Look at solo RPGs! They’ve been around for a bit, but really came into their own during Covid.

I’m a big fan of the Ironsworn/Starforged/Sundered Isles series, which is a fully self-contained RPG you can play yourself, with other players (and no GM), or with a GM guiding people through. Many of the “moves” you make during play let you define the world and plot as you go.

On the other hand, if you have a game system you want to play already, you might look at the Mythic Game Master Emulator. Both of these have systems for generating stories and worlds on the fly, but Mythic is designed to plug into an existing RPG, while the Ironsworn series works some of those details into your character.

Ironsworn is free (the other supplements do have a cost), while Mythic looks to be about $15. Also, the YouTube series Me, Myself, and Die has playthroughs of both, so you can see how they work!

(Edit) I forgot about narrative games! They’re a bit of a different beast, more rolling for prompts and deciding how you respond, less rolling to-hit, as I understand it. Thousand year old vampire is the big name in this space.

Best advice I can think of is to hit up your local hobby shop, or a Renaissance fair, if you have one nearby. Those places are chock full of ttrpg nerds.

If you wore a sign or badge that says something like, “looking for D&D group,” I bet you’d get asked by at least a few folks. Especially if you’re already being nice and friendly and joining in the other activities there!

That said, playing online is not as bad as you’d think. I’ve played with a group fully online for over a decade now (shout-out to Foundry VTT).

I wish you luck in your ventures!

I was deeply confused for a second. I’ve only referred to them as ttrpgs for ages, so I was wondering why you’d need friends for a chiefly solo video game genre.

🫂

Just find a group to join, doesn’t matter if you know anyone. LGS or online. Could be a good way to make friends!

I’m interested. What game are you thinking?

Sometimes I go to a meetup that does one-shots. They’re a pretty good group.

Most of my friends either aren’t interested, or aren’t interested enough to actually show up. It’s easier to make friends with people who want to play RPGs than get your friends to play. The worst outcome is when your friends are kind of people-pleasers, and they say yes to the game even though they don’t really want to. Then they half-ass it or flake, and the friendship suffers.

With a new group I like to run bitd. Simple, can go in whatever direction the group ends up fitting to, and rules-light enough that I enjoy running it.

Nice! I’ve yet to play BitD but it looks super cool. I’m down to play if we can make schedules work!

Sure! Let’s get 2-4 more and start some shit!

Just looked this setting up. If you do get anything going, I am so down to be part of it!

Foundry VTT is amazing. Been running Kingmaker for almost 2 years on it with the official module (very slow pace, 1-2 sessions a month). I’d argue it’s basically mandatory if you’re serious about online TTRPGs.

Meetup got me into vampire larps when I was a teen. Loved those days.

Please express this as my tentative expression of interest (tentative because I’m travelling for Christmas and don’t have brain to think about this properly right now, but I’d certainly like to bookmark this for if this ends up happening)

I think it’s a big reason why there’s a lot of people are watching hundreds of hours long campaigns online. People are just vicariously playing DnD because so few can get a group together and sustain it. You’re not alone by any stretch!

I just play the computer ones.

You make three potential players. Still room for a couple more, especially since we’re pre-schedule, but we at least hypothetically have enough. I’ll DM you a link to a matrix room before the new year.

Obsidian makes games much better at the ‘rpg’ part of crpg. ‘Tyranny’ is maybe the best of all time. ‘Pillars of eternity’ is pretty great too. They’ve made a bunch of others, but those are the stand-outs.

Tyranny: a treatise on discourse and the meaning of power taking place in a grimdark sword and sorcery world. The two branches of the Evil Army representing how fascist think they’re strong and how they’re actually strong, and especially the asshole demigods that lead them just can’t get along, and you die in tutorial valley if you can’t figure something out. Character creation is mostly your warcrimes résumé. Which matters a lot.

Pillars of eternity: an intensely Hegelian game about morality in the context of all the fuckedness of history in compressed anachronistic high fantasy america. Wizards are generally upset by the invention of the blunderbuss. Brilliant, beautiful, sometimes a little bit of a slog because I wasn’t joking about the Hegel.

Very different feeling… I guess if you had the absolute worst railroading DM it might be similar…

If it helps, most people in a game store, and most dnd players, are socially awkward as well.

I used to be very socially awkward as a kid until I went to my local game store to play yugioh. I haven’t played in ages but I’m still happy i did! I’m still socially awkward, but a lot less than before, and I met some people I’m still friends with years later.