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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voobaha" data-source="post: 323894" data-attributes="member: 2741">recruiting troubles...not likelySeeing as you're located in Hopkinsville, KY, IMHO you're probably not going to have major recruiting problems for your club.  I first learned to play D&D as a youngster when I lived in Hopkinsville in the 70s.  There was a D&D club in town that met at the local mall that at it's height had 30-40 hardcore members.  They were affiliated with the hobby store that used to be in the mall, and had members from throughout the region (who didn't have access to gaming in the smaller towns surrounding Hopkinsville).We were friends of the guy who ran the hobby store, and given the lack of nightlife and cultural pursuits in the area (it's mostly rural), people from as far away as eastern Tennessee would drive to his store to buy hobby stuff.  Basically, since there was less to do in small towns, people turned to hobbies, notably D&D and wargaming, to make their own fun.It's likely that between the college students, the "old timers" in the community who used to play in the 70s and their children, you've got a sizable body of potential gaming recruits from on and off campus.Even though there's only about 30,000 residents in Hopkinsville, you might actually have a disproportionate number of closet gamers.  As far as intolerant fundies protesting your games, well, there's always going to be a few jerks wherever you go.  Given the number of closet gamers lurking in the area, you'll probably not going to have a problem.But hey, you live there, so I'm probably telling you stuff you already know...Some suggestions for your club:Try doing all the things a normal club does (i.e.:  have a secretary, occassional meetings w/minutes, a small budget for gaming supplies and snacks, etc).Play more than just D&D 3e to increase the fun and draw in more membership.Run campaigns in which club members rotate taking on the role of DM to vary the experience and further the playing skill of the participants.  This has the added benefit of keeping games going if your membership changes suddenly (ex:  your DM suddenly quits the club, leaving the campaign high and dry).Do some kind of simple community outreach to sponsor gaming awareness.  This could even be doing things for charity, like running a carwash, cleaning up a stretch of highway once a month, or getting sponsors to pay you for gaming non-stop over a weekend.  Doing community service is a good way to publicly legitimize your club, and get the college to give you a small budget too.A good way to raise public awareness of gaming is to run exhibition games at the local mall or student union, usually with simple rules and lots of cool visual play aids (miniatures, master maze dungeon floors, sound effects, etc).Combine gaming events with other special events.  For example, make on gaming night an "ice cream social" night where everybody makes ice cream sundaes before the game.One final idea:  have fundraisers to sponsor the club to travel together as a group to a major gaming convention.  You might even get a group hotel rate...</blockquote>

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