Let's be honest. The main problem for any player or GM is not which game system to buy, or which setting to play in, or the Creative Agenda preferences of their group (even if that bollocks were real) – it's finding a bunch of people they want to play with, and keeping that group together. This article was originally part of d4-d4, and it supposes that you don't bother with a game circle (about which more in a later article), but want to go the old route of getting a group, and then deciding which game to run, rather than deciding on the game, then recruiting the group to fit it. Every nerd and his dog will advise you to advertise on boards in game stores. Commonly that doesn't work. Nerds are shy. And they're lazy. They have to make the effort to write your number or email down, and even if you put it on a tear-off tab, they still have to screw up the courage to contact a strange person to talk to them about their nerdy hobbies.
What does work is two things: the internet, and making new gamers.
The Internet as Recruiting Ground
Anyone who participates in newsgroups, message boards or chat rooms online knows that people lose their inhibitions over just plain text. Scrawny or overweight geeks thousands of miles from each-other are unashamedly proclaiming their love for one another, or threatening to punch each-other's heads in over some minor argument. Whether speaking love or hate, they speak words they'd never speak in person. The internet, like alcohol, lowers their inhibitions, and suddenly they're not shy anymore. They acquire a virtual steel spine.
So, advertise your game on internet message boards. Do a websearch for roleplaying groups in your area. Plenty of people put up webpages about their game, or start message boards for "Gamers in Timbuktu" or wherever you are. If there's nothing for your area, start one. At first there'll be nothing, and you'll get downcast and imagine you'll never play. Stick with it.
One message board in my town has a couple of hundred members. It's found that it stays quiet for a few months. Everyone assumes it's dead and there's no games out there. Then some brave soul pops up and asks if anyone wants to play in his game of Kill Things and Take Their Stuff running on Sundays. This message floats out into the internet and into people's email boxes. Suddenly the guy who stopped running his game when one of his players went away says, "hey, maybe I can get a replacement and start again," as he remembers how much fun he had. So, he posts an advertisement, too. And another, and so on – a little burst of activity for a few weeks, then it goes quiet again.
These boards and chat rooms are like singles bars for nerds. They're places where people congregate because they all want the same thing. Often, the ones online are the ones who aren't getting any. If they were getting some, they'd be busy doing that, not messing about online. They're talking about gaming because they're not actually gaming. But they really want to game. So, join these online groups. You won't get laid, but you might get a game.
Make New Gamers
Okay, here you have to stop being lazy and shy. If you've got an office job, take your game books to work and leave them on your desk. You'll be amazed how many people come up and ask about them. "Hey, is this Kill Things and Take Their Stuff? I used to play that when I was a kid…" Work on their nostalgia, and get them into gaming again. This is not so much "making new gamers" as "retreads."
Have a look around at your workmates and friends. Let's say you want to play a roleplaying game set in a sci-fi universe. Sci-fi books and movies are popular. The sort of people who enjoy them, some of them – not all, but some – might enjoy roleplaying in them. Everybody at some point in a movie or book imagines themselves, at least for a moment, as one of its characters. Roleplaying is just doing this for hours, instead of moments.
So, explain to them that roleplaying is just imagining yourself as that character for a while longer, and that the rules are just a framework for that. If they're still a bit vague on what you mean, mention the Choose Your Own Adventure books. You know the ones, where you'd read a paragraph, and at the end it'd say, "if you go through the left door, turn to page 32. If you go to the right door, turn to page 57." It'd go on like that until "you" were killed or reached the end of the adventure. Roleplaying is just like that, but with a short reply instead of multiple choice. In the end, roleplaying is just a vaguely organised way of sitting around having a chat and telling tall stories. People have been doing that in bars, cafes and parties for centuries.
Of course, some people will say, "but roleplaying is just a game. It's for kids." Yes, games are for kids – games like football and soccer and basketball and monopoly and chess and scrabble. Adults play all those, too. Yep, it's a nerdy hobby. So what?
The other thing to bear in mind is that other gamers are like you - they have other interests, somewhat related to their gaming interests. So perhaps in your town there's no tabletop D&D group (for example). But maybe there's a yahoo group list of Vampire LARPers, with 13 members. Contact them - chances are, 3 or 4 of them are into tabletop gaming, too, and of those 3 or 4, at least 1 of them will give your D&D game a go. The same goes for fan clubs of Lord of the Rings, and so on. One particularly rich place to mine for roleplayers is among computer gamers - many people play computer rpgs or wargames, and would love to play with other people; they only use the machine because they've no people.
The biggest chance probably comes with wargames clubs. I mean, the latest edition of D&D is all about miniatures. And after all, roleplaying was invented by wargamers.
Keep Up the Effort
If you're looking for a group, decide what time you'd like to play, and until you do have that group, use that particular time to look for one. So if you want to game every Sunday afternoon from 1pm to 7pm, spend every Sun 1-7 looking for a game group. Then forget about it the rest of the week. Concentrated effort on a regular basis brings better results. And having a break from it lets you return refreshed and with new ideas and enthusiasm. Just idly surfing the net each day and putting notices here and there whenever it occurs to you, you'll end up doing very little. So, choose your gaming time, and until it's a gaming time, making it a finding time.
PS: Jim the Flame Princess has his own article on getting a game group, with some different advice.
What does work is two things: the internet, and making new gamers.
The Internet as Recruiting Ground
Anyone who participates in newsgroups, message boards or chat rooms online knows that people lose their inhibitions over just plain text. Scrawny or overweight geeks thousands of miles from each-other are unashamedly proclaiming their love for one another, or threatening to punch each-other's heads in over some minor argument. Whether speaking love or hate, they speak words they'd never speak in person. The internet, like alcohol, lowers their inhibitions, and suddenly they're not shy anymore. They acquire a virtual steel spine.
So, advertise your game on internet message boards. Do a websearch for roleplaying groups in your area. Plenty of people put up webpages about their game, or start message boards for "Gamers in Timbuktu" or wherever you are. If there's nothing for your area, start one. At first there'll be nothing, and you'll get downcast and imagine you'll never play. Stick with it.
One message board in my town has a couple of hundred members. It's found that it stays quiet for a few months. Everyone assumes it's dead and there's no games out there. Then some brave soul pops up and asks if anyone wants to play in his game of Kill Things and Take Their Stuff running on Sundays. This message floats out into the internet and into people's email boxes. Suddenly the guy who stopped running his game when one of his players went away says, "hey, maybe I can get a replacement and start again," as he remembers how much fun he had. So, he posts an advertisement, too. And another, and so on – a little burst of activity for a few weeks, then it goes quiet again.
These boards and chat rooms are like singles bars for nerds. They're places where people congregate because they all want the same thing. Often, the ones online are the ones who aren't getting any. If they were getting some, they'd be busy doing that, not messing about online. They're talking about gaming because they're not actually gaming. But they really want to game. So, join these online groups. You won't get laid, but you might get a game.
Make New Gamers
Okay, here you have to stop being lazy and shy. If you've got an office job, take your game books to work and leave them on your desk. You'll be amazed how many people come up and ask about them. "Hey, is this Kill Things and Take Their Stuff? I used to play that when I was a kid…" Work on their nostalgia, and get them into gaming again. This is not so much "making new gamers" as "retreads."
Have a look around at your workmates and friends. Let's say you want to play a roleplaying game set in a sci-fi universe. Sci-fi books and movies are popular. The sort of people who enjoy them, some of them – not all, but some – might enjoy roleplaying in them. Everybody at some point in a movie or book imagines themselves, at least for a moment, as one of its characters. Roleplaying is just doing this for hours, instead of moments.
So, explain to them that roleplaying is just imagining yourself as that character for a while longer, and that the rules are just a framework for that. If they're still a bit vague on what you mean, mention the Choose Your Own Adventure books. You know the ones, where you'd read a paragraph, and at the end it'd say, "if you go through the left door, turn to page 32. If you go to the right door, turn to page 57." It'd go on like that until "you" were killed or reached the end of the adventure. Roleplaying is just like that, but with a short reply instead of multiple choice. In the end, roleplaying is just a vaguely organised way of sitting around having a chat and telling tall stories. People have been doing that in bars, cafes and parties for centuries.
Of course, some people will say, "but roleplaying is just a game. It's for kids." Yes, games are for kids – games like football and soccer and basketball and monopoly and chess and scrabble. Adults play all those, too. Yep, it's a nerdy hobby. So what?
The other thing to bear in mind is that other gamers are like you - they have other interests, somewhat related to their gaming interests. So perhaps in your town there's no tabletop D&D group (for example). But maybe there's a yahoo group list of Vampire LARPers, with 13 members. Contact them - chances are, 3 or 4 of them are into tabletop gaming, too, and of those 3 or 4, at least 1 of them will give your D&D game a go. The same goes for fan clubs of Lord of the Rings, and so on. One particularly rich place to mine for roleplayers is among computer gamers - many people play computer rpgs or wargames, and would love to play with other people; they only use the machine because they've no people.
The biggest chance probably comes with wargames clubs. I mean, the latest edition of D&D is all about miniatures. And after all, roleplaying was invented by wargamers.
Keep Up the Effort
If you're looking for a group, decide what time you'd like to play, and until you do have that group, use that particular time to look for one. So if you want to game every Sunday afternoon from 1pm to 7pm, spend every Sun 1-7 looking for a game group. Then forget about it the rest of the week. Concentrated effort on a regular basis brings better results. And having a break from it lets you return refreshed and with new ideas and enthusiasm. Just idly surfing the net each day and putting notices here and there whenever it occurs to you, you'll end up doing very little. So, choose your gaming time, and until it's a gaming time, making it a finding time.
PS: Jim the Flame Princess has his own article on getting a game group, with some different advice.
The current regular campaign is just a short one to turn our experienced player Aron into an experienced GM. Last night's session was an alternate, which we have every fourth session or so, or when the GM or several players are away.