Finding or Forming a Group Introduction
Unfortunately, you can’t play Dungeons and Dragons by yourself (at least not without learning a bunch of other rule systems). At some point, you’ll need to get into a group. You can either form a group yourself, or find a group that already exists.
Forming a group is an important step if you want to play. Remember that you generally need 3-6 people (including the DM).
Once you have a pool of interested members, you need to schedule the game. Many groups find that a recurring weekly game running 4-6 hours is generally a good balance of frequency and duration, but do whatever suits your group best. Try to pick a time when the whole group can usually be expected to be available, but remember that real life still happens outside of the game, so scheduling conflicts happen.
I want to play with people I know
Ask around among your friends. Tabletop RPGs are more pervasive than you may know, and a lot of people are playing, have played in the past, or want to play and have never had the opportunity. You may have some success forming a group on Facebook or on other social media platforms, too.
I Am Fine Playing With Strangers
Try /r/LFG or your local subreddit. If you live in an area with a FLGS or comic book shop, go visit the store and see if they have a bulletin board where people post about their games. You may find people interested in forming a group and looking for players.
- Gamely: App dedicated to finding local groups to play board games and tabletop RPGs.
- Meetup.com: Website/app for finding local groups for activities.
- Reddit: Reddit’s /r/LFG (Looking For Group) is dedicated to finding groups for tabletop games, if you live in or near a city with a local subreddit you may have luck posting there too.
- Roll20.net’s LFG Forum: Purpose-built to help you find games with strangers online.
- Startplaying.Games (affiliate link): The go-to platform for paid Dungeon Masters. A paid DM can be a great way to find a dedicated group and a highly proficient DM for yourself or for your entire table. Many DMs are very welcoming and supportive of new players.
- Yawning Portal: The official event portal from Wizards of the Coast. Great if you want to get into “organized play”.
- Local Games Stores: Local game stores frequently have bulletin boards to advertise events and game groups, and the employees may know of people looking to form a group or add new members to an existing one.
I can’t commit to a regular gaming group, but still want to play
Check out the Adventurer’s League page to find a FLGS near you which runs recurring games. Adventurer’s League is an organized play group, which is like a shared campaign that you can drop in and out of anywhere that it’s played.
