What kind of RPG table (wood? size?) do you prefer?

General
#1

I am serious actually. I have found the table you play at can greatly add to your game, and even the atmosphere. I’ve played on anything from rickety board on some crates to the typical convention plastic folding table to really nice older table.

I have also looked at custom made gaming tables, tbh most of them seem far too elaborate to me, with way too high cost and complicated clean-up and ergonomics (those super high ones, usually square with tons of cubbies and drawers etc).

I ended up going for this, except I got it for €300 (offer). Not affiliated with the company whatsoever, in fact their reviews suck! Primarily because they never meet their delivery time estimates, not even close! It is just to give a visual representation.

https://www.xxxlutz.de/p/linea-natura-esstisch-kernbuche-massiv-rechteckig-buchefarben-002748000201

I like this table because it is hard oak, so should last a long time and because it can be expanded in two stages, easily/fast. If I play with 4 or 5 people max, I can use it without any extension, and can add more playing surface within a few seconds if more people show up.

I also noticed, that your table needs to be deep/wide, but not too wide. By that I mean that in order to fit a dice tray in middle, and an A4 (character) record sheet comfortably on each side of the table, you do not want a 70 or 80 cm deep table, but 90cm or bit more. You don’t want 110 cm + either necessarily, it creates visual and emotional distance at the table, people are slightly less into the game, find it harder to see small details etc.

Being nice wood of course suits the DnD trope and vibe more, you can almost imagine being at a tavern table, of course if it was only large solid pieces of wood that would be even more appropriate but tends to be 2x to 3x as expensive and not necessarily better for environment/felling of trees. You need to treat the table with the best possible finish, I opted for OSMO. People will! spill drinks, even wine etc, you don’t want to be host/GM that freaks out or is worried about this, just make sure you have clean up rag and a spray bottle handy and a treated wood surface, that is all.

Now you might think I am crazy that I spend 300 on a table, but otoh,… I use it every day of my life (not just for DnD), it is the centerpiece of my living room and if it looks nice, my home looks far better, it is also something that should outlast me. So to me it is always a bit odd when a GM has 500€ of OSR or RPG books and materials (half of which they barely ever use), €100 of dice but some crappy, too small, ugly or not comfortable/not ergonomic table. Yet I am also not going to spend 1000 to 9000 on a Wyrmwood or other extremely boutique or custom table, that seems crazy to me, if I was rich, sure! But I am not. :slight_smile:

So what is your favourite table? Do you have pics on what you play on please! If you were going to buy a new table for RPG, what would it be?

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#2

Dinner table, office desk or floor-- whatever is available. Sweet spot was a library conference table but it’s always occupied now, despite the plague panic.

#3

Yeh fair, I have played and will continue to play anywhere, anytime! As long as the people are fun and into it, some of my good sessions were super spontaneous, outdoors, with no dice even, minimal materials etc. But otoh, I have noticed that if everyone shows up read to play, bringing snacks, to a place where the group is never disturbed, to a nice table where all the notes and snacks fit, and they know they will have comfy chairs for the next 4+ hours,. that is all a huge boon!

It makes people invested, relax, get into the game more, look forward to the session and the next one etc etc, I do think it is one of the best investments a host or GM can make. I also bought steel stackeable conference chairs, that have padding / foam on bottom and at the back rest, €15 each. I wish I had bought those when I first started hosting and GMing at 13 years old! Seriously. The amount of times I, or my players, had to sit on hard or rickety or too low (IKEA) folding or terrible-backed wooden chairs,… it is not fun.

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#4

What @grognard is describing sounds great. I guess my ideal table would be a decent-sized heavy wood table, square perhaps so the eyelines are nice. Dark wood, tavern vibe.

In reality, I’ll play on anything. Even a crappy table is made better with some candles and mood lighting. The biggest eyesore is my laptop anyway, which i find way too handy to let go of.

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#5

Thanks for your replies dudes/gals. :slight_smile:

@Sunkenplanets, while I like my €15 chairs, and they seem to work well for anyone of any size pretty much, there still can such a height discrepancy that I also have two Black IKEA Marcus chairs that I took the armrests off. These chairs are famous for being extremely comfy and good value for money compared to any other height adjustable office/computer type chair. The rule is sortoff that the GM + the shortest person or tallest person (whoever needs it most gets the office chair. Or, if nobody is too short or too tall for the other standard chairs, first person to arrive at 19:00 gets the nice office chair. xd Still, nobody gets a crappy chair, this is the chair everyone else gets, not pretty, very comfy:

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I have had sessions where the table was too tall or chairs too short and unless you enjoy RPGing / Larping a hobbit, it sucks bad! xd Like you can’t write or see well, or toss dice effectively it really is less fun. Square tables I find end up taking too much floor space or keeping people too far apart if you have a square table that comfortably seats 5 or more people at least. But for small ish groups they do seem great!

I like rectangular but still fairly deep tables because you can put huge maps on them, seat many people, put tons of sheets on both sides of the table etc but still don’t need a massive living room and are rather easy to walk around. Especially if GM sits at head of the table, usually the eye sight lines/involvement of 4 to 7 players is pretty optimal. :slight_smile:

I agree the correct lighting, both in colour and lumen can make a massive! difference for the game atmosphere. I used to use candles too, but with the wax mess, slight fire hazard, obscuring lines of vision, I instead went to low wattage, very low Kelvin LEDs, just enough so you get a very candle like light level and atmosphere, but that unlike with candles, there is a too much shadows and you can still read every letter or character sheet or map on the table easily, rather than only the ones right by the candles.

Also agree on the laptop thing, it is kinda why I don’t allow anyone else any electronic devices on the table and I make a concerted effort to look at my small laptop only little. In time, if I manage to have something that plays/controls all my mood music as easily, or that can display any images as easily, I will likely dispense with the laptop. But so far it is ok. Also because I tend to chuck it in a corner of to the side or on a separate side table on wheels.

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#6

Lots of good ideas here!

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