How do you organise your gaming session?

[Evil_Lawyer]

food tends to be the 1st priority of all my RP sessions these days...

wether it's a pub meal before the Vamp Larp I run/play, a pizza before my thursday night grab-bag gaming or a vegi meal before our sunday Ars Magica session.

then the games devolve into

Recap, flow, (resolution, aftermath), Xp

EL

[Rob Lang]

Welcome Evil Lawyer!

You do XP at the end? Is everyone tired and wanting to go home at that point?

[misterecho]

I can never be bothered keeping track of xp when I play fantasy games. I usually delegate, with the promise of a minor xp bump for the book keeping.

[Evil_Lawyer]

XP at the end is usually an afterthought..... we've luckily got a group (excluding the larpers) who are more into the story then the advancement.

A

[misterecho]

Our group is very similar, we play lots of narrative driven games. On a rare occasion we get the minis out and get some ol' skool hack-n-slashin done.

[DOC_Agren]

My regular TS game
We have a set time to arrive.. normal 6pm
We gather in the game room.. normally do a "recap & Q & A for PC who have questions about last mission any POW they took or anything else.. (Like is my wife knock-up again.. best Q&A)
Then we set down to game.
Normally I will hand of the team their Op Orders, Maps and brief them.. Then I disappear while they plan..
Answer any questions
Run the Op
Wrap up and Head them out
Experience.. Once a year PC sheets get up date, my vacation. Players make a listing of skills and hope for lots of Skill points, as it is 1 player is still working on his list from 2 years ago..

[madunkieg]

When I set up a game, it can be quite extensive. I've done a lot of larping, so I like providing props, food, handouts and more. If I bring food, both players and characters can eat the same thing. Players get into this by bringing in items or food and challenging me to use it in the game. Sometimes some of us go shopping together, so a gaming session really could effectively start the day before as we do prep work together.

We pick a time to start, but it never starts then. It starts a little while after everyone arrives, and there's usually somebody who's late. It happens, especially when people have families. We start fast, usually just handing out characters and uttering a keyphrase (e.g. "when last we left our intrepid heroes..."). If possible I'll show up a little early to set up.

There's usually a time we have to end by, either when the space we game in closes (if it's a store) or when somebody has to pick up a kid from babysitting. We try to end about half an hour early, because everybody likes to chat afterwards. I can also get some feedback on the session and what players are hoping to see as the game progresses. After that there are always a few people that aren't wanting it to end, who want to hang out. We are, after all, friends.

Some notes: I prefer character advancement systems that occur during play, but if I'm running something with XP, I do it at the end of the session. It's sort of like saying "thank you for playing." There's no scheduling of breaks, people get up if they have to. There's no mid-game snack run because usually there's lots to eat already present, and it's all better than corner store junk food.

Finally, one special element of organization is Voodoo Coffee. One of my more regular players makes Voodoo. You don't get any Voodoo unless you contribute a few bucks or buy him some of the ingredients because it costs roughly $20 per batch. If bringing money, you pay at the start of the session. If bringing ingredients, he needs them the day before because it takes a while to make.

[Sanglorian]

[madunkieg]

[misterecho]

I used to share a barrack room with a couple of Fijians, who liked to partake in "tea parties". They'd invite loads of friends and sip narcotic tea (kava) from a huge bowl accompanied by totally unfathomable rituals of clapping and dancing whenever someone takes a sip.

It was a little unsettling, but i felt a great privilege in being allowed to watch.