Graph Paper Games

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: you don't have to just sit around eating chips and pizza at a gaming table.  Every gaming night the group comes together to share a meal, with most players bringing something.  Last night I made my traditional pulled pork, Evan brought baked beans and potato salad from the store, my gaming couple and another player brought beer, and Todd brought homemade jalapeno poppers. These guys were made by taking the seeds and membranes out of jalapeno peppers, then filling them with cheddar cheese and wrapping them with pepper-smoked bacon.  Toothpicks hold them all together.  Bake them at 275 degrees for a little over an hour (until the bacon sizzles) and you're good to go! Not the healthiest option, but man they were good.  And good food helps make for good gaming!  Todd's birthday is in a couple of weeks, but I hooked him up with an early present: a re-release of an old Romulan warbird model.  Todd's a big mode...

I've said before that I think that hospitality is an important part of roleplaying games.  A nice, welcoming place to play is vitally important, and snacks are a great idea.  But I take it one step further in my own game by providing dinner one hour before the game begins with dinner at 6:00 PM, gaming at 7:00 PM, and usually finishing around 11:00 PM. Offering dinner allows the group to not worry about rushing home to make something to eat.  It also gives the group about an hour (which is more time than you realize) to visit and catch up with the other players about what's going on in their real lives.  Last Friday night, we spent the hour hearing about how one player had been accepted into a PhD program, how another had a new job but that it wasn't going well, how another's kids were doing, and what our plans for the weekend might be.  In addition to just helping friends be friends, it also allows us to get conversation out of the way and focus on gaming for...