Lvl 25 geek LFG

October 24, 2005 6:31 AM

Roleplayer seeking a old school pen and paper Group with which to quest for adventure on a semi regular basis. I am looking for some resources to meet fellow roleplayers in my area.

I am a avid role playing fan. I am really craving some nice sit down table top role playing sessions, computer games just don't give me the satisfaction that PNP games do. Its been several years since I have gotten to play and I want to very badly.

The people I work with (the maybe 3-5 that are geeks) are all about the MMORPGs. I have no local game shops and I am not in a large city.

How in the world do I find a group to game with?

I've tried on several occasions to get my friends to play a couple different systems (All flesh must be eaten, ADnD, shadowrun), but pen and paper just doesn't appeal to them (probably because I am not a very good DM).
I can't really think of where else to look to find people with a similar interest. Google is no help finding any websites that are about hooking up lone role players with groups, unless I want to find a group sex roleplaying group.. thats about the only thing it returns, and thats no use to me.

So I guess some of the types of responses I am hoping to get from you guys are:
Where did you find your gaming group?
How can I become a better DM to help my friends to maybe learn to love it?
Are you in NW ohio and looking to form a gaming group, or have one that is looking to add a person to it?
Or any other advice any of you have on the subject.

posted by JonnyRotten to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

Re-reading my question it sounds a bit disjointed. I aplogize.. I just got home from work and its been a rough night.
posted by JonnyRotten at 6:33 AM on October 24, 2005

You might want to try Findplay. It's designed to hook you up with other area RPGers.
posted by selfnoise at 6:34 AM on October 24, 2005

Some of the best advice I've read is to not seek out other gamers, but to seek out other people you'd like to game with and convert'em.

Finding good folks is the hard part. The rest is pretty easy.

Pick a simple system, set as much up before hand as you can (chargen, etc), pick a simple adventure (Idylls of the Rat King is pretty basic and a decent intro to the genre), and go for it. Don't make a huge production out of it (costumes, music, etc), instead try and liken it to a poker night or something.

If you have coworkers that are already into WoW or EQ or something, it shouldn't be too hard to get them to play one of the pen and paper versions of the game.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:47 AM on October 24, 2005

Gonna have to let your fingers do the walking on this one and be resourceful.

1) yahoo! Groups are always a good resource. I'd search by "rpg" and "Ohio", "gaming" and "Ohio", etc. and see what comes up.
2) google the above.
3) find a convention calendar online for your area, as cons are a great way to meet with fellow gamers, nerds, geeks and whatnot.
posted by willmize at 6:51 AM on October 24, 2005

A couple years ago, I was in a similar situation. What I wound up doing was checking out the Wizards of the Coast fora (www.wizards.com, but it doesn't appear to be responding at the moment). They have a forum for people looking for games -- I found a group in my city, and am still gaming with them. Obviously, the focus there is going to be d20, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few old school gamers there too.

There are similar fora at www.enworld.org and rpg.net . Just keep in mind that the usual rules about meeting people you've met on the internet apply, and that it might take a while to find a group you fit in with. Good luck!
posted by Janta at 7:44 AM on October 24, 2005

You mentioned that you have no local game shops but that doesn't have to be the final step in your brick-and-mortar search.

There may be a game shop in the next town over or within half a days ride from you. In the old days I used to drive about 1.5 hours from my house to get to a really good game store. Now, with on-line shopping this might not happen as much, but you never know. Old habits die hard and some gamers from your area might still be making that trek.

Also, do you have a local comics or collectibles shops? Gamers tend to have similar interests beyond PnP, you might be able to find a group by going to those stores. For example, you could ask you local coffee shop / EB / Gamestop if you could put up a flier asking for a gaming group. (Set-up a gmail account for it.)

Willmize also makes a good point. Any convention within a days drive will surely attract gamers from your area. Go there and mingle you are bound to run into people.

Finally, (this step takes a bit of social fortitude), find a public place where you can hang out for a few hours once a week. An independent coffee shop would be ideal. Then, post a bunch of fliers around your area advertising that there will be a local RPG meet-up at said location and time. Make sure you do this for at least 3-4 weeks, you have to give the shy/busy/wary players a chance to overcome their initial apprehension/laziness. This method got me into a great LARP game a few years ago (I responded to the flyers). This method has the bonus feature of possbily attracting interested people who've never played before.
posted by oddman at 9:02 AM on October 24, 2005

I play weekly with a group using OpenRPG which is basically a fancy chat program. It has a map and a dice roller. The rest is up to the DM and the players. Although it took a while to get used to not being face-to-face, it is a very fun thing on its own. Without a doubt, it is more fun (for me) than MMORGs. I just can't find time to do the full go-over-to-a-guys-house gaming any more, but I can play via computer, so that's what I do.

As another advantage, there are some very experienced players on OpenRPG, and the quality of play is much higher than the newbies you often find at your local shop (if you had one).

If you don't want to type a lot, you could try GhostORB, which has a gorgeous interface and a full voice-chat.
posted by Invoke at 9:59 AM on October 24, 2005

I've also had luck with yahoo groups search when I had a relapse a few years ago.

You can also check with the gaming groups at local universities and colleges - many would be happy to accept a non-student into their group.
posted by PurplePorpoise at 3:24 PM on October 24, 2005