So, I realise there’s a fairly regular ‘going-on’ happening at the Spielbar on a Thursday. How does this work exactly?..
Being a British guy, and having a higher than average alcohol-to-blood ratio, I find it a bit intimidating to meet up for a lengthy roleplaying session in a place where there’s beer on tap and in a place (Vienna) where it costs a small fortune. I’d have no problem in a University setting where each beer costs a pound and you’re expected…sorry, FORCED to buy 2 pints an hour. But, I’m a bit worried that every roleplaying session would cost me about 50 euros and leave me with a lovely hangover for the Friday day at work.
So, what’s the atmosphere like? is it really loud? do the ‘boardgamers’ make fun of you?
(disclaimer: this is a bit tongue-in-cheek, admittedly. But sell me on the Spielbar! )
Loud? Not really. It’s mostly fine, with the usual undercurrent of conversation and background music. Every once in a while a werewolf game turns into a minor riot, however, which can make conversation tricky if you’re playing with a large group.
All in all, it’s not a bad place for gaming. The decor combines cozy with charmless, the staff is pleasant and helpful in a distanced way, there’s a small selection of eats and a considerably larger selection of drinks, and nobody looks at you funny when you stand up and launch into a monolog about calling forth rotting corpses to stride through the night.
There’s even inspiration on the walls for unprepared DMs (“So you’re in the realm of King, um, Piatnik, yeah, that’s it…”). Or so I’m told. I wouldn’t know anything about that.
And your drinks tab is entirely up to you. The staff don’t bat an eyelash if you nurse a cup of tea all evening, but they’re also quite good at keeping the liquor coming if you’re so inclined.
The boardgamers don’t make fun of us. They generally line up to ask us for autographs.
Totally, that’s why we were considering another venue… All these underwears thrown at us can really slow down the game when you have to dig up the dices from the pile of lingerie…
)