Gaming tables, square/rectangular or round??

[garhkal]

I am asking this question on every gaming board i visit..

When you do face to face table top gaming, do you prefer a large round table? Oval? Rectangular/square? Do you prefer sitting at the head, if its a rectangular or in the middle?
Do you prefer to not even use tables, unless you are going to be using lots of minis??

Do you prefer wood topped? Felt topped? Ones with 'lips' or higher edges (so dice are harder to roll off), or flat surface?
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[cheshire]

My gaming table is a coffee table with an expanding top. It's a rectangle that expands to a 50% larger rectangle. (It can double the width, but not the length.) Whether we expand it or not depends on the number of players and whether or not we need a map for the gaming session.
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[Ninja-Bear]

Most houses I game at, the tables are kitchen and rectangular. One friend has as a coffee table. I try to use the end but sometimes im moved to a different spot. in my house I also use TV trys to hold books up. Again at the coffee table house, I usually set up my stuff on the side couch. We really have no preference and work with what we got. Heck, I've used no map but dominoes and glass stones for maps.

[shootingwomprats]

I prefer rectangular. Its easier to see all the people and keep the attention on the GM at the head. I have played on a round table and did not like it at all. Seemed like the GM didn't have enough room, was harder to pass things around to people and was this vast wasted space in the middle of the table that added to the feel that people were further away.

As for material on the table? I cannot speak to felt, but I would think, unless it was over a hard surface and stretched tight it would take too much bounce out dice rolls. On my table I have these heavy duty "bumper" things we use that supposed to protect the table. They are about 1/2 to 1" thick. Dice roll easily on this surface and even with either a cloth or plastic tablecloth the dice bounce.
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[MrNexx]

Also prefer a rectangular table. Round tables are either too small or have too much difficult to access real estate.
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[Sutehp]

Yeah, given what people have said, I think I prefer a rectangular table. Round ones seem less practical.
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[Ninjaxenomorph]

I usually play on a rectangular table. Either a friend's Geek Chic table or a plastic fold-out. When we play at my house, we have a round table, it often gets expanded with table leaves to be roughly rectangular. I'd like to play at a round table.

[Error]

For years there were so many of us at someone's house that we had to use the living room floor. I would have 6-8 players at every session. So since nobody had that size dining room table, we just parked it on couches and the floor and rolled on the backsides of books.

If you can find a table that suits your needs, I recommend placing players in order of their PER attribute, essentially so you can go around one way with initiative instead of skipping all over.
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[garhkal]

[Ashikaider]

I'm used to square/rectangular, but I think that round tables work better at convention games.

Of course, when rectangular tables are used, in most of the groups I've played in, we've had the GM sit at one end, as it seems to work out better that way.

[Whill]

As long as there is enough room at the table for the whole group, for all my stuff and theirs, and place for dice rolling, I really don't care about the shape or size. But that does tend to be rectangular tables. That's what we have in the game room right now. I don't prefer coffee tables as they are usually lower and involve hunching over, but I'll make due if I have to. In some settings I've played where I was the only one at a card table, and everyone else was sitting in chairs or couches around the room with dice rolling buckets, but I prefer one table so everyone can easily see maps and other representations of situations.

[garhkal]

It's actually how one of the other games i played in, handled it.. And it was a rule i liked enough, i imported into my SW games..
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[Pel]

Rectangular all the way. Too much muddling about with a round table. I like to sit in the middle facing the players for convenience and to avoid appearing rude.
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[ReverendKeaton]

I built a gaming table for the house. It has room for four comfortably and up to six without much trouble. It is rectangular and is wired with power to charge cell phones or laptops. I put cup holders in it. It isn't bad for a spur of the moment thing.

No at my buddy's house where our group usually plays he has an old oak drafting table that will sit six extremely comfortable and nine if need be. It is also a lot rectangular table.

I think I prefer them that way for the GM can be at the head of the table. I have played on round tables and it just seems they are not as roomy.