Hoi, chummers! Welcome to the Shadows. Fresh from the Sprawl and itching to make a name, huh? You’ve come to jack into the Matrix with chrome in your skull and an Ares Alpha barking lead in meatspace. You’re talking takedowns on the megacorps, jailbreaks for SINners, and hunting the chip truth some suit buried deep. You’ll need more than a handful of nuyen and a half-baked dream to keep your ware humming and your fixer from selling your commcode to the highest bidder, but, most of all, you’ll need a crew that’s got your six when the drek hits the fan.

You’ve found yourself in the world of Shadowrun, a cyberpunk-fantasy masterpiece full of razored-up street samurai, awakened shamans, and deckers hacking deep into the mainframe. The perfect gaming group has a seat waiting for you––all you have to do is find them first. Here are the five best places to find your Shadowrun group, ranked.

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1. StartPlaying

A lot of Shadowrun gameplay is tracking down just the right professional for the job, so you might say that’s what StartPlaying is for finding the perfect GM. StartPlaying was built specifically to connect players with verified, experienced GMs who know every shadowy nook and cranny of late-21st century Seattle and beyond. Each GM undergoes a verification process and has reviews from previous games, plus a dedicated search for Shadowrun or Shadowrun: Anarchy systems. You’ll find how many slots remain at each virtual table, the schedule, frequency, and cost of sessions, along with several other filters to refine your search. They also handle the more practical aspects of playing TTRPGs, like payment discussions and scheduling conflicts. With StartPlaying, you’ll find a crew that fits your playstyle faster than a rigger can hotwire a Roadmaster.

Find your Shadowrun group today.

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2. Discord

It feels especially appropriate to use a massive decentralized online hub like Discord to find a good Shadowrun group. The most active is the Shadowrun Community Discord, which has a forum-style channel called “Runners Wanted” which will help you link up with a group. Shadowrun is a very lore-driven system, and its communities tend to be welcoming to newcomers if for no other reason than they’ll have someone new to talk about it with. You’ll find advice on how to play the game, which setting is right for you, and how to run your own game if you’re interested. You’ll find text and voice channels where users play out entire scenarios as RPG interactions, worldbuild, workshop missions, and so on. It’s a great way to get a feel for the game. It’s never a bad idea to research what you’re looking for even before you come to a game-finding service like StartPlaying. That way, you’ll have a sense of what to search for, especially since you’ll find GMs in the Runners Wanted channel who are posting links to their StartPlaying session anyway.

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3. Reddit

If reddit is more your style, your first stop will be r/ShadowrunLFG, the dedicated “Looking For Group” (LFG) subreddit. This is the companion subreddit to r/Shadowrun and part of a larger network of dozens of related wikis and other subreddits, including the super fun r/RunnerHub which has hosted an international “living world” game in Shadowrun 5e for years. Despite this, with just a few posts a week, r/ShadowrunLFG is only somewhat active these days, but if you’re a seasoned redditor this may be your preferred spot to check first. You’ll probably have better luck via Discord and/or StartPlaying, though. 

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4. Facebook

If you’re looking to find a Shadowrun group through Facebook, skip the official page and join Shadowrun LFG and the Shadowrunners’ Union. While there are posts here looking for games and players, you may not get as much info about group specifics there. But you will have the advantage of checking out someone’s profile before signing up to play with them, which can help you narrow down the vibe you’re seeking. The Union group has over 9,000 members, so even if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for here, you’ll at least get to see another big part of the community, and of course a healthy dose of memes. 

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5. Forums

While traditional online forums used to dominate the Shadowrun landscape, these days the community prefers the aforementioned options, leaving this one ranked last. That said, you can find LFG posts on the Shadowrun Tabletop site or the classic Dumpshock Forums, the latter of which still sees its share of activity. The good folks over at Guilded have a Shadowrun LFG section, too. You can also check the general LFG forums on Virtual TableTops (VTTs) like Roll20 for Free or Paid games, which aren’t specifically for Shadowrun but are generally active enough that they still see their fair share. While we wouldn’t recommend these be your only method, there’s no harm in trying your luck. Sometimes you gotta toss a few dice into the void and hope the mojo breaks your way.

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The Run Is Yours

From vast arcologies to desolate barrens, playing Shadowrun offers a distinctive experience unlike any other, and finding the right group can make all the difference between a memorable, lasting campaign and a frustrating one-off. While there are multiple avenues to find your next crew, StartPlaying offers the most professional and reliable experience with vetted GMs and a smooth interface. In a world where trust is currency and survival is a dance of wits, why leave your gaming experience up to chance? Just remember to watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo, and never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.

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Paul is an author and forever DM with a traditionally published sci-fi novel on the way. He’s a fan of all things narrative, especially when it involves dice and a lot of math. Find him on Instagram discussing the general state of the world.