Walking thru my 'hood, I see a new #coffeeShop emerging. Still step ladders and paint buckets but should be close.
A long-standing #Bridgehead coffee shop closed across the street as that little local chain got bought out by a big corp. They seem to be shrinking as per big corporate modus operandi.
Hope this new one is decent. Wish it were indie, but that name sounds franchisey.
Followup to this earlier post – That new #Wesboro#coffeeshop opened up last weekend, we heard, and I've popped in twice while walking by just to check out the vibe.
Friendly staff, a small but broad selection of pastry and cake items, and nice decor. No WiFi apparently, but big windows so should be able to toot your visit via your mobile ok.
This is Red Eyes Coffee in North Center and it is our neighbourhood coffee shop. We only live about a two minute walk from here and we go very often. We go so often we feel like it is our second living room.
It has very reasonable prices and is not fussy or pretentous. A cozy place that is perfect on a sunny and a rainy day.
So what are we to make to MacDonalds new branded #coffeeshop going up against the established chains in the #coffee sector?
CosMcs... innocently, it might suggest they're merely dressing up & playing at being #baristas... perhaps a little less innocently, we might wonder what sort of 'cosplay' they are expecting to encourage?
The Albina Press, the #coffeeShop in NE #Portland is a real #caffeine junkie's #coffee shop; open at 6am, close at 6pm, every day, coffee's intense. They serve #coava, and have lots of seating in and outdoor. Pretty much perfect #pdx#cafe!
In the coffee shop enjoying a tea. The elderly man next to me is watching the football on his phone. In portrait so he is only getting a tiny credit card sized picture. Do I tell him to turn his phone 90 degrees or do I do the English thing and make a mental note to worry about it at some random time in the future? #coffeeshop#etiquette
happy saturday! up, and made myself a #coffee. hoping to be productive today, at least a little bit.
now that we’re in the new place, i really need to find a decent local (not starbucks) #CoffeeShop. anyone in west #raleigh have a favorite coffee shop they could point me towards? there’s a starbucks in walking distance, but i try not to patronize them for… several reasons.
The trope that starts every Dungeons & Dragons campaign is “So, you meet in a tavern.” Which is fitting. For most campaigns start with a diverse group of characters who don’t have strong connections throughout the group. They are a cross-cultural, cross-class, cross-Class, cross-everything group that wouldn’t meet at most places in the medieval-Renaissance-ish fantasy world that is D&D.
But the tavern, via the trope, has become a third place. It’s not home (though it often becomes that). It’s not work (though it often becomes that). It’s the place between. And these places between are frequently where subcultures within a society connect.
Various cultures have had different third places. For modern America it is now the coffeeshop and used to be bowling alleys. In the Ottoman Empire in the classical age had its cafes, where philosophy, music and political debate occurred.
In New England during the American Revolution public houses were the gathering point, for many at that time the first place was a co-located home with work and the second were churches.
The Greeks gathered on the steps of temples. Finns and Russians gather in bathhouses.
Sporting venues have been third places, before they became economically stratified. Travelling carnivals and festivals can be a third place.
No matter the type of third place, it tells you a bit about the culture.
Using third places as a character backstory tool
When creating a PC think about the place where you mingled with peoples unlike you. Where did your dwarf first meet an elf? Where did your farmer first meet a noble? Where did your follower of Lathander meet an unbeliever?
This decision will help tell you about your own history.
It will connect them to a place and associated behaviors that aren’t mechanics, but are fuel for the social pillar. Their own stories about a trip to watch a great debate between philosophers, a visit to the library, or the type of ale they enjoyed at the pub are stories that add more depth to the shared story that is D&D.
Adventurers have the place where they sleep (a cave, a cove, an inn), the place where they work (dungeons), and the places where they spend time meeting strangers with odd quests. Once they start their adventure they have the third place that was cross-cultural communication when they were growing up and now the place between — and that’s up to the whole party of different peoples.
Using third places as a world building tool
Dungeon Masters generally are more active in creating the world. There are a few ways they can use third places in that world.
Collect each players’ third places in your notes. Give them the opportunity to revisit them in new lands.
Start the campaign at the typical third place for the origin culture of the campaign. “So, you meet on the steps of the temple.”
When the group comes to a new land and looks for their comfortable third place (the tavern) demonstrate how that locale is different from their expectation and what the unfamiliar culture would use as their non-stratified place that welcomes outsiders.
Use maps of abandoned third places to show how different the older ages were from the one in which you campaign.
Have an NPC name-drop their favorite third place. This can show how they are familiar to most of the group, or different. Each NPC can have their own place, they should!
Have two third places in the same town share similarities but still be unique beyond their name. Maybe the Rusty Clam is a working pub and the Silver Nail is for the merchant class — and yet the players are welcomed at both.
These are flavor elements, but flavor is story in D&D. And story is what tables build together, usually because Dungeons and Dragons is now our third place.