The 3 Wise DMs have only just started to get back together for some in-person gaming, but none of the online RPGs we’ve talked about has yet made it back to the dinner table. Can they be saved? Do the Wise DMs even want to bring them back in-person? Are the players on board? Even if everyone wants to go back to playing live, what challenges do they face?

In this episode, Thorin, Tony and Dave talk about the surprising difficulty of bringing their games back to live, in-person play. From commuting convenience to hosting fatigue and player pushback, there are objections to overcome. But there’s a lot we all miss from in-person gaming, too. And when/if they do come back, what will they be mindful of after a year DMing from the Lab?

2:00 Do we want to bring in-person gaming back? And if so, how much?

5:00 The benefits of no-commute gaming vs. the roleplaying rapport of knowing each other in-person

9:00 Relieve the tension: Why players should laugh, a lot, during your horror-themed game … and then scream

15:00 Will our digital tools make the transition back to in-person gaming? (Google Notes = Tony’s MVP)

19:00 Is losing online battle maps a problem? Depends on the game you’re playing, your group and the size of your minis collection

29:00 The many in-person minis and mapping solutions we’ve tried

35:00 The Chain Golem Gang: Cool figs we never get to use

39:00 Why were excited to play with minis and terrain again (in part thanks to our minis master, Scott, who also runs Paper Terrain: paperterrain.com)

48:00: Can we DM historical games (like Call of Cthulhu) without quick access to Wikipedia?

50:00 PC pushback: Do our players want to get back together to playing in person, ordering/cooking food, someone hosting, driving to the game around work commutes, etc.?

57:00 The overlooked burden of hosting D&D

62:00 The elevated expectation of DMing in person: If everyone’s going through all this trouble to come together, you better give them more than just fights and some XP

70:00 Final thoughts: Do we want to bring our games back together in person? If we do, how do we do it?