My game is about to enter its 5th session. We started with a party of 7 but almost immediately went to 4 with a fifth coming and going.
I found everyone through dnd beyond. I watched many YouTube videos on tips to running a successful online game. If 3 DMs said the same thing then I was sure to follow their advice.
A few things I would encourage. Over invite to start. That way when the group inevitably shrinks you still have enough without needing to start over.
I also suggest to set specific expectations. I had over 25 people ask to join within 3 days. After expectations were established that number went to 7. After the first session down to 5. I had a couple people looking for a “them vs the DM” play experience. I had someone who hated trans people. I had one person wanting to homebrew a wild build.
Ask questions and be strict with expectations. I feel like most issues can be settled long before the first session even happens. Best advice I can give!
When I open up an invitation, I advise those that can be put on a waiting list. Sometimes players have moved on to other games, and sometimes not...
If I have had say 10 respond, I list them in order and re-iterate some of the game points, that usually drops a couple that weren't paying close attention to all the details... I also anticipate losing one here and there during, or even after, character creation. But I keep to the cap, and just be prepared to fall back to the waiting list over the next 2-3 weeks to poll another player if needed. Too many PCs spoil the soup, hehe... I'd be that guy that let 7 start and weeks later there's still 7, all trying to talk at once... 8^O
I encourage the new player to interact with the other players during character generation, so they can see how each gets along. What insights the others might have...
When I ask them to tell me a little about themselves, that can be informative about what they find important, etc... sometimes I pointedly ask if they have a backstory, and if they're looking forward to a tie-in during the adventure or not.
But yeah, if you just invite with no filtering at all, you may find a high rate of transitory players...
Expectation setting is a 100% must do part of creating an invitation for people to game. There is no way around it. Doesn't matter if you're playing on line on Discord, if you're meeting at FLGS or if you're playing in your basement.
What do you plan to do as the DM? What do you want your players to do?
My recommendation is to overshare your expectations and wait longer to start your game. I'm running Dragonlance: Shadow the Dragon Queen. We are on session 36 and we're still only in the second to last chapter. We've been playing for 18 months. I saw a write up that said they did the module in 11 sessions. That's still 3 months (at least) of commitment. It's okay to wait 2 weeks to build up your table with compatible personalities and goals.
Nothing is worse than being sure you've got a solid 5 player group only to find out 4-5 sessions in that there are some problems that can't be resolved.....
I run two regular groups both of whom were recruited from D&D Beyond. It was originally three, but the third group fell apart due to timing and scheduling issues. These groups all have been going for over three years at this point and we've only had two of the thirteen removed due to play style incompatibilities. One was an outright cheat. The second just didn't fit in with the other players and constantly wanted their character to do their own thing. So much so that it was causing issues with the other players.
There was a fourth group. I their group came to an end and I did not want to run anything else for the majority of players in that group. Several of them were clearly close friends and frankly they wanted everything their way. They didn't get on with my GM style, I didn't get on with their playstyle - no matter how much I tried to adapt to their playstyles. One was a main character syndrome, another was a rules lawyer who had a pathetically flimsy grasp on the rules, another on the campaign ending sent me a page of 'feedback' that gave no consideration to the role of the players in the frictions that were caused in that group. Don't misunderstand me here, my GM style isn't perfect and never will be. I also shook up the enemy stat blocks in the starter adventure to cope with non-standard classes and non-standard options which I know didn't sit well with at least some of the players. And that was my mistake in hindsight. I have gotten into some habits that aren't exactly the best and they can be hard to shake at times.
I recruit quite regularly for players for the one-shots that I run. However, to date I've been fortunate that my experience has been largely positive. Of the forty or some odd players I've run campaigns or adventure paths for, they've largely all be lovely people. Even the players whose playstyles caused friction with my GM style - they were good and decent people.
Part of that I suspect though is that I'm clear from the start - any sign of discrimination, bullying, harassment, or cheating and you get removed from the game and the group. No second chances, no conversations. I'll be telling you that I've seen evidence of this and you're no longer welcome at my table. For all I know it's scared off some good players, but it also seems to have kept the bad players away too. I'm 39, far too exhausted with real life to be giving second chances to grown adults who, quite frankly, should know how to behave in a group setting.
It may take a bit of an adjustment period as you get used to it, but also if you play a tactical game with a lot of maps, in my opinion the automation of it from the better VTTs just makes it run so much more effortlessly. https://19216811.cam/
My game is about to enter its 5th session. We started with a party of 7 but almost immediately went to 4 with a fifth coming and going.
I found everyone through dnd beyond. I watched many YouTube videos on tips to running a successful online game. If 3 DMs said the same thing then I was sure to follow their advice.
A few things I would encourage. Over invite to start. That way when the group inevitably shrinks you still have enough without needing to start over.
I also suggest to set specific expectations. I had over 25 people ask to join within 3 days. After expectations were established that number went to 7. After the first session down to 5. I had a couple people looking for a “them vs the DM” play experience. I had someone who hated trans people. I had one person wanting to homebrew a wild build.
Ask questions and be strict with expectations. I feel like most issues can be settled long before the first session even happens. Best advice I can give!
When I open up an invitation, I advise those that can be put on a waiting list. Sometimes players have moved on to other games, and sometimes not...
If I have had say 10 respond, I list them in order and re-iterate some of the game points, that usually drops a couple that weren't paying close attention to all the details... I also anticipate losing one here and there during, or even after, character creation. But I keep to the cap, and just be prepared to fall back to the waiting list over the next 2-3 weeks to poll another player if needed. Too many PCs spoil the soup, hehe... I'd be that guy that let 7 start and weeks later there's still 7, all trying to talk at once... 8^O
I encourage the new player to interact with the other players during character generation, so they can see how each gets along. What insights the others might have...
When I ask them to tell me a little about themselves, that can be informative about what they find important, etc... sometimes I pointedly ask if they have a backstory, and if they're looking forward to a tie-in during the adventure or not.
But yeah, if you just invite with no filtering at all, you may find a high rate of transitory players...
:o)
/Dakine GM
Expectation setting is a 100% must do part of creating an invitation for people to game. There is no way around it. Doesn't matter if you're playing on line on Discord, if you're meeting at FLGS or if you're playing in your basement.
What do you plan to do as the DM? What do you want your players to do?
My recommendation is to overshare your expectations and wait longer to start your game. I'm running Dragonlance: Shadow the Dragon Queen. We are on session 36 and we're still only in the second to last chapter. We've been playing for 18 months. I saw a write up that said they did the module in 11 sessions. That's still 3 months (at least) of commitment. It's okay to wait 2 weeks to build up your table with compatible personalities and goals.
Nothing is worse than being sure you've got a solid 5 player group only to find out 4-5 sessions in that there are some problems that can't be resolved.....
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Yes! You said it all!
The answer I feel is luck.
I run two regular groups both of whom were recruited from D&D Beyond. It was originally three, but the third group fell apart due to timing and scheduling issues. These groups all have been going for over three years at this point and we've only had two of the thirteen removed due to play style incompatibilities. One was an outright cheat. The second just didn't fit in with the other players and constantly wanted their character to do their own thing. So much so that it was causing issues with the other players.
There was a fourth group. I their group came to an end and I did not want to run anything else for the majority of players in that group. Several of them were clearly close friends and frankly they wanted everything their way. They didn't get on with my GM style, I didn't get on with their playstyle - no matter how much I tried to adapt to their playstyles. One was a main character syndrome, another was a rules lawyer who had a pathetically flimsy grasp on the rules, another on the campaign ending sent me a page of 'feedback' that gave no consideration to the role of the players in the frictions that were caused in that group. Don't misunderstand me here, my GM style isn't perfect and never will be. I also shook up the enemy stat blocks in the starter adventure to cope with non-standard classes and non-standard options which I know didn't sit well with at least some of the players. And that was my mistake in hindsight. I have gotten into some habits that aren't exactly the best and they can be hard to shake at times.
I recruit quite regularly for players for the one-shots that I run. However, to date I've been fortunate that my experience has been largely positive. Of the forty or some odd players I've run campaigns or adventure paths for, they've largely all be lovely people. Even the players whose playstyles caused friction with my GM style - they were good and decent people.
Part of that I suspect though is that I'm clear from the start - any sign of discrimination, bullying, harassment, or cheating and you get removed from the game and the group. No second chances, no conversations. I'll be telling you that I've seen evidence of this and you're no longer welcome at my table. For all I know it's scared off some good players, but it also seems to have kept the bad players away too. I'm 39, far too exhausted with real life to be giving second chances to grown adults who, quite frankly, should know how to behave in a group setting.
DM session planning template - My version of maps for 'Lost Mine of Phandelver' - Send your party to The Circus - Other DM Resources - Maps, Tokens, Quests - 'Better' Player Character Injury Tables?
Actor, Writer, Director & Teacher by day - GM/DM in my off hours.
Wow. You said it all. And it looks like you are very clear at the beginning too. Best advice I can give. Be clear about the game you want to run.
It may take a bit of an adjustment period as you get used to it, but also if you play a tactical game with a lot of maps, in my opinion the automation of it from the better VTTs just makes it run so much more effortlessly. https://19216811.cam/