchal!) allows me to get to what I need without getting up.
On the pic, you see place at the table, my white board (for rumours and such).
More Importantly, you see my D&D bookcase where I can get to any book witout getting up or having them hog the table space.
Actually, being the control freak that I am, I also organized the bookcase.
On the top shelf are the core books and the monster books. It’s stuff I use most and more likely to pull off.
On the middle shelf are sourcebooks I use regularly and my battlemaps.
On the bottom shelf is reference books (Adv. D&D to 3.0 books, Settings, often used magazines, etc) I use rarely. That’s where I keep my 1st Ed Dungeon Master Guide.
On the table itself, I try to keep the bare minimum because I get lost reall easily during the evening and I hate when I break pacing while I look for what I lost.
Here’s what I keep:
- My Adventure
- The D&D Rules Compendium
- A Notebook,
- My Trusted Combat Pad (best accessory ever!)
- My Encounter boxes (all the figs and loot per encounter), I might keep those on my Computer’s desk at my left also (not shown)
- Dice!
Minis and Tiles
I use D&D minis and Tiles a lot and I know those can be a Nightmare to organize. I use Plano customizable Tack and Bait box that I found in the sports and outdoors section at Walmart.
For the Minis, I store all the medium and small creatures in one box and I sorted Thus:
- Undead
- Animals and Beasts
- Humanoids
- Monstrous Humanoids
- Outsiders and weird stuff.
It makes choosing minis a lot faster and if the players decide to pull a fast one on me, well I can usually respond rapidly. 🙂
For the larger and Huge Critters, I keep them on a shelf in my gaming cabinet, that also houses my gigantic Magic the Gathering Collection.
And you’ve seen the bigger ones on my other bookshelf. I wonder if I’ll ever use those… 🙂
Finally, for the D&D tiles I use the same boxes as the minis, only I removed the tops to let the bigger pieces stick out.
I’ll need to buy a second one soon because I still have 3 sets unopened (there are 3 sets in what you see, minus six 8.5”X 11” tiles that I keep in the bookcase.
Hmmm, it seems I have to pad the text to make those pictures appear properly on the blog….
How bout them Patriots and that Clinton Senator huh? 🙂
No Seriously, if you have other organization tricks to share feel free to chime in!
Have a nice Weekend all.
It’s natural to want to sit at the head of the table. I and most other DMs I’ve had the luck to play with choose to…
However, recently I’ve discovered that the center of the table is much better. When you’re at the end, it tends to isolate you and also makes it difficult to reach things in the center. When you’re sitting in the middle of the long end, you’re more involved, more accessible, and you have much better access to the map.
On a normal-sized kitchen table, you should probably have your entire side to yourself (4 players can sit one on each end and two to the opposite side)… I’ll usually stick a chair on either side of me to hold things like books so that they’re not taking up always-precious table space.
I’m with Asmor. No DM screen, and sit to one side of the table. We have five to six chairs were people sit and not enough space on the table so people put extra dice, bags and books under their chairs or on additional chairs and stools.
You should submit those pictures to the Gaming Spaces Pool on Flickr.
I like your setup. I have a two book case shelves devoted to game stuff, but out in an adjacent room rather than immediately to hand.
I like Asmor and Alex’s “sit in the middle of the table” idea– I’d previously rejected it for space considerations (5 players: 2 couches and 2 big chairs), but if we switched things around I could do it. I’ve long thought it’d be better for the GM to have more people close, rather than at the other end of the table…
I think table positioning is one of the most important non game things that contributes to a game. The best layouts I’ve been privy to have always with the GM having one side to him or herself. I always loved gaming in college because you could grab one of those conference rooms built into the dorms to game in. Neutral location, big table, closed off but usually with windows to see outside areas.
We used to have this huge 4’x8′ gaming table before we renovated my basement. At that time I could play on a side and not worry about encroaching on player space.
I agree with the concept of being in the center of the table, it is the best way to be closer with the players and does strengthen the ‘team’ aspect of the activity.
But I’ll keep my little cozy corner all the same 🙂
Love the gratuitous text padding. My bf also notices that you have the colossal red dragon “mini”. 🙂 I want one!
GDG: Thanks! Yeah… that thing is anything but Mini… there was a time when it was bigger than my chilrdren!