So I'm kinda starved of D&D and the like recently, and my Pathfinder group just ended because most of the players can't make it or quit (for clarification, I was a player in the pathfinder group, not the dm).
I haven't dm'd in several months and I miss being able to play, so I figured I'd try to run an online game. The thing is... I don't really know how. I struggled even just to set up a discord (not too well versed in it). When I looked into the concept further I found that many online games have an application process and an interview process and are posted someplace... I'm already a bit lost. I have a few questions I'd like to ask others who have had experience in online games.
1: Where would I post if I wanted to advertise an online campaign
2: What would I need to post to interest players (in regards to the world or campaign concept, race/class options)
3: What should an application contain, or if there is a standard application where would I find a copy
So I'm kinda starved of D&D and the like recently, and my Pathfinder group just ended because most of the players can't make it or quit (for clarification, I was a player in the pathfinder group, not the dm).
I haven't dm'd in several months and I miss being able to play, so I figured I'd try to run an online game. The thing is... I don't really know how. I struggled even just to set up a discord (not too well versed in it). When I looked into the concept further I found that many online games have an application process and an interview process and are posted someplace... I'm already a bit lost. I have a few questions I'd like to ask others who have had experience in online games.
1: Where would I post if I wanted to advertise an online campaign
2: What would I need to post to interest players (in regards to the world or campaign concept, race/class options)
3: What should an application contain, or if there is a standard application where would I find a copy
4: How should an interview work
1: The D&D Beyond Discord has LFG sections, and so do these forums!
2: An introductory post is more about the kind of game you're running, how many players, what level, if its a pre written module or all homebrew.
3 and 4 are kind of fly by your pants things to me. What are YOU looking for in players. What are YOU looking for in the humans behind the players. Thats what those should contain.
Hey, don't sweat it. What Spidey said. Plus, lots and lots of players and DMs out there want to play. I would spend time finding those kindred spirits you want to spend hours and hours gaming with, not on figuring out the gizmos on discord and VTTs. Lots of help for that stuff when your ready. the DDB on discord is a terrific companion to the info you find here on the website.
1: Where would I post if I wanted to advertise an online campaign
2: What would I need to post to interest players (in regards to the world or campaign concept, race/class options)
3: What should an application contain, or if there is a standard application where would I find a copy
4: How should an interview work
1) Often somewhere connected to how you want to play. If you want to use Roll20 for VTT, they have listings for instance. Otherwise, anywhere players congregate - these forums (the LFG forum Spideycloned mentioned), ENworld, Giant in the Playground's forums, associated Discords, etc. The old school approaches are still valid too, if hampered by covid: game stores, Facebook groups, Adventurers League, the works.
2) Whatever they'd want to know to be able to make a character that fits the campaign - stat generation, which content is (not) allowed, any homebrew/3rd party stuff you'll be using, what kind of campaign you'd like to run and what tone it'll be (ragtag band of misfits fighting evil beer&pretzels game, seriously grim&gritty horror, deep roleplay intrigue and mystery, epic fantasy high stakes adventure, just try and give them an idea of what will be appropriate) - plus whatever they'd need to know to be able to attend (where, when, what do they need). Mention which one if you're going to use a published campaign, I'd want to know before signing up for Icespire Peak for the 5th time. ;-)
3) Whatever you'd want to know about them; in my case, I'd like to know what they're expecting/hoping for and maybe what they're thinking of playing (broad strokes concept, not a finished character sheet with 3-page backstory)
4) Like a job interview except fun and stress-free, I suppose? Maybe they have questions, maybe you have questions. You're not going to get to know each other on a deep and meaningful level right away, and that's ok. If both sides feel like it might work out, that's enough. If either side feels some doubt this would be the moment to ask about that and if it really feels like a bad fit, part ways amicably.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Discord is actually a great tool for finding a game, and even easier if you're offering to DM it as there tend to be more people looking to play rather than DM. Just google "DnD discord servers" and you should find a bunch of servers, many with a open/self-invitation option requiring, at most, that you just agree to the server's conduct rules (which mostly boil down to "don't be a jerk").
As an example, I literally just found a game to join via Discord yesterday. I found a link to a server that exists mainly for matching up players to find games, much in the fashion of an old school physical bulletin board in a brick and mortar game shop. I only found one game listed in the time window I was looking for (I work nights and am only consistently available early in the day because I go to bed around 2PM on workdays) and it was full with a waiting list, but I asked if anybody knew of anything available in the general channel. Somebody messaged me that they were in a game that was only two sessions into their campaign and looking to add players, sent me an invite to their private discord server for the game, and introduced me to the DM. I chatted a bit with the DM, first on text and then by voice, about the general setting and premise of the game, his rules and style of play for the game, and what kind of character I wanted to play. He uses the Roll 20 VTT (virtual tabletop), which I already had an account for, and I rolled up my character, he looked it over, and I'm ready to go for the next session in a couple of days.
Obviously I got lucky that somebody was checking the server and in a game that was more or less exactly what I was looking for at the same time, and the DM was also available (the whole process took a couple hours and half of that was just chatting about D&D in general with the DM), but if you're willing to take a few days exchanging messages and arranging at least short meetings to talk to interested players, you could probably get everybody ready to go within a few days. It would also help to pop in and check for interested players during the same time of day you plan on playing your game as that's when players with compatible schedules are most likely to be looking, and if one server doesn't provide any luck there are a bunch more out there.
As others have mentioned, the application interview process is whatever you feel is needed to determine if somebody is a good match for the game you want to run. If you're planning a roleplay heavy game with a lot of subtle intrigue and a player wants a straight up hack and slash dungeon crawl (or the other way around) then you probably don't want them in your game and they likely wouldn't enjoy it anyways. Also establish any limits and guidelines, such as will the game include "adult content" of any kind and how will it be handled in roleplay situations, and any variant or house rules you are going to use so they know what to expect from you and what you expect from them. A D&D game, online or otherwise, represents a pretty significant time investment and nobody wants to waste several hours trying to enjoy a game that isn't something they were actually looking to spend their time doing.
Look in the PBP forum here in D&D Beyond. At the very least, you'll be able to see how other DM's advertise their campaigns and go through the selection process. Just filter by 'recruiting'.
So I'm kinda starved of D&D and the like recently, and my Pathfinder group just ended because most of the players can't make it or quit (for clarification, I was a player in the pathfinder group, not the dm).
I haven't dm'd in several months and I miss being able to play, so I figured I'd try to run an online game. The thing is... I don't really know how. I struggled even just to set up a discord (not too well versed in it). When I looked into the concept further I found that many online games have an application process and an interview process and are posted someplace... I'm already a bit lost. I have a few questions I'd like to ask others who have had experience in online games.
1: Where would I post if I wanted to advertise an online campaign
2: What would I need to post to interest players (in regards to the world or campaign concept, race/class options)
3: What should an application contain, or if there is a standard application where would I find a copy
4: How should an interview work
1: The D&D Beyond Discord has LFG sections, and so do these forums!
2: An introductory post is more about the kind of game you're running, how many players, what level, if its a pre written module or all homebrew.
3 and 4 are kind of fly by your pants things to me. What are YOU looking for in players. What are YOU looking for in the humans behind the players. Thats what those should contain.
Hey, don't sweat it. What Spidey said. Plus, lots and lots of players and DMs out there want to play. I would spend time finding those kindred spirits you want to spend hours and hours gaming with, not on figuring out the gizmos on discord and VTTs. Lots of help for that stuff when your ready. the DDB on discord is a terrific companion to the info you find here on the website.
Many also don't, or keep it pretty minimal. No need to stress! :-)
1) Often somewhere connected to how you want to play. If you want to use Roll20 for VTT, they have listings for instance. Otherwise, anywhere players congregate - these forums (the LFG forum Spideycloned mentioned), ENworld, Giant in the Playground's forums, associated Discords, etc. The old school approaches are still valid too, if hampered by covid: game stores, Facebook groups, Adventurers League, the works.
2) Whatever they'd want to know to be able to make a character that fits the campaign - stat generation, which content is (not) allowed, any homebrew/3rd party stuff you'll be using, what kind of campaign you'd like to run and what tone it'll be (ragtag band of misfits fighting evil beer&pretzels game, seriously grim&gritty horror, deep roleplay intrigue and mystery, epic fantasy high stakes adventure, just try and give them an idea of what will be appropriate) - plus whatever they'd need to know to be able to attend (where, when, what do they need). Mention which one if you're going to use a published campaign, I'd want to know before signing up for Icespire Peak for the 5th time. ;-)
3) Whatever you'd want to know about them; in my case, I'd like to know what they're expecting/hoping for and maybe what they're thinking of playing (broad strokes concept, not a finished character sheet with 3-page backstory)
4) Like a job interview except fun and stress-free, I suppose? Maybe they have questions, maybe you have questions. You're not going to get to know each other on a deep and meaningful level right away, and that's ok. If both sides feel like it might work out, that's enough. If either side feels some doubt this would be the moment to ask about that and if it really feels like a bad fit, part ways amicably.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
Discord is actually a great tool for finding a game, and even easier if you're offering to DM it as there tend to be more people looking to play rather than DM. Just google "DnD discord servers" and you should find a bunch of servers, many with a open/self-invitation option requiring, at most, that you just agree to the server's conduct rules (which mostly boil down to "don't be a jerk").
As an example, I literally just found a game to join via Discord yesterday. I found a link to a server that exists mainly for matching up players to find games, much in the fashion of an old school physical bulletin board in a brick and mortar game shop. I only found one game listed in the time window I was looking for (I work nights and am only consistently available early in the day because I go to bed around 2PM on workdays) and it was full with a waiting list, but I asked if anybody knew of anything available in the general channel. Somebody messaged me that they were in a game that was only two sessions into their campaign and looking to add players, sent me an invite to their private discord server for the game, and introduced me to the DM. I chatted a bit with the DM, first on text and then by voice, about the general setting and premise of the game, his rules and style of play for the game, and what kind of character I wanted to play. He uses the Roll 20 VTT (virtual tabletop), which I already had an account for, and I rolled up my character, he looked it over, and I'm ready to go for the next session in a couple of days.
Obviously I got lucky that somebody was checking the server and in a game that was more or less exactly what I was looking for at the same time, and the DM was also available (the whole process took a couple hours and half of that was just chatting about D&D in general with the DM), but if you're willing to take a few days exchanging messages and arranging at least short meetings to talk to interested players, you could probably get everybody ready to go within a few days. It would also help to pop in and check for interested players during the same time of day you plan on playing your game as that's when players with compatible schedules are most likely to be looking, and if one server doesn't provide any luck there are a bunch more out there.
As others have mentioned, the application interview process is whatever you feel is needed to determine if somebody is a good match for the game you want to run. If you're planning a roleplay heavy game with a lot of subtle intrigue and a player wants a straight up hack and slash dungeon crawl (or the other way around) then you probably don't want them in your game and they likely wouldn't enjoy it anyways. Also establish any limits and guidelines, such as will the game include "adult content" of any kind and how will it be handled in roleplay situations, and any variant or house rules you are going to use so they know what to expect from you and what you expect from them. A D&D game, online or otherwise, represents a pretty significant time investment and nobody wants to waste several hours trying to enjoy a game that isn't something they were actually looking to spend their time doing.
Good luck and happy gaming!
Look in the PBP forum here in D&D Beyond. At the very least, you'll be able to see how other DM's advertise their campaigns and go through the selection process. Just filter by 'recruiting'.