Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shy_Guy 07-17-05, 06:57 PM	I live on the island of Antigua which is this tiny, little rock in the Caribbean, disgustingly replete with surfers and party hounds. I have been trying to find gaming partners for about eight months now and have had absolutely no luck at all. These encounters usually go something like this: Me: "....hey bro' wanna try out this cool role-playing game with me." Him: "Whats a pole-laying game?" Me: "No thats ROLE PLAYING GAME." Him: "Ohhhh. A game you mean like Halo?" Me: "Not really. You use your imagination but its totally cool." Him: "Cool? Cool like Halo?" Me: "Well, not exactly. But if you want it to be like Halo, you can make it like Halo." Him: "Cool......Lets go to the beach." Me: "Errrr...what about the game, do you wanna try it out?" Him: "Game? Is it like Halo?" Me: "AHHH! Just forget it!" Trust me eight months of this is enough to make any role-player turn to computer games. As you may have already guessed, i have grown quite desperate and have finally taken up *sigh* solitary d&ding. God help me. It seems as though the dungeons and dragons gods dont like me. Anyway, please let me know of any good methods of solo-gaming. I would also appreciate any advice you could give me about my whole situation. Thanx in advance my fellow D&Der's.
Seldarin 07-17-05, 07:00 PM	Why not try to play DnD via internet, like mIRC...?
Shy_Guy 07-17-05, 07:08 PM	Wow! That was fast! I have actully been playing Everquest 2 MMPRG and The Wheel of Time online adventure for about three months now and its been cool but i really wanted to break away from the computer screen and play some face to face, REAL (if you will) D&D. B/C of a lack of REAL people who want to play, i have to turn to the only one i know that plays and thats...well, me. I'll admit its lame playing solo's but its my only option really. Until we get some roleplayers down here that is.
BloodGod 07-17-05, 07:57 PM	Solo-playing is, odd. No offense meant, really. But, considering you'd know all the plot hooks an' such, you can't have a truly good game of Dungeons & Dragons. If you can find a really good online D&D group, you won't care that it's over the net. It'll be such a fun/good game you won't care. -BG
Bluebrush 07-17-05, 09:18 PM	www.rpol.net is pretty good for online RP. As for your current perdicament, turn to the local nerd population. Is there a Comic store near you? A Games Workshop store? If there's a local LAN gaming centre near you that might be worth a try. Just ask there if you can put up a poster saying you're looking for players. Other suggestions... Is there a college near you? If you're still in High School, try putting up posters there.
Shy_Guy 07-17-05, 10:06 PM	Thanx alot guys for your help so far. The closest thing that we have to a comic book store is simply a book store and the closest thing we have to a gaming centre is a little hobby shop. There are only two video game arcades on the whole island. I was a bit reluctant to go and try to "recruite" there because everyone there is too into GTA or HALO to give a darn about role-playing. I guess i can give that posting thing a try though and see if i get lucky. And, thanks for the link i'll make sure to check it out.
Androcus Divinicus 07-18-05, 12:41 AM	Where do you get your D&D books from? If your bookstore carries them, you might try just going to the bookstore and hanging out in the RPG section and see who wanders in. Most bookstores don't mind if you take a book off their shelves and read it ... infact, some encourage it as they sell coffee and similar products to people who sit in their store and read all day. Then of course, maybe your local bookstore doesn't carry any D&D books and you got them all off of the internet ... in that case, I'd try putting up fliers at a local university if you have one, or possibly your highschool, if you're still that age. Otherwise ... maybe you should move to Florida? :) Edit: BTW, Bluebrush, I love that "Posting and You" flash. Maybe we can get a link to that in a sticky? Regards, Justin.
Caterane 07-18-05, 04:47 AM	What I can offer you is that you come to the Core Coliseum and join one of the Campaigns or Quests there. It is less annonym than other boards because of our constant members (you'll know most of the guys after some time); we even have some Galleries (http://boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=4034076) with pictures of our members. So if you cannot find people in real life, and normal RPG is too annonym, the coco might be a good option. We are right now building up a world which you can help to build up; every story will add new information to that world, and your actions in the campaigns you play might have an impact too. Links are in my sig.
Mightyflapjack 07-18-05, 01:16 PM	I was sitting in my local comic shop the other day talking with some friends when a young (say 10-12 year old) kid came into the store: Kid: Is this the gaming store? Clerk: Yeah, is there something I can help you with? Kid: Um.. yeah.. (looks around). Where are your games? Clerk: (waves his arm at the 40 foot long row of gaming books). Kid: (looks very confused). Books? Clerk: Yes, these books are games. Kid: (looks even more confused). I don't need the strategy guide. I want games. Clerk: (gets very red, and tries not to yell at the kid). The kid finally understood.. after we talked him through what an actual role-playing book is about, but he still looked completely confused as to why it would be fun to play. We are all a dying breed.
rbrt_Spade 07-18-05, 01:23 PM	well try here-zipcode search of D&D groups (http://www.dnd.meetup.com) ive playing D&D solo when i been bored.-just make a hack n slash type of campaign with a story i do half story-half combat but if you play solo you can play the game to your tastes but im dm a group and thats more fun than playing solo
wordserpent 07-18-05, 01:36 PM	Playing Solo helps you master the rules. It also helps you create good adventures for the party that you WILL eventually have. Andonicus Divinicus' suggestions are good. Don't discount them. I especially like the "Hang out in the bookstore" one.
Magiq 07-18-05, 01:50 PM	I have worked out this method by watching all the crap american school programmes my sister watches on TV: 1. Go to school with lots of money. 2. The "Jocks" will then see you're a "Nerd" and steal your lunch money. 3. You will then be invited into the fraternity of other nerds who get "hassled" by the "Jocks". 4. As everyone knows "Nerd" equals someone who plays D&D.
rbrt_Spade 07-18-05, 02:00 PM	well people who play arent nerds-i play D&D play soccer,lift weights, and do track
lightman 07-18-05, 02:01 PM	Go to the gaming section in your bookstore. Pretend to look for a book. When someone else starts going threw their, strike up conversation
spamfiltre 07-18-05, 02:57 PM	please let me know of any good methods of solo-gaming. I would also appreciate any advice you could give me about my whole situation. I would limit this to an exercise in setting up encounters. For example, you could decide that in some future game you'd like to run, the PCs will need to infiltrate a castle. 1) Build the castle, stock it with all of the appropriate bad guys, and decide in advance how that group would react to an inflitration attempt. 2) build a group of PCs, and ahve them infiltrate the castle. 3) Don't cheat. It won't be good role-playing, but unless you are schizophrenic, you'll never get a good role-playing experience by yourself. If your real goal is to break that barrier and put together a gaming group, ask the book store owner if you could set up a "D&D Day." The owner might even let you piggy-back on advertising. Set up a table, bring some pre-made PCs (or use the stock pre-mades), and run a game for anyone that shows up. Antigua isn't that large - try posting advertisements at schools, coffee shops, etc. Blanket the entire island. It helps if you're not shy. ;-)
mydoom.b 07-18-05, 04:28 PM	actually i helped a freind of mine make a really cool online dnd playing tool, i got a link to dll somwhere at my site (www.freewebs.com/1337group)
Shy_Guy 07-18-05, 04:39 PM	You guy's are very helpfull. Thanks alot for the advice and the links. I guess i should stop kidding myself and try a little harder to get a gaming group started. This solo thing is getting pretty lame. I tried asking a co-worker of mine if she would like to try it out and she said something about the game being dangerous and occult related. Whatever! That was the first person that i have found that even knew of the game. I am beginning to think that i am bound to a life of online D&D gaming. Anything beats solo rp though. Well, i'll keep trying. I will surely be putting all your suggestions into action. Thanks again.
spamfiltre 07-18-05, 06:44 PM	That coworker is perfect! Leave out a lot of the magic - ask her to try it, and make a Fighter or Rogue for her. Have her battle some evil, and then you've got your first player.
MT-296 "Dagger" 07-18-05, 07:22 PM	For good online gaming sites see my siggy.
Mr. Leet 07-18-05, 07:58 PM	We are all a dying breed. Sorry man, but that's BS :)
MT-296 "Dagger" 07-18-05, 08:19 PM	I was sitting in my local comic shop the other day talking with some friends when a young (say 10-12 year old) kid came into the store: Kid: Is this the gaming store? Clerk: Yeah, is there something I can help you with? Kid: Um.. yeah.. (looks around). Where are your games? Clerk: (waves his arm at the 40 foot long row of gaming books). Kid: (looks very confused). Books? Clerk: Yes, these books are games. Kid: (looks even more confused). I don't need the strategy guide. I want games. Clerk: (gets very red, and tries not to yell at the kid). The kid finally understood.. after we talked him through what an actual role-playing book is about, but he still looked completely confused as to why it would be fun to play. We are all a dying breed. Nope D&D and RPG"S in general are thriving right now I think. Hell we get new members on here all the time Wanting to learn to play! I see new posters every single day.
EvilDuck 07-19-05, 03:19 AM	well people who play arent nerds-i play D&D play soccer,lift weights, and do track And you're still a nerd. D&D=nerdiness. Embrace it. Antigua, eh? Well, blanket the island in fliers, post on the Net, get a skywriter if you must, etc...
rbrt_Spade 07-19-05, 02:01 PM	thier are over 3 million players/(probably 1/5 of them dms :) ) according to some sites and the game gets lots of noobs (you can see on the board!-thats cool!
AmanitaEata 07-19-05, 02:09 PM	thier are over 3 million players And about 2.1 million of them know the difference between there, their and they're.
CravesLove 07-20-05, 02:37 AM	OpenRPG (Players and GMs) (http://forums.rpghost.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=121) is another way to play online. If you feel comfortable enough with the rules, you could offer to DM a game and you will probably get a flood of requests to join. The software for it is free, and if you have a lot of time, you could start it up and hang out in one of the lobbies and look for someone recruiting (sometimes rooms are titled with 'recruiting'). Or, if you want to DM, you could go there and say you are looking or open a room with 'D&D' and 'recruiting' in the name and get a group that way. If you want to GM, that is a good way to go. If you want to play, well, you can give it a shot. Good luck, Fitz ps, someone mentioned playing over mIRC. You can also play over Yahoo chat, especialy voice chat :). This is fairly close to face-to-face gaming. You might just need to find an online die-roller that everyone can see.
ozdan 07-20-05, 03:09 AM	The Wheel of Time online adventure. Does anyone have a link?
CJ1720 07-20-05, 04:47 AM	I play by posting board at http://www.roleplayinggames.net/cgi-bin/adnd.cgi What the game lacks in real human interaction and fast moving stories, it makes up for in well thought out actions and well writen posts. Give it a try. CJ
Aladdar 07-20-05, 09:27 AM	I'm also interested in the wot online adventure if someone can point a link to it. There's also rules on the main page of the DnD section here (at least there was a few days ago) of a way to play the miniature game solo.
babysamurai 07-20-05, 12:09 PM	disgustingly replete with surfers and party hounds. What's wrong with surfers and party hounds, I happen to surf, role-play, and dabble in the odd party hound session. One does not automatically exclude the other. Not all surfers are mono-sylabic stoners, and not all role-players are fat guys named Elliot who sit at the back of the class eating paste. Please don't perpetuate stereo-types, they're already ingrained in society enough. I do appreciate it being hard to find new players, just keep plugging away, and good things will happen. Good luck.
Dippiey 07-20-05, 04:45 PM	You guy's are very helpfull. Thanks alot for the advice and the links. I guess i should stop kidding myself and try a little harder to get a gaming group started. This solo thing is getting pretty lame. I tried asking a co-worker of mine if she would like to try it out and she said something about the game being dangerous and occult related. Whatever! That was the first person that i have found that even knew of the game. I am beginning to think that i am bound to a life of online D&D gaming. Anything beats solo rp though. Well, i'll keep trying. I will surely be putting all your suggestions into action. Thanks again. Your co-worker is deceived. I am A Christian and I play D&D and post on these boards. I must admit that some people make D&D a cult, but it doesn't have to be that way. Play things maturely and can have a lot of fun. Change some of the religiouse aspects and she will play. I meet people like this all the time. You just have to grin and bear it.
spoogemonkey 07-20-05, 05:03 PM	Dude, you need to get out more. If there is a sufficient population there will be gamers somewhere. You just have to think like a nerd/geek. Where do the geeks go in Antigua? Try computer stores, game stores, video game trade in stores, used CD stores, comic book stores, etc. Surfers are too active. Go where the geeks go. If you bring up D&D.... you will get laughed at several times before someone shows interest..... expect to be embarrased before you find any gamer mates. Put up a notice in a game store..... but only give out your email address... say this: "Hot chick looking for gamerboyz" You'll get responses...
Shy_Guy 07-20-05, 05:29 PM	What's wrong with surfers and party hounds, I happen to surf, role-play, and dabble in the odd party hound session. One does not automatically exclude the other. Not all surfers are mono-sylabic stoners, and not all role-players are fat guys named Elliot who sit at the back of the class eating paste. Please don't perpetuate stereo-types, they're already ingrained in society enough. I do appreciate it being hard to find new players, just keep plugging away, and good things will happen. Good luck. Dude, did i say that surfers or party hounds were disgusting? I said that the island was so replete with them that it was disgusting. Geez! Who is perpetuating stereo-types? You need to try and be a little more lax and read the threads carefully. :) Thanks alot Dippiey. if i work up enough zeal to approach her again, i will definately put your suggestions to good use. Thanks to you too spoogemonkey. But, if i bring up D&D i am not likely to get laughed at b/c nobody even knows what the hell it is! I will also try and put your suggestions to use. Especially the "hot chick looking for gameboyz" one. :)
babysamurai 07-21-05, 04:09 AM	Dude, did i say that surfers or party hounds were disgusting? I said that the island was so replete with them that it was disgusting. Geez! Who is perpetuating stereo-types? You need to try and be a little more lax and read the threads carefully. I never said, that you said surfers were disgusting. Don't worry about it.