A lot of people are playing Dungeons & Dragons these days. And thanks to the internet, it’s never been easier to find people to play with. That said, there are also a lot of different ways to play DnD. Finding a group is less challenging than finding the right group for you. There are luckily tools for that thanks, again, to the internet. Here’s a breakdown of the best places to find DnD games online whether you want something casual, old-school, roleplay-heavy, tactical, or whatever is your style.
If you even still use Facebook, there’s a large group called Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. It’s got over 176k members, although it’s not quite as active as that number suggests. The good thing about the group is that it’s set to private and has rules to limit spam posting/advertising. The bad thing is that it’s a closed, general DnD fan page on Facebook. It’s not specifically tailored towards finding games, but you might luck out and find some decent folk looking to fill a seat.
Subreddits are often gold mines for fans of specific games looking to get questions answered. The challenge with a huge game like DnD is finding the right subreddit. The r/DnD group does not allow LFG posts, while r/DungeonsAndDragons does. But even there, game posts can get buried under mini painting, fan art, and beginner questions. The specific subreddit for finding TTRPG games is r/LFG. You can also use r/LFGPremium to find games with professional GMs.
Roll20 Forum/The Forge Forum/Fantasy Grounds Forum
Those particularly fond of a certain Virtual Tabletop can often find LFG posts in that VTT’s forums. Roll20 has split forums for free and paid games, as does Fantasy Grounds. Foundry has both types of listings on the Forge forum. Most VTTs also have LFG subreddits. For newer VTTs or those that aren’t the big names, you can probably find games in their dedicated Discord server.
Discord
Finding TTRPG games on Discord is similar to searching on Reddit; the platform is split into smaller, more focused communities. And just like Reddit, this splintering makes Discord a great tool for finding games using specific systems. Just look at the social media profile of the TTRPG you want to play and there’ll often be a link to that game’s official Discord server. From there, it should be easy to find the LFG channel dedicated to your game of choice. The DnD Discord server has such channels for both players and DMs.
D&D Beyond
D&D Beyond always had forums for players to find DnD games, and recent efforts have been made to turn the site into more of a community hub. There’s now a dedicated page for finding DnD groups. There’s a link to the DnD Discord server, a map tool for finding in-person events near you, and a link to find sessions run by StartPlaying’s professional Dungeon Masters. It’s essentially the same as using DnD’s Discord server, but with more options on top of it.
StartPlaying
We’re quite proud of our search tools here on StartPlaying.games. You can find DMs based on their preferred game themes, skills like writing or voice acting, and if they use AI or not. You can select days of the week, start times, and whether you want a one-shot or full campaign. There’s also more niche filters for things like high level games, play-by-post, or West Marches. If you’re looking for a specific type of DnD, chances are one of our professional DMs has it covered.
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Sergio Solórzano is the best Dungeon Master in the USA (according to an official D&D competition, anyway). He loves minis and terrain but also goes all-in on improv!
