D&D (Dungeons and Dragons, of course) is more popular now than ever, but finding a group to play with online or locally sometimes seems impossible. Your fellow adventurers are out there, but you just have to know where to look. You might even get lucky and find a few different groups so you can embark on multiple adventures, dungeons-delves and tavern brawls at the same time.
Here are the best ways to find D&D groups online.
Even if you can’t find a group right away, take a break from reality by stepping into these immersive virtual world games.
r/LFG (Looking For Group)
While Reddit has a very active D&D subreddit, it’s not the best place to find D&D groups. Instead, check out r/LFG, which stands for “Looking For Group”. There are over 200,000 players in the community. Whether you’re looking for a group or GM, this is the place to post. Or, respond to threads looking for players. Make sure you read threads carefully as posts are often very specific in the types of players and campaigns they’re looking for. You can find both online and local groups here.
If you use Roll20, check out r/Roll20LFG, which is specifically for players looking for other Redditors to play with on Roll20. Just pay attention as some games require you to have the premium version of Roll20 to play.
Wizards of the Coast Locator
Many local D&D events are held at small stores that you didn’t even know existed. This is especially true if you tend to buy miniatures, tiles, dice, and more online or at major retailers. Use the Wizards of the Coast Locator tool to quickly find local events. The default search is for Magic the Gathering events, but you can change the filter to just D&D events.
Simply enter your city and the distance you’re willing to travel to find local events. In my own searches, Magic: the Gathering was much more common than D&D, but this all depends on your area.
D&D Beyond
D&D Beyond provides all kinds of news and tips about D&D, but if you want to find D&D groups, jump straight to the Looking for Players & Groups forum. Most of the threads are about online games, but there are some threads about local games. Read threads carefully to see what platform is being used, the schedule, and any player requirements (levels, class, etc.).
You can also join the free Discord server, which includes sections to find fellow players. Or if joining a live game doesn’t fit your schedule, try out the Play-By-Post forum to play campaigns directly in the forum.
Tabletop Wizard
Browse hundreds of tables or create your own event on Tabletop Wizard. Both online and face-to-face groups are listed here. It’s not just for D&D either. There are over 400 role playing systems listed, including RPGs such as Warhammer, Star Wars Saga, Savage Worlds, Dungeon World, and Pathfinder. Free users can do almost everything, but premium users ($2.99/month) get an ad-free experience and their tables and profiles are listed over those of free users.
The key to finding the best D&D groups that match your interests is to fill out your profile; select your time zone, availability, types of games, playing preferences (such as narrative, freeform, or rule-based), and whether you want online and/or face-to-face games. Click any game to view more details and see how to join.
Roll20 Looking for Group
As one of the most popular platforms to host D&D games, it makes sense that Roll20 would have its own Looking For Group forum. As you might expect, all posts are about Roll20 games, but read carefully as they’re not all D&D groups. You’ll find D&D groups, but there are other RPGs mixed in, such as Pathfinder, Dark Souls, Warhammer, Doctor Who, and World of Darkness. Also, some games aren’t free to join and require you to have the premium version of Roll20 or pay a small fee.
If you’re already using Roll20, this is the perfect place to start to find an online group. If you’re a GM, feel free to post that you’re looking for players or if you’re a player, post about your availability and the type of game you’re looking for.
Naming all the D&D Facebook groups would be impossible, but the social media platform is a perfect place to find D&D groups online and face-to-face. One of the more popular ones is Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, which is a private group with over 175,000 members discussing everything about D&D, including finding people to play with.
For a better chance at finding a local group, search Facebook Groups for “dungeons & dragons” or “D&D” along with your city name (or other area cities). This helps you find more localized groups for face-to-face sessions.
StartPlaying
StartPlaying is a bit unique GMs for a variety of RPGs list upcoming one-off games and campaigns that players can join. However, since most GMs are seasoned professionals, there is a fee to join most of them. You can filter results to show free or low-cost games. Most of the ones I found ranged from $5 to $20 to join.
There are groups specifically geared toward beginners too. Just search for “beginner” and use the filters to limit results to beginner games in the version of D&D you’re most interested in.
RPG Geek
RPG Geek is all about RPGs. In addition to news, reviews, and tips, RPG Geek’s forums are perfect for finding D&D groups online and in your locality.
There are three main sections to check out if you want to find fellow players or groups:
- Conventions and Meetups – Discuss conventions and find other players in your local area
- Play by Forum – Join in on a text-based version of D&D right in the forum
- Play by VoIP – Join or create a virtual game on Skype, Google Hangouts, and virtual tabletop platforms like Roll20
If you’re thinking of joining a text-based D&D group, but you’ve never played text-based games before, check out these text-based adventure games first. In between campaigns, try out these MMORPGs which feature many of the best elements of D&D, just fully online.
Image credit: Mitaukano via Pixabay
