HELP!!! A gaming group quandary

[DreamChaser]

In a few months the group I DM for is going to end up disolving on account of two of the members contributing the the gene pool (darn babies).

This will leave me searching for new gamers. What do you do to find new gamers?

Any advice is appreciated.
DC

 

[Agback]

G'day

Finding new gamers seemed easy when I was at Uni, but it has been a lot tougher since.

Why not join the RPG club on the nearest decent campus (the better the school, the better the gamers, right?)? Go to a meeting once a month or so. Meet gamers. Recruit the ones you like. The problem with this is that you get youngsters with a characteristic lifestyle. People of sense ignore the generation gap, but your need to be at work at 8:30 every weekday morning with a sane head on might not suit what a student thinks of as a desireable gaming schedule.

And if that doesn't work, if you live in a reasonably populous place (Bellingham is about 50,000-60,000 people, isn't it? But out of range of Seattle and even probably Vancouver) you can place a disguised ad in some popular Internet gaming forum such as ENworld General Questions or r.g.f.dnd and see who responds.

And if you can't find gamers, it only takes about fourteen years to make some.

Regards,


Agback

 

[pogre]

I have the same problem. I tried posting in gamers seeking gamers and scouring through the access denied database with out success before.

I have been so spoiled by having a reliable group all of these years I need some recruiting advice as well.

 

[Silver Moon]

Gaming Group Quandary

Silly question, but do people having babies really prevent the group from gaming? Could you maybe play at one of their homes, or alternate gaming locations? What about changing your game time?

On the subject of recruitment, the best source for new players is freinds or coworkers of current players and/or check out the local gaming shop and talk to the shop owner - they're bound to know somebody (and also give you names of people to avoid). At one point during our group's 3rd year we had a lot of turnover, and did a "guest month" where a couple of people were encouraged to each bring a guest each night, with a few easy-to-play NPC's thrown in for them. We had six guest, two of whom stayed with the group.

 

[bret]

If you are willing to play at the newborn parent's home, you could continue playing after a brief hiatus. Basically wait long enough for the baby to develope a regular sleep schedule, so the parents aren't totally exhausted.

I've gamed in a number of groups where one or more of the people had kids. You learn to put up with the distractions that are going to happen.

 

[Piratecat]

We have a Gamers Seeking Gamers forum right here! Go page down the main forum listing.

I find new players through these boards, through gaming cons, or through my local gaming store (putting up an announcement.)

 

[robaustin]

We've had two folks in our gaming group have kids and it did not affect us in any big way.

One was when our DM and his wife had a baby, we had a 2 month hiatus and then came back to playing just fine. Since both of them play in the game it was pretty easy since we played at their house.

The other guy who plays in our group, when he first had his little one, brought the little guy to the games a lot. It was alittle awkward at first - he sometimes had to get up and do a feeding, changing or whatnot, but generally worked out well. He brought the porta crib and set it up in another room and the baby slept in that... Now the little guy is almost 4 and plays with our DM's daughters (5 and 1 1/2).

Doesn't have to mean then end of your group at all as long as you and the whole group are accomodating. If, however, you have folks who aren't "kid people" this might not work out as well....

Also - if you plan to play at the person's house who has the baby, you might do better with evening sessions. When we play on Friday nights, the DM's daughters are already in bed - so we play from 9 PM to 1AM (or later) - and we get in a good chunk of a game without interruption.

--*Rob

 

[Dr. NRG]

10 years too late

...or I would've joined up. How's Bellingham these days?

 

[Number47]

I am the DM for a girls group. Now get this. Me and my wife have a 16 month old. One of the girls has a newborn. One has 10 month old twins. One is pregnant. We still game for about four or five hours every two weeks. You can do it, really! Newborns sleep a lot, so you can play even soon after the birth as long as both parents take turns (if they both play). The only thing is the group has to be non-squeamish about feedings and let the new mother know.

 

[DreamChaser]

Re: 10 years too late

...or I would've joined up. How's Bellingham these days?

It smells better with GP shut down but otherwise pretty similar.