Generally Discouraged (In-Person Gaming)

[payn]

Thanks for the suggestions. The thing about any "looking for group" sections, Meetups, etc., is that the default is big cities.
I have to drive 2.5 hours to get to a city that any of you will have even heard of (like a population of 600K).

Looks like you gotta start it up!

 

[prabe]

So, other thoughts ...

Are there groups focused around other nerdish interests near you?

Is there a reasonably-sized military base near you?

--Both of those seem as though they'd increase the odds of finding people into TRPGs.

 

[Retreater]

Looks like you gotta start it up!

That's what I was trying to do.

Are there groups focused around other nerdish interests near you?

I don't think so. Unless I'm not sure what classifies as nerdish. Our town is mostly churches and little league baseball. No public colleges either.

Is there a reasonably-sized military base near you?

Nah, it's also over two hours away.

 

[prabe]

Unless I'm not sure what classifies as nerdish.

Hrm.

What sort/s of groups use the library for gatherings? I know you can't (don't feel free to) mingle with them--just think about the kinds of groups. Nerd-friendly things might include fan clubs, writing groups, learning-to-cook (especially if it's more inspired by Alton Brown or Kenji Lopez-Alt than like Martha Stewart or Paula Deen) or craft beer/spirits (or even--ack--wine, I suppose) or any sort of collectors or really any smallish hobby.

 

[payn]

That's what I was trying to do.

Keep trying and have some patience. You are limited by desire for F2F and a small town. It's not going to be easy.

 

[Retreater]

What sort/s of groups use the library for gatherings?

Officially - none. We don't have space for outside groups to reserve. (It's a long story, but a group of wealthy landowners sued the library before the construction of the current building, and we lost - therefore, we had to scale back the building and unfortunately cut out the meeting space/auditorium.)
As far as groups who casually meet here - we have high school students who come after school to hang out, homeschooling groups, and Girl Scout troops. Other regulars include court-mandated family visitations and residents from the nearby homeless shelter.

 

[prabe]

I guess there's an alternative path in my thinking: Cultivate some other interest/s and find interested groups. I have found beer nerds in roller coaster groups and TRPG folks among beer nerds; overlap seems to be more the rule than the exception.

 

[Retreater]

I guess there's an alternative path in my thinking: Cultivate some other interest/s and find interested groups. I have found beer nerds in roller coaster groups and TRPG folks among beer nerds; overlap seems to be more the rule than the exception.

Unfortunately, I don't think any of that exists here. We don't even have a decent bar where you can get stuff that's not Bud Light. It's as if there is no place for adults in the community at all.

 

[prabe]

Unfortunately, I don't think any of that exists here. We don't even have a decent bar where you can get stuff that's not Bud Light. It's as if there is no place for adults in the community at all.

No breweries? My experience is that craft beer has gone very local, and the breweries tend to have bars--and they tend to be very welcoming to people with other interests. We used to make regular trips to a brewery in Hershey, PA, and it was common for us to see people playing board games (like Catan and stuff) and we used to bring games to open and learn while we were waiting to be OK to drive home; and one of the breweries in Washington, DC, is hosting a weekly D&D night run (I think) by one of their employees.

 

[5atbu]

We returned to face to face by running a Sunday group monthly. It took a while and quite a lot of little posters.
But I live in a medium city of 500k right next to a small one of 150k.
How about boardgames? Less scary?