I recently completed a few months of public play that went far better than I’d imagined.
On Wednesdays last fall, we played D&D Encounters. At my table, I had a drop-in-group of 4 or 5 pretty consistent players, with several more who showed up for a session or two. They completed the Encounters storyline in early December, then travel and holidays reared their head–along with confusion as to what we’d tackle next.
When we broke, the GMs were divided on the next step since we had run through the storyline. Each GM had players that congealed into a core group that showed up most weeks, and a few floaters and new players. One GM was was prepared to continue the adventure into Episode 4 of Hoard of the Dragon Queen, encouraged by a player who really wanted to experience high level play. After committing to the campaign, life reared up and that player was rescheduled at work, unable to attend Wednesdays at all.
New Year, New Characters
In the new year, the three GMs began with a common plan. We each broke out Lost Mines of Phandelver and started to run. Attendance was light at first; the holiday break had weakened the association of D&D with Wednesday. The first week I had five brand new players and a veteran from the previous season. (I never saw that group of players again; I hope roleplaying proved to be a fun experience.) The next week a few more veterans attended, forming a core of three.
After many sessions, they had forged a bond–as characters, but also as players. As the interlude game wound to its end, they got serious about continuing together as players. One of the players volunteered to GM and sent out some background information; the other players are working on back-stories to fit his custom world.
The End of the Beginning
Wednesday night was the finale for these characters; they hit Cragmaw Castle hard. The characterization was bold, their feats daring… a great ending for a fun batch of characters. 
Next week we’ll build characters for the new season of Encounters: Princes of the Apocalypse. New heroes will stride forth, ready to embrace adventure. I wonder what groups will form from next season’s mix.
Play and Recruiting
It seems like a truism, but playing games gives you the players you need to build a group. How do you prefer to recruit new players these days? Have you had any luck recruiting from meetups and cons, or does it take repeated play to really forge a group? Tell us about how players came together to form your current game groups.
The group with whom I currently play was formed pretty much in the way you describe. A little over a year ago I moved to a new city. I started attending D&D Encounters to get to know some local players. After I volunteered to DM one Encounters season, a few of the players and I got together, and I started DMing my own campaign for them at the store. That lasted a little while, but eventually some personalities clashed, and the group splintered. There’s about 5 of us now that meet every week to play, and we’ve run through several campaigns, with several more likely to come.
That sounds great! One of my own groups formed from public play–in our case, we played a few games of Spirit of the Century at a local game store, then took ongoing play into our homes.
Much like your old group, we’re struggling a bit with some clashing personalities. Fingers crossed that we’ll come through and enjoy more gaming soon!
Great article. One of my players at a con game is now a regular on my Skype game. And he’s a great guy. Playing with him in person first also helped me gain some insight into whether he would fit into our group or not.
I’m running at Gameday tomorrow. May have to use that as an opportunity to recruit a little. Right now I have 4 regular players (I’m blessed), but a fifth would really help for those times when some folks can’t make it.
Thanks for a GREAT article.