I have been on hiatus for a week, and I apologize for that. While I am constructing the next few Adventure Hooks, I have this post for you to peruse. This was written in response to a person on a message board I frequent asking about how to find a regular RPG group, and then brought to the fore again by a friend of mine on twitter (@WastexGames). In any case, here is the post:
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If you want to find a regular RPG group, what I suggest to you is:
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1 ) FLGS:
Ask the owner/manager of your friendly local gaming store (FLGS) if there are any groups that he/she knows of in the area that RPG on the weekends or whatever day is best for you. This person will probably know, and you can give him/her your phone number and ask that they give your # to the person that runs that other group the next time they are in the store.
2 ) Flyers:
Ask the owner if you can put up a flyer. If he/she says yes, then do #3 and #4 below.
3 ) Location:
Ask the owner if you can host a game in their gaming area. Or find a different place to have the games. It doesn’t have to be your house if your wife/husband objects, but you can find a different venue than the FLGS if you aren’t comfortable gaming in front of a lot of people. There are lots of community locations where a room can be rented and a game hosted for a small fee.
4 ) Timing:
Put up a flyer asking for players that can join an RPG group for a long-running campaign to meet every _______ [whatever time period you think is reasonable for your life] from _____ to ______ [approximate start and end time].
5 ) Social Sites:
You can also post a message on Craigslist looking for RPG players. Also, search facebook groups and other social networking sites that may have a hobbies section.
6 ) Local Non-Game-Related Stores:
You can post a note in the local supermarket (sounds dumb/too simple, but the person that asked this was looking for the “adult” demographic). Other local stores that are frequented by lots of diverse people are also good for this one.
7 ) Colleges:
You can post a note at the local college – you might be surprised how many mature players you will find there, especially if it is a community college. Also, some colleges already have established gaming groups, you could get in touch with the facilitator of the group for more info about what they play and when.
8 ) Library:
You can post a note at the library – while you’re there, ask the librarian if he/she knows of any gaming groups in the area (this might also be a place to host a game; many libraries have space for community use that is relatively private).
9 ) General Hobby Websites:
You can look for a gaming group on websites like meetup.com, which coordinate group activities (if there is no such group you can start one).
10 ) RPG Related Websites:
You can post a message on RPG focused websites (e.g. RPGgeek.com, RPGlife.com, RPG.net) and ask if there is anyone near you that wants to join a regular RPG group. Many of these sites have sections entitled “looking for players” or “looking for GMs.”
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Well, those are the things I can come up with. I did several of these while I was looking for a group when I moved last time. I hope that some of it helps you. Anyone have any other brilliant ideas that I didn’t list here? Drop me a comment!
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Until next time, I wish you good gaming!
~DM Samuel
A very good list. One you forgot –Twitter! I have fuond many people local to me who game via twitter. I met one of the people who lives on my street via twitter, as wierd as that sounds.
In fact, we just met up and gamed through the magic of the bluebird!
*facepalm* Of course – I found gamers via twitter too, even!
Cool – funny small world story: I was working on a boat in Alaska (a processing vessel with about 100 other people) and I met someone who lived about 10 minutes from my house – we were friends for a very long time after that.