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View Full Version : Tips for starting up/looking for an IRL campaign?



Togath
2013-05-07, 01:44 PM
As the title suggests, I've been thinking about trying to start up/play in an IRL campaign recently.. but have been a bit unsure of how to start.
The only one I was ever in, died after two sessions, when it became apparent the GM didn't know the rules very well, and one of the players couldn't stick to a schedule..
There are several local game shops, and I do know a friend that used to play dnd(not sure if she still does/has enough time anymore), but I'm a bit shy in social situations, and not even sure how to start up an IRL campaign(likely of DnD 3/3.5, Pathfinder, or Legend[since it looks interesting, though I don't know much about it, let alone how old/obscure it is here on in IRL it is])

Eldonauran
2013-05-07, 07:02 PM
If you're a bit shy in social situations, one of the best ways is to see if the game shops have a 'WANTED' board. You can put up your information and see if someone calls. You can also check to see if anyone else seems interested and make that call yourself.

It is how I got connected after wanting to play D&D for years. Got a call out of no where from a random guy and I have been gaming with them every since. Usually roughly 3 times a month, we meet together.

Sidmen
2013-05-07, 10:40 PM
After years of traveling far from my home in search of a game (sometimes up to 2 1/2 hour drives - because I didn't know anyone closer who played). I posted an ad up on penandpapergames.com with my email address and some info about the game I wanted to run. I made sure to include the town and state name in the title of the post, and the body of the text - so that google would pick up on it.

Then, waited. A month later I got an email from some people looking for a new GM and wha-la I now have a group of 6 within 5 minutes from my home.

Other than that, yes - you can ask the game shop's owner if you can post a Wanted poster up on his bulletin board, and if he specializes in RPGs you could even ask him if he has any gamers looking for players (he might know).

kitep
2013-05-07, 11:08 PM
There are a couple of things you can do. But remember it may take several tries before you find a group you click with.

Gaming stores are a good start. They usually host games, or as someone mentioned, they often have a board for gamers wanted. Or you can just hang out and ask people as they shop (but don't be a nuisance)

Ditto with comic book shops.

Bookstores that sell RPG stuff - hang out and talk to people that look at them.

You can try meetup.com

Post on various boards (eg Wizards and maybe this one) that you're looking for players in the city of whatever. If you put up an email, you'll probably want to make a throwaway email account that you can cancel once the spambots got a hold of it.

Ask the 2 people you gamed with if they know of anybody else.

Walk around carrying a PHB in plain sight. People will talk to you.

Good luck!

Togath
2013-05-08, 01:34 AM
I'll try the game shop first then, it has a varied stock(comic books, tcgs, rpgs, and wargaming supplies), so might work(most popular are the rpgs and tcg sections), and they might be let me use one of the gaming tables to host campaigns(since the shop owner is friendly, and he does let people use them for warhammer and magic the gathering).
And aye, I'll probably ask the person I gamed with as well for tips

Selein
2013-05-08, 11:53 AM
Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/lfg) has several websites it links to to assist people in finding both online and offline games. I used nearbygamers.com and was contacted within a month. The sites are over on the right side.

Barsoom
2013-05-08, 06:05 PM
I second the suggestion of meetup.com. That's how I found one of my previous DMs, and some of my current players.