RPG-A-DAY 2015 Day 22: Perfect Gaming Environment...NTRPG Con's Boardroom

22. PERFECT GAMING ENVIRONMENT...

I initially thought this question was a no-brainer. Of course the answer is "a rec-room and/or finished basement". I believe most of us played our first RPGs in what passes for the modern-day equivalent to a home's "dungeon." My first games were played in Roger's basement around an old dining room table. It was dank, dark, and dusty, and we LOVED it down there. When you think of the classic "gaming environment," this is probably what comes to mind.

However, the question asked for the perfect gaming environment, and so -- upon reflection -- I came up with a better answer. When I attended North Texas RPG Con in June 2014, my games of Timemaster and Cryptworld were scheduled for one of the boardrooms. I didn't have to share this room with five other games going on. It was all ours. And it had EVERY amenity you could want in a gaming room:

• A large rounded table with plenty of room for eight players and a GM
• Big comfy leather swivel chairs
• A monstrous erasable whiteboard on the wall for mapping and sketches visible by everyone
• Wait staff stopping by every hour to bring us sodas, snacks, and food
• Privacy, so there was no need to shout over other games in progress
• Best of all, OUR OWN PRIVATE BATHROOM

The games I ran in that room were two of the most comfortable games I've run, well, anywhere! So, in the spirit of the question, I must say that the boardroom at North Texas RPG Con was indeed the "perfect" gaming environment!