I don't know if other groups have this problem, but in my gaming group, punctuality is a big issue. Some of our players work on Saturday and can't come to the game until their shift is up. Others just don't show up until a couple of hours after the game was supposed to start, with no explanation for their tardiness. Now, our group is pretty big, so it is possible to start the game and just catch the later-comers up when they arrive... but sometimes there's only 2-3 players, and the GM has a killer dungeon planned. In times like that, you really have to wait for everyone to show up. So what do you do to kill time? The most popular answer in my group is play on your PSP. This sucks for me, as I don't have a PSP, nor do I intend to buy one. However, it is a pretty good solution, as long as you turn your PSP (or handheld game system of choice) off when the others arrive and the game starts. One of my pet peeves is players who pay more attention to their handheld system than to the RP. If you'd rather play Final Fantasy Tactics than L5R or D&D, please just stay home. My favorite solution is to craft. I do beadwork, so at almost every game, I have some beading project to keep me occupied before and even during the game. And for all those male readers, crafting isn't just for girls! Take up chainmail, guys. Not only will you keep your hands busy when you're not rolling dice, but you'll be the envy of the rest of the group. Plus you'll have pliers to threaten people with when they get obnoxious. If you want to actually do something with your fellow players while you wait for everyone to show up, it can be fun to play other games. When we met at our GM's apartment, Soul Calibur was a pretty popular way to kill time - everyone who wanted to got to take a turn, and everyone had fun. But board and card games are also nice. Try to go for something that isn't too hard to pack up when it's time to game. You can always work on back-up characters while you wait. After all, unless the GM is the one you're waiting for, you have him or her right there to approve the character, and you have everyone's books at hand. If you're obnoxious, and you play at a gaming store, you can even go around to all of the other gaming groups and interrupt their games. I really don't recommend this tactic, as every time someone does this to our group, we tend to mock them as soon as they're out of earshot - if they're really annoying, we might mock them openly while they're still there. Yeah, we can be kind of jerks sometimes . . . In extreme cases, and if your GM is up for that, you can just start NPCing the characters of whoever doesn't show up on time. There's a classic Dork Tower comic about this - I believe that the character in question ended up giving away all of his loot and charging at the dragon to save the party. If this happens to you, it's probably a sign that you need to work on your punctuality, or find a new group whose schedule works better with yours. That's all for now. Happy gaming!

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Copyright © 2007 By AJ Reardon E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.com