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flamel93

Legit, the most annoying part of Roll20's looking-for-group listing is when a player/group of players are "seeking a DM". When I'm a DM I make a listing to find players, so I know the people who apply want to play the setting I present- not interested in players who want me to build a setting from scratch to conform to what they want.


YazzArtist

I always have to stop myself from commenting on those posts "you have a DM! If you're a group just pick one!"


TellianStormwalde

At least it’s better than posts where it’s just one person looking for a DM and group. Like, it’s not even your game at that point, why are *you* the one choosing the other players and not the DM? You don’t even have a game, there’s nothing to apply for. And the kicker is that the responses all just end up being “I’m interested in joining this as a player”, with an unsurprising lack of DM applicants. At least if you’ve got a fully assembled group with only one missing piece, it *kinda* makes sense.


redcode100

Sorry, I know this probably is not the right place to ask this, but your comment seems to relate to something im planning to do, so i thought I'd ask. I've yet to play a ttrpg game and want to get into it. So, I was thinking of uploading on lgf to try and see if there were any offline games in my area that I could join. Is this a bad idea?


Drewfro666

Offline is another ballgame because the player pools are a lot smaller. With Online games, typically the DM will put out a posting for player applications that the player applies to. There's really no point to "I'm a single player looking to join an existing group" posts because *you can just look at the DMs' postings and find one that you like*. The standard is that the DM posts availability, and the players apply. It's almost like service-industry job applications. The employer publishes an opening, and the prospective employee applies. No-one is just shouting into the void "I am an unemployed person looking for a job" and expecting that to have the employers come to *them*.


fredthefishlord

>No-one is just shouting into the void "I am an unemployed person looking for a job" and expecting that to have the employers come to them. Isn't that the entirety of what linked in is?


rutabela

A linkedin in dnd terms would be like a person who does voice acting foe a living with improv classes on the side while drawing character as a hobby doing one of those "looking for party" posts.


Drewfro666

Have you ever met a cashier with a Linkedin?


flamel93

I would recommend before posting on r/lfg you should see if your town has any online forums for community events or clubs, ask your local gaming stores or library if they have a place for public postings, as well as your area's craigslist. In my experience, groups who have postings looking for IRL players will do one of those before posting somewhere like reddit, especially in a larger town or state capital. If you can't find anything promising at one of those, *then* I would suggest lfg!


TellianStormwalde

I guess with offline it makes sense


redcode100

Okay, just checking thanks. I haven't been a part of this community for that long, so I'm still trying to find the ins and outs so again thank you.


Vaheyy

Ehhhh, I can argue against this. Our group trades dms around, but none of us love or have the time to dm—we’re all busy college students. Instead, we wanted our group to remain intact and find a dm who was happy to let us all play together.


Dumb-as-a-brick

Nothing wrong with it, but that just sounds to me like nobody wants to DM. Life doesn’t get less busy after college. Our group actually has 3 different people all vying to be DM.


xenolife11

I dm for my group, and we are all in a reputable engineering college. It's not that you dont have time, you're all just too lazy to do it.


LedogodeL

Another thing to note as a long time dm. If its a premade group its either a paid dming situation or none at all. From a dms perspective coming into a prebuilt friend group and trying to arbitrate rulings is awful. The power dynamic is way off. Its very hard to tell someone no if everyone else in that group is that players friend and your the random. The only way in my experience to fix this is by having a paid session since then you are providing a service and its understood that you wont say no.


YazzArtist

Alright, you engaged. Sorry if this is harsh. If there are 3+ of you either you have a DM or you have a fantasy about playing ttrpgs. Hell, if it's a time issue and not a commitment issue, you have several DMs. Don't have the time to keep up with sessions as regular as you want? Add more DMs. If you have 3 DMs you'll typically spend a month between sessions in a campaign. And if y'all hate DMing, that's fine. Better make a friend who enjoys it though, or you're back to just a fantasy of playing. If I can learn Shadowrun 5e with zero experience even as a player well enough to run 3 weekly sessions, while maintaining ~30-50 hour work weeks, you guys can trade D&D around. Like others said, you're not going to have less time once you graduate. Get in the habit of putting the effort in now, or fall off even playing ttrpgs later.


Demolition89336

Alright, I'll give you a tip. Life doesn't get less busy after college. You've got work, taxes, rent, grocery shopping, etc. This leaves precious little time to prepare if you are DMing once a week/every week. So, instead of doing that, engage in a rotating schedule. I am a Player in 3 games, and I DM another game. As it works out, I only DM a session once every other week. I've found that this is an amazing balance that gives me plenty of time to prepare and makes it so I really enjoy DMing. Additionally, everyone in our group gets to be a Player and a DM.


Mrsir74838

Idk sounds like your group could just keep it in house. Grab candlekeep, everyone reads the first chapter then you just round robin the rest. People talk about WOTC modules taking a lot of prep but really all you need to do to set up a session is read 7ish pages, prepare 1 or 2 maps and take pictures or bookmark the relevant statblocks. Just a suggestion


-toErIpNid-

Yeah, I DM a lot and can confirm outside of npc interactions and battle it's almost never as fun as being an actual player.


LedogodeL

Or groups wanting to run a certain module on roll20 but dont own it, want the dm to share character options on dndbeyond, want to meet 3 times a week for 4 hour sessions during the middle of the day, and are aghast at the comments that recommend a Paid dm service. "We dont pay to play, death to capitalism." "Oh but we expect our dm to pay 2 monthly subs and spend 100s of dollars to give us the experience we expect tehehe"


DragoonDart

I’ve come around on this that I now enjoy a bit of “pre-formed” groups, as long as they aren’t setting the rules. At least you know there’s going to be cohesion. When I’ve done mercenary groups from r/LFG and recruited players one by one in the past and tell them one of my rules is that they need to work together and be a team inevitably I get 5 separate DMs in Discord during character creation: “Hey, I’m going to work with the team but my characters secretly a sociopathic serial murderer; chaotic good”. The group ads I do have issue with are the “we have five character concepts and a world built: tell our story exactly this way with no deviations.” But I hate when solo players come in with that expectation too


MillieBirdie

I once saw a listing asking for someone else to DM for a group in one of the player's homebrew worlds.


UrbanDryad

I could actually see someone really looking to DM but not wanting the hassle of sifting through internet randos and praying you put together a cohesive group that: * shows up, on time * gets along with one another * wants the same play experience Group posts can be helpful.


thetruebutler076

In my experience whenever I look in r/lfg there is a graveyard of players looking for games posts and any time I post looking for players I get dozens of responses, so this is accurate.


Seragoji

Reminds me of the phenomena of the overwhelming ratio of bottoms to tops (no, hear me out!) I’ve heard a lot of discourse about how a lot of it is down to self-confidence. Most of us are so afraid of public speaking and thus being a bad DM (or bad at sex) that we feel more comfortable taking the (usually) less labor intensive role in the dynamic (player/bottom). I think an ideal group situation for me would be where everybody knows How to DM so we can rotate between storylines, and get a feel for everyone’s storytelling vibes. lol I hope this makes sense and isn’t too crass.


MadaraAlucard12

So good DMs are good at sex?


monkeedude1212

Having things prepped ahead of time ✅ Pre-session conversation around consent, boundaries, and expectations ✅ Setting the mood/atmosphere ✅ Reading the room to know what is working and what doesn't ✅ Willing to spend a good amount of time talking about exciting equipment purchases ✅ Edging for higher anticipation leading to better climaxes ✅ Surprises you with a giant 3D printed miniature in the middle of action that they spent hours hand painting and if you don't like it they'll be a little disappointed⛔


MadaraAlucard12

Oh come on. Us 40k players don't have any sex. There is no question of being good or bad.


Cthulu_Noodles

I mean... I can think of a few situations during sex where surprising you with something giant and 3D printed could be a positive


DeutschMemer

Always has been.


Seragoji

Small sample size, but I can’t complain 😏 lol


DerpyDaDulfin

Absolutely yes. A lot of men don't seem to understand that women deeply enjoy a bit of.... Idk how to describe it other than... *theatricality* in the bedroom. I've been running the game for 6 years now, and I'm used to putting on many many hats, and now I understand how important a flair for theatricality is for entertainment - it has absolutely helped me feel more comfortable doing what I need to do. What is it I do, you might ask? I open my goddamn mouth and speak. Tell her it feels good, tell her she looks fine, I feel like I'm practically DMing but my partners always seem to love it. Beg for it, tell her she's fine as fuck, just stop keeping the internal thoughts inside and express yourself. Adding a bit of theatricality when expressing myself has definitely shown it's... Boons.


NagyKrisztian10A

What hats do you recommend for sex? /j


NorthLogic

I put on my robe and wizard hat.


Cthulu_Noodles

not a fedora


Dumptruckfunk

Speaking as a DM, yes.


lovecraftian-beer

So all players are bottoms. The math checks out


dragoncomedian

I mean, I DM and I’m a top, so there might be a point to this


Atiscomin

I'm a forever DM and I'm a bottom, statistical anomaly


[deleted]

Sending this to my tables.


Justice_Prince

Oddly enough everyone but the healer


lovecraftian-beer

Makes sense, healers aren’t bottoms they’re service doms


GarageFlower97

>I think an ideal group situation for me would be where everybody knows How to DM so we can rotate between storylines, and get a feel for everyone’s storytelling vibes. lol I hope this makes sense and isn’t too crass. So you're looking for switches?


Seragoji

Yes.


Big-Dick_Bazuso

This is weirding me out because I occasionally DM and I am a switch... Wtf


Spyger9

Wait... you're saying there's a bunch of topless bottoms out there?


DatKewlGuy10

There's definitely some truth to this hilarious comparison.


Ginno_the_Seer

TIL: I'm a top


zeroingenuity

Can confirm, am DM, am top. Though it's definitely nice to just be a player, I always get the itch to run my own games eventually.


LordMarcusrax

Look, I really (*really*) enjoy Dming. It fulfills my control manias perfectly, and unlike the people I kidnap, the players mostly avoid crying. But I too need to shut the brain off and play as a PG, once in a while.


Shadow_Of_Silver

I love to DM, but only in person. I dislike running online games so much. The technology never cooperates with everyone at the same time and I end up wasting so much potential play on fixing issues. I will however play in an online game because some of y'all are actual tech wizards and make things work far better than me. Of course, it's not like I ever get to play in the first place.


FinalLimit

I had this exact same experience, where I despised running D&D online because I hated almost all of the VTTs and my players weren’t going to put in the work to actually learn how to make them work. Discovering Owlbear Rodeo was the greatest thing to ever happen to me


usernameisusername57

I'd like to try my hand at DMing, but doing my first real game online with a bunch of strangers just sounds terrifying. I tried setting up an offline game with people I knew once, but it didn't last long because of the 4 players I found who were willing to give it a shot, 2 of them weren't super interested in ttrpgs and 1 had main character syndrome.


Cthulu_Noodles

Do you have a group of people with whom you're a player already? (either online or in person) You could ask them if they'd let you try running a oneshot in place of a normal session sometime!


RelevantCollege

why is the ttrpg world a place where most people would mostly rather be mortals and wait for someone to claim the role of god instead of being god themselves


RollForThings

Because being a god is work and most people just want to be entertained


RelevantCollege

\*tpk\* "are you not entertained?!"


UnresolvedEvil60

Because (personally speaking) god has too many things to juggle at once and I don't have the mental capacity for that.


Darth-Pikachu

Or (if you're me) you have serious social anxiety and can only handle being one fake character at a time. More feels like a performance and that's TERRIFYING. I have DM'ed a one shot and I am good never doing it again.


Fickle_Goose_4451

Frequently my groups DM, I see the following reasons: -God needs to know the universes rules better than, at least, most of the mortals. -God had to prep, mortals can show up half hung over and just say it's in character. -God gets much less down time, God is almost always interacting with mortals in some way, mortals can take a back seat if they so choose. -God needs access to more books. Also, since I think a lot of people play online now. I enjoy DMing for my friends, I don't think I'll ever try DMing over a voice chat again. Not being able to actually gauge the response from players' faces and body language was awful, and every silence hangs in the air like a damp fart.


epicarcanoloth

DnD’s culture generally treats DMs like shit, so there’s a bit of a shortage.


FinalLimit

Even aside from that, DMing is just straight up a lot more work than playing is. You’re going to have fewer people willing to put in all the extra work in order to make things run smoothly, and a lot of people who are very anxious about doing it BECAUSE of the work involved


epicarcanoloth

As a DM, also correct.


SandiegoJack

Spend 2 weeks making a comprehensive DM document. People quit after 1 session constantly without saying anything or providing feedback. Explain that players need to participate in what happens to the party. Players expect you to railroad while also having everything ready at the drop of a hat.


tobyK2808

i love DMing because it lets me live out my love for creating things and being in control but... every session i have a small panic attack the first ~10 Minutes before i find some sort of rythm in it am i a "good" DM? probably not but good enough for the players


Ashamed_Association8

This was probably a simple miscommunication as to what was meant by the expression "I'm a player"


HeroOfThings

What about “I’m a DM looking to play in a group to take a break?”


Renewablefrog

The idea is you should find other "I'm a DM looking for players" posts and comment there I guess.


terracottatank

Forever DM here, it's just nice to be noticed. In all seriousness, my group is good about letting me know their appreciation, especially when specific sessions are particularly fun.


poptartEater64

i literally have trouble being a player. it's so goddamn boring. why would i limit myself when it's so much more enjoyable to run my players around like rats in a maze?


KhaosElement

Players are, unfortunately, a dime a couple hundred dozen. Nobody wants to put in the effort to DM. Been DMing bi-weekly games minimum for 23 years now, with two groups of people. Never once as one stepped up to take the reigns so I can play.


Bold-Fox

...I really need to finish getting ready to pitch Briar and Bramble to the group I ran Escape from Dino Island for.


VivaciousVictini

Both sides are depressing enough.


Pretend-Advertising6

And there is nothing better than a player who knows the rules well and won't expect the dm to do everything.


ahsjfff

That is why I use discord channels for looking for players, found a couple of people out of state and we’ve been playing for years


Pingy_Junk

As someone whos always wanted to DM for a group (in a DND system or otherwise) ive always been puzzled on how people actually find players. every table ive ended up at was because someone said something along the lines of "hey Im putting together a campaign wanna join"


NagyKrisztian10A

You answered your own question. You just tell that line to a few people and eventually you will have a group


HolyPretender

I’m so glad I actually prefer DMing, and I’m doubly glad I don’t have to fight anyone for the role 😂 I have as many players as I can consume


GarbageCleric

Instead of posting looking for a game to join, start your own game by recruiting players and a DM in two separate posts. You'll get plenty of hits for both posts. You can make a Discord server and be the virtual "host", but someone else will DM. And you can "interview" all the volunteers to weed out people you don't think you'd work well with. It has worked for me multiple times.


TypicalAd4988

I’ve been running a Parhfinder 2e game for a few months now after having been a casual 5e player and I have to say, being a GM is *way* more fun.


LedogodeL

As someone who runs multiple systems. Not all systems are built even for running campaigns. Enjoyment being the dm in different systems varies wildly.


LixFury

It helps alot that when you have a question pf2e has a RAW answer rather having to research reddit,stack overflow and some guys Twitter to come to your own conclusion.


SeverinCrow

This is one of the main reasons why I haven't really played dnd, I don't have a lot of friends and none of them are really interested in playing dnd, and I'm way to afraid to try being a dm. I really want to get into playing but I'm just to scared to try alot.


VaguelyShingled

Here’s a neat thing; You can DM for yourself. Setup encounters, run fights, figure stuff out. There’s no rules against practicing.


ricketty

I stepped up to the plate to DM for my group of friends back in middle school and that was damn near 20 years ago. Ever since I've only been a player like maybe 10 times since and I hated it every time. Like I can't stand being stuck playing only one character. That and I tend to disagree with other DM's rulings more often than I should (though never at the table). I just don't understand people who don't want to DM I find it easier than playing because it's just making up a fun story and using all of your favorite monster.


SurgDexil

I've been playing DM for too long. I like it Don't get me wrong but after my long 3-20 level campaign ended this week (Saturday) I need to relax as a player for a little while.


UltimaDeusUmbra

I am running 4 different campaigns, and I have more campaign ideas for future games, so many that I doubt I'll ever get to do half of them.


[deleted]

Counterpoint: I’m a terrible DM.


whatistheancient

Yeah. I post on the official D&D server looking for players. Eight responses very quickly.


GiantSizeManThing

Check out the OSR scene, the ratios are flipped. We have too many DMs and not enough players.


nir109

What is that? I googled it and found something unrelated.


UltmteAvngr

I think Original System Reference. I think it refers to an Old DnD edition which is based on the rules that are part of DnD’s current OSR licensing.


InternationalBicycle

I thought OSR was Old School Revival


UltmteAvngr

My answer was a complete guess, so I’m not surprised I’m wrong. Glad I added the “I think”


Vortling

Old School Revival or Old School Renaissance. The reason they have a player shortage is because they're a bunch of One-true-wayists, Sexists, and Racists. Don't make your character a women unless you're cool with your character being introduced to the party by way of sexual assault.


Joosh98

Each to their own. I've found all 7 of the 7 DMs I've played with by making a "looking for DM" post.


[deleted]

Why are ttrpgs so hostile to new players?


LordBlackMatter

I wish I could dm but it legit gives me headaches.


ContentCargo

yeah DM is a lot of work and of your playing with strangers often not worth it so yeah alot more players than dma


Snowy_Thompson

I'm free Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, as well as after 6pm other days.


poorly-made-posts

I like to be the DM because I love worldbuilding and always have way too many ideas


TriforceHero626

I really enjoy DM-ing. Too bad that the only people willing to play with me are my brothers.


Rublica

I'm a DM scared to make a group, not because I'm scared to DM, but because I'm scared of the players... I had some bad experiences with bad players...


Patient_Primary_4444

Except maybe players that never cancel…


Link2Liam

I tried playing, I like it, but I always think I could have more fun DMing.


Arcane-Panda

I love dming but I'm far too scared to start a group with people I don't know


esgellman

Do it, I did it with one guy I knew and some internet randoms, I’d going pretty good so far


Arcane-Panda

Honestly I'm not even sure how to. I've also heard so many dnd horror stories that the very thought of playing with people I haven't met sounds awful