D&D General Shocked how hard it is to get new players now-a-days

[darjr]

@FitzTheRuke has the basics of it.

I’ve helped boot strap stores into thriving rpg communities.

It takes consistency and showing up every time. Open your game for sit ins. Make sure it’s OK for folks to try and not commit. Run games for local conventions or events, Free RPG day being a great one.

Then keep showing up. Sometimes you won’t get anyone, one store it was months. But eventually that store has to expand the game night to every night of the week until they had to turn groups away. Lots of folks will bounce of your game but some of them will keep checking and some will even run an another table.

Lots of folks will unconsciously want to know it’s a regular dependable thing and they’ll feel better about going to the trouble of arranging to show up.

Also it can take a while for word of mouth to get around and time for enough people to stop by when your there.

 

[The Soloist]

@FitzTheRuke has the basics of it.

I’ve helped boot strap stores into thriving rpg communities.

It takes consistency and showing up every time. Open your game for sit ins. Make sure it’s OK for folks to try and not commit. Run games for local conventions or events, Free RPG day being a great one.

Then keep showing up. Sometimes you won’t get anyone, one store it was months. But eventually that store has to expand the game night to every night of the week until they had to turn groups away. Lots of folks will bounce of your game but some of them will keep checking and some will even run an another table.

Lots of folks will unconsciously want to know it’s a regular dependable thing and they’ll feel better about going to the trouble of arranging to show up.

Also it can take a while for word of mouth to get around and time for enough people to stop by when your there.

I confirm the method works. I did the same to promote a new wargame, I wanted to play. Being there every week doing demos led to the formation of a solid core group of players.

 

[Lanefan]

For the OP: unlike years past, one thing that might be working against you now - ironically enough - is that you're doing your recruiting in/through a game store.

Most people visiting a game store these days are probably there because they're already in a game.

Local library, friends, work-mates (I've in the past recruited several players from people I worked with), boardgame cafes (if your town has one) - in 2024 these are probably all more fertile recruiting grounds than ye olde FLGS.

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

As was said earlier, a lot has changed over the years.

It used to be easier to get games going through a gaming store - but that assumed the gaming store had any interest in having gaming on premises. Anecdotally, I've seen more than a few game stores that were pretty unwelcoming to new people, or to having games, or having games that involved more than the regulars.

My local library offers gaming, mostly teen-oriented, which also means they have a lot more stricture on who's allowed into the club, and what types of stories can be told. It has a waitlist, which is a shame because my oldest boy has decided randomly he wants to try D&D.

I think a lot of the issue, as was also said, is time. Decades ago for a lot of us, it used to be nothing to regularly have an eight-hour session on a Saturday, even into our twenties. Now, pushing fifty, I find it had for my friends to commit to that - either because they're out of gaming, have other things to do, or 8 hours is a long ask when they could be Adulting. Even if we had shorter sessions, time is a factor - it's not worth a player driving a half hour each way for a session if the session is shorter than X hours.

Keep doing what you're doing. If the gaming store has no interest in supporting you - and it sounds like they don't and you're doing all the heavy lifting - I hope you can find another venue. Run demos. Maybe even just run short campaigns where people can drop in and out and it doesn't matter?

 

[Asisreo]

Something simple that can make the barrier or entry easier, both online and offline, is to offer pre-made character sheets with backgrounds and everything.

A lot of time and effort can be used up making a character, and while new players might initially want to make their super-unique bestseller-worthy character, they can often find they're not so enthusiastic on writing down every feature, proficiency, personality trait, and spell.

Even if the player wants to tweak it, at least the character sheet gives them less work to do in the long run. And that's half the battle.

A little less than half is to teach them the rules as they go rather than expect them to have read the PHB cover-to-cover.

 

[Zardnaar]

Way I'm doing it.

Local Facebook groups for D&D.

Walk ups in stores.

Friends of existing players.

Returning people I've gamed with over the decades (MtG, boardgames, D&D).

Bystanders watching

Talking to others in gamestore.

Group uses Facebook messenger. If it goes far enough for an invite use that for follow ups, discuss character concept etc.

Two groups of 5 and could have started a 3rd. I have 2 or 3 anchor players so just need to recruit 1-2 people for a 4 or 5 player campaign. 1 group is 5E one is OSR.

Alot of it is organization and people turning up. Also had to get used to bystanders.

At its height we had 3 groups on game night with 20+ players turning up. One DM was running for newbies only so she would funnel players my way.

The 3 anchor players I've played with for 5, 22, and 20 odd years. Looks like I have a new anchor player as one of them dropped out but will rejoin occasionally. Real life stuff.

How interested tge ganestore is is also key. Last one's kept track of people wanting games (owner operated). New ones good with people playing there but the employees don't care about organizing anything.

 

[TiQuinn]

In a physical game at a game shop. I have no desire to play online.

I've been trying to get 2 more players for a while. A lot of bites but I bring next to nothing to shore.

I've tried friends and family. Had one cousin express interest but never show.
Friends, same thing. "Sounds cool" but don't show. Even when they lament about not having anything to do that day.
Online boards in my metro area. Made a post about what I'm DMing and wanting players. I've had 3 people say they wished to join. None of them actually show.
People at the store approach and ask if they can play next week. Sure! Don't show.

Closest I had was a co worker and his 2 friends. All 3 showed. Next week the co-worker was sent to another state for surprise job training and his 2 friends were MIA.

I asked my local store to put up a notice board so I can put a posting, can't be bothered.

Why is this so hard? I thought this was the RPG golden age?

I had a much easier time getting players to a table for 3rd and 4th ed. This is like pulling teeth. If my current group ever decided to break up, I don't know what I'd do.

Edit: Some seem to miss that this is less about "no potential players" and more "just don't show up after expressing interest".

People are flaky.

 

[Zardnaar]

People are flaky.

Yeah you filter the flaky ones out.

 

[payn]

Covid changed a lot. I didnt spend much time in game stores before hand because I had a great solid group that played at my residence. Though, since covid I have gotten into Battletech which is just a ton more fun in person. My experience playing in game stores a lot the last few years is that its strictly Magic the gathering (and assorted CCG) followed by Wargames. I dont see many people playing TTRPGs, and I never even see flyers for new product and or TTRPG specific nights. Thats the Twin Cities though, might be different in other metropolitan areas.

However, I will say Battletech was on life support locally until a few of us built a community out of it. We got reserved space at game stores, built an online presence, and like organized TTRPG play developed a pick up system that folks could come at their leisure.

 

[DragonLancer]

One of the reasons that I never took well to online gaming (I did it during the pandemic) is because, if I wasn't GMing, I'd find myself popping over here to read the forums while it wasn't my turn and I felt really guilty if I missed what was going on and had to have the GM repeat themself when it came to my turn. I also fell asleep once! I'm baaaad at online gaming.

I am very much guilty of this. In our Pathfinder games most of us use Herolab because after a certain point it's so much easier for the computer to handle to modifiers and complexities. I'm 50 now and compared to just 5 or 6 years ago, my attention span drops considerably and I'll find myself checking Facebook or here, when it's not my turn and we're not in a deep role play encounter. I can't help it.

We played online during Covid, using Roll20, and it was my first attempt at 5th edition. I hated it and a big part of that was the interface. I'm an introvert but there is something about face to face gaming that is so much more appealing. You can read body language and bounce off one another so much easier. I couldn't do online play again. It's a social activity that I can actually enjoy with like-minded friends (Warhammer 40K is my only other outlet).


I'm another DM who insists on commitment. I put a lot of time and effort into crafting a campaign and I expect my players to commit. Thankfully my friends rarely miss a game. We play every other Sunday evening 7-11 and baring the rare illness or medical/family emergency, everyone turns up and plays. I'll never understand how players who are enjoying playing cannot commit to a once a week or once a fortnight game on a set day/evening. If they want to play they will make the effort.


As for the topic at hand... I don't know how you go about recruiting. The good old days of putting up flyers in shop windows or advertising in the local library I think have gone. Everything is online now unfortunately. That would be my guess now. Find your local town/city FB page and post there. My FLGS has a regular presence on our local page and they do great in drumming up interest for all manner of games.