I don’t have any kind of gaming shop/comic book store within a travel-able distance and my small circle of friends have no interest! I live in the UK which means a much smaller population of people to connect with or facing the language barriers of playing with other Europeans so I also came to the conclusion that time zone barrier was easier to battle and joined up with a group of Americans.
I tried the looking for group section but likewise found it fruitless so I tried responding to a few others and had a few false starts with several groups not able to get a schedule together (despite all responding to the same post advertising the same day/time lol) and one group that ‘took me in’ but I just didn’t gel with.
In the end I responded to a paid DM post and now settled in to a great campaign. I know people have mixed feelings about paying for DM services but for me it’s been the perfect solution, everyone at the table is committed to the group/day/time as we’re all financially invested as well as enjoying ourselves greatly.
I really hope you find a group you can settle in to, I would say it’s been worth the effort for me and I’m having a blast now.
You can blame Baldur's Gate III's Early Access for getting me interested in D&D like I haven't before. I haven't found a group yet but I really do want to find one because my therapist and I think it will help me break out of my shell (long-term sufferer of social anxiety), and it'll give my overflowing imagination another outlet. Those two factors are why I want to be on the tabletop.
My D&D group was found when a local game store posted on their social media pages about starting D&D nights (back when in-person was still a thing) and we've moved through a few different DMs and campaigns at this point but we're currently playing via Discord and Roll20 so we're making it work.
My Pathfinder group came about from a post on a Facebook group (a True Crime podcast's page of all things) from a DM asking if anyone was interested in learning and he got 9 of us with that hook. :) Another FB group I'm in has a bit of a sub-group for D&D but we haven't done much with it yet given how the last year has gone for most people.
I got interested in D&D since a couple friends of mine played it, I started DMing for another group of friends, and became a player in a different group. The group I was DMing fell apart when Covid started, and the other one I left since it was no longer fun for me. Now I've started DMing a new campaign, and it's going far better than the other two. The friends I'm DMing for in the new campaign are really invested in their characters and the plot, and my DMing skills have definitely improved a lot.
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All stars fade. Some stars forever fall. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Homebrew (Mostly Outdated):Magic Items,Monsters,Spells,Subclasses ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I come from the video game world. Many years ago, I discovered D&D through computer role playing games such as the now-primitive SSI Gold Box series when I was looking for alternatives to the Ultima series after it was ruined by EA. Those were good for their time, albeit a bit clunky. Baldur's Gate was a significant improvement; that is the first one that is truly memorable. I also enjoyed Neverwinter Nights 2; the 3.5 edition rule set makes more sense to me than the second edition of Baldur's Gate. Just before the virus hit, a local meadery was attempting to start up D&D games, so I thought I might give the in-person game a try. Unfortunately, that never got off the ground and there won't be any hope for it until the virus calms down. That could have worked out well if it had managed to attract a critical mass of people; the crowd that frequents that meadery is a good crowd with strong nerdy tendencies. Hopefully the chance of having "That Guy" join the group is lower there than it would be at a game store or online.
I am not interested in playing any sort of online game, and I never have been. If I am going to play any sort of game with other people, I want to do so in person, as it is a bit harder to get away with toxic behavior while physically in the same room with others. I know good online groups are out there, but finding them is surely not an easy task, as others here have noted.
Video games are enjoyable, but they have their limitations. For one, the writing is often lackluster and combat is overemphasized in too many games, usually to the detriment of the narrative. I am interested in the aspect of cooperative and spontaneous storytelling that D&D facilitates. I have an English degree, and I have specialized in the study of experimental forms of literature. Cooperative, on-the-fly storytelling sounds experimental to me, at least relative to commonly encountered forms of literature, and I would love to explore its possibilities. Naturally, I would want to find a D&D group that emphasizes storytelling and role playing, while reducing the emphasis on combat. A tactical, combat-heavy game, while a perfectly valid play style, would not be of much value or interest to me, except perhaps as a one-shot or short campaign to help me get used to the mechanics of the tabletop game, as I'm sure that I will have to be disabused of some video game habits.
At this point, all I can do is wait because the virus makes in person D&D impossible. After things calm down, maybe I'll see what is going on at the meadery (assuming that it has survived), or I might try a nearby game store and see what the crowd there is like. I don't have high hopes of finding the sort of game that I would like, but it is worth a try, as it would be an interesting experiment in storytelling. I'm sure there are other people out there who like a combat-light, role-play-heavy experience; I just have to be fortunate enough to find them. If I don't find a game, I'll just have to do something else, such as writing borderline-unreadable experimental fantasy stories which are fun to write but will never find an audience. And I'll continue to play computer games. Baldur's Gate 3 is promising so far; it will be interesting to see how long it takes to leave early access.
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I feel your pain... so much!
I don’t have any kind of gaming shop/comic book store within a travel-able distance and my small circle of friends have no interest! I live in the UK which means a much smaller population of people to connect with or facing the language barriers of playing with other Europeans so I also came to the conclusion that time zone barrier was easier to battle and joined up with a group of Americans.
I tried the looking for group section but likewise found it fruitless so I tried responding to a few others and had a few false starts with several groups not able to get a schedule together (despite all responding to the same post advertising the same day/time lol) and one group that ‘took me in’ but I just didn’t gel with.
In the end I responded to a paid DM post and now settled in to a great campaign. I know people have mixed feelings about paying for DM services but for me it’s been the perfect solution, everyone at the table is committed to the group/day/time as we’re all financially invested as well as enjoying ourselves greatly.
I really hope you find a group you can settle in to, I would say it’s been worth the effort for me and I’m having a blast now.
You can blame Baldur's Gate III's Early Access for getting me interested in D&D like I haven't before. I haven't found a group yet but I really do want to find one because my therapist and I think it will help me break out of my shell (long-term sufferer of social anxiety), and it'll give my overflowing imagination another outlet. Those two factors are why I want to be on the tabletop.
Looking for group, check linked thread for details.
Lover of wood elves and rogues
My D&D group was found when a local game store posted on their social media pages about starting D&D nights (back when in-person was still a thing) and we've moved through a few different DMs and campaigns at this point but we're currently playing via Discord and Roll20 so we're making it work.
My Pathfinder group came about from a post on a Facebook group (a True Crime podcast's page of all things) from a DM asking if anyone was interested in learning and he got 9 of us with that hook. :) Another FB group I'm in has a bit of a sub-group for D&D but we haven't done much with it yet given how the last year has gone for most people.
I got interested in D&D since a couple friends of mine played it, I started DMing for another group of friends, and became a player in a different group. The group I was DMing fell apart when Covid started, and the other one I left since it was no longer fun for me. Now I've started DMing a new campaign, and it's going far better than the other two. The friends I'm DMing for in the new campaign are really invested in their characters and the plot, and my DMing skills have definitely improved a lot.
All stars fade. Some stars forever fall.
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Homebrew (Mostly Outdated): Magic Items, Monsters, Spells, Subclasses
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there was no light, people wouldn't fear the dark.
I come from the video game world. Many years ago, I discovered D&D through computer role playing games such as the now-primitive SSI Gold Box series when I was looking for alternatives to the Ultima series after it was ruined by EA. Those were good for their time, albeit a bit clunky. Baldur's Gate was a significant improvement; that is the first one that is truly memorable. I also enjoyed Neverwinter Nights 2; the 3.5 edition rule set makes more sense to me than the second edition of Baldur's Gate. Just before the virus hit, a local meadery was attempting to start up D&D games, so I thought I might give the in-person game a try. Unfortunately, that never got off the ground and there won't be any hope for it until the virus calms down. That could have worked out well if it had managed to attract a critical mass of people; the crowd that frequents that meadery is a good crowd with strong nerdy tendencies. Hopefully the chance of having "That Guy" join the group is lower there than it would be at a game store or online.
I am not interested in playing any sort of online game, and I never have been. If I am going to play any sort of game with other people, I want to do so in person, as it is a bit harder to get away with toxic behavior while physically in the same room with others. I know good online groups are out there, but finding them is surely not an easy task, as others here have noted.
Video games are enjoyable, but they have their limitations. For one, the writing is often lackluster and combat is overemphasized in too many games, usually to the detriment of the narrative. I am interested in the aspect of cooperative and spontaneous storytelling that D&D facilitates. I have an English degree, and I have specialized in the study of experimental forms of literature. Cooperative, on-the-fly storytelling sounds experimental to me, at least relative to commonly encountered forms of literature, and I would love to explore its possibilities. Naturally, I would want to find a D&D group that emphasizes storytelling and role playing, while reducing the emphasis on combat. A tactical, combat-heavy game, while a perfectly valid play style, would not be of much value or interest to me, except perhaps as a one-shot or short campaign to help me get used to the mechanics of the tabletop game, as I'm sure that I will have to be disabused of some video game habits.
At this point, all I can do is wait because the virus makes in person D&D impossible. After things calm down, maybe I'll see what is going on at the meadery (assuming that it has survived), or I might try a nearby game store and see what the crowd there is like. I don't have high hopes of finding the sort of game that I would like, but it is worth a try, as it would be an interesting experiment in storytelling. I'm sure there are other people out there who like a combat-light, role-play-heavy experience; I just have to be fortunate enough to find them. If I don't find a game, I'll just have to do something else, such as writing borderline-unreadable experimental fantasy stories which are fun to write but will never find an audience. And I'll continue to play computer games. Baldur's Gate 3 is promising so far; it will be interesting to see how long it takes to leave early access.