5 ways to find players for your tabletop roleplaying game
Your ultimate guide to sourcing players (and, the story of how we all met)
There’s no shortage of YouTube content proffering advice for TTRPG game masters. Dungeon Dudes, Web DM, and XP to Level 3 are just a few of my favorites. Watch enough, and you’ll hear a couple of questions over and over again:
How do I find players?
How do I join a group?
They’re common for a reason. Many tabletop roleplayers today are rekindling their childhood hobby or discovering TTRPG for the first time through popular media properties like Stranger Things, Adventure Time, Critical Role, and Nerdist, not to mention gaming and cosplay content via social media and podcasts. [See: Rick & Morty creator Dan Harmon’s spontaneous foray into D&D on his former podcast Harmontown.]
Despite the popularity of TTRPG, it’s still a leap to go from watching to playing, especially as an adult juggling well-trodden social patterns with competing schedules and obligations. The good news? If you’re willing to GM, you’ve solved the toughest part, which is finding a GM to run your game.
If you’re struggling to find players, know this: We’ve all been there. Bringing Fire was started to help people bring their campaigns to life. And no matter how many tools you have, you can’t move forward without bodies in seats, whether in person or remote. That’s why I’ve compiled our community’s best, tried-and-true player-sourcing tips. Without them, Bringing Fire may never have existed!
Contributors include:
AVERY- Bringing Fire Founder
JOSH- Cofounder/CTO
BRENNAN, ERIC, DAN, BEN - Prototype testers, friends of the adventure
VANESSA- Comms + content, friend of the adventure
Contents:
Purpose-built sites and forums
The watercooler
Local venues
Cons
Players in plain sight
1. Purpose-built sites and forums
There are several sites dedicated to finding groups. Just introduce yourself, describe the system and setting you’re interested in playing, and see if anyone bites. Suggesting a low-commitment one-shot with a more popular system like D&D or Warhammer is a great way to get traction.
RPG Table Finder - Start a table and let the algorithm do the work—you can also pay a nominal fee to “stand out”
Warhorn - Similar to Table Finder, “host” an event and be transparent that you’re a new GM looking for a one shot (and maybe something more if all works out)
r/lfg, DNDBeyond LFG, or the LFG of a system or show you’re into - Same deal as above, without the templates or algorithms
GamerTok and Nerdtok
Crawlr - A group-finding app in beta
StartPlaying - Similar to RPG Table Finder and Warhorn- StartPlaying may be suited to more seasoned GMs but could still be a great place to meet players as a player yourself and recruit them into your game down the line.
2. The watercooler
Tap your org’s slack/discord/intranet
Josh met Avery at MongoDB when Avery joined the dedicated D&D Slack channel.
AVERY: “It all came down to the Slack group. Josh and I would run into each other in the kitchen and talk about the campaigns we were running. I was a freshly minted GM and wanted to get advice from everyone. When Pathfinder 2e playtests came out, I offered to run a one-shot for those interested in the Slack channel.”
Avery & Josh at the proverbial watercooler
Be a beacon for closeted players
Tech companies like MongoDB may have a cultural bias toward TTRPG. But when you’re transparent about your interest, would-be players will come out of the woodwork just about everywhere. At the very least, you’ll pique some curiosity.
If your dress code permits, wear a themed tee
Decorate your desk with minis, dice, or your favorite novelty accessories
Chat about the latest video from your favorite creators
Hit us up at info@bringingfire.com for some sweet stickers to throw on your water bottle and laptop
Make it a team-building activity
Many industries today actually value the skills that TTRPG helps to groom, such as problem-solving, collaboration, leadership, and creative thinking. Such industries include:
Creative arts, theater, film, design, etc.
Advertising and media
Science and technology
Many companies will even sanction if not sponsor TTRPG sessions as team-building activities.
“About 25% of my business comes from businesses looking to foster creativity and collaboration among their employees,” says professional game master Timm Woods. “In fact, TTRPGs represent one of the best opportunities for teambuilding and cooperative play. Just as they bind friend groups together and help aim their efforts toward both common and individual goals, games like D&D are incredible tools for any business team to make use of.
Ask your manager if you can run a session as a team activity or happy hour event—if everyone’s up for it, it could become a regular thing.
3. Local venues
Sponsored play events
DAN: “Check out Adventurers League or Magpie Games’ Curated Play Program for leads both online and locally. You’ll get randos, but you’ll meet other legit GMs at least.”
ERIC: “In the longer term, without being a poacher, you can join local games as a player to meet more people who also play.”
Once you’ve spent some time playing with a group, ask the GM if they’d mind taking a week off to let you try your hand. Or, if they can’t attend a given week, offer to pinch hit.
Your local game store
Try chatting up another customer while you’re both admiring dice, minis, or a new rulebook. Ask if they’ve ever GMed and mention you’re looking to start— see where the convo goes.
Too nerve-wracking? Try the cashier. Not only are they super passionate, they’re paid to answer your questions. Ask if the store would be willing to let you run an intro one-shot some time.
Meetup and Reddit
Plenty of GMs find players through Meetup, as long as you can find a spot in a bar, cafeteria, library, park, or other place to house your session.
Community members Ben and Vanessa would have met years prior to Bringing Fire, had Vanessa joined a local Storm King’s Thunder Meetup she was considering. Ben joined that campaign and has been playing ever since.
BEN: “I think that campaign went for a year plus before I started covering for the GM with ‘many-shots’ (frequent one-shot campaigns).”
Lastly, you can always post on your local subreddit explaining your situation and offering up a one-shot.
4. Cons
As for me, my jam is meeting players at conventions like PaizoCon and GenCon. Can’t attend? No problem. Most conventions host Discord channels or virtual events where you can connect with fellow gamers.
Panels: Head to a panel on an interesting GM-related topic or hosted by a person you follow, and chat up the people seated next to you. I’ve met loads of cool people this way.
Organized play: Many GMs cut their teeth with prewritten one-offs hosted by the game system publishers or societies like Paizo’s Organized Play. Generally, the con organizers or game publishers put out a call for GM volunteers in advance of the con so register for their mailing lists and keep an eye out for related discord/community announcements.
The hotel lobby: This year at Gencon, I met several players waiting in line for Starbucks and in the lounge. I also saw groups pulling out their new games and jumping into playtesting, taking advantage of the in-person time.
BRENNAN: I met Josh, Avery, and many other gaming friends at conventions. Josh and his friends were hanging around the lobby and were very friendly. After we had been in a couple of games together, we struck up a conversation. I definitely recommend local conventions as a way to meet players in your area, as opposed to the national ones. Be friendly, converse with your fellow players, and don't be shy about friending them on social media or Discord. Then, you have a way to contact them to organize games outside the con.
5. Players in plain sight
You'd be surprised at the number of people in your day-to-day life who are TTRPG-curious or at least down to goof around over a board game and a couple of drinks. Bonus, it’s less intimidating to run an adventure with a table of people who have zero experience or expectations.
Mine your network
In-person: Float the idea in social settings, both new and familiar. You might discover a family member or acquaintance who played D&D as a child and is interested in starting back up.
Social media: Post RPG-related memes and content to see anyone in your extended network shows an interest. I started doing this during quarantine and was pleasantly surprised by how many people still showed interest, even after lockdown ended.
AVERY: I met Stephanie's stepfather, at a mutual friend's party, and we became friends. After a couple of months, he invited me to his place to play Pathfinder with his family... my first game in over 20 years. That's where I met Stephanie!
Set a trap
There’s one day a year when you have maximum leverage to get friends and loved ones to do your bidding: your birthday.
Invite your friends over to celebrate, but hold the gifts—you’re running a one-shot and your only request is that they give it a shot! Spin it as a board game with a story on top, print out a few premade character sheets, and don’t worry too much about mechanics—just have them doing stuff and start rolling dice so you get a feel for running a table.
Capitalize on captive audiences
Kids: Offer to run a one-shot for your kids or as a babysitting activity or birthday party activity. Bonus? Kids won’t care if you get a rule or plot point wrong. Many systems have starter sets designed to help teachers bring D&D and other games into their classrooms.
Spontaneous boredom: Is the power down in a storm? Pandemic got you on lockdown? Take a tip from my experience: Throw down a battlemat and see what happens.
Interest groups
As an art form, TTRPG has a lot of crossover with other artforms, from the more obvious fantasy and sci-fi associations to improvisation and creative professionals. If you know anyone who runs in these circles, they may very well be down for a one-shot:
Fans of shows like Rick & Morty, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Whose Line Is It Anyways, and Key & Peele, many of which are run by known improvisers and D&D players
Movie nerds, bookworms, narrative gamers: Anyone who likes to critique works of narrative art will find something to enjoy in a one-shot.
Board game people: You’re already at the table for the night, why not give it a [one]-shot?
Renaissance faires and live action roleplaying (LARP) events: It’s very easy to chat up people at the Ren Faire, especially those in costume. And chances are high that they already play D&D.
At the end of the day, players are just people. It may take some time, but if you keep trying these strategies, you’ll eventually cobble together a quorum to help you bring your campaign to life.
