I have the equipment, but not the people

[Amai]

Hello everyone!

I'm writing this post because a while back I invested in a lot of D&D FG material. Since then, the groups I've joined have not been taken seriously and have had conflicting schedules. I figured the best way to resolve this issue would be to reach out to the community.

What am I looking for?

DMs/Players

When am I available?

Friday-Sunday, 5:00 PM or later, EDT

What FG material do I have?

FG Ultimate Upgrade, FG D&D: The Rise of Tiamat, FG D&D: Lost Mine of Phandelver, FG D&D: Complete Core Monster Pack, FG D&D: Complete Core Class Pack, FG D&D: Character Customization Pack

If anyone has any additional questions or is interested in joining this group, you can reach out here: https://discord.gg/Hvvh6JZ

[damned]

Hello Amai if you are willing to GM you will find plenty of players Im sure. If you want to be a player it can take a bit longer. Either way - you will have to deal with a % of players who are not compatible with your style and expectations and then another % who are just not reliable or committed. Going the GM route is your fastest route. If you really want to play consider starting a group that requires all players to 9eventually) take a turn as GM even if its for only a one to three shot session.

[Full Bleed]

Going the GM route is your fastest route.
It's also, arguably, the most disappointing when it falls apart (since you've, likely, invested so much more into it than you would have as a player.) I suggest GM's keep that in mind and spend their time wisely (i.e. I wouldn't spend days fleshing out a new player's character and hooking them deeply into the campaign. Go with what they present, and if they end up being really solid you can introduce deeper elements as time goes on.)

Everything Damned says is true, but GMs (in particular) and Players should spend a little more time trying to find compatible players for anything they expect to last more than a few weeks. This takes more time and effort than most people launching a campaign are willing to put in (and, if done right, you'll probably exclude at *least* 50% of the people that show an interest in your game.)

If crafting a solid group to start with isn't your forte and things keep falling apart, perhaps looking into the various "Organized Play" systems would be a good option to start finding like-minded players while you're playing through the process:

5e: https://dnd.wizards.com/playevents/organized-play
Pathfinder: https://paizo.com/pathfinderSociety
Starfinder: https://paizo.com/starfindersociety

[JohnD]

Hello everyone!

I'm writing this post because a while back I invested in a lot of D&D FG material. Since then, the groups I've joined have not been taken seriously and have had conflicting schedules. I figured the best way to resolve this issue would be to reach out to the community.

What am I looking for?

DMs/Players

When am I available?

Friday-Sunday, 5:00 PM or later, EDT

What FG material do I have?

FG Ultimate Upgrade, FG D&D: The Rise of Tiamat, FG D&D: Lost Mine of Phandelver, FG D&D: Complete Core Monster Pack, FG D&D: Complete Core Class Pack, FG D&D: Character Customization Pack

If anyone has any additional questions or is interested in joining this group, you can reach out here: https://discord.gg/Hvvh6JZ

Not related to your post, but if you have the Core Class Pack you didn't need to buy the Character Customization Pack IIRC.

On topic, yes it can be frustrating. Most who have stuck with it and have gathered reliable groups will sympathize with you. Life does reach out and bite us all however, there are some who are not committed to a regular game as already mentioned (happens the most with Demo users in my experience but that may have changed).

[Cabales]

I can definitely sympathize Amai.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best screen prospective players for identifying those who are committed? I know for the campaign I have starting up next month I made sure to let players know that I only have the standard license, so that means they will need to have invested in a standard license as well. That means the folks who apply for my games will at least have something invested in the system. Other than spelling out what I'm doing, and what the time of day and frequency is, I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping I have a good group.

[JohnD]

Get an email address from everyone. Schedule your games in the calendar at least 5 days ahead. Require voting by a specific date. Require 50%+1 of your players to vote they will attend a session before you run the session. Give everyone the three strikes rule; 3 missed games with or without having voted yes or not responding to emails kick them and recruit someone else.

Between session emails as follows; when you schedule a game in the calendar, reminder of 50%+1 and voting deadline. Another one a day or so ahead of the game to confirm you are going ahead and remind everyone. A third when FG is launched for your game. A fourth to follow up your session thanking everyone for attending and perhaps giving an idea when the next game might be.

Doing this in the short term you will churn a number of people who weren't going to stick anyways. But as time goes by you will slowly build your roster of reliable likeminded people and from there you are golden.

[Wintermute]

There are several things that I do to screen potential new players.

The first criteria is the length of the reply to the game posting. If they express interest in joining the campaign using less than 4 words, I don't hold out much hope for them. Taking the time to write a few sentences about why you want to join means a lot, specially after I took the time writing several paragraphs trying to get you to join.

The second is I have a set of game rules that I send to everyone that explains what's expected of them, ie: attendance, house rules, etc.

The final thing I do is meet with all new players on teamspeak before adding them to the group. That way you an make sure that they are serious and a good fit to the group.

Hope this helps.

[JohnD]

Another one... group size. Sure you want 6. But start when you have 2 or 3. Add more as you go. It's always easier to add to an existing game for some reason, and actually running games might mean you don't lose one's you already have.

[Cabales]

Those are all good ideas. Thanks guys.

[GunnarGreybeard]

Another helpful indicator is how active the prospective players are in communicating with you and the other players, either on the Game Calendar, FG group, Obsidian Portal, or whatever your main avenue for that is.

[Full Bleed]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to best screen prospective players for identifying those who are committed?


Actually tell prospective players what kind of game you're going to run. Be specific. Set expectations.
Tell prospects what kind of players you want and don't want.
Find out how flexible their schedules are ahead of time. A whole group of inflexible players won't work.
Ask them about their last couple campaigns. Learn what they think made them good/bad and why they ended.
Make sure they understand the schedule and how a session will be scheduled/cancelled. Make sure they understand what their role is in the process. Make sure they understand it's not optional.

[Baron Von Mandrick]

Great suggestions here. Also you can ask beforehand what their ideal campaign would be like in terms of role play vs. intrigue vs. problem solving vs. strategic battles vs. more free form combat. Also ask if general attitude is more casual vs ultra serious. Then gauge that on how you want the game to be and try and pick players that will fit into that. Ask about where on a scale of 1-10 the players are in terms of rules-lawyering. Also let them know where you are as far as that goes. In the end players and gms that are on close to being on the same page will all be happier with the experience.

Even with all the compatibility questions in the world that everyone answers a little bit of flexibility amongst both players and and DMs/GMs will go a long way.

Actually tell prospective players what kind of game you're going to run. Be specific. Set expectations.
Tell prospects what kind of players you want and don't want.
Find out how flexible their schedules are ahead of time. A whole group of inflexible players won't work.
Ask them about their last couple campaigns. Learn what they think made them good/bad and why they ended.
Make sure they understand the schedule and how a session will be scheduled/cancelled. Make sure they understand what their role is in the process. Make sure they understand it's not optional.

[JohnD]

Hello everyone!

I'm writing this post because a while back I invested in a lot of D&D FG material. Since then, the groups I've joined have not been taken seriously and have had conflicting schedules. I figured the best way to resolve this issue would be to reach out to the community.

What am I looking for?

DMs/Players

When am I available?

Friday-Sunday, 5:00 PM or later, EDT

What FG material do I have?

FG Ultimate Upgrade, FG D&D: The Rise of Tiamat, FG D&D: Lost Mine of Phandelver, FG D&D: Complete Core Monster Pack, FG D&D: Complete Core Class Pack, FG D&D: Character Customization Pack

If anyone has any additional questions or is interested in joining this group, you can reach out here: https://discord.gg/Hvvh6JZ

Would you be interested in an OSR Castles and Crusades campaign? Basically, are you married to 5e or is your relationship an open one?