I work at a huge place (c 3000 employees) and have just discovered through the grapevine that there are a few gaming groups on the go (couple old school, one Warhammer, one Cthulu style, couple of 3.5/PF).
Im slightly apprehensive about mixing work with pleasure in this way - does anyone have any experiences about gaming with people from work?....
Weird...awkward...hilarious... good for your career?!?! ;))
Our current group formed through the public school system where we were working. A little weird at first, maybe, while we figured out how chummy we could be outside the workplace, but we quickly discovered we're all just big dorks, and we've had a blast. I'd like to think, anyway, that sharing the hobby, coming together for a tabletop game, puts everyone on even enough footing. Though I'm sure that's not always the case. So, yeah. Some feeling out probably required.
No bosses involved; that might be really weird, I'unno.
Biggest thing, while four of the five of us were all working in the same building, was that we'd lose a decent chunk of each session gabbing about work. Which wasn't awful, or anything; just kind of went with the territory, I guess.
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I think the 3000 employees works in your favor, because no one knows everyone. I think it would be a lot more awkward at a small company, where if there was a falling out you would still be seeing everyone else all of the time every day.
I would still probably err on the cautious side when interacting with them gaming, however, especially if one of them is in a management position.
I've had a (somewhat short-lived) gaming group that started after I found out a couple guys where I worked either played Pathfinder before or wanted to learn, and we were all roughly the same age. Even though I was technically their boss it didn't really matter to us, since outside of work we were just a bunch of huge nerds who wanted to have a good time. We got through about 1.2 books of Wrath of the Righteous before the group fell apart for real-life reasons that would've affected any other group just the same (I changed jobs, another guy moved away, so distance became an issue).
I had a short-lived group where everyone was working at the same place, but the company was shift-based. It didn´t work, because there was almost no time where all of us were available. Large companies with normal working times should be okay.
Won't be a problem if the people are relatively mature and chill. It will be like a baby version of "couple's crisis" if they are not. I ran a 4.5 year campaign with colleagues and it worked fine.
I agree on the boss thing mentioned above. Supervisors and subordinates hanging out regularly is usually a recipe for problems, whether perceived or actual.
My wife and I actually work together (in separate buildings but same organization and campus) and we found a coworker who is a gaming nerd like us. She invited us to hang out and paint minis one evening, and we have since developed a wonderful friendship and gaming companion. Not only is she a fun gamer/hobbyist but she's got the largest D&D book collection I've ever seen -- by a longshot! (shelves and shelves, oldschool through newschool). We now game with this coworker every week.
I would say treat the coworkers no differently than you would treat anyone who you might opt to game with. Avoid those who you personally wouldn't mesh well with, and embrace those who seem like a right fit.
A good gaming group is more about friendship and socialization than it is about the actual game, so choose your friends accordingly.
It didn't work well for Ted.
I currently play in three different groups and two of them are almost exclusively work colleagues. It works wonderfully. The more we gamed together the more we realized how many mutual interests we have. Like calls to like and all that. People that like playing Pathfinder will probably also like tabletop games like Warhammer or various fandoms like Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, comic books, anime, etc.