I love Shadowrun but there is NOBODY around who plays it.

Table-tops in general seem to be fading into the mists and Shadowrun especially. Nobody seems to have the patience anymore to sit and play. Even if you do find players, it seems like after a two hour session everyone's ready to pack it in and go home.

Whats a good way to find local players?

I think I first found out about Shadowrun when I was in elementary school or middle school or something. I found, like, 1 or 2 other people to play with by the middle of high school. I couldn't participate in regular games till I got to college, and that was only over IRC. When my gaming group fell apart and I left the US for 2 years, I stopped being able to play Shadowrun. Now I just think about how cool it would be if I had the wherewithall to play Shadowrun 3rd ed like I used to, but it's mostly a fantasy because I've gotten so busy nowadays.

So, basically, I think you're not supposed to find players. You're just supposed to imagine how great it would be to TPK the party if indeed there were a party.

adversite that you have a fire hot babe in group. they'll come from 3 states over!

not if this post http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showtopic=24293 has anything to say about it

It took me over two years to find a good group of players.. so it just takes time.

The best way is several player searching style boards and myspace/facebook groups. Plus, theres the old school use of a wanted sign at the locale gaming store.

I just joined the local Shadowrun Meetup Group (see my sig). When I was ready to start my first game, I posted flyers in my FLGS and the calendar entry on the Meetup site. I've run a bit over a year with the same core group (3 guys) and just picked up two more regulars from the Wednesday group.

Carl

I lucked out - I and a group of 3 other friends were getting tired of Diablo, and just made a wholesale switch to Shadowrun.

If you've got a local university, check there for a gaming group. That's what I usually do.

The sad truth is you don't awlys find them. I have been in Boise for 2 years and still not found a decent group. I was in a D&D4 group, but since the game promotes a style of play I don't like I ended up leaving it. No one was interested in comeing to SR where things might be *gasp* difficult.

That's the reality of it, for sure.

I played all through high school and a couple campaigns in college, but once I left, I couldn't get in a good group. I tried to recycle my old high school friends into games, but with so many different priorities going on, scheduling was a nightmare and campaigns would barely last more than a few sessions.

I'm not all that big into just showing up at a FLGS to sit into a game or look up strangers on a bulletin board. Nothing against it, just that I wasn't looking to get into a new social group just to play some games that might not make a good fit with me.

I just happened to luck into a group that I had two old friends (that I had lost touch with) that happened to be wanting to replace a guy that was moving cross country. It was luck to have crossed these guys path and it was luck that they invited me (had they not been looking to replace a player, I doubt they would have even mentioned the game).

Be willing to play with strangers, attend conventions, hit comic book and game stores, and post notices on virtual and RL message boards.

I have lucked out. I meet people either here on DS. at DragonCON (the local big con). One one of the "gaming/rpg" type mailing lists (meetup.com has them for instance), or at the FLGS. Local Universities are good place too. The local one has a gaming "group" or club that meets but they meet like Thursday at noon. Which is hard for me to do since I am at work.

It will take time. I have had several people come and go for various reasons. Getting made at the game system (since they didnt understand it, and wouldnt take advice) to their job moving them out of state or what not. The good ones (for the most part) have stayed.

good luck!!

I've actually created 2 groups from (in most cases) basically nothing.

I played for a couple of months under one GM and when he disappeard, I gm'ed for a bit after pulling in 3 players to fill out the group. That one unfortunately ended after a TPK that was planned by and initiated by one of the players.

The second group was founded through one of the guys I met at work. We became friends, was introduced to his friends, then introduced the idea of SR ...

I've met people through game store "looking to game" requests, at college game clubs, reconnected high school friends; One guy I met on a plane to GenCon.

I think that if you're meeting strangers it's not a bad idea to pick a neutral ground to suss out the person and find whether you'll get along. Worst case is that you're out half an hour and some $$ for coffee or a beer or whatever. Two people I met this way became some of the strongest group members we've had (until they moved, anyway). Others didn't work out and departed amicably after a session or three.

Just to add on to that, it's been my experience that playing with strangers or friends-of-friends makes for a better game session than trying to convince non-gamer friends to play with you. But make sure you vet potential gaming group members first.

All good advice.

A fact about human nature, though - people wait for someone else to organize something. The best way to get a gaming "culture" going is simply to take point and start offering to run something. Eventually, you'll have a pool of people and it will be your chance to play.

I'm in Atlanta, where we have a pretty active gaming scene (I can think of at least 50+ people I game with semi-regularly... not all at once, of course) but it's all Living Greyhawk (well, was), Living Forgotten Realms and Witch Hunter. A few of us wanted to play Legend of the Five Rings (the Heroes of Rolugan campaign) so we just started offering games, set up some L5R at existing local cons and game days, and now, a year later, we have a weekly game (sometimes 2 tables) drawing from a pool of maybe 15 players. I plan on repeating the process with Shadowrun soon, maybe starting in January or so.

If your city doesn't have a Shadowrun Meetup group, start one. Also find any yahoo or google groups which organize gamers in your area, join them and mention you'd like to run some Shadowrun. Everyone has heard of the game, but relatively few have played 4E, so make it less intimidating by suggesting a group get together to roll up characters, maybe do a small run. And build from there... in a few months, you'll probably have an active Shadowrun scene.

P.

Excellent advice. I've actually picked up a lot of time management, organizational, and leadership skills from stepping up and starting groups. Those translate into traits you can take with you into the work force.

Just jump out there and get noticed.

You're also in a good way if you can get in touch with other local gaming groups.

Camarilla is a great source, if you can deal with the Vamp LARPers for a few months. They form out-of-club groups for social activities like other games, going to movies, etc, and just one or two of their regional conventions can put you in touch with a fantastic number of geeks, nerds, and freaks, all willing to dress up and talk in funny voices for an evening.

They usually RP too.

I'd like to take a moment and strongly advocate minting new players. Somebody has to do it right? It does work well to have a fun core. Maybe two people who are fun and "get it".

But after that try bringing in new people.

This is actually getting easier in my opinion, especially when it comes to recruiting females. used to be about the only popular fantasy with the ladies was "Princess Bride". These days there are tons of anime with action aspects targeted to females, stuff in the mainstream western media. I mean there's this new thing, what's it called, Twilight.

And videogames serve as excellent prep since many of them are based off of role playing games. If somebody has played through a Final Fantasy they're primed for an RPG.

The only trick on a dumpshock board is that SR can be tricky as a first RPG. Especially if the GM is also fairly inexperienced.

Use every tactic you can think of and then keep trying. Pin board, websites, and most importantly Ask at every gamestore.

I lived under Saito's rule... er in the SF Bay for about 2 years before I got anything going. Then some drekhead killed the campaign and we took a break, drifted, yadda yadda. Now two years back into running a game, we have 10 players (not all show up at the same session). We have been contacted by dozens of great people. And best of all,

I FOUND A GAME ON SUNDAY I ACTUALLY GET TO PLAY IN!!!

Yes, immature to use all caps. Sorry, I am that excited about getting to play.

Try meetup.com

Be proactive. Start up a group. If you are in a populated area somewhere in the States or Canada, it should be possible to start of find a game to join.

Just look at the diversity of Dumpshock. There are so many players from all over the world and the states.

I put out posts on multiple boards (Pen & Paper Games is my current favorite). The best players I have found have been by advertising for Dark Ages Vampire on Dumpshock though... go fig...

I make my friends and acquaintances into gamers. I know that's not the easiest option for most people-but it's worked out well for me. I have a pool of about 20 people I trust enough to game with.

I do keep my gaming friends separate from my work acquaintances and friends.

I met my group at a Wizards of the Coast store back in 2001. We started playing D&D and about 3 or so years ago we started to get into Shadowrun. However, these days I have the opposite problem as you…I have the group to play with, but no longer the time. We get to meet about once every other month.

Did the OP ever find players?

Meetup.com seems to be the way to go - My group which started as a scifi reading group evolved into an activity group that includes gaming. At this point we have regular Shadowrun and Mutants and Masterminds games going with too many people wanting in!

I use snares, mostly. Put them in well-trafficked areas and you'll get a few players. Pits also work, but they require more effort and generally have to be put in more out-of-the-way locations.

~J

Well, I am married to one of my players, whom have been nagging me into become a GM in SR. He was burned out as a gm and I wanted to play.
I had to start from scratch. The gaming community in Denmark isn't that big to begin with (only about 3-5 gaming shops as such and most of them concentrated in or around the capital). So I searched the internet for danish gaming communities and found one (LARP'ers mostly, great roleplayers) where I live. They were easily hooked and now I got about 3-7 players with a core of 3. Great fun. I've played with friends, which isn't necesarily a good thing, since tempers can be fairly volatile when it comes to discussing rules and what not. Even though it is a game and you are supposed to have fun, not rule bitching.

Otherwise I'dt have trawled the internet for hookups, checked on facebook, gameshops, my own small gaming community etc.

To give a more serious answer now, my approach has been mixed-method. I turned a few non-gamers, but that's only had limited success—admittedly, several of them did things like move away before I could determine if they'd been properly hooked.

Part of my group is drawn from people I already knew who gamed; one of our core players comes from that group. I also had good luck once upon a time advertising on Dumpshock; three of our current players, including our other core player, is from Dumpshock. I wouldn't rely on it now, though, as the dominant game here is no longer the game I play.

~J