When I started running the Eberron campaign, I told the players, “Look I don’t really have a lot of time for this so I’ll be running this train on the rails and I’ll need you all to both accept and help with that.” When one player wanted to follow a side interest another player reminded him of this and I didn’t have to do anything.

So by all means, set those boundaries, make it clear that the players need to pitch in, just do it as early and clearly as possible. If you have noobs, give them links or ideas on how to do the jobs you’ve delegated to them. Then step back and accept that you’ve given up the control of that element and accept what comes.

-zerfinity
http://zerfinity.blogspot.com/

As long as you know how to make a good pitch, bring some more people in! God knows we need ‘em…

Before pregnancy, 4th edition, and my current crush on Savage Worlds, I had some plans for my next 3.5 game: One player would handle initiative with a GameMastery Combat Pad, one would track hit points, one would act as “the banker” and handle shopping chores, and one would track XP and treasure. (At the time, I wanted to use Campaign Coins and track hit points independently of the players.) If I had a fifth player he or she would take notes and publish a journal. If anyone didn’t want to take one of these chores, I was going to dock their XP.

Things changed: I got away from the overly-detailed approach to gaming that 3.5 follows. I fell in lust with a system that doesn’t use ’round robin’ initiative. I figured that players should track their own hit points (for simplicity, but I like the “you don’t really know your chances” approach). I still want to use the Campaign Coins, and have a good journal, but I figure we can work that out.

Oh, and my wife gave birth to our first child. Things REALLY changed, and I’m just now getting back to working on a campaign…

But recruiting players is important too, and your comments bring up some very good points.

@Martin Ralya – I really like Nearby Gamers, but unfortunately there are not enough gamers in my area who use the site. I hope that one day it catches on big time and all gamers use it, but I also wish that all gamers would bathe and chew with their mouths closed and my last convention experience crushed that dream. Oh well, one day we’ll reach the promised land . . .

As others have said the FLGS bulletin board has given me the best results so far. I get more responses and find better candidates for the group.

In many ways, my situation comes about because I’ve pursued the player finder options in the past. I attended the monthly roleplaying meetups at a local game store (which is how I found and joined my new group) and participate in a local gaming board. It can be frustrating– I joined a game or two to be friendly and help someone establish a game, even though it wound up being not terribly fun. I guess my advice would be to play as much as you’ll enjoy– that’ll give you a large pool to pull from later.

The campaign lasted over 2 years. In that time, we celebrated Easter together (we were university students with the DM the only working family man), we helped the DM build his fence and deck, and, four years later, we’re still great friends and get together when we can.

Random chance brought us together from different backgrounds (two military college students, two university students and a military officer) and we’ve been good friends for over 7 years. My point? You never know how things will work out.

As a side note, I’ve noticed a horrible trend in my blogs and my comments lately. Seems my fingers and brains have a slight disconnect. I’ll proof what I’m writing, only to re-read it hours later to find missing words or in some cases wrong words. So, sorry about that folks.

OK, enough of my problems, back to you.
So the answer is yes, let your players find the additional players they seek. Like all things, you should make sure the players are in sync with what you are doing. It’s said but getting new gamers is sort of like hiring new employees. There is always be an informal interview of some point. In the end both sides need to be happy, so everyone has fun.