A Breakdown of Gaming Groups and Their Habits
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Recently, I began a new Dungeons & Dragons campaign with my gaming group. This was the first time I’ve run a game in several months. I’ve enjoyed being on the player side while our group’s other game master ran his campaign for several months. But everyone needs a change, whether it’s a break from their character, a break from the game system, or just a change of pace in general.
Although our last campaign was also a Dungeons & Dragons campaign with the same players, it has a much different feel than our previous one. This new feel was evident even in just the first session of play. We took three weeks off in between the two campaigns. After the first session was over, it got me thinking about group dynamics and what other gaming groups are like. So I decided to put a call out for an informal poll of what other gaming groups are like.
• How many members does your gaming group have?
• How many of those members are game masters and how many are players?
• How long has your gaming group been together?
• What games, or types of games, does your group usually play?
• How often does your group play?
• What type of group would you say your group is? Casual gamers? Serious gamers? Hardcore diehard gamers?
• What other information do you find interesting to share about your group?When I meet players that have other steady gaming groups, I’m always interested in the dynamics each group brings. There was a long stretch where I didn’t associate with hardly any gamers outside my own group. But recently, I’ve been really reaching out to other gamers to find new ways to have fun and bring my gaming to the next level.
Here is a breakdown of my current gaming group.
• Our group has five consistent members currently that have been friends for several years. Some of us have known each other for over a decade.
• Of our five members, we have two that rotate the game mastering role. Three of our members are strictly players.
• These five players have been playing together for approximately several years. Two of us, I and another member, have played together for over a decade.
• We have played dozens of games over the years. We’ve been happily playing D&D 4e for most of the last year. We often play Star Wars (multiple editions) and sometimes play Shadowrun. We have played Palladium FRPG, Rifts, Warhammer, Earthdawn, Spycraft, Call of Cthulhu, Delta Green, just to name a few. We have played many, many more games beyond this list.
• Our group currently plays once per week on Wednesday evening for approximately four to eight hours. Usually we average about fix or six hours. We take a week off from gaming every month or two.
• I would classify our group as primarily casual gamers with bouts of serious gaming. I would not classify any of our members as “hardcore” gamers. We try to put fun over anything and enjoy hack ‘n slash just as much as actual roleplaying.
• All of our group members are now in their early or mid-thirties. Most of us have been gaming for around two decades each. We sometimes will have a sixth player join for several weeks or months here and there, but our current core group of five players has been steady for a very long time. Our group has made dramatic advances in the last year in how we do miniature combat. Most of us have become pretty active in the online roleplaying community as well.Please feel free to share information about your own group in the comments section. I’m interested in learning more about other gaming groups. Feel free to answer the questions listed above or simply offer your own summary of your gaming group.
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October 26, 2009 at 7:50 am
While I play with some people online and a few other people occasionally, there is only one group I play with that I would consider a “group.”
• We have a core group that now contains 8 members, with 6-7 showing up every session.
• 4 of us rotate GMing
• A core of about 5-6 have been together since high school (12 years?), I’ve been with them 8 years
• Primarily a D&D group (3.5, 4e, Pathfinder) but quite a few of us enjoy World of Darkness, Mutants & Masterminds, and Star Wars SE
• Some of the core get together 2+ times a week, I game with them every other Saturday
• We’re seriously casual, we all game all the time, but it’s for the social interaction
• Only three of us have children but everyone is approaching or just passed the 30 year old mark. 4-5 members of the group are within a 5 minute drive of each other, while at least two of us (myself included) drive an hour or so to get there.
October 26, 2009 at 9:09 am
Here’s a breakdown of my gaming group:
* Our group has 6 players.
* We have all DM’d, some of us wear that hat more than others.
* This group has been gaming together for about a decade. Some of us have been gaming together for almost 2 decades. Three of us discovered gaming together and still game with the same group.
* We play D&D, usually moving forward with new editions. We have played Robotech, Rifts, Palladium Fantasy, Warhammer 40k (maybe not an RPG, but still in the same hobby family), Cyberpunk, Dreampark, and Marvel Superhero’s. There are probably a few others mixed in there. We’ve also been known to play Illumanati and Munchkin.
* I’d say we are casual gamers. It’s about the friendship for us. However, two of us run a D&D blog so I don’t know what that makes us.
* We are all over 30, 5 of the 6 members have kids. Several of us were childhood friends, long before we knew what D&D was. Most of us drive 30 – 45 minutes to our weekly session. One member lives 4 hours away and plays remotely online.
October 26, 2009 at 9:40 am
Heh, I could cut and paste this, damn near.
* Our group has 8 players, 6-8 of whom show up for each gaming session.
* 2 are game masters, traditionally, but only one (myself) really has the time to do that anymore. We used to switch back a forth a lot, though.
* Our group has been together since university, about 13 years now, with somewhat varying composition. The core 5 or 6 is still there, though. We took a long hiatus in the early-mid 2000’s, after we all left school, but we’re back together in an online game now.
* We have played pretty much everything – 2e D&D, World of Darkness, Paranoia, WFRP, 3e. We spent a long time with 2e D&D (the game I liked), and Vampire (the game the other DM liked). Now we play 4e.
* For about 5 years we played every Sunday for about 6-8 hours. Now we play 1 4 hr session every 2-3 weeks, depending on scheduling. Being a grown-up blows.
* We’re casual gamers now, but we were pretty hardcore in the past.
* The entire group is now in their mid to late 30’s, and we’re scattered across the entire country, from Toronto to Victoria. We have careers, kids, wives, but we never lost the love. I started up our new online campaign using Skype and Maptools about 5 months ago. We use a website called Doodle for scheduling. After about 7 years “out of the game”, it’s great to be back with the boys.
October 26, 2009 at 9:44 am
• Eleven members in our gaming group — we’ve recently split things up so it’s more manageable (one group of six, one group of five).
• Three of us are comfortable with refereeing.
• We’ve just started getting together two months ago. Friendships vary — a couple have been friends for 5+ years, some for a few years, a few are just now getting to know one another.
• We’ve started out as a 2nd Edition AD&D group but will likely be branching out. Pathfinder, Exalted, Descent, and other games have been mentioned as possibilities.
• We’ve been doing weekly sessions but will likely switch to every-other-week.
• We’re very casual.
• We’re all late-20s/early 30-somethings. Two of us have kids. Some are grad students. Some have no degree.
October 26, 2009 at 9:50 am
* Our group has 5.5 players
* 3 of us have DM’ed, 1 main DM (me), 1 secondary DnD DM, and 1 that DM’ed another system for 3 or so sessions.
* The core 3.5 have been together for around 2 years and the other 2 were added within the past 4 months.
* We first started playing Shadowrun 3ed, played alittle Heroes, then have been playing DnD 4ed exclusively. Although we just ordered the AlphaOmega core book and will be playing it very soon.
* We play weekly, on Saturday usually, with the occasionally taking the week off due to scheduling conflicts. One of us (the .5) shows up around once every 3 weeks or so.
* We’re pretty casual to the point that it takes a lot more time to get through encounters than it should cause we’re joking around.
* Our ages are 4.5 of us are between 21 and 28 with 1 being in his late 40’s (I think)
* We are a very combat oriented group with some role-playing thrown in, probably with a 80%/20% Combat to Role-playing ratio.
October 27, 2009 at 10:00 am
• Our group has 6 players (5 players and a GM). I also have a pool of 3-5 to call upon if I choose. I find six to be the ideal RPG game number. I recently joined another group of 6.
• I am the game master and I have done so for about three years. Two of the others have GMed. I have played on occasion and currently play with group #2, but I devote most of my time to GMing.
• My first group has been together for three years. We started playing D&D 3.5e then moved into Shadowrun 4e. We were running both games in parallel but problems split the group temporarily and we reconvened into playing D&D 4e. My second group just had its first session of Shadowrun 4e two weeks ago.
• We play D&D 4e in the Eberron setting in the first group. That may switch to Dark Sun when it’s released for 4e. In the second group we play Shadowrun 4e. Sometime in the future I would like to play Eclipse Phase, Spycraft and go old-school with 2300AD.
• Group #1 plays every Saturday from 10:30AM until 4:00PM. Group #2 plays every other Saturday evening from 6:30PM until midnight.
• I would describe our group as mostly serious gamers with a few hardcore diehard gamers (myself included). When GMing I push pretty hard to move through encounters in an efficient manner. When I’m playing I’m a lot more casual.
• Our groups have an even split between early 20-somethings and early 30-somethings. What’s really interesting is that the 20-somethings have more experience RPGing than us “oldsters.” The oldsters didn’t get into gaming until a few years ago (again, myself included. [I couldn't find anyone to play with and was more into comics and art than games all through my 20s]). It wasn’t until a friend said, “Hey, want to give D&D a try?” that we were sucked in.
October 27, 2009 at 5:41 pm
I’m part of two groups that cross over, I GM Star Wars saga and play in a d&D4.0 group. The DM for that game plays in my game as well as another player.
Including the DM, there’s five people in each group.
Three GMs in D&D (though I don’t really count as it’s a different system) and two in Star Wars with two occassional.
The Star Wars group has been together for the longest, and we’ve been playing for about six months or so.
What games, or types of games, does your group usually play?
Star Wars Saga when I GM which I play as a cross between military and fringe style campaign. D&D we have just started but it’s Forgotten Realms setting.
Star Wars used to play weekly, then fortnightly but we haven’t played for a month due to other committments. D&D we have just had the one session a month ago.
With the exception of one, the Star Wars group are fairly new players. Not really serious as we see it as a social thing as well as fun. The D&D group are fairly serious, but 4E is still a farily new system for all of us so we’re learning.
Perhaps one of the biggest gripes in my Star Wars group is only the DM from the other game has his own car, and he only joined the game recently. So there’s a lot of transport issues. We also had a lot of trouble finding a venue at first, playing in the library to begin with which didn’t hold so well with some people.
November 1, 2009 at 1:16 pm
How many members does your gaming group have?
Our chapter of O.G.R.E.s (Organization of Gamers & Roleplaying Enthusiasts) enjoys roughly 37 active gamers at any one time, with another 15 to 20 inactive. Usually this is spread between 7 to 9 games with some sharing players at any one time.
How many of those members are game masters and how many are players?
Roughly 11 currently active members have DM experience, with three who are almost always the DM/GM. One of our games even has a “rotating DM” with a new DM taking over every four levels.
• How long has your gaming group been together?
Though many of us have been gamers for years, our chapter of Ogres began in 2006.
• What games, or types of games, does your group usually play?
We play all kinds of games. From you staple tabletop RPGs like D&D (prefer 3.5 but have some 4e sessions), WoD, Warhammer, Star Wars/Trek, etc. to classic board games with tournament level scrabble, Kill Dr. Lucky, Arkham Horror, Settlers of Catan, etc.
• How often does your group play?
Each running game meets at least once a week. For instance, the games I’m in meet Sunday (D&D3.5), Tuesday (D20 Modern), and Saturday (Pathfinder).
• What type of group would you say your group is? Casual gamers? Serious gamers? Hardcore diehard gamers?
Our groups run the gamut really. This is because with all the different games running at any time, the Hardcore gamers can be active in many and satisfied while the casual can just have one gaming night and also love it.
• What other information do you find interesting to share about your group?
Since we took on the Ogres moniker and began aggressively promoting the organization (we’re now the “mother” chapter), our group of gamers have found a “mascot identity” and we’ve all really connected with a common goal. It’s been great.
November 3, 2009 at 12:53 pm
• How many members does your gaming group have?
7 regular members with 2-4 additional occasional members
• How many of those members are game masters and how many are players?
3-4 game-masters depending on who is ready each week. 1 person runs a game, the rest play.
• How long has your gaming group been together?
The regulars have been playing together on and off for 12 years, occasional members come and go every year or so.
• What games, or types of games, does your group usually play?
D&D 3.5, homebrew systems, Warhammer and all manners of board and card games (Talisman, OOTS, Family Business, Inn Fighting, etc.)
• How often does your group play?
Once per week on Saturdays three times a month. Usually it is an all day affair with a family pot-luck in the evening.
• What type of group would you say your group is? Casual gamers? Serious gamers? Hardcore diehard gamers?
Casual to serious gamers. Most sessions are light hearted and we’re just there for fun but occasionally the sessions can be intense during a plot climax.
• What other information do you find interesting to share about your group?
For our group, the time together around a gaming table is not the only thing we do. We socialize outside the game often which helps build strong relationships and a better RPG experience when we do break out the books and roll up characters. If we don’t feel like an RPG we’ll break out another game, go to a restaurant or hit the comedy club and just have fun.
November 8, 2009 at 3:41 pm
I thought I would take the time to anwser your request for info on my group.
• How many members does your gaming group have? Our core group is made up of 5 people, 4 of which are related. We have a few floaters that play depending on when the game is being run. We just recently added two new guys, and a new girl to our group.
• How many of those members are game masters and how many are players? Two of us are regular GM’s, while the other try there hand at it here or there. No one in our group is ONLY a player.
• How long has your gaming group been together? Three of us are Brothers, and we have been gaming together for a decade and a half. The rest consist of anywere from 7 years, to are going to game with us for the first time this coming thursday night.
• What games, or types of games, does your group usually play? Are group is mainly into whitewolf games, though recently we have been streaching our legs abit and trying some new ones. Rifts is a near and dear favorite of mine, and we all either LARP (mindes eye theater) currently, or have in the past. Right now we are getting ready to kick off a Serenity game that is being picked back up after months away, with an infusion of new players.
• How often does your group play? At lest once a week. We only get a few hours at a time mainly due to the fact that most of us have young children that need tending to.
• What type of group would you say your group is? Casual gamers? Serious gamers? Hardcore diehard gamers? I would say we are serious gamers, with a casual additude. If even one person cant make it, 9 times out of 10 we will cancel the game, but we dont get all bent out of shape about it. You know life happens…unfortunatly
• What other information do you find interesting to share about your group? Latly my older brother, and our GM most of the time, has been running a home brew fantisy/futre setting game. Its been fun, but I hate not having a book in my hands to read…maybe that just the GM in me
November 11, 2009 at 8:51 pm
I’m posting this kind of late, but I like my group a lot and felt like talking about them.
• Our group has 8 people, plus 2 irregular players due to school and work obligations.
• We have 2 main GMs, 3 others who occasionally run a game, and 2 who are learning.
• I have personally only been with the group for a year and some. The bulk of the group I think started 2-4 years ago and the original members about 7+ years ago. We were all brought together through connections with the original members and have become one big happy rp family.
• Our main games right now are Legend of the Five Rings, Dragonlance, and Dark Heresy. Our other games are Cthulu, Iron Kingdoms, and Fading Suns, with a Twilight 2013 in the works. We’ve also briefly started/played many other games (WoD, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Warhammer Fantasy,…). We are all pretty willing to try anything. It’s just a matter of what game someone is interested in enough to run.
• For the past three or so months we have been meeting twice a week (before that it was once a week). Sessions are held Friday and Saturday nights, and usually run about 7 hours on Fridays and 4.5 hours on Saturday (main games being run during Friday sessions and Saturday’s is whoever is ready and willing to run).
• Our group is definitely casual. It usually takes us about an hour to get through pre-game chatter. Throughout the session there is always a decent number of tangents (mostly consisting of inside jokes, of course). We all tolerate and have fun with it.
• The age range of our group is scattered in the 20s (majority being under 23). Half our group will usually carpool to session together.
As a few others have said, through gathering as an rp group, we have all become good friends. A lot of us now play Warhammer 40k/Fantasy miniature and various online mmo’s together, as well as socialize outside of any sort of gaming.