How to Play Dungeons & Dragons Online

As we step away from the summer months, we find ourselves more at our tables. Tables for playing and also working on features and fixes for Groupfinder. And there have been quite a few additions since our last Update log. We'll go over some of the bigger changes and additions. Supporters /images/general-media/1789388957_fqCygV2e.png Some of you may have noticed in the menu dropdown a little page called Subscribe. Worry not, this does not mean, that Groupfinder is going to be pay to use. No, far from it. We are sticking by what we have been saying since the start - Groupfinder will remain free to use. Becoming a subscriber is your way of supporting our ongoing work on the platform. To make sure the lights stay on, the servers buzzing and the licenses get paid, we have to make sure all those costs don't overwhelm us. What does it mean to be a subscriber? As a thank you, for your help and trust in us, your account will have some ease of life perks: Automatic bumping - you can set up automatic bumping for your posts, helping your post stay refreshed. Once you set it up, every 48 hours, the system will bump your post moving it back to the top of the listings. Customized notifications - want to only receive specific notifications and alerts for games and players in a specific region and game system? You can set your specific rules for custom alerts. Colour themes for your posts - Feel a little red? Green? blue? Customize your posts with the colour theme you prefer, make your post stand out with a little cosmetic tweak.  More cover pictures - Supporters will also find that they have access to a whole new set of cover images to choose from. If you are tired of the ones you have seen so far - you will find more from the selection we present the subscribers. Higher limits - If you have more than two games you are looking players for - you will be able to have up to six different active game posts at once. You will also be allowed to send more messages to new users every day. Attach files - perhaps your games have a world map you'd like to show off to make players more interested in it - you can add some files to your post and make it more informative. And various limit increases and customization options for Group Manager and for those who manage a library entry page. You can read more about the subscription here. And if you don't care about those perks - but you think we are doing a neat job - that can be your motivation as well. Messenger On desktop devices, you will find our messenger in the bottom right corner of the page, allowing you to chat with others in a more intuitive manner, just like you may be used to on various other platforms. We will continue to improve the messaging experience as we go forward, but we are very happy with the way it is now. Ofcourse you can continue using messenger, how it was before, as a full-page view. Tiles for Group Manager /images/general-media/1789389492_W7MfXXwR.png In addition to various improvements for the Group Manager, we are happy to announce tiles.  Tiles are small customizeable and editable dynamic elements, that you can add to your Group Manager dashboard to add various features to them.  Add images, spell, item, skill lookup searches, connect your notes to your Obsidian markdown files and keep them synced with what you have on your computer or just add a slideshow to set the mood for the game. Badges /images/general-media/1789389332_qdibSnHO.png Show off your activity and achievements on Groupfinder with the badges you have earned here. There are various ways to earn badges, some you get for reaching out to users on the platform, some you get for bumping. You may be considered a librarian, if you help us improve the library.  And with higher tier badges, you will also unlock unique perks (such as lower daily bumping cooldown, or additional unique cover images). Posts and listings We also took some time to optimize the filtering options on the posts pages. We added additional features to the search, and with that it slowly started getting out of hand. So it was time to take a step back and look at the whole listings filter as a whole and bring it all together, again. Many of these fixes and tweaks have been things you, the users, have asked for. Just like the option to also exclude tags from your search. Don't want to see games that have a "Horror" theme? Take it out and no spooky season for you. We admit that for some time the "Create a post" flow was.. messy. Again the same deal, as with filters - we added fields, elements, options and much more to it. But it resulted in the pages being overly cluttered and some fields may have been accidentally overlooked. Now the flows have been reworked and should make it a lot easier for you to create your player post or add your games to the listings. Also to all of our multilingual friends - you can now write your post description in multiple languages. I mean.. you could also before - but now it is more reasonably separated and structured. Those with a game post will also have access to more detailed analytics about your post. Knowing and understanding more about those, who open your post, can help you tweak and tailor your post in various ways. A more organized library /images/general-media/1789390627_QjshwGXo.png Don't you just hate it when your local library is a mess. Well ours was a bit messy - so we cleaned it up and made it make more sense. The new library home page now offers you a better overview of what is new, what is popular and which events are upcoming. Speaking of events - if you know of any upcoming tabletop events that might interest others - tell us about them and we'll try to get those added to the library as well. And much, much more In addition to all the topics we've covered here, there have been a vast amount of additional changes - not necessarily smaller and less important. We just have to keep these update logs at a reasonable length. If you have any feedback regarding these changes (or lack of an update you were hoping for) - do let us know. Either use the contact us form, or join our Discord server and let us know there. We are always happy to discuss and learn from you. Till next time.

What 10,000 registered users tell us about the systems people want to play Back in April we took our first analytical look at the numbers on Groupfinder. It was an overview of the active posts on the platform. Based on the games and player posts on the platform we came to the (obvious) conclusion: contrary to some niche opinions - D&D is still the king in the tabletop scene. Since then a lot of changes have happened: **Groupfinder just passed 10,000 registered users**, and 84% of them joined in 2026. Now based on all the numbers we can see on Groupfinder, we have written up a second iteration of the article. A little something we now call "State of tabletop".  All the data is based on **4,277 player profiles and 2,686 groups** from 56 countries all over the world. A bigger data set allows us to draw better and more concise conclusions. Of course one has to keep in mind, that the numbers presented here only represent what we can see within the boundaries of Groupfinder. And the lovely people using the platform to find players or games. Compared to the first time, we have split the "pathfinders" into two: 1E and 2E. Pooling those systems together was a mistake. An oversight I admit was in no way helpful to presenting the data and the tabletop scene. This time, we are hopefully showing the data in a more transparent and logical manner. The road to 10,000 The dominance of D&D Beyond just D&D Where the GMs are needed Play styles: OSR, PbtA, FitD and SWADE How people play Do groups actually fill up? The Groupfinder Library Are you contributing to the numbers? The road to 10,000 For most of 2025, Groupfinder was growing at a quiet pace. A few dozen sign-ups every month. Then November happened and users started discovering us more and more. /images/general-media/1791299708_3O0GzTlx.pngRegistered users at the end of each month Since November 2025 we've averaged about 850 new users every month, and it hasn't really shown any signs of slowing down. The summer dip (June and July) was expected and reflected in the user growth: Vacations happen, campaigns pause. But August and September have been two of our busiest months ever. When we wrote the first report in April, the platform had less than 5,000 registered users. Since then, we have exceeded that number by an increment of two. The dominance of D&D **The crown hasn't moved.** Dungeons & Dragons is still the system most people come to Groupfinder for, either as players or as GMs looking to assemble a group. **Groups**: 59% of all groups ever posted on Groupfinder are for some edition of Dungeons & Dragons. This mirrors the ~60% we saw in April. Now that our data set is larger, we feel comfortable, that the ballpark popularity sits in that range. **Players**: 73% of player profiles list D&D 5E, and 35% list the 2024 revised rules (5.5E). Players can pick several systems on their profile (on average they pick 2.7), so there is an overlap. But it also means that at least three out of four players are looking for a D&D game. **5E vs 5.5E**: The 2014 rules are still far ahead. For every group running the updated 2024 version, there are 3.6 groups running 5E. Among players the gap is narrower - roughly two 5E players for every 5.5E player. The new rules have a bigger player count than there are games to choose from. Starting out and not sure where to begin with tabletop gaming? The approach hasn't really changed: find a Dungeons & Dragons group first. There are simply more games to choose from. Beyond just D&D The encouraging part hasn't changed either: players who play D&D do move on to try other systems. Once we set Dungeons & Dragons aside, here is where the rest of the interest goes. /images/general-media/1791295582_PINPTalX.pngPathfinder 2E draws 2.6x the interest of Pathfinder 1E, which still makes the top 5 on its own. **Pathfinder, now in two parts.** Split apart, Pathfinder 2E is comfortably the most popular system after D&D: 104 groups and 663 player profiles. Pathfinder 1E is smaller, but far from retired: it still makes the top 5 on its own, and with 48 groups it has more tables than Vampire or Call of Cthulhu. Old-school crunch has a loyal following. **The new top 5.** Compared to April, Vampire: The Masquerade has overtaken Call of Cthulhu, and Daggerheart holds on to second place barely a year after release. Cyberpunk RED drops to sixth. Partly because Pathfinder 1E now takes a spot on the graph of its own. **The rising indies.** Just below the top, Lancer (mech combat with a big narrative heart) and Shadowdark (old-school dungeon crawling with modern rules) are both past 100 mentions. Keep an eye on them for the next report. Where the GMs are needed Popularity is one thing. How easy it is to actually get a seat is another. So for each system we compared how many players are interested in it with how many groups are running it. /images/general-media/1791299934_OD1gA30E.pngHow many players for every game post **The horror and grit crowd is waiting for a GM.** Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk RED and Vampire: The Masquerade all have 9 to 12 interested players for every group. If you have ever wanted to run one of these, you won't be short of players. Even Pathfinder 2E and Daggerheart sit above the average. If you are a player of these systems, don't wait for a group to appear: post your player profile with the system tagged, so GMs who are on the fence can see there's an audience. And if you're that GM on the fence - this is your sign. Play styles: OSR, PbtA, FitD and SWADE Some of the most interesting games out there cannot be labeled one game system. Dozens of games share the same core rules or the same philosophy, but each one gets its own name. On a system-by-system list they look tiny. Grouped together under one "family", we can get a better idea of the numbers. We sorted every system in our data into four families, using published game lists (see the sources at the end): - **OSR and NSR** (Old School Renaissance and "New School Revolution") - games that recreate or remix early D&D play: deadly, rules-light, player skill over character sheets. Shadowdark, Old-School Essentials, Mothership, Mörk Borg, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Dolmenwood, Cairn and many more. - **PbtA** (Powered by the Apocalypse) - games built on Apocalypse World's "moves" and 2d6 rolls, where every roll pushes the story forward. Monster of the Week, Masks, Dungeon World, City of Mist, Kult: Divinity Lost and others. - **FitD** (Forged in the Dark) - games built on Blades in the Dark: crews, heists, stress and clocks (progress trackers). Blades in the Dark itself, Slugblaster, A Fistful of Darkness and others. - **SWADE** (Savage Worlds Adventure Edition) - one generic engine with many official settings. Savage Worlds itself, Deadlands and Pathfinder for Savage Worlds. /images/general-media/1791298479_n23oMjiY.pngCounted as one family, OSR games have more groups than Pathfinder 2E **The old school is bigger than it looks.** No single OSR game makes our top 10 on its own. Shadowdark comes closest in 9th place. But put them together and OSR games have 114 groups, more than Pathfinder 2E's 104. Add the original pre-3rd edition D&D rules (OD&D, AD&D 1E and 2E, B/X, BECMI) and the old-school crowd grows by another 17 groups. **PbtA is the storyteller's niche.** 39 groups is modest, but every PbtA group has 6.3 interested players waiting. Every single PbtA group we could see runs online. **Forged in the Dark is the hardest seat to find.** With just 10 groups and 7.4 interested players per group, FitD is the style where players outnumber tables the most. Blades in the Dark accounts for most of it. If you have ever wanted to run a heist, the crew is already here. **Savage Worlds is steady.** 25 groups, and all of them run the core rules rather than a named setting like Deadlands. It is also one of the styles most often played around a real table (28% of its groups), together with Shadowdark. A note on counting: groups run one system each, so the group numbers are exact. Player profiles can list several systems, so a player who ticks both Shadowdark and Old-School Essentials is counted twice in the OSR family. That's why we lead with groups here. How people play **Online is the default, but the table is underserved.** 81% of groups play online, while only 65% of players are looking for an online game. Flip it around and the in-person side looks very different: 35% of players want a game at a physical table, but only 19% of groups offer one. That works out to almost 3 players for every in-person group, versus about 1.3 for every online group. If you are a GM with a spare seat at your kitchen table (or a friendly local game store), you are in demand. [Browse the players near you](https://groupfinder.gg/players) - the radius search will show who is close enough to join. **Campaigns rule.** 85% of groups are running a campaign (a longer story played over many sessions), 14% are one-shots (a single, self-contained session) and 1% run West Marches or living-world games (a shared world where players drop in and out of sessions). Daggerheart is the exception worth pointing out - 27% of its groups are one-shots, more than double D&D 5E's 11%. People are still trying it on for size. **Every system has its own table fingerprint.** Where and how people play changes a lot from system to system. /images/general-media/1791299345_BaWJDt9f.pngDaggerheart is the one-shot system, Shadowdark is the in-person one. A few things stand out. **Shadowdark** is the most in-person system we track - a third of its groups meet at a real table, and old-school dungeon crawls clearly love a physical map and a pile of dice. **Daggerheart** has the most one-shots (27% of groups): people are still test-driving it. At the other end, **Pathfinder 1E** is almost entirely online campaigns - only 4% of its groups are one-shots. When you've invested in a character that crunchy, you want to keep playing them. **Weekly is the rhythm.** 63% of groups meet every week and 15% every other week. Monthly games are rare, at just 2%. **Where everyone is from.** Half of our users are in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (9%), Estonia (7% - hello, home crowd), Canada and Germany. In total, users with a location set come from 56 countries. Do groups actually fill up? When a GM closes their group post, we ask why. 909 GMs have answered so far, and **57% closed because their table was full.** 24% say they found their players here on Groupfinder, and another 33% filled the table elsewhere. Only 12% gave up because they couldn't find enough players. A further 13% decided they couldn't or didn't want to run the game anymore - which happens to the best of us - and the rest picked "Other". Sure, we might be a bit biased here, but one in four tables finding its whole party through us feels like a good start. We'd like that number to be a lot higher by the next report. The Groupfinder Library We still believe that showing players more than one system keeps the hobby fresh. That's why the Groupfinder Library exists. It is a growing collection of game systems, tools, creators and communities. Maybe you came here looking for a D&D game and leave curious about Lancer's mechs or Mothership's creeping dread. Your first game doesn't have to be D&D. Every system named in this article has its own library entry, so you can read up before you commit. Are you contributing to the numbers? Whether you are a GM looking for a party or a player looking for a home, your post helps us understand where the hobby is going. **Looking for a game?** Create your player profile and let GMs find you. **Looking for players?** Browse the groups looking for players or post your own table. Till next time, for another State of tabletop

Why your bio matters If you want to find a dungeons and dragons group, you should keep in mind, that the player to DM ratio is heavily skewed against you. Most DMs receive up to 10 applications per player seat. Having a great player profile will help you stand out and will create a good first impression. Finding a dnd group has a lot in common with online dating. Leaving a good first impression, seeming reliable, trustworthy and willing to commit - these are all important either on a dating profile or when creating a player profile. If your thinking is “If they want to know more about me, they will ask.” It is very likely that they won’t. Remember that you are fighting an uphill battle. Groups aren’t really facing a shortage of players and you need to use any tool and skill you have to display yourself as someone they want to have in their group. Ofcourse it will be a balancing act - introducing yourself in as much detail as possible, while not ending up with more paragraphs than a book. The anatomy of a player bio Preferences, playstyle, experience, logistics, reservations and much more - all of these are things that help a Dungeon Master find the right person to even start a discussion with. If your profile introduces you on a superficial level: “Hello, I am Holger and I would love to find a group to play with.” Then you aren’t really saying much (other than your name, which is a good start). /images/general-media/1774870056_ib7o9mRg.gifThis could be you. Playstyle Are you someone who enjoys roleplay above anything else? Or do your eyes light up whenever the DM tells you all to “Roll Initiative”? Perhaps you find enjoyment in both deep character interactions, social encounters but when need be, have a good understanding of how combat works and enjoy casting fireball too close to your fighter (It happens…). If you know what you’d prefer in a game, be sure to explain which core pillars of the game you enjoy - a game that is all about dungeon crawling and heavy combat situations will not be something a roleplay-focused player will find as enjoyable as one with political intrigue, social manipulation or characters with a deep and devious backstory. You can pick and add various tags to go with your post. Groups filtering players by “Roleplay focused” will find you, if your profile has that tag added to it. Adding tags in addition to describing your preferences in the bio is a powerful tool. Experience level Have you played Dungeons & Dragons before? If not - don’t feel discouraged. There are new players discovering DnD every day and a newcomer is not a rare sight. Whether you've played the D&D 2014 rules version or are a newcomer starting fresh with the 2024 revised edition, tell the reader which version you are interested in playing. It can be both, if you are not overly picky. Many Dungeon Masters, either new themselves or veterans of the hobby, happily welcome new players to their tables. If they are just starting out with DnD and bravely decided to take up the role of the DM immediately (These players are heroes), they are very likely to enjoy other players with less experience. This is not to say that veterans are not suitable for their games, if the ones with experience are capable and willing to explain, guide and correct (when needed/asked). Nobody wants a “rules lawyer” player who insists on “Um Actually…” whenever the DM calls for a Perception roll, although Investigation might’ve been more appropriate. There are also veteran DMs who enjoy hosting newcomers at their games. Making sure that they understand the basics of the game, the core elements and grow them into capable players who will understand the game and how to be a great player.   Having previous experience is not a requirement. But being honest about it is a must. You are unlikely to not get “caught” if you attempt to overplay your experience. And that will just leave a bad impression of you. Logistics and location Whether you are looking for an online game, or seeking for an in-person at-a-table group, make sure to be specific. For online games, mark down your timezone. This will help you find a game, that won’t start after midnight, or early in the morning (Unless this fits well with your schedule). Joining a group where for other players it is 6PM, but you just woke up and are still working through your bowl of cereal, might not be the best fit. /images/general-media/1774870467_hf8VVPRp.pngThere are players from all across the world (also in regions that did not fit on this map. This is not the entire world, even though some bands arranging their"World Tour" see it that way) If you are trying to join an in-person game, mark your location. This isn’t to say, that give out your home address - don’t do that. There is no reason for that and putting specific personal information out there is a bad idea in general. Pick the closest town or city to you. On Groupfinder the search isn’t restricted to specific locations, but on a radius. If a DM, looking for players is searching around their area and your town falls into their search radius - they will find you.   If you have a specific schedule or time prerefences - mark those down. If you can only play from 6PM to 11PM on Wednesdays - make sure that this is clear to understand and see. You can even double down on timezones and repeat what timezone your 6PM is in. A fun fact You are not just timezones, experiences and preferences. You are a human being with a personality and thoughts. Perhaps you have a character concept that you would love to try out. A ranger that is afraid of trees, a wizard that is illiterate or a rogue that hates doing crime. Write a short introduction of that character - this will also give the DM an understanding on how you would approach the game. If you are not someone, who creates characters to store in your drawer, then this is perfectly acceptable. Many players create a character to fit the world/game they are going to join and craft it based on the lore and history of it. In addition to a pre-created character, you can list books, shows, movies that you enjoy (that could be seen as your theme or playstyle preferences). This will describe your type of fantasy to anyone reading. Love Discworld? Write it down. Not overly excited about lovecraftian horrors - understandable. Weak versus good bio: a comparison While these should be taken with a grain of salt, here are two approaches - one illustrating a superficial approach and one that shows that you put in some effort. That effort will be seen as a “green flag”. You show yourself as someone who is actually willing to put in the work when it comes to a game or crafting a great character that enhances the game. Weak bio “I want to play a rogue or a ranger. I’m free on the weekends.” Good bio “Hello. I am a 3-year veteran looking for a bi-weekly group on either Thursdays or Fridays (available after 6PM (GMT)). If life doesn’t unexpectedly come in the way, I am reliable and can commit to consistently showing up to on the game night. I enjoy character-driven games and social intrigue. In no way against combat but I would prefer to find a game with a stronger focus on the roleplay side of things. Very okay with games where our characters can die in reasonable scenarios. I am a huge fan of The Stormlight Archive series and The Kingkiller Chronicle.” These are general examples - not something you should be imitating almost word for word. But should be taken as a directing guide when you are creating or updating your profile. /images/general-media/1774870655_Tmq1TOe5.gifYou are all set now. Ready to be invited? Stop waiting for a miracle. Create your player profile now and let Dungeon Masters find you. Don’t forget to bump your post every day. You will see the button on your profile. Clicking on the bump button will move your profile to the top, increasing the odds that your profile stands out and gets noticed.

Actual Play Entertainment (APE) is an independent RPG network that is dedicated to bringing you quality, well produced, actual play podcasts. Our games have a combination of being fun, tense, and exciting, with a dash of improvised humor that will make you laugh-out-loud. You might even cry! Who knows? Games in the works: Alien the RPG, Traveler 2nd Edition, Dungeons and Dragons 5E, Delta Green, Call of Cthulhu (Pulp and 7th edition), and more. Campaigns Operation: Blackstar Set in 1997, this Delta Green campaign begins with a trip to the forgotten town of Groversville, Tennessee. What starts as a simple investigation unravels into alien abductions, government lies, and the Mi-Go’s terrifying experiments. A slow descent into paranoia, body horror, and conspiracy — where every choice risks pulling the agents deeper into the shadows of the Blackstar project. The Two-Headed Serpent A rip-roaring Pulp Cthulhu campaign of action, intrigue, and cosmic menace. The heroes work for the Caduceus Foundation, battling disease and disaster across the globe — but their missions hide a secret war against ancient serpent people bent on reclaiming the Earth. From lost jungles to frozen wastes, to the ruins of Mu itself, the adventure explodes with two-fisted action, pulpy science, and occult horrors beyond imagination.

Echoes under Ashwood is a Gen X collaborative storytelling podcast exploring slow-burn cosmic horror through a Call of Cthulhu–inspired campaign set in the fictional town of Ashwood, Ohio. Brought to you by the questionable team at Role For Sanity. Blending small-town mystery, psychological dread, and character-driven actual play, the series follows former misfits returning home to confront repressed memories and something far older waiting in the woods. This is mature, atmospheric horror for listeners who prefer tension over jump scares, where the story unfolds through sound design, improvisation, and the quiet realization that the past is not finished with you. Links roleforsanity.com - Role For Sanity website spotify.com - Spotify feed podcasts.apple.com - Apple Podcasts feed youtube.com - Youtube channel patreon.com - Patreon page

"Ludonarrative dissonance" is a term from game-design commentary, describing a moment when the game mechanics pull in one direction but the game story pulls in another, creating dissonance. The ‘Ludonarrative Dissidents’ are three game designers, reviewers and commentators, veterans in the field of ludic narrative, who have come together to discuss the art, science and craft of RPG design by vivisecting game systems and seeing what makes them run.  Your hosts are Ross Payton, Greg Stolze and James Wallis. Ethos Every episode of Ludonarrative Dissidents is built around four pillars: What does this game do? How does it do that? How do people play it? Why do they play it that way? (and how well does it succeed?) We examine games from all angles: mechanical, ludic, narrativist, historical, cultural, structural, whether or not it’s fun, and Greg complains about its use of the future-conditional tense. We look at its influences and pedigree, its narrative engine, its world-building, its book-design, and James reveals that he dated the designer’s sister, or something like that. In season 2 we have added episodes that look at specific aspects of RPGs, such as initiative systems, metacurrencies and diceless games. Origins The idea behind Ludonarrative Dissidents came from a Twitter discussion in early 2021. Someone was looking for RPG designers to work on a project, someone else suggested Greg and James, and after the two of them politely declined, a third person opined that a podcast with the two talking about games and game design would be quite a thing. Greg and James exchanged a virtual glance across the Atlantic, Greg mentioned the idea to Ross, the three of them filled a Google document with ideas, and the project was born.