You Don’t Have to “Hobby” Alone
Luke of the DM Lair YouTube channel (@theDMLair) has posted a relatively short video encouraging those people that want to play Dungeons & Dragons or D&D, but don’t have friends or family members that are interested in playing, to take the leap and play with strangers. Watching the video it occurred to me how odd it is to think that you can only play games and engage with a hobby if you have friends and/or family members that are similarly interested in playing and engaging with that hobby. True, many of the people that play D&D and other tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) learned to play by first playing with a friend or family member. And yes, there are undoubtedly some people that play D&D or other TTRPGs that have never played a game with a group of strangers. And yes, you can play D&D or other TTRPGs as a solo participant (as I have pointed out in a handful of my previous posts on this blog). But it’s safe to say that many, if not most, of the hobbies that you might be considering have other enthusiasts. Playing D&D and other TTRPGs is no different. There are gamers out there looking to meet and join with other gamers for a game and gamers looking for other gamers to join their game.
I think about my own experiences playing baseball in which I joined teams where I didn’t know any of my new teammates particularly well at the start of the season. I have friends from my various seasons of playing baseball. Some I didn’t know until we became teammates and played alongside of each other. Sharing common interests and bonding over shared experiences is often how we make new friends. One can make new friends through playing D&D and other TTRPGs. If you want to play a TTRPG in a traditional group setting, but don’t know anyone else that is interested, that doesn’t have to be an insurmountable obstacle You can seek out other players or groups of players (while exercising the appropriate level of caution that one should always exercise when first interacting with strangers). And you might find that other players or groups of players are actively searching for players to join them and their games. Moreover, online gaming is certainly an option if finding fellow gamers in your area is a problem or not convenient for one reason or another (https://www.apirateontheprairie.com/post/a-convenient-inexpensive-low-commitment-way-to-test-drive-dungeons-dragons-or-really-any-tablet). So don’t let the lack of friends and/or family members with similar interests in TTRPGs stop you from pursuing your own interest in TTRPGs. And clearly this advice isn’t limited to just TTRPGs. It can be applied to many other hobbies and interests. While you can go it alone in many hobbies and interests, you don’t always have to do so.
Be sure to click on the link below and watch Luke’s video if you need some encouragement to step out of your comfort zone and consider playing with people that will initially be strangers to you.
“Stop Waiting for Your Friends to Play D&D”
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