Looking for help with getting started again

Hello,

My name is Zach and I am a long time DM. I used to DM in person with at least 6 groups (in total over time, I’m not crazy) and multiple games. Unfortunately due to the usual methods of people getting busy or life getting crazy, it pushed me out of the scene for a bit. I used to have a social group of players that played consistently, last game I hosted was Curse of Strahd in 2022. Since then, I have been kinda reclusive and struggled with mental health but Ive been trying to turn myself around. I work full time and I’m trying to put myself through school part time. I miss playing dnd and I miss regular social interaction but I have had difficulties putting myself out there. It seems to me now days most people play online and there are a few shops around me that play but I struggle with public social settings. My thought is, how can I migrate as an in person exclusive dm to playing comfortably online? If anyone had any tips or suggestions I would love any and all discussion on how to get back to “normal.” Thank you.

Since your post is in English, I'm assuming where you're located has FB.  It is an evil monster, but its nefarious tendrils also mean that they have local groups in just about every country and major metropolitan area for people to find RPG groups.  You can find yours and post in there.  I posted in the SoCal group to find mine.  I don't have the experience to DM, but had a empty living room to contribute to sessions.  If you're a DM and don't have a place to host, you advertise what you've got.  My suggested minimum introductory information for everyone is: 1) Name you like being called, 2) local areas you're willing to travel to in order to play regularly or area you can host, 3) experience, 4) days and times you are available to play, 5) social habits like smoking or vaping (nobody wants a smoker or someone vaping in their house if they don't have those habits themselves, so if you don't do those things and you announce it up front, you will see a much greater number of responses), 6) allergies people should know about (get this out of the way, pets, peanuts, gluten, whatever, tell people now in case there is some kind of conflict), 7) what your play fantasies, fandoms, pet peeves (I'm not big on romance in my RPGs, but love a noir story) are.  All of this information shows that you've thought about being respectful to others and about your character or world.  If you've thought that much about things, you're less likely to flake or have been tossed out of a group for behavior problems.  Everyone is afraid of a flake or psycho.  Reddit LFG groups, here, meetup, etc. may also be possible, but in my experience they just don't have the reach.

1.  Find out if anyone at work plays.  Thats how I got back in.   Play as a guest character to feel the group out, and go from there.  

B. You're gonna have to learn how to run VTTs.  This is non-negotiable if you're gonna play online as a GM of any game.  As a player, this is usually determined by whoever has the most resources on what platform.  Like Roll20 is free to use, but a pain to run without all the paid resource packs.  DDB requires the DM have a subscription, and you have to buy books in digital format to get access to them.   Foundry is one of the best, but you're basically hosting a server, and you have manage and import modules (paid or free) yourself.  TabletopSim requires everyone to have a copy of the game, but has importing and steam workshop support, and doesn't need automation since it can just simulate a physical table. 

• You're gonna have to decide now what you're best schedule/open days are before even looking for a group.  This is hands down the most important thing, since spotty attendance makes things harder for everyone.  Even every other week is fine, as long as you can stick to it.  

IV. If you're married, make it clear to the spouse they do not have carte blache to just retask you because you have free time.   I've have too many friends where the wife makes the schedule, and doesn't think about (or purposely scheduled over) game night when making plans.  Some stuff still has to get priority, but not dinner with 'her' friends just because she wanted to go out.  

Five).   You can realistically start a new group with people interested for a few one shots.  Give a chance to learn how to use stuff without long term commitment.  Once you're more familiar with the tools, its gonna be easier putting together groups for longer campaigns.   Just expect to be either 3-4 times a month, and don't go for an epic campaign out the gate.  Start with attainable campaign goals, don't get characters deeply integrated right away, and don't be afraid to start at level 3 so sub-classes are available.  Build story integration as players start making choices, and that should provide better motivation to keep coming back.  Once you're confident you have a group that sustains better, you can go full whatever campaign design you and the players want.  

The skills that made you a strong in-person DM translate extremely well online. The challenge isn’t ability it’s comfort and structure.