No, I'm not on about in character pets here. I'm on about real life animals that your players have and that being a travelling GM you have to contend with to operate your games at their homes.

Now, I like animals. I've got used to cats especially and know well enough to anticipate a sudden moggy's pounce as I roll my dice. I'm even starting to think that one of my player's has deliberately been training her cats to attack my rolls, but cats being cats they also end up scattering their rolls too.

No. This post is about the new dog. I can protect my notes from muddy paws and my books from its slobber (yup its one of those boxer breeds and despite this habit, a nice mutt overall) but last session it actually ate my dice! (OK, only one, but I reckon that now got a taste for them...)

Anyone else out there had similar problems?

I call shenannigans!

You just wanted an excuse not to GM

if there's cats, i will usually rather try and play with them or pet them than play SR O.o

Heh, if only. No I still ran the game - I like to torment my players too much not to. This just gave me a good excuse to be nastier.
No, I was just really annoed that the dog had actually gone for one of my original yahtzee D6s - the ones I've been using for Shadowrun since 1989! Wouldn't really of cared much about the other bunch of D6's I use for "pool" additions (yeah, it's a 3rd ED game). Well, you know how attached you can get to a set of dice you've had for ages, yeah? Kind of like they're my Pattern Items or something.

We'll see if it survives the dog and gets "retrieved" I guess. Maybe it'll have mysterious magical properties! Hmmm, then I can use it for rolls when my group's PCs are really in the c**p...

As for the cats, yeah there are two of the furry blighters and they're just out of kittenhood and so will attack just about anything that twitches. But then I as I said, I'm used to cats and as long as they don't deliberately sprawl out on my notes behind the GM screen to "Oi-I'm-in-your-line-of-sight-so-pay-me-some-attention!" we get on alright.

Don't know if I'd be the same should someone get a tarantula and let that wander over my screen. Might upset a few people with my reaction to that one...

If by "mysterious magical properties" you mean, smells bad, and will definitely stick to anything you roll it on, then you'd be correct. Your players will definitely be tormented.


//yeah, I went there

I have a friend whose cat even attacked dice rolled behind the GM screen. So there you'd be rolling behind the screen, and the cat would slowly creep up on the other side of the screen and then either quickly jump around it and catch the dice or punch the screen to get at them.
The dice would then scatter, so he'd rush to catch them, they'd roll again and he'd keep on doing this until the die finally stopped. The cat would then try to chew it, find it not to his taste and get back in front of the GM screen, hoping to catch a better one.

What do you say, "kind of like"?? The doggy will keep the die, weaving a thread into it´s Slobbering Talent (Soak BBB feat included). Should the die ever come out again, it counts as legendary treasure, but until then, you pay. The precious. It must be yours.

If a dog wants constant attention or if it's skittish around strangers it needs to be crated during a game. The girlfriend and I pulled out of our D&D group because the host got a dog; it was probably abused but it growled and snarled at everyone. Speaking as someone who loves all things four legged and furry I won't tolerate that type of behavior in an animal that can hurt a person.

And eating dice can hurt or kill a dog or cat.

A cat at one of my player's homes decide that our book bags were good kitty litter boxes. Needless to say, we don't play there anymore.

At a different home, one of the dogs likes to lie under the table and fart constantly.

My cat would never attack dice when I used to hold games at my house, but there were certain people she didn't like, so she'd attack them once in a while. Nothing like seeing a 6' tall guy refusing to enter the bathroom because the cat's hissing at him.

I'll trade a few attack cats or a slobbering dog for the room full of toddlers & preschoolers we have here...

No thank you...animals are far easier to control than those things

ever tried to get a cat to do soemthing it really did NOT want to do? O.o
i can understand him, and i frigging love cats . . i'm just lucky they love me too and usually comply to my wishes of things they are to do . .
my tomcat hunted big dogs for fun . . i mean REALLY big dogs . . there's nothing in the size category of a housecat that is more dangerous. .

Funny you should start this thread.

I recently bought a samoyed pup not long ago. The cute little girl is barely 5 months old now. My players came around, roll their dice on the floor and we've had no issues (although they do tend to guard them to prevent the scenario you described).

Infact, my players make more of a mess (spilling drinks and the like) more than the pup does.

When I go around to my friend's houses to run a session I bring her along and she's just as well behaved, although we did have a few accidents while we were still toilet training her...

As for my cat, she's less of a problem. She's usually sleeping or hiding from the dog.

- J.

Nerf guns... that's the answer yes, I'm mean. Well the cats actually run away and chew the darts, but they usually hide when folks come over anyway. The dogs actually seem to get the hint when I load up the nerf guns, they just leave. Plus I can use them to control my players as well. If it doesn't, airsoft works well to keep those kids/players in line.

Let the dogs get your scent, prove to them you're not a threat/intruder. Most hosts will put the animal up in their rooms or outside in the backyard (if the weather's nice).
Cats are a different story. Let them be cats. The pets are the host's responsibility.

A while back I got invited to game at a friend's house, and he has a pair of female mixed-breed rotwilers. He held onto the ir collars & I volunteered to allow them to get my scent. Fortunately, I'm one of those rare people that comes off as not-a-threat to most animals (the rest were either too agitated to relax or just not interested) & now, when I go over there, they are happy to see me. It also helps that I rub their bellies & tell them they're good girls. (My GF still insists they smell my cats on me & think 'Oooh, lunch!')

If it takes bribery, find out what treat the pets like & bring it on random occaisions.

This is why I own snakes. They don't bother anybody and nobody bothers them. We all like it that way.

Or lizards. Nothing beats saying, "I need to take my pet lizard out."

I have a ferret, and one of my players is allergic. So we go elsewhere, and I think that is a big limiting factor where you can host (or who hosts).

Is the dog male or female? I ask because I have some suggestions to keep it busy that only work if it is male. Most of those suggestions require you to sew a fleshlight into a plush toy.

But yeah, find something for the doggie to do. Give him a bone to chew, a hole to dig, or a sex doll to hump. Something.

Meh, my group plays at a gaming club, so I really don't have to worry about pets.

The worst I have to worry about is one of dogs giving my car another bad flare job.

Ya know what? I'm not a big fan of dogs, ever. I may not be lining up for the Warren Ellis/Spider Jerusalem Dog Culling political ticket, but I prefer to have a basic understanding with canines: they keep their slobbery muzzles the hell away from me, and I won't be tempted to feed them a gallon container of peanut butter just to get them the hell away from me.

That being said, whoever originally decided on this idea of sticking dogs in tiny little freaking containers just because their presence isn't immediately convenient to us grand domesticators needs to be stuffed into one of the damn things (preferably one meant for one of those retarded little purse dogs—don't get me started) with the judicious application of a Kitchen Magician. Using the damn things to ship animals in via plane or train is one thing, creating your own private canine Guantanamo whenever it just happens to be more convenient for you is another.

Sequester the dog, sure. Put it outside (weather/space permitting), put it in a bedroom, put up a toddler gate and leave it in the kitchen/den/garage/whatever. Just don't stick the damn thing in a tiny little box because you bought the wrong damn type of dog for your abilities/living arrangement.

I agree.

I like cats, and usually the whole game session if there is a cat in the house goes to having the cat in my lap and on the table. The hard part is getting a hand away from petting it to rolling dice. Usually the cat grabs the hand and insist you keep petting. But I like cats.

Dogs I'm afraid of and they usually sense that.

My major issue with having pets is that if the GM has a hard time taking care of himself, he should not be taking care of a pet as well.

One of my player's loves my dog so much that he forgets what he's doing to say hello to her - even if he's the GM of another campaign. I think it slots off some of the other players, but personally, I find it kinda cute watching them But then again I'm a big softie.

- J.

Is it wrong that I laughed at the mental image of a prison full of dogs sporting orange jumpers and skull caps?

I agree that an owner shouldn't stick a dog in a cage because it's convenient. However, a properly crate-trained dog will view his "cage" as a home and a place of safety, not as a pen to bust out of. Give it a dog bed and a Busy-Bone and a crate-trained dog will be a happy camper. An ex-girlfriend had a beagle who loved her crate and the dog would cry if the house cat decided it wanted to take a nap in there. So long as he isn't crated for so long that he gets hungry, thirsty or needs to relive himself, crating a dog isn't a problem.

Most dogs who have been properly introduced to a crate love them. Dogs are den animals. Small and cozy caves trigger their happy inner-wolf. My puppy loves her crate - we keep the door open for her to go in and out at will. She puts her toys in there (and our shoes, spare silverware stolen from the dishwasher, and the kids stuffed animals), goes in there to take naps, or just grabs a bone and goes in there for some relaxed chewing time. Hence the reason most dogs also like dog houses when they're outside - small cozy cave mentality. And yes, we do use it to confine her when appropriate, and since she feels safe and happy in there, it's a stress-free way to keep her safe and out of trouble.

Heck, I just wish I could crate-train my kids...

Oh, the kids will stop crying if left in the crate...eventually

Small cozy cave mentality. Add toys (computers for the larger ones), a place to sleep, Cookies and Milk. A multimedia setup doesn´t hurt either.

Disadvantage: Usually the kid-boxes get so large that people use a whole room for it. But add a separate bathroom with direct access, and the buggers won´t even notice that you didn´t lock the door like you said you would.

Yep... the wife points out it works well with certain types of husbands as well.

I learned the hard way not to bring Nerf guns...I brought one along as a prop for Harlequin's Back and the players ended up passing it around and shooting each other with it the whole night or trying to hit the others' dice, etc. Never again!!!