The Taste of Greed
I feel that Thief’s nightie is the MVP of this comic.
Sleepwear aside, it’s been a while since we talked about the etiquette of game night snacks. I’ve recently joined a number of not-at-my-house type games though, so the issue has been on my mind of late. When there’s a big bowl of candy on the table and seven varieties of Mountain Doom in the mini fridge, it’s your right as a member of the gaming group to help yourself. That’s what it’s there for. I mean, what kind of host is going to sit on a throne of pizza and tell his buddies to abstain?
But! (And it is a big but.) If you are heading over to somebody’s house X times a month, you make damn sure to contribute. Bring the occasional six pack. Chip in for the pizza. If you’re a poor college student and can’t afford more than a bag of Cheezos, you should be asking your GM whether they prefer crunchy or puffs.
This isn’t complicated stuff. You don’t need a formal charter pinned to the initiative tracker for this. As a host, you feed your pals when they’re in your house. As a guest, you refill the pantry lest you be mistaken for a snack-sucking human vacuum. No one should have to ask you to do these things. Then again, no one should have to tell you not to loot the party funds or stab Lady Quest-Giverington in her own court, ya friggin’ murderhobo.
What do you guys think? Am I overreacting here? Is there some system of host/guest relations that is hidden from me? Let’s hear how you guys split the snack bill down in the comments.
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My last group actually had an opposite “problem” – most of the time we would fail to go through even half of the… let’s call’em “food-like products”. No idea if everybody contributed every time too, but even if they didn’t, nobody ever noticed, or cared enough to make a scene. I’d assume it’s demand-and-supply thing – so long as there’s enough for everybody, most people (maybe barring the host) don’t mind.
Of course all of this assumes that you’re not playing with a real-life murderhobo determined to take advantage of the system. But if that’s the case, I think junk food shortage is the least of your problems.
Oh man… The last time we had a LAN party at my place I put on five pound thanks to the leftovers. There were iced cookies and drumsticks and five flavors of Cheezit and chocolate covered pretzels hiding under the couch…. Suffice it to say I failed the shit out of my Will save.
My group insists I don’t have to buy food because we play at my place. That costs me nothing, though; I don’t even need to drive over. I feel a bit bad about it, so lately i’ve been kicking in anyway. The group always brings way more food than we need, though.
Speaking of Thief’s nightie, “Sleeping in Armor” rules are back for 5e, and i’m sad about it. Those rules were never realistic in the first place; armor isn’t all that uncomfortable to sleep in. Still, we may see more fights in nighties, which is fun. 🙂
Yah. Laurel and I usually get a full crock-pot o’ lunch when we head down for our Curse of Strahd game. We throw the occasional wad of bills into the dice box / snack fund anyway.
Any chance of a link to the 5e sleeping in armor rules? I’m not familiar.
I will say though, I wish to God that for whatever “recharge your resources once/day system” you happen to be playing that there was clear guidance for interrupting sleep with combat. That shit happens enough that all the rules ought to live together under a single heading. I mean, getting attacked in camp is about as complicated as poisons or traps since it brings so many seldom-used rules into play. Bleh. Expect table variation I guess.
Luckily 5e specifies that any strenuous activity lasting for more than an hour resets your rest time, so the chance encounter here and there shouldn’t affect the party wizard.
That’s one relevant rule, yes. I’m talking about all the other rules. Perception checks while you’re unconscious. Sleeping in armor. Donning armor. Suggested setups for watch order. I’m suggesting that it all ought to live under a single heading. Those rules all exist, but nothing is worse than turning a thrilling night ambush into a hunt through the rulebook.
Sure, it’s from XGE page 77-78.
https://i.imgur.com/eUxzK1R.png
Ooh… I actually like that implementation. It becomes a choice now based on circumstance rather than “I will always sleep in armor” or “I will never sleep in armor.” Of course, it’s also a fairly fiddly rule, which seems out of character for 5e. YMMV I guess.
Is it presented as an optional rule or the new default?
It’s optional, one of a bunch of new optional rules!
It’s optional, as impia said. It’s just not terribly realistic; armored knights slept in their armor frequently in the field with no I’ll effects. Furthermore, this once again penalizes people who favor Strength over Dexterity, which was already a hard sell considering the myriad benefits of Dexterity.
I consider myself lucky, I got armor that feels like normal clothes a while ago and I haven’t taken it off in a while,
Good thing Prestidigitation comes with your choice of Floral Fusion or Original Fresh scents.
I’m the wrong person to ask- I like to cook and I LOVE to eat. So if people come to my house, I make food. If I go to someone else’s house, I bring food. If we’re meeting at a neutral 3rd-party location that’s not a restaurant, I pack snacks, etc etc etc.
so everyone brings snacks and you roll up with a crockpot like “What? I said I’d bring something too…” 😛
Never have I ever not done that….
As I’ve gotten older I’ve gotten better about responding appropriately to social situations and not going overboard. It was always fun for me and never done with malicious intent, but I don’t want to be THAT GUY.
If you’re going to be THAT GUY that makes the group delicious home-cooked meals, I think you get a pass. In fact, I would hazard you are not THAT GUY, but THIS GUY.
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/This_Guy
There are worse GUYS you can be, but it’s still good to fit in with your social circle. A tailored three-piece suit is a very nice article of clothing but you wouldn’t want to wear it to the monster-truck rally.
Got to agree with Colin.
I don’t think there was ever a sane (or at least non-synical) person who said “Oh look, here comes Todd with his delicious home made mini egg rolls, the jerk!”
More than likely, everyone wants to know what Todd is bringing.
So rock out with your crock (pot) out! 😀
Most people are appreciative and let it stop at that, but it’s not impossible that someone might start to feel like the person who always contributes most is showing off, of they feel bad that they can’t match someone else’s level of effort or skill. And nor do you want to make yourself a target for some jerk to take advantage of you either. It’s about fitting in.
These days I work around it by just coordinating with people and rotating what we all do. If one time I make beer-battered catfish fritters with mango salsa, the next time I’ll be the guy who brings the chips and dip or a six-pack.
Ha! Fair enough on the jerk target, but imo, the bit about others thinking you are showing off gets into that murky water of what you can’t control with other’s perception of you…
But SERIOUSLY!? Catfish Fritters with Mango Salsa? Dang that sounds good. So what’s your favorite gaming snack that requires a kitchen to make?
Any time Laurel makes something out of this…
https://www.amazon.com/Gourmet-Game-Night-Bite-Sized-Board-Game/dp/158008088X
…I’m a happy camper. The bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese are particularly amazing.
When I want to keep it simple, my favorite chips-n-dip recipe is a layer of sour-cream, then salsa, then choose in a baking dish, heated in the over until the cheese melts. If I have the time to prepare it, pulled-pork is a pretty good all-around meal.
If I want to go fancier, stuffed mushrooms (stuffed with a mixture of breadcrumbs, bacon, and other mushrooms) are excellent as bite-sized finger-food.
For something I can prepare ahead of time, I’ve yet to ever see anyone turn down a plate of homemade cookies. One time I even started getting complaints from my roommates, because I made a double batch and left the tin in the kitchen; they were complaining I was ruining their diet.
😛
I play online so I cannot contribute much, though the few times I did go to someone else’s house, it was bring-your-own-snacks, but that was established in advance to avoid confusion. It did give rise to a bit of “oooo I love those, trade ya for one!”
What’s your default gaming snack?
Haribo Gummy Colas (fizzy or regular) or Nutter Butters.
I had always wondered who buys those cola candies. I assumed it’s been the same bags on the shelf since 1989. 😛
But they are sooo good!
Try em once I DARE YA!
The fizzy cola are harder to find unless you have a Worl Market near by…
Also World Market is just a fun place to find unusual foods of all kinds, like Japanese and German candies.
https://stores.worldmarket.com
We order out each time and split it. Tho none of us have the room to keep food in our apartments anyway.
My mental image of your apartment.
Not everyone provides food when we game. Usually I bring a frozen pizza or 2, but that is pretty much always not enough for everyone, and so the amount of food available is partially dependent on where we game.
My house: More frozen pizzas
My best friend’s house: Those little pizza pocket things and the frozen pizza I brought
We have a couple players who almost never bring food, but I don’t think it’s really worth fighting about. We get together to have fun, after all, and I’m OK with an unequal distribution of effort if it means I can have fun with my friends playing D&D.
Nope. The Handbook of Heroes guy being pissy about stuff means you are no longer allowed to enjoy your friends. Glad I could be of service. 😛
For real though, I don’t mind “an unequal distribution of effort” myself. I just want a token effort every once in while, you know?
Heh, one of my Groups does the Unthinkable. We do not bring Food. We do not eat Food. Food is for the Weak.
Seriously, the only time where everyone brought Food was, at Halloween Game Night, and days like that.
But all the other Times? Well we kinda eat before/after the Game, but not at. Maybe my we are to Immersed in the Game to notice the Hunger until later? IDK, it’s not like we decided “We don’t bring Food to the Game Table!” We just kinda didn’t. Hm, actually thats kinda weird now that i think about it. Maybe it’s because we only Game 5 or Six Hours in a row each Time.
All are equal before Third Horseman!
I actually wouldn’t mind a little less snackage myself. There’s nothing that delays combat quite like pausing to clear guacamole off the battlefield.
Speaking of the Horsemen, did you know they have stats in one of the Pathfinder Bestiaries?
What, you mean this guy?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/horseman-of-the-apocalypse/horseman-trelmarixian/
Never heard of him. >_>
Actually i was always a Fan of another Horseman: https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Szuriel
I am assume Fighter would agree with that Choice ;P
Is she… Is she riding a warnicorn!?
http://starvstheforcesofevil.wikia.com/wiki/Warnicorns
I am guilty of this but have been making reparations.
I’m playing a cook in the party and plan on bringing unique semi-healthy options every other game or so.
The first game I made fo-burlap sacks and individual trail rations.
Nice! Any recipes to share?
I always wanted to do a half-orc barbarian on a culinary quest to eat all the monsters. I always had some vague idea about bringing in entrees themed to the critters killed in the previous session, but I doubt I’m a good enough cook to pull it off.
I grew up in a gaming household, so it’s second nature to me and my family to bring snacks (or put them out if we host). That goes for most things, I’d argue that it’s not unique to rpgs or gaming. I’d also posit that, unfortunately, it is also not unique to gaming to find those who don’t understand this etiquette.
Though I do enjoy when players bring/buy food. I am one of those perpetual GMs, and I want nothing more than to play again like I did back in highschool. Sigh. Maybe it’s wrong, but sometimes I feel that smug entitlement to food purchased by underlings. I mean, I prep all week and what do they do? Show up with their personal bottles of mountain dew just for them, forget their character sheet/pencil/dice, rub their cheeto-fingers on my staples-printed enlarged and laminated map, and derail anything with “Plot” written on it.
It’s easy to forget that even as GM or host, you should really chip in every now and then, even if you feel your particular contribution is “payment enough”. Sort of like that guy who thinks an acceptable gift on christmas is him showing up….
Yes… Yes… Appease my wrath with your offerings!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SrZwB9CS-DI/Uo5ZEYhoKmI/AAAAAAAAADY/oqDkiltdqtM/s1600/Bribe_GM_With_Food.png
Honestly though, I enjoy the end of session ritual of “thanks for running” even more. It’s nice to be appreciated, whatever the form.
You get thanks? Crap I don’t even get a thank you on our thanksgiving sessions! Seriously though, I do enjoy the thanks. I just wish I could be a disruptive pc again.
But…If it’s laminated than the nacho cheese shouldn’t be a problem….
I remember bringing a cake
Honestly, when I was hosting I didn’t really mind so much if my friends contributed or not. I was just happy to go out and buy candy and chips for them all (maybe partially because when they all went home I had the leftovers all to myself)
I heard that. I tend to be in the same boat, and stock up on soda and chips and crap whenever I’ve got people coming. And if you’re hosting, that’s totally your prerogative. That said, I don’t think you should ever assume that anybody else feels the same way. It’s one of those things that doesn’t look or feel like a problem until it suddenly is.
Oh man, my group lucked out on this one, but even that comes with it’s downsides. One of our guys loves to cook and try to make a variety of types of meals, so we eat GREAT on our Sunday-night sessions! Everyone who’s eating (except the host and his wife, who clean up afterwards) chips in $10, the cook and several others start the night off with a pre-meet-up grocery-run, and he cooks us up a hearty meal! Works swimmingly!
…except nights where the meal gets a bit more ambitious than planned and we end up with only 2 hours to play because of it. Those nights are ROUGH.
One of my buddies comes form the generation where one did not admit to playing D&D in polite company.
“What are you doing tonight?”
“Potluck night. It’s potluck night again.”
And it’s not exactly a lie. Lady knows how to cook!
When I played facte-to-face, the snack pile was always very generously contributed to by other players. I almost never had to put anything on the table myself. But that was a major problem for me.
I am, as it happens, something of an exercise buff and very serious about keeping an athletic figure. I am also a hopeless gourmand and always have delicious food to eat in private. I also can’t not eat a pile of crappy but tasty junk food when it is heaped in front of me – there’s just to high a DC on that will save.
I exercise enough that I can pig out on fancy cuisine and antipasti spreads at my leisure, but a weekly junk-food binge is just a little too much for me. It got to the point that I was actually asking players not to bring food – and that just made everyone unhappy, since for most players the snack pile is part of the experience!
I am happy now to be playing behind a screen, one which doesn’t reach over to push a plate of cookies in front of me.
Interestingly, the down side is that food now gets to be a piecemeal distraction rather than a group-based experience. Everyone running to the door to order pizza, eating during RP scenes, etc. Different strokes I guess.