Library entry example

If you are new to Dungeons & Dragons, getting started can be a daunting task, one of the first hurdles to overcome is to find a dnd group. The game has over 50 years of history, rules, knowledge, changes and players. Just picking it up and getting started will seem like a lot of work. Let’s break the whole process down to simple steps you can follow. What is D&D? How is D&D? Why is D&D? Gather your gear Finding a group Creating your character Go play What is D&D? The core of the game is collaborative storytelling. Instead of following a linear path, the game takes the players through a story. One that doesn’t generally have a set structure or end-goal.   Lets explain it through an analogy - a book. The players decide that they want to play D&D, and one of them steps up and states that they are willing to be the Dungeon Master. The DM is the one who will come up with the world, the setting, the locations, various events and even history for the world the game will take place in.   And the others are the players (although the DM should also be considered a player as well, but we will separate these two roles for now). The players will be the main characters of the story. Mighty heroes, accidental adventurers or incompetent bandits - as long as the story the DM will be running makes sense for those characters. The game is a collaborative story, where the DM will present the players with various characters, situations, problems and encounters and the players will try and figure their way through all those. Either by talking their way out of them or getting into combat and resolving the situation in another way. There is no right path to take in D&D - the DM can never anticipate what the players will do in a certain situation - and the players will have no way to know what the right approach would be. But stumbling through these situations will be the story. Whether things work out for your characters and you become heroes, or you fail at doing the most mundane tasks, leading to humiliation, failure and a lot of laughs - this makes it your story. /images/general-media/1776431683_KlnMNNhS.jpg How is D&D? The game has a lot of rules - this might seem daunting, but generally you will try and understand them as you start playing. If your DM (or other group members) have more experience than you, you can rely on them to help you figure things out. Nobody knows all of the rules by heart - referencing the rulebooks is a part of the game. But how exactly is D&D played? Is there a game board? Is it a computer game? This is what separates D&D from traditional board and video games. It is a narrative game. You will play the game through explaining what your character would do. Whether you succeed or fail, is determined by rolling dice (and applying some rules). There is no board to move your figurine on. Instead the DM describes (verbally) what you are seeing, hearing, smelling and so forth. Based on all that information, you can tell the DM what your character would like to do - “I would like to find someone who looks like a guard” / “I would like to punch the first person I see in the face” / “Looking around, do I see something that looks like a dragon?” And so forth.   As a player, you are in control of your characters intentions and actions. The success of all of that is determined by the Dungeon Master and their response. If your characters have reached a dungeon and are looking for a hidden door in the room, the DM might tell you to roll Perception. Whether your character is good at that stat or not, will affect the likelihood of you succeeding. Once again, it is a story that your character is going through. How you solve different situations is up to you. You are limited by what is realistic for your character to be able to do and what kind of an approach you come up with.   D&D is a game where there is no exact way of winning. You are not playing the game against the others - as an adventuring group, your focus should be on cooperation - to overcome various obstacles by working together, relying on others and their characters’ abilities. If you leave the game session and you had fun - that really is the only way to be “winning” at D&D. Why is D&D? While the article revolves around Dungeons & Dragons, almost all of it can be taken and applied to any other tabletop roleplaying system. The hobby space does not only consist of the behemoth that is D&D. Ever since the first edition of the game was released back in 1974, a vast number of other tabletop systems have been created by other creators. You can find various other systems listed in the library here. Dungeons & Dragons is a great gateway to the hobby thanks to it's rather streamlined gameplay process, rules structure and publicly available resources and knowledge. And many of the skills and knowledge can be transferred over to other systems, even if their focus is on more mechanical systems or different themes. While you will be able to find more groups and other players for D&D, once you are more familiar with the whole TTRPG genre, you should branch out and experiment with other systems to get a better understanding of what kind of a game system you would actually prefer. Gather your gear To start playing, you don’t need much. You need other players and someone willing to be the Dungeon Master. You may have seen various memes about the dice. D&D is famous for dice and dice-related obsessions and while some players get themselves a set of dice and hold onto those for their entire tabletop gaming career - there are others (commonly referred to as dice goblins) who can’t stop buying new dice. But dice are dice, at the end of the day. But you don’t even need dice - there are various digital dice rolling tools to replace the need for physical dice. Then there are the rules. Fortunately the free basic rules are available online. You can familiarize yourself with the rules free of charge and get the general idea of the system. With the rules at your hand, you need to create a character. Your character is boiled down to your character sheet - a document that holds a technical overview of what your character is. How strong they are, how smart, how charismatic, how good they are at picking a lock and many other aspects that make your character unique. If you are just starting out, it is recommended to not spend too much on trying to remember and understand all the rules. Without context (since you haven’t played the game before) the rules are likely to not be very intuitive and understandable. Same goes for creating a character. Sure, you might have the idea of a character floating in your mind, but it is important that your character’s concept fits the story the DM will be setting you into. Creating a silly character might not be the best fit, if the story will take place in a dystopian vampire-infested world. /images/general-media/1776431690_WRNbTOBM.jpg Finding a group A typical D&D party consists of 3-6 players. This is definitely not a hard limit (on either end), some game groups are two players and a DM, some are eight. Although the sweet spot of 3-6 generally might be the most enjoyable for a new player. The best way of finding a group is forming one with your friends or family - you most likely know these people already and know whether you’d like to spend 3-5 hours at a time with them. The second best way is Groupfinder. Sure, we might be a bit biased here, but Groupfinder is here to solve one of the biggest hurdles a newcomer might encounter when trying to start playing - finding a group. Create your profile, introduce yourself and it is highly recommended to add the “Newbie friendly” tag to your profile. If you are looking for an in-person game or to play online, Groupfinder will help you find your group for both. Read: DnD Looking for Group: How to find your next table Creating your character Once you have found a group of players, you will need to create a character before your first game. It is highly recommended to have a “Session Zero” before the game actually starts. That is the session before the first session where the DM will tell you about the world, what kind of a story he is hoping to run you through and other technical details regarding the games. Now knowing what the theme and topic of the game will be, you can finally create a character that fits the game. Head over to dndbeyond.com and create your character there. The whole process should be more or less intuitive. But don’t feel like you have to figure everything out on your own. Talk to your DM and other players if you feel lost at any point. In addition to the technical aspects of your character (Their species (human, elf, halfling etc.) and their class (rogue, ranger, wizard etc.) and their stats) figure out who your character is. What makes them them. On paper they might be a human fighter - but they should have a backstory, who they were before the adventure began. What they like and dislike. Do they have hobbies, favourite dish, friends or family? The more you flesh our your character, the more real they become. The realness of the character is one major aspect that distinguishes D&D from a traditional board game. Instead of playing as the “boot” in Monopoly, you are playing as a character with a personality, with unique quirks and thoughts - all of these will shape the way they approach different situations in the game. Go play Hopefully you will have a better understanding of what D&D is, how to get started and how to take your first steps into the hobby space.   You can start off by heading over to the Groups page on Groupfinder and browsing through the various games that still need players. Or instead post your player profile and introduce yourself. Of course remember to be proactive. Just posting your profile might not be enough - reach out to groups that are looking for players and let them know that you are interested in joining.

What is a “session zero” (and why should you have one) You have decided to start playing D&D, keep in mind that Dungeons & Dragons is a social game. Sure, we have dice, miniatures, maps, terrain, rules and books. But they are all connected by social interactions and connections. And managing those social situations before they become problematic will save you a lot of headache. After all, you are looking to find a dungeons and dragons group not be defeated by the recruitment process. A session zero (named so, because the first session will most likely be the one where you all sit down and finally get the game going) is a validation checkpoint. A change for all the players to discuss what they expect from the game and the group. Voicing any concerns or topics that should be addressed beforehand, not when they have already become issues. During the session zero, players (including the DM, they are a player as well) will be given a general pitch of the game, the theme, the style and the direction the DM is expecting you to go. This most likely will not be a two-hour lore-dump session, where you make notes and try to remember all the important bits. It should resemble an elevator pitch. Short, straight to the point, without too much flavouring and getting bogged down in details. This is a chance for the players to understand and align their expectations regarding the game. Going into the first session with Boblin the Goblin, aiming to be the funniest character known to man and then realizing that the DM has prepared a serious, down to earth, adventure focusing on social intrigue and moral choices… Well Boblin might’ve not been the best character for that. /images/general-media/1774882359_X6rlHtg9.jpgRead the room. Create a character that fits the atmosphere of the game. And if you were hoping for constant laughs, you will find that the game and your expectations were severely mis-aligned. Session zero will try to manage expectations and set themes. Aligning players, aligning characters Understanding the world, the themes and topics is useful for the players to understand whether the game they are about to commit to is really for them. Whether it will be something they will look forward to prior to every session, or will it eventually become something that “you are not feeling”. Perhaps the tone can be adjusted - from gothic horror with no room for laughs to something that is still eerie, but the players can find humor in appropriate places. This is the time to discuss these questions. The time to adjust the game is now, as it will be rather difficult to do a complete shift when you are ten sessions deep. This is also the point where players can discuss their characters. Whether they have anything complete prepared by then or just a fragment of a concept. Your characters shall be adventuring together - try and figure out how that plays into the world you were presented with. Can you find some common background pieces with another player to somehow connect your characters? Or perhaps come up with a reasonable theme that would bring all your characters together. If your plan was to play an edgy loner, who doesn’t like people and works alone. Discuss this with others, as this might become an issue later, when the other characters can’t figure out a way to establish any reasonable connection with your edgelord. Be flexible, adjust concepts, ideas, goals and character details. A social contract Nobody likes contracts. Unless you are a warlock, then you live for contracts. But a social contract is more for managing expectations. How often will you play? Figure out whether your group can agree on a fixed schedule that everyone can book in advance. Every second Thursday evening? Booked now. Ofcourse this is subject to change as life happens.   Is it a 100% attendance game? If someone can’t attend, will the session be cancelled or will they be somehow “dragged along” without any narrative focus on them for the session. Is there a narrative way to exclude characters from certain moments, if the player is unable to participate? Agreeing on these will help you avoid situations, where some players might feel left out and might decide to start ghosting the sessions, until they are eventually removed from the roster. /images/general-media/1774882564_47pDcYw0.webpIf you have trouble setting some systems up, ask others to help you What systems and platforms will you be using if this is an online game? What video or voice platform will you be using, is everyone okay with the choice or does someone need help setting something up? Whether combat happens on a VTT or some other platform, can everyone manage that? Check in with others and figure out that the technical aspects won’t become too much of a burden to manage. Boundaries. A vital part of session zero. Even if you think these are not necessary - It is still strongly recommended. Using various safety tools can make sure that various themes or topics that the game might tackle are accepted by everyone. Especially if you haven’t played with all of the members of the group before. You can find various different tools to help set the right boundaries and make sure everyone feels comfortable with the game. Take a look at “Lines and Veils”, “X-Card” or “Monte Cook Games RPG Consent Checklist”. Vibes. How are the vibes Keep track of the vibes during session zero. Do you notice anything that might be considered a “red flag”? Is the humor off, does everyone feel like they get enough respect and attention from the others? All of these are important to keep in mind. While some things can be discussed and corrected, if needed. People are different and while they might be great people to be friends with, it doesn’t mean that they would be great people to play D&D with. If there are issues that you feel should be discussed, turn towards your DM and talk things out. Perhaps you were not the only one who noticed it. Or maybe it was a case of miscommunication. Clearing the air before the game actually begins is important. Otherwise the problems will start festering and your enjoyment of the game will decrease over time. “No D&D is better than bad D&D?” - No. Not at all. With Groupfinder you can  find a dnd group that fits your preferences. Maybe it will take a few tries and session zeroes, but once you find your group, you will know these are your people. And you will enjoy the games a lot more. Why bother with all of this? It might feel like all of this is too much trouble just to get the game going. But statistics have shown, that groups who go through a "session zero" before their actual game are  significantly less likely to ghost or fall apart after a few sessions. Spending a few hours talking about expectations might save you hours of frustration later on.

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

MACH is a tactical, high-octane, and lethal tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) created by Steel Raven Games, where players play as specialists charged with fighting international threats and completing secret operations. Description Welcome to MACH, a tactical high octane lethal TTRPG set in the not so far future. In MACH, you play as the people who get stuff done. Not always clean. Not always fair.  But they get the job done nonetheless.  Facing off against criminals, discovering plots, hacking systems and narrowly escaping means that at all times, danger is real. Stay on your toes, or end up dead. Players are regularly fighting threats out of their level, stuck in deadly scenarios, and one mistake away from being killed. You play as these specialists, people who do things fast, hard and well. Specialties and skills differ per character, with a heavy emphasis on making your character yours.  Are you someone who blows things up? or do you fight your way through hordes of opponents? Either way, the unique aspect makes you different, it makes you better than others. The secrets and closed doors of the world are now wide open. The question is if you dare to go through them.

One Realm is an AI-assisted campaign workspace and virtual tabletop built for groups that want to play tomorrow—not spend the week preparing. It turns adventures, source material, and campaign notes into an organized, playable world, helping GMs complete work that might otherwise take hours or days in a matter of minutes. Characters, locations, encounters, maps, relationships, and story events are automatically organized and connected. From there, the GM can prepare scenes, create artwork, manage characters, and run the game through the integrated virtual tabletop. Because everything shares the same campaign context, preparation flows directly into play without rebuilding the session across multiple tools.

A self-hosted, browser-based Virtual Tabletop (VTT) platform. Designed for ease of use and narrative-driven tabletop RPG campaigns where atmosphere matters more than mechanics. CozyVTT was born from a simple idea: virtual tabletops don't have to be complicated, overwhelming, or noisy. As someone who loves storytelling, roleplay, and shared creative experiences, I wanted a platform that puts the game and the story first, not menus, sliders, or endless features. CozyVTT is about ease, comfort, and connection. Creating a space where players and game masters can focus on the fun of the game, without friction. At its core, CozyVTT is a container-based, self-hosted virtual tabletop platform designed to be lightweight, intuitive, and narrative-friendly. It's fully Docker-compatible, so you can run it anywhere (on your local machine, a home server, or in the cloud) without complicated setup. Its minimal interface keeps your focus on roleplaying, maps, tokens, and story.