Quote Originally Posted by ravenbounduptight View Post
okay, this is going to sound odd because i'm not asking for myself but for a group of people.

What would it take to start a dungeon, semi public. A group of friends/people who know each other in the Pittsburgh area are tired of only one place that is a public dungeon. There has been drama there and we sorta feel stuck. like it's the only place to go and have public play use of toys/set ups that we don't normally have, but at the same time we have the problem of being chased out due to politics.

So what we're whispering about is finding a place or some sort of set up where we as a group can go and have the same fun that we have at the dungeon. i don't think we're looking for a set up like a public night club, that takes alot of work and getting thru the red tape. We don't even want it to be run like a bizz. More like a group of people pitching in and finding a place.

Any suggestions? (and playing nice at the current dungeon was already tried, we have nothing against the dungeon itself, just the politics and fighting).

Thanks

~j~
Been there. We put together a budget and figured how many people would need to be involved to cover the rent (and how much we'd have to put in each to do the same).

The core group was 15 people. A smallish office (about 500 square feet) was found in an old building with a low per foot cost. The core group guaranteed the rent, and provided furniture. The search looked for "exotica" in the property. What was found was a 5 storey building ca 100 years old, with heavy cast iron pipes as support in some of the open space. Cost was 450 pcm, electricity was a further 50 pcm (heating and lights). Cost per core member was 50 pcm (allowed for a gradual buil;d-up of capital for toys etc).

Furniture consisted of a fridge, a coffee maker, some old tables (one served as a desk), some lockers, a couple of old sofas and a couple of chairs. In addition, suspension gear was installed in a central room, including a spanking/fire bench, a St Andrew's Cross, and a small electric winch supporting a flying suspension rig in the centre of the room. There was a "web" along one of the short walls, and manacles and leg irons attached to two of the metal supports.

A club structure was established, full membership (for non-core members) was 10 a year, guests and members were allowed, but had to be introduced by a full member, and demonstrations, and play times were held on a regular schedule (onc e or twice a month). Full members could book the play space on a first come first served basis for times when the facility was free. A member of the core group had to be present for any booking (to serve as Dungeon Master). Those private bookings cost 50 an evening.

When I left the area, the group had been functioning for just oiver 2 years and was still going strong. The cost to the core group had gone down because the membership had risen significantly, and the dungeon (on the third floor of the building - lol) was booked at least 50% of the time.

If you'd like more detail, feel free to PM me.