How to Find a Dungeons and Dragons Tabletop Gaming Group (D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun)

1. Stop in to your friendly local game store to check posted ads or post your own. Trying your local store means not missing out on a close-to-home network of enthusiastic friends and fun gaming events. You can typically find a local gaming store by searching for "d&d store near me" in your favorite search engine. Most local game stores are willing to post ads or notices to find players and schedule gaming nights. By starting with groups that meet in the game store, you can make friends (even if you’re shy) and soon find yourself invited to their homes to game. It won’t be long before you’re hosting gatherings at your house. Not sure if there's a local gaming store? Check the Wizards of the Coast, the company that publishes D&D, website by clicking HERE. They have a good listing by zip codes of local stores. Or, if you’d like to play Pathfinder, check out the Pathfinder Society, by clicking HERE. Wizards of the Coast also has a thing call "adventurers league" where play is organized by local administrators. Adventurers league is how many folks get started in their local community. The rules for dd adventurers league are slightly stricter than regular d&d but the characters you have can transfer from one group to another so if you don't like the local admin you can look for other "dd groups near me" pretty easily and carry your progress forward.

in your area, too. You can check online for conventions using sites such as Warhorn, which is great because they have a comprehensive list of convention schedules for the rest of the year from different states. Their list allows you to plan months in advance, which is wonderful if a convention meets outside of your home town. 

 The Wizard's Convention Finder has an awesome list as well. It’s also useful because they include schedules for outside the country. Even when conventions are far from your home, it’s still a way to meet gamers who live close to you since conventions draw like-minded people from all over. Once again, use your local game store to post an ad offering carpooling to the convention. Nothing like a road trip to make life-long gaming friends! 

Here are some of the best sites to look into: 

FaceBook groups for D&D are plentiful and helpful for finding a gaming group. Just type in your city or state in the search section to discover existing groups in your specific area. 

are also good sites to try. Reddit has a Looking for Group section, or subreddit, which is such an effective way to find gamers and games to join. The posts include online and offline (face-to-face) games and you can choose what you prefer. Again you can search by city or state, but just make sure to format your post according to the site’s guidelines. The site is proud to have nearly 13,000 subscribers. 

is used frequently by stores and groups -- maybe because of its large membership in the gaming area. For tabletop and RPG games alone, they have around 660,000 members and almost 2,000 meetups. It also gives practical and direct advice for finding groups of players, which is really great as a starting point to meeting friends with common interests. 

Starting your own game might sound like a daunting task, but it’s a proactive way to get a gaming group for yourself. You can start with the adventure module where the DM’s Guild offers many adventures that you can buy to get started or the official hardcover campaign books from Wizards of the Coast. 

These are a few tips for finding that elusive gaming group. As always, take the necessary precautions when meeting new people. It’s better to meet somewhere public at first with two or more of your friends along for the ride. To maximize your gaming experience and impress your new gaming friends, you may want to try some of our adventuring gear here at SkullSpitter Dice. Our products are awesome!