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1) Snacks and Drinks at/on the table are perfectly fine, but my books, dice, and mini's are immaculately clean and cared for, and are kept as perfect as the day I bought them. If any of your orange cheeto nastiness makes it onto my books, dice, or mini's I'm going to be pissed, to say the very least, and will no doubt lead me to question and possibly re-evaluate your ability to self-govern your snacks/drink privileges.
2) Three things that will never be at my table: a) No Rape, Sexual Violence, or Sexual Harrassment of any kind, PC to PC, or PC to NPC, in-game or IRL. b) No extended Torture scenes (i.e. no Theon / Ramsey scenes). If violent interrogation is deemed necessary, you get 3 intimidate checks to beat/scare the information out of him, and then the interrogation is over and that's all you're getting out of him. This is just a personal thing and I don't want to roleplay it. c) In the event of PC death, no mutilation, disrespect, or other mishandling of the PC's corpse. Players get highly invested into their characters, and the fun stops immediately when another PC plays "William Wallace" with your corpse. If you burn the corpse honorably in a Viking funeral, that's acceptable as long as the PC consents, but there will be no mounting of PC's heads on spikes, dragging their corpse through town behind a horse, or pinning the corpse to the wall and throwing axes at it. Other than these 3 things, pretty much anything goes, but I and the other PC's reserve the right to stop any scene/situation causing uncomfortable-ness on a case-by-case basis.
3) If you have to tinkle in the middle of sesh, by all means, tinkle. If you have to drop a deuce in mid-sesh, there will be d4's waiting outside the door like caltrops. Take a dump on your own time.
4) If you're late to sesh, do 10 pushups or put $1 in the pizza fund for every minute you're late.
5) If any d20 rolls a nat 1 three times in a row, you must burn that die in front of ALL the other d20's to teach them a lesson.
tl;dr - make sure everyone knows the level of "in character" speaking AND acting that is going to happen.
I've played with groups that do a minimum amount of speaking "in character" and with groups on the other end of the spectrum. For my main group it remains a challenge to get people to say, "What is the current threat to the town?" instead of, "Meelos asks the mayor what the current threat is to the town." And so I'm used to that style, where maybe 25% is really spoken in character and 75% is saying what the character is doing. (Not saying it is wrong or right, just that it is the mix I am used to).
I was in one group, however, that was pretty much the other mix. And the first time one of the players seemed to get visibly angry and started to shake and raise his voice at something my character did, I had to say, "Whoa, whoa! Are you pissed at me or at Relaton?!?".
Knowing up front what the mix was going to be and that this group threw in some acting would have prevented a very awkward moment early in that campaign.
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I've heard other people say that having smartphones out is bad table etiquette. Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just pretend that they're looking up something on d20pfsrd :P
I've heard other people say that having smartphones out is bad table etiquette. Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just pretend that they're looking up something on d20pfsrd :P
I think it depends on the group. In my group, some people actually store their character data that way. The rest of us just have the phone handy in case someone close to us needs to contact us for emergency reasons (and such interruptions do indeed tend to be true emergencies).
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I've heard other people say that having smartphones out is bad table etiquette. Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just pretend that they're looking up something on d20pfsrd :PI think it depends on the group. In my group, some people actually store their character data that way. The rest of us just have the phone handy in case someone close to us needs to contact us for emergency reasons (and such interruptions do indeed tend to be true emergencies).
I don't mind people using their phones as tools as part of playing the game. I am very irritated by people using their phones *instead* of playing the game, however. Sadly, the person I have to yell at the most for this is my wife...
The mention of phones at the table reminds me that I wrote a blog post a year or two back that went into my personal pet peeves as a GM, but I did try my best to counter my b---ing with some useful advice for how to be a better, more considerate player at the table.
Most of it boils down to common courtesy: Be aware of how your behavior is perceived by others at the table, invest some time learning the rules your character uses the most, and avoid doing stuff that detracts from the group's fun.
The mention of phones at the table reminds me that I wrote a blog post a year or two back that went into my personal pet peeves as a GM, but I did try my best to counter my b---ing with some useful advice for how to be a better, more considerate player at the table.
Most of it boils down to common courtesy: Be aware of how your behavior is perceived by others at the table, invest some time learning the rules your character uses the most, and avoid doing stuff that detracts from the group's fun.
My table is basically defined by the problems you lay out in your blog. Rules experts and focused participants, my players are not... But hey, we still manage to have fun.
I've heard other people say that having smartphones out is bad table etiquette. Personally, it doesn't bother me. I just pretend that they're looking up something on d20pfsrd :P
In my case that's exactly what's going on with one of my group. We also use them to send and receive "secret notes" between me (the GM) and the players. Much more subtle than hastily scribbling something and then throwing a paper wad at the intended recipient.
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I used to be a greater stickler about "table etiquette" than I am now. The only table actually in use during our games is the one I GM from. I use it for the laptop and my notes as well as the dice rolling surface. It's not large enough to accommodate more than myself. Everyone else sits around on the three couches in my living room and I have some tv trays for those who wish to use them. All together we form a sort of conversation pit and that works for us.
After playing with most of my group for over 30 years we've relaxed a lot of the "rules" about table etiquette. We're together for a good time, to just laugh and forget the stress of being middle-aged and disillusioned grownups for a while. Enforcing some sort of ephemeral set of behavioral rules would not help us have fun and relax. It's a game, not a job.
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We've been playing virtually since 2001 when I moved out of Virginia (without video...just a VTT and audio). It is easier to get distracted when you are just in front of a computer, waiting for your initiative to come up (for example). It is frustrating to get to a player and have them either want to do something that was already tried and failed, want to do something that was possible when they took their last action but is no longer possible, or ask the same question that the previous player just asked and had answered. Essentially, not paying attention is a faux pas...and it is super-easy when playing virtually to not pay attention. Harder when everyone is looking at you.