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Author Topic: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016  (Read 8031 times)

Cadwaladyr

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Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« on: October 14, 2021, 02:45:54 AM »
For further background, I'm in my mid 40's and games pretty steadily from high school until my late 30's. A combination of the kind of work I was doing making me keep weird hours and all of my gaming friends moving away caused me to drop out of and lose touch with the hobby.

So, what the hell am I walking back into? Looking at things online it seems like RPGs have gotten caught up in the same cultural fights as the rest of entertainment. Which, as a deeply apolitical person, isn't exactly thrilling to me. But I also realize that the loudest voices online rarely mirror what's going on in the real world, so this like a good place to ask some questions.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?

Spinachcat

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #1 on: October 14, 2021, 03:52:22 AM »
as a deeply apolitical person,

LOL. Good luck with that.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it?

Depends where you live and where you look. When recruiting players, you should make the ability to STFU about politics a pre-requisite for joining your table. The more open and upfront you are about organizing a totally non-political game table, the more likely your table will be comprised of deplorable far right Trump monsters thankful to game in peace.

Where are effective places to actually find them?

Your friends, and their friends, perhaps co-workers, maybe family. There's some online "player-finder" tools, but I haven't used any other than MeetUp. Perhaps others here can point you to current quality online player finders. If you have a FLGS still standing after the shamdemic, consider posting there. I've met many GMs over the years who have run numerous campaigns only playing with people from their game store.

Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?

No. Not at least by my definition of large numbers, and at least in regard to RPGs. However, the game your non-political table chooses to play is much less important than the quality of the players you find. Good luck.



FingerRod

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2021, 07:32:25 AM »

Where are effective places to actually find them?

Your friends, and their friends, perhaps co-workers, maybe family.


This is spot on. I get the occasional person from this grouping that slides in something political, but it gets stamped out really fast. Because these are all people we know or know by extension, we understand two important aspects, 1) they are here to play a game and 2) outside the game they can function properly in society.

Five years ago my wife had never thrown a polyhedral. Two months ago she started DMg Strahd for a group of us.

tenbones

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2021, 10:57:01 AM »
Getting in is easy -

1) Go to the Game Company List thread - you'll find every game company going right now and their general political heat-level. Do not dismiss the Yellows entirely.

2) Cultivate your own group. Whether you're going to just be a player or GM. Find locals in your own area via whatever online resources or face-to-face places you can go where gamers gather. Curate the group of people you wanna play with.

3) If you don't GM - give it a try.

4) Non-D&D Systems - the moment you go Non-D&D you're going to start climbing a hill to find players. THAT'S OKAY. The key then becomes your responsibility in deciding what game you wanna play. Ironically nothing prevents you from playing older editions of D&D. There are lots of people, like yourself, that got out of the hobby or are in it, and still yearn for what they're familiar with. Depending on where you live there might be GM's from your era that are looking for people like *you* to join them. Get out there and look. Get on Discord and look for a local Discord group for local gamers.

As for which Non-D&D system - depends on what kind of gaming you're wanting to do. If you want D&D style fantasy, you could go with any of the OSR games out there. Dungeon Crawl Classics for example. The mechanics will be a snap for you to get into since it's D&D's DNA. Any of the OSR systems would be an easy fit for you - others here on this forum can be a huge help in guiding you, as there are a lot of OSR players here.

If you're looking for *anything* with a following, non-D&D systems have their respective fanbases at differing levels of the same range depending on your location. This is why I say find the system/setting that interests you - and just DIVE. Look for the people that wanna play that with you. Because the odds are they'll be the ones with the more likelihood of going the distance with you.

My personal recommendations - would be find an online game to get your feet wet.

Armchair Gamer

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2021, 11:04:41 AM »
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RlX78Yw9lbUMk2QwAZdpwNRGAd4Xe69eFgnFymWz6M0/edit is the direct link to the list tenbones mentioned.

Also, nearly every game you might have been familiar with has been put into PDF and/or Print-on-Demand, cloned, or is otherwise available. (Games licensed from other media franchises are the big exceptions, although a lot of them have been cloned with the serial numbers filed off.) So if there's a system you'd like to get back into, let us know and we can probably direct you to it or its spiritual successor.

Abraxus

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2021, 01:35:01 PM »
I second everything said already by the other posters.

The bones you should write a book about gaming, your post especially about finding players for non-D&D games should be in every rpg.

GriswaldTerrastone
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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2021, 01:43:00 PM »
For further background, I'm in my mid 40's and games pretty steadily from high school until my late 30's. A combination of the kind of work I was doing making me keep weird hours and all of my gaming friends moving away caused me to drop out of and lose touch with the hobby.

So, what the hell am I walking back into? Looking at things online it seems like RPGs have gotten caught up in the same cultural fights as the rest of entertainment. Which, as a deeply apolitical person, isn't exactly thrilling to me. But I also realize that the loudest voices online rarely mirror what's going on in the real world, so this like a good place to ask some questions.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?


1) The "cultural marxists" are trying to take over and ruin everything. There is no "seems" about it.

2) Depends on what you are doing. If you are looking to join a game try to find out what goes on in it. If it's on Twitch TV watch a few sessions, usually there are earlier ones immediately available.

If you are looking to START a game as DM then lay the law down from the start. Do not compromise, that is how it ALWAYS starts, every single institution ruined by leftism started with "just a few" compromises. It never ends.

For example, if I ever get my own game off the ground (and the Earth's orbit reverses), it is made clear that there are to be no obscenities (kids may be watching), the world is patriarchal, while there is no sex there are scantily-clad females (e.g. primitive tribe bikini), there is alignment and you must follow yours reasonably well or else, there are differences in attributes between males and females (especially strength), no constant throat clearing, stupid decisions- trying to rob a Riverlord or seriously threaten an Azuralupin- will result in certain death, and actions have consequences- killing and looting a roofolk tribe will bring retribution from any nearby leofolk. This game takes place on Ayundell and there is a set subcreation, physically and socially.

But here's the frustrating part you may encounter if you start a game or join one with set rules: you may well get somebody whom joins and then starts insisting things become more "progressive." That someone knew the rules from the start yet started with the "compromises" routine. Beware of such people, that is Saul Alinsky 101 in action.


By the same token if you join a "progressive" game you must tolerate whatever happens.

Good luck. 
« Last Edit: October 14, 2021, 01:46:39 PM by GriswaldTerrastone »
I'm 55. My profile won't record this. It's only right younger members know how old I am.

HappyDaze

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2021, 02:19:40 PM »
For further background, I'm in my mid 40's and games pretty steadily from high school until my late 30's. A combination of the kind of work I was doing making me keep weird hours and all of my gaming friends moving away caused me to drop out of and lose touch with the hobby.

So, what the hell am I walking back into? Looking at things online it seems like RPGs have gotten caught up in the same cultural fights as the rest of entertainment. Which, as a deeply apolitical person, isn't exactly thrilling to me. But I also realize that the loudest voices online rarely mirror what's going on in the real world, so this like a good place to ask some questions.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?


1) The "cultural marxists" are trying to take over and ruin everything. There is no "seems" about it.

2) Depends on what you are doing. If you are looking to join a game try to find out what goes on in it. If it's on Twitch TV watch a few sessions, usually there are earlier ones immediately available.

If you are looking to START a game as DM then lay the law down from the start. Do not compromise, that is how it ALWAYS starts, every single institution ruined by leftism started with "just a few" compromises. It never ends.

For example, if I ever get my own game off the ground (and the Earth's orbit reverses), it is made clear that there are to be no obscenities (kids may be watching), the world is patriarchal, while there is no sex there are scantily-clad females (e.g. primitive tribe bikini), there is alignment and you must follow yours reasonably well or else, there are differences in attributes between males and females (especially strength), no constant throat clearing, stupid decisions- trying to rob a Riverlord or seriously threaten an Azuralupin- will result in certain death, and actions have consequences- killing and looting a roofolk tribe will bring retribution from any nearby leofolk. This game takes place on Ayundell and there is a set subcreation, physically and socially.

But here's the frustrating part you may encounter if you start a game or join one with set rules: you may well get somebody whom joins and then starts insisting things become more "progressive." That someone knew the rules from the start yet started with the "compromises" routine. Beware of such people, that is Saul Alinsky 101 in action.


By the same token if you join a "progressive" game you must tolerate whatever happens.

Good luck.
What a total load of shit. Nothing like giving somebody advice on how to have fun by taking every opportunity to rage against the other.

S'mon

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2021, 02:38:35 PM »
This is a pretty strongly political site (just they're the goodies)  ;D so maybe not the best place to ask.

IME: Lots of normies playing. Beyond D&D, only Call of Cthulu is big. You can easily find D&D or CoC games, eg on Roll20 for playing online. Try Meetup for in-person. IME, SJW-oriented groups generally use "LGBT Friendly" as their code when advertising, so you may want to avoid those. Obviously you'll find a smattering of regular L G B and probably T gamers all over, in normie games the typical assumption is that L G & B at least are not a big deal. IME most normie players neither know nor care if their fellow normie players are L G or B, and normie L G B players don't make a big deal of it (nor did the one T player I can recall).

GriswaldTerrastone
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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2021, 02:38:46 PM »
You don't get it, do you HappyDaze?

The whole point of leftism is to infiltrate and ruin. The only reason one can run a game as he wishes at this time is only- and I want you to say that word 1,000 time ONLY- because they haven't gained the ability to force everyone to play it their way everywhere. Yet.

Here is the chain of "logic" they follow. I will keep it basic for you:


1) Leftism is about goodness and environmentalism (yeah keep buying those iPhones and such) and equal rights and love and etc.

2) Therefore anyone who is NOT a leftist opposes these things.

3) Therefore anyone who opposes these things is a Nazi.

4) We all know that Nazis deserve death.

5) Therefore anyone who opposes leftism deserves death.


Either you are hopelessly unaware of what has been happening or you are "trolling" here. For your sake I will assume the former. I have been on this mudball for over half a century and have seen it happening over the span of decades, noticing how it died down in the early 1980's (the imminent threat of WW3 had that effect).

Look at what happened to the "Dragonlance" project at WotC. Those two people actually agreed to the "compromises," yet they were still cancelled. Read that part again and again, HappyDaze- they AGREED to the demands, but were still cancelled. Hopefully even you can see that the whole procedure was nothing more than the hope they would disagree to something and that would be the excuse to get rid of them.

I myself have come under fire from some leftists about my own writings and pictures. Not many, granted, but I am a relatively obscure artist whose perspective tutorials are the most viewed things.

My advice stands, even if you do not comprehend it. By laying down the rules from the start- I'll try to explain it this way- everyone knows what exactly they are getting into. Therefore nobody has any business complaining about something. If I promise an adventure somewhere between "The Hobbit" and "Night of the Rabbit" but deliver something that makes "Game of Thrones" look like "The Little Koala" cartoons, then yes people have a right to complain- I misrepresented the game. I lied. But if I am honest and the game works that way how in any sane universe is that "raging," HappyDaze?

The problem is people infiltrating known things with their agendas. Perhaps you haven't heard about "James Bond," "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Marvel," "DC," "Dr. Who," etc? NOTHING can be free of their agenda, it's just that right now they haven't the means nor the power to bring everything under their control. But they sure have come quite a ways since 1981, haven't they?

« Last Edit: October 14, 2021, 02:41:48 PM by GriswaldTerrastone »
I'm 55. My profile won't record this. It's only right younger members know how old I am.

oggsmash

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #10 on: October 14, 2021, 03:21:55 PM »
For further background, I'm in my mid 40's and games pretty steadily from high school until my late 30's. A combination of the kind of work I was doing making me keep weird hours and all of my gaming friends moving away caused me to drop out of and lose touch with the hobby.

So, what the hell am I walking back into? Looking at things online it seems like RPGs have gotten caught up in the same cultural fights as the rest of entertainment. Which, as a deeply apolitical person, isn't exactly thrilling to me. But I also realize that the loudest voices online rarely mirror what's going on in the real world, so this like a good place to ask some questions.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?

  Recruit friends and family.  If you do not have any of those, you have bigger problems than finding gamers.

HappyDaze

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2021, 03:30:53 PM »
You don't get it, do you HappyDaze?

The whole point of leftism is to infiltrate and ruin. The only reason one can run a game as he wishes at this time is only- and I want you to say that word 1,000 time ONLY- because they haven't gained the ability to force everyone to play it their way everywhere. Yet.

Here is the chain of "logic" they follow. I will keep it basic for you:


1) Leftism is about goodness and environmentalism (yeah keep buying those iPhones and such) and equal rights and love and etc.

2) Therefore anyone who is NOT a leftist opposes these things.

3) Therefore anyone who opposes these things is a Nazi.

4) We all know that Nazis deserve death.

5) Therefore anyone who opposes leftism deserves death.


Either you are hopelessly unaware of what has been happening or you are "trolling" here. For your sake I will assume the former. I have been on this mudball for over half a century and have seen it happening over the span of decades, noticing how it died down in the early 1980's (the imminent threat of WW3 had that effect).

Look at what happened to the "Dragonlance" project at WotC. Those two people actually agreed to the "compromises," yet they were still cancelled. Read that part again and again, HappyDaze- they AGREED to the demands, but were still cancelled. Hopefully even you can see that the whole procedure was nothing more than the hope they would disagree to something and that would be the excuse to get rid of them.

I myself have come under fire from some leftists about my own writings and pictures. Not many, granted, but I am a relatively obscure artist whose perspective tutorials are the most viewed things.

My advice stands, even if you do not comprehend it. By laying down the rules from the start- I'll try to explain it this way- everyone knows what exactly they are getting into. Therefore nobody has any business complaining about something. If I promise an adventure somewhere between "The Hobbit" and "Night of the Rabbit" but deliver something that makes "Game of Thrones" look like "The Little Koala" cartoons, then yes people have a right to complain- I misrepresented the game. I lied. But if I am honest and the game works that way how in any sane universe is that "raging," HappyDaze?

The problem is people infiltrating known things with their agendas. Perhaps you haven't heard about "James Bond," "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Marvel," "DC," "Dr. Who," etc? NOTHING can be free of their agenda, it's just that right now they haven't the means nor the power to bring everything under their control. But they sure have come quite a ways since 1981, haven't they?
I'm not unaware of this line of bullshit, I just call it for what it is: bullshit.

There's no infiltation going on other than in the heads of the jackasses like you that actually believe the nonsense you read on the internet.

jhkim

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2021, 04:50:43 PM »
For further background, I'm in my mid 40's and games pretty steadily from high school until my late 30's. A combination of the kind of work I was doing making me keep weird hours and all of my gaming friends moving away caused me to drop out of and lose touch with the hobby.

So, what the hell am I walking back into? Looking at things online it seems like RPGs have gotten caught up in the same cultural fights as the rest of entertainment. Which, as a deeply apolitical person, isn't exactly thrilling to me. But I also realize that the loudest voices online rarely mirror what's going on in the real world, so this like a good place to ask some questions.

How hard is it to find gamers right now who just want to play damn RPGs and not bring contemporary crap into it? Where are effective places to actually find them? Is there anything non-D&D, non-Paizo that people are actually playing in large numbers?

Welcome, Cadwaladyr.  I'm in a related position. Since the pandemic started last year, I lost my local Thursday night gaming group - who all moved away from the area. We kept up for a time with online games, but I will be looking to establish a new in-person gaming group over the next year.

Things that have helped for me:

(1) Playing and running games at local gaming conventions. Luckily, my area has a lot of local conventions, but most metro areas have at least one. It's a great way especially to meet other active gamers in the area, and to try out new systems.

(2) Playing with family. My son, nephews, and niece all play, so I've had some fun games with them. This summer, my brother-in-law ran a 5E module that I played in.

(3) My local gaming store. I had a new one just open up in my city, and I plan on organizing some games there to make new connections.

Cadwaladyr

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #13 on: October 14, 2021, 09:35:48 PM »
A lot of good advice and I appreciate it.

In the past, I have almost exclusively GMed, so that's what I would prefer. I realized now I also misstated one thing: when I said non-D&D, I meant non-WotC D&D. Basic, 1e, 2e, or an OSR game I'd be perfectly up for, but I'm just not sure how much of an actual playerbase any of those have at this point.

Family and friends would normally be the route I'd choose to take, but while the wife is actively encouraging to get back into running games and wants to play: The kids are off to college and friends and family have either moved or gone batshit insane during the pandemic(everything from super-woke to full Q-tard).

This is where I've run into a wall and realized that  I'm going to have to actually interact with the broader gaming community to have any hope of putting a game together, and why I've been concerned about what I might be walking into. It does appear to me from what I'm reading here though that at least some people are having luck getting decent groups together from local cons or gaming stores, so that's a positive. Does surprise me a bit though that as much of a resurgence as TTRPGs are supposed to be having that no populaar digital tools for finding players/groups have emerged.

GeekyBugle

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Re: Considering getting back into TTRPGs, Out of them since 2016
« Reply #14 on: October 14, 2021, 09:43:45 PM »
A lot of good advice and I appreciate it.

In the past, I have almost exclusively GMed, so that's what I would prefer. I realized now I also misstated one thing: when I said non-D&D, I meant non-WotC D&D. Basic, 1e, 2e, or an OSR game I'd be perfectly up for, but I'm just not sure how much of an actual playerbase any of those have at this point.

Family and friends would normally be the route I'd choose to take, but while the wife is actively encouraging to get back into running games and wants to play: The kids are off to college and friends and family have either moved or gone batshit insane during the pandemic(everything from super-woke to full Q-tard).

This is where I've run into a wall and realized that  I'm going to have to actually interact with the broader gaming community to have any hope of putting a game together, and why I've been concerned about what I might be walking into. It does appear to me from what I'm reading here though that at least some people are having luck getting decent groups together from local cons or gaming stores, so that's a positive. Does surprise me a bit though that as much of a resurgence as TTRPGs are supposed to be having that no populaar digital tools for finding players/groups have emerged.

You could try finding a TTRPG facebook group, maybe there's some non-crazy people in your area?

Another option would be a VTT, Roll20 is free up to a point and has support for the older D&D and some OSR games too.

If you want something simple you might want to try White Box https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/190631/White-Box--Fantastic-Medieval-Adventure-Game

Basic Fantasy is another OSR Gem, the PDF's are free and the printed books at cost or almost https://www.basicfantasy.org/


https://wiki.roll20.net/OSR
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