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Find Local Players for Tabletop RPGs

by Mike on 16 September 2024

Finding and maintaining a great RPG group remains the biggest hurdle for the RPG hobby. It's the topic of memes all over the internet. With all of our technology and interconnectedness, it hasn't gotten significantly better.

But there's hope.

Today we're going to look at best practices for finding local players for your tabletop RPG. For those of you who play online, do not fret. I plan on a similar article for finding great online players. In the meantime you can read my article on Interviewing New D&D Players for Online Games. Online play is a fantastic way to enjoy RPGs but today we're going to focus on finding local players.

Many suggestions here came from some fantastic discussion on this YouTube community thread. I've consolidated the many responses I received when I asked how GMs best find players for local games.

Where to Find Players

Here's a list of common places people found players for local games:

Local game shops
Colleagues at work
Family members
The local library
Local meetups and conventions
Schools and universities
Asking new friends
Facebook groups
Meetup.com (I don't know if this option is still a good one but it used to be)
Local Discord servers or Reddit groups
Local Adventurer's League meetups
Local bulletin boards (actual physical boards)
Local volunteer groups

Run Games

It's much easier to find players than it is to find gamemasters. GMs are still the rare commodity in this hobby, so if you're willing to GM, it's easier to find players. The last time I saw a poll on it, most GMs became GMs because no one else would take the role. So take it and you'll find it easier to find players.

Try One-Shots

When you're first finding people and inviting people to play, consider running single-session or short-run campaigns in public places. This trial run gives all of you an element of safety and helps you ensure you mesh with players before you commit to a regular game or a long-term campaign.

If you have the chance, you might meet up with potential players, either physically in a public place or online, just to see how well you get along before you sit down to a game but the real test will be gaming itself.

Focus On What They Want to Play

You might have a huge stack of different RPGs you want to play but new players don't know you at all yet. They might know what system they're already comfortable with – likely D&D. Start with something familiar to them. Run a few sessions. Show them what kind of DM you are and gauge what kinds of players they are. Once you've built some trust, you can talk to them about running other systems if you want or you might find you're enjoying the game you're running.

If you start off trying to bring players in for a lesser-known game system, it may be harder to find people. They don't know you and they might not know the system, so why jump in?

Worth the Effort

Finding a group to play RPGs is worth the effort. RPGs are important. They build stronger connections between us than most forms of entertainment these days. They matter to peoples' lives. It take time and energy and likely involves some false starts and frustrations to put together a great RPG group, but it's worth it in the end.

Be patient, be persistent, and be hopeful that you'll find an awesome group to enjoy your favorite RPG.

More Sly Flourish Stuff

Last week I posted a couple of YouTube videos on One Night with Level Up Advanced 5e amd Haldrin the Lich – Shadowdark Gloaming Session 42 Lazy GM Prep.

Last Week's Lazy RPG Talk Show Topics

Each week I record an episode of the Lazy RPG Talk Show (also available as a podcast) in which I talk about all things in tabletop RPGs. Here are last week's topics with time stamped links to the YouTube video:

Patreon Questions and Answers

Also on the Talk Show, I answer questions from Sly Flourish Patrons. Here are last week's questions and answers:

RPG Tips

Each week I think about what I learned in my last RPG session and write them up as RPG tips. Here are this week's tips:

Don’t start your game with a huge hard battle. It might wipe out your players’ energy just as things get started.
Give characters multiple paths to research problems and discover answers.
Abstract clues from their location and method of discovery. Improvise their discovery during the game.
Add meaningful choices to every scene.
Drop one interesting encounter in the middle of travel.
Roll and mix two random encounters together.
Use random encounters to show what passes by before.