Edit: I may open this back up on the off chance none of the applicants work out, but I've got enough applicants to sort through for now! Sorry for not changing the title or the flair, I don't know how. For the time being, this post is CLOSED. Thank you everyone for your interest and good luck with your game hunting :)

Game: D&D 5e
Group type: Online, we play on roll20 over discord voice chat.
Experience: I'm the DM! I've been playing since 2020 and DMing for a couple of months.
Location/Timezone: I'm in EST, but our players are scattered all over.
Schedule: I'm running the same module for two different, loosely interconnected groups. Both need a player. One group plays Wednesdays at 19:00 EST and the other is Sundays at 10:00 EST (yep, that's AM).
Roles sought: Invested, roleplay-interested players! One for each group.
Game style: Roleplay heavy. SO roleplay heavy. My players spend AT LEAST an hour on every scene I give them. Help. It's also quite lighthearted for the moment! I'm sure my little roleplay gremlins have backstory angst to reveal down the road, but I'm running the wild beyond the witchlight and for now it's all fun, happy adventures at the witchlight carnival.

Hello D&D beyond forums! Like I said in the title, this is going to be a very long post, so buckle your seatbelts! Me and my friends are looking for something very specific - not something rare, but we want just the right fit for our group, and I'm going to go into a lot of detail explaining what that is. I'd really appreciate if you could read the whole thing before expressing your interest to me, so that we know we're both looking for a similar D&D experience. If reading my entire post feels like a waste of your precious time, then we probably won't be the group for you - and I wish you luck in finding the right group elsewhere! ^^

...I guess first I'll explain what exactly I'm running and what's going on with the two time slots thing. So! I'm Choco, and I'm running the wild beyond the witchlight (an official module) for my lovely friends. Initially, I wound up with 7 people who were interested, which felt a bit big for a first time DM, so I decided to recruit a few more people from my outer circle (friends of friends, etc) and split it into two smaller, interconnected parties. One runs on Wednesday evenings, the other on Sunday mornings. I've given all the characters little hand mirrors that... well, basically allow them to video call each other. So both groups are aware of each other in-character and like to chat out of character, having friendly competitions for who can progress the module the fastest. (Spoiler: They all lose. They are both slow. There is no module progress, only carnival RP.)

Everyone likes each other and we have a lot of fun! Currently, both groups have 4 active players. We started with 5, but life happens. Thing is, we're all tired young adults with life pressing in on all sides, and sometimes people need to miss sessions. It happens! And I was fine running without someone before, but now anyone missing always brings us down to three players and that usually means we need to postpone the session. So each group is looking to bring in another player as a kind of insurance mechanism, to give us a bit more leeway with attendance.

Our main focus when it comes to choosing our new group members will be how well they seem to mesh out of character. That's why this post is so detailed! We're an established group of friends and the peaceful, happy vibes we've cultivated are probably more important to us than any other aspect of the game (though roleplay is a very close second, heh). So you might be wondering, if the current atmosphere of our group is so valuable to us, why are we taking the risk of putting ourselves out there and experimenting with online recruitment when the need for new players isn't desperate? (Or, y'know, you might not be wondering at all. But I'm going to tell you anyway!)

For me, it's really about paying my own happiness forward. I'm still a little embarrassed about it, but if you were to look through my post history on these forums, you'd find that my only other post is from just about a year and a half ago, and it's... kinda whiny. There were a lot of other unhappy things going on in my life that were outside my control, and finding a D&D group felt like something I could latch onto that was within my control, that I knew would make me happy. So I decided to strive towards it! But like all things, it takes time, and I was getting discouraged, so I decided to ask for some advice. The advice I got was pretty much to keep at it, which isn't the one-stop magic trick I might have been hoping against hope to get... but the main thing is that people on this forum were understanding, and kind to me, and that helped me feel better on a bad day.

I did wind up finding groups I'm a player in that make me happy! But I also made my own group, to give that happiness back to my friends, and I think I'm doing a pretty good job of it. So now I'd like to spread that happiness a little further, and maybe find someone else like me who's having a bit of a harder time finding the right group for them... and maybe I can give them their right group, and end their search a little sooner. I think that would be nice.

So yeah... if you've been searching for ages for a group of chill people who would just... y'know, be nice to you and accept you how you are out of character, and get REALLY INVESTED in yours and their own and everyone else's little brain goblins in character, bringing out all the emotional heights with cute moments that really make you grin and angst that could rip your heart out not necessarily because we're all the best storytellers in the world, but just because we all care so much... Maybe I've got the group for you. I hope I do. :)

That's probably enough info to get a decent feel for us and what we're looking for, so if your breath caught and your heart beat faster because this sounded just right for you, we're probably gonna like each other. But I'll still get into some more technical and formal stuff just in case!

What you can/should expect from us:

Gameplay/Speed: We are, if you hadn't guessed already, very slow. Everyone really likes to roleplay, and we all do. That doesn't mean that you aren't welcome if you aren't confident in your roleplay skills, but RP should be something that you heavily enjoy, because it's most of what you'll be getting. WbtW is already a very roleplay-heavy module, with only a handful of "mandatory" combats, and my players so far have opted for non-combat solutions to everything they've been presented. The game has, like I said, been going since September, and while we're all very happy with our current rate of progression, we haven't achieved many of the milestones that I think others might use to measure our progress, and we have not had even a single combat. These characters won't fight unless they absolutely have to, and we're easily months away from the first time the module has NPCs attack you first. My Wednesday group strikes a bit of a better balance between chatting in character and actually getting stuff done, but all of my extroverted players ended up in my Sunday group due to scheduling and they are 100% just playing a slice of life conversation simulator. They're very, very slowly making progress, but... they spent 90 minutes in a cupcake eating contest that took the Wednesdays about 20. I love them, but I feel that anyone coming in should know what they're getting into.

Out of character: Everyone is really, painfully, sugar-sweet nice. By online geek hobby standards, our group could give you diabetus. Really. I worked so hard to collect this ragtag gang of nerds and waded through so many early twenties men who thought the funniest joke in the world was to call women femoids or just call me "woman" instead of my name. We're also very chill. It's hard to know what you're getting into online when a person tries this hard to reject the idea of acting like a 4channer, because there's always a chance they'll lean too far in the other direction and fall into what I've taken to calling toxic acceptance, where they're so determined to be nice and not hurt anyone that they rabidly attack the most innocent of verbal slips that could slightly be interpreted as hurtful. True kindness, in my opinion, isn't that black and white. In the end our group runs on mutual kindness and respect and the ability of all in it to have the decency to articulate their boundaries, to respect boundaries that have been expressed to them, and to be forgiving of each other when we do make mistakes.

Punctuality and attendance: I'm going to be completely honest here: I'm often late for my own games. I've got a lot of struggles that I'm not interested in spilling to internet strangers that just lead to me having a very hard time being punctual. It has nothing to do with how much I respect my friends' time or care about the commitment I've made, but I'm already fighting it as hard as I can and it still happens, so it's best to be open about it. That said, even when I do show up on time, it's very rare that we actually start playing at our start time - we usually all chat for a bit and ask each other how everyone is doing before we actually get started. I'm also not the only one in the group with struggles - some of my Wednesdays have severe health issues, and a couple of my Sundays are just crushed by work. What that means is that even though we all love this game and are very dedicated, not everyone can make every session. Be prepared to be missing a player sometimes, or for the game to be postponed a week while everyone rests up. The happy flipside of this is that we're very prepared to be understanding of your circumstances as well, as long as you're having fun and want to make it.

Boundaries: Subjects we knew we were uncomfortable with were discussed in session 0, and for the rest we decided to rely on open communication with each other instead of X cards or other digital safety tools. It's an environment of trust, and we hope that you'll be able to trust us too. Though of course, if there's something you know you wouldn't be okay with right from the start, you're free to bring that up before we start playing together. As for us, we found that we're all generally okay with most topics and trust each other to be respectful of our boundaries, but a couple things did come up - mostly on my end. I understand that sometimes character interactions get intense and characters can get angry, especially at the villains, so this isn't an absolute hard rule... but I would appreciate not being yelled at, even in character. I've dealt with some abuse in my life that's left me very afraid of people yelling, especially at me, and it's just something I'd like to avoid as much as possible. Another line is that we don't do any NSFW or ERP, and if it ever were to somehow come up it would be handled by a fade-to-black. It's also very unlikely to come up, because my second boundary was that I would not like my players to flirt with any of the NPCs, or to expect me to play NPCs that are in romantic or sexual relationships with player characters, because that makes me uncomfortable.

My DMing: I don't know if I'm the best DM ever. My players are having fun, and that's what counts, but fun is subjective, and I can't say that I'm experienced enough to be able to give an accurate description of myself and my style. I know that I don't really do the best voices, but I think I make up for it with tone and emotion. I did buy a nice digital map pack so there's maps for everything, no theatre of the mind. I don't do any music, though sometimes my players share tracks they think fit. I'm usually pretty good with describing the atmosphere of places and setting the scene, but I caught covid recently and brain fog has left me feeling like I'm contributing the least to my own game of late... still, that's only temporary. And my players provide so much fun with their own delightful shenanigans that I've always felt they carry the game - you may find the same. Because the module pretty quickly removes characters from their home worlds - first into the wonderland of the witchlight carnival and then right into the feywild itself - there isn't much room for me to incorporate your backstory or its characters into my world. That isn't to say character backstories won't be important - obviously, they shape the character into who they are. But I won't be able to bring you familiar places or throw familiar people at you. What I can promise is that I care about everyone having fun, and I put my heart into making a game that's fun for my players. As long as your definition of fun aligns nicely enough with ours, the game will be fun for you.

Immersion: Like I said, we're all big into roleplay. To a certain extent, making that work necessitates staying in character. But we also make frequent sideline jokes out of character, which I know some people can find jarring. If you want everyone in character 100% of the time once the game starts, we are not the group for you. Nevertheless, whether we're interacting by joking about it or by participating in it, the game always has our full attention while it's running - no one playing league or having long conversations with their family in the background.

Love and acceptance! You've probably already gathered that we're a bit of an awkward bunch that may have had trouble fitting in in other places. We all love each other a lot, and we get along despite our various differences! We'd be delighted to extend the same warmth and acceptance to anyone else who'd like to join us, as long as they also give it back. <3

What we would like from you:

Honestly, what we'd like to expect is really all of the things we provide! Open and clear communication is an absolute must, and an emphasis on team play - being interested and invested in not only your own character and their story, but those of the other players and characters as well - will be necessary to enjoy playing with us long-term. Like I said, we have an abundance of RP, and that means that you're going to need to genuinely enjoy listening to the other players roleplay and have fun just as much as you enjoy participating, because with five people, not everyone can be onscreen at once. We've worked hard to foster a non-judgmental environment both in and out of character, so we're looking for someone easygoing who won't disrupt that. Really, we just want someone nice who's just looking to have fun and tell stories.

If that sounds like you, we'd love to hear from you! ^^ I'll try to remember to check back on this post regularly, so go ahead and reply here; or if you're more comfortable that way, hit me up on my discord! I've got the same username there as here, Choco_Pudding . Thanks so much for reading all that and happy adventuring to everybody! <3

Okay, I misclicked and posted early. Please bear with me and my suffering! Honestly it was getting so long I was considering chickening out and not posting, but here I am now I guess... I'm so sorry I'm not concise :(

Edit: one hour later, it's finally done! My anxiety has been killing me the whole time since I accidentally posted, and now it's 2 in the morning and I regret many of the decisions that led me to this point. Thank you, nevertheless, for your time, kind internet strangers!

Hi! I know you posted this early, but I'm about to go to sleep (GMT timezone) so I wanted to reply before then. I just wanted to say that I'm interested in potentially joining your Wednesday game based on what you've got written out so far, so please feel free to add me on Discord and we can chat about it more! My tag is " ravonna_ ".

 Hello! Your Post seems like the exakt thing I'm looking for right now, I am from Germany and so far I had some contact with DnD, but these we're just some One Shots, so I would need some help for the rules etc. And like you and your crew, I do love to roleplay and have bin working as an actor in a theater for some years.

If you're interested, feel free to contact me via my Discord-User: klabauterhund

hi! i’m definitely interested in finding out more and seeing if this seems like a good fit for us both, if you’d like to message me on discord! my username is kessel8777. i couldn’t do the sunday group, but wednesdays would work for me!! i’m all over RP haha, i prefer it to combat, so this sounds like it definitely fits my play style! i look forward to hearing from you:)

(i also sent you a discord friend request so we could message one another:)

Hello!

If been looking for this kind of group! A bit more relaxed and roleplay heavy. So happy I found this! I would love to join your Sunday group if that spot is still open. Maybe we can chat a bit more and see if we get along! My username on Discord is the same as here, Lady Sunjumper. I would love to hear from you :)

Hi there,

I would be interested in joining one of your groups. I played a german version of DnD before but are new to DnD, If the place is stil available, please contact me on discord. My name is vandervaals

I might be interested. New to online gaming but have 35 yrs experience playing tabletop. Eastern time zone

Hello! 

I’m interested in possibly joining the Sunday group, if you’re still looking for someone. 

Discord: Shadowwolf0209 

Timezone: EST/NYS 

Experience: moderate. 

about me: Let’s start of with that I am a 35 years old, I work full time, have the weekends off, and I am a dad. My daughter is in her tweens so it’s not like I’d be taking care of a baby that would take my attention away from the game. I am currently in a in-person group on Mondays with her, but am looking to have my own thing also, that’s more mature. 

I do believe I could make Sunday mornings work. Especially if I get all the house work done on saturdays like we usually do. I was looking into a group that was Sunday evening but haven’t heard anything back from that poster. 

I haven’t played DnD in quite sometime. I played in middle school and high school, and then life hit. I graduated moved, couldn’t find people, and then my first wife thought it was the devils tool. I’m obviously away from that now. But even after that, finding people was hard. Now I’m here currently. Played BG3 and got the itch, a child who wanted to learn to play DnD, and now I’m wanting more. 
I also have experience with RP. I played FOR YEARS, a text-based MUD, that was heavy on RP, based off of Dragonlance(the MUD was called : The Legends of Krynn) where I had many characters. A white Robe Mage of the Conclave, A dragon Knight of Takhisis, a Knight of the Rose of Solamnia, a High Cleric of Morgion the god of disease. And though that was again in my middle and high school times, I was seen as one of the top RPers of the game. 

I would definitely love for the chance for opportunity with your group. And maybe I can be the extra person that could push advancement into the module. 

I think I gave the right discord thing. I’m new to the app. If you can’t reach me on there, for some reason, because I’m an old man, message me on here, and maybe we can figure out that contraption of an app. 

thanks! Have a wonderful day!

OH GOODNESS IM INTERESTED I HOPE THERE IS STILL SPACE IM 14 SO I DONT KNOW IF YOU WOULD ALLOW ME BUT IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR A CAMPAIGN TO PLAY IN FOR A LONG TIME NOW I ALREADY HAVE A PC WHICH IS A WARLCOK BARD MY DISCORD IS z1ggzagg HOPE I CAN JOIN IM FAIRLY NEW BUT I UNDERSTAND MOST OF IT I ALREADY HAVE A DICE SET AND A ACCOUNT OF ROLL20