You’ve built the world: the map, the factions, a conflict worth writing. Now you need players, and not just any players: people who will still be posting in a month. Most recruitment ads are good at the first part and quiet about the second.

We looked at recruitment posts from 461 writers on Reddit, Tumblr and X between August and October 2026, and at 2,448 Russian-language group ads on Telegram. Here’s where to post, what recruiters usually say and skip, a template to copy, and what makes new members stay.

The short answer

Post where groups look: r/RoleplayGroups on Reddit, Discord server directories such as Disboard, Tumblr, X and the Groups board in FictionCore, our app. Sell the world, as most ads already do, then add what players need to decide: how often scenes move, what activity you expect, who can join and which roles are open. Only 4% of Reddit recruiters, 6% on Tumblr and none of the 43 on X named an activity requirement, and on X just 2 stated an age limit.

FictionCore’s Groups board turns those details into fields: where the group plays, how it’s run, the play rhythm, how joining works and a minimum age, plus a cast list that shows which characters are open or taken. Players filter by all of them. FictionCore is for adults (18+) and on Google Play for Android.

Where to advertise a roleplay group

  • Reddit. r/RoleplayGroups, about 13,000 subscribers in October 2026, is for group roleplays on any platform, with posts flaired by venue, such as Discord or Forum. Reddit’s one-on-one boards don’t take group ads.
  • Discord directories. Disboard lists servers by tag, most recently bumped first, and Roleplay Index collects partner and group search communities.
  • Tumblr. Recruitment posts there read like Reddit’s: lore, an age limit and an application.
  • X. A short announcement with a link works best there; 74% of recruiting accounts linked a Discord server or another venue.
  • FictionCore. A separate Groups board for Discord, Reddit and forum groups, where players filter by play mode, how joining works and minimum age.

Our overview of where to find roleplay partners covers each place’s rules in more detail.

What recruitment ads say, and what they skip

Across the three platforms, recruiters sell the world: on Reddit, 57% described lore, plot or events, and 34% set a policy on original characters. What they skip is how the game runs:

  • Activity. 4% of Reddit recruiters, 6% on Tumblr and none on X named an activity requirement.
  • Age. Half of Reddit recruiters and 60% on Tumblr stated an age limit; on X, 2 of 43.
  • Applications. 15% of Reddit recruiters and 20% on Tumblr asked for one; on X, 1.
  • Open roles. 18% of Reddit recruiters and 32% on Tumblr listed open or taken roles.
  • Staff. A quarter of Reddit recruiters named a moderation team or game masters.

Our study of 294 group ads found the same gap from the player’s side: only 5% said how often to post, set an activity rule or named a time zone.

A recruitment ad template to copy

Fill in what applies; delete the rest. Keep lines short, because many players read ads on a phone.

[Discord] Group name
Hook: 2–3 lines of world
Genre: dark fantasy
Play: play-by-post
Pace: scenes move 2–3x/week
Length: 1–3 paragraphs
Open roles: 4 of 10
OCs welcome, canon claims
Age: 18+ only
Activity: post weekly
Run by: 2 GMs, monthly event
Join: short application

How to fill it in:

  • Hook. The setting, the tone and the conflict new players walk into, in two or three lines. Our plot ideas can help.
  • Play and pace. Play-by-post, scheduled sessions or both, and how often a typical scene moves. The Guide lesson Reply schedules and group play covers turn order.
  • Length. A range in paragraphs or characters, not a label like “semi-lit”.
  • Open roles. How many characters are open and which canon characters are taken. It saves you the most common complaint (below).
  • Age and activity. An age limit and a realistic activity rule, stated up front rather than enforced later.
  • Join. An application, a first message or open entry, and where to send it.

Keeping players after they join

Recruiting is half the job. In X posts about group life, the most common complaints were that the canon character someone wanted was already taken or missing (10 posts) and that moderators nitpicked original characters or takes on canon (5); 7 more said groups are getting fewer, with many open only to teenagers or limited to PG-13. A few habits help:

  • Keep the cast list current. Mark taken roles the day they’re claimed.
  • Say your character rules in the ad. What you allow for original characters and canon interpretations is easier to accept before someone applies than after.
  • Give new members a first scene. An open thread or event they can join on day one.
  • Announce activity checks. If you remove inactive members, say how and when in advance. Half of the Russian Telegram flood ads we read set a weekly message quota, typically 80, and a third of the ads that mention a purge name its day.
  • Let members shape something. Lore, events or factions: say what’s open to them.

FictionCore’s Groups board: recruitment with the details built in

FictionCore is our app for text roleplay: adult roleplayers use it to find partners and groups, share plots and build characters and worlds. Its Groups board is built for exactly the details recruitment ads leave out. A group ad has fields for:

  • where you play: Discord, Reddit or a forum;
  • stage: a new group, an established one or a revival;
  • how it’s run: from a sandbox to GM-led or a persistent world;
  • group size: from intimate (under 10) to large;
  • play rhythm: play-by-post, scheduled sessions or mixed;
  • who you’re recruiting: members, staff, co-founders or partners;
  • how joining works: open, by application or vetted;
  • a minimum age: 18+, 21+, 25+ or 30+.

Players can filter by all of them and save a search to get alerts about new groups. The ad’s guided sections walk you through the world and its hook, what play looks like, who you’re recruiting, what members can shape and how to join. You can attach a world from your Codex with its cast, each character marked open or taken, which answers the complaint above before anyone has to make it. Ads run for up to 24 hours and can be reposted with a tap.

FictionCore is for adults only, and nobody can publish before passing the Community Quiz on its SFW rules. It’s available on Google Play for Android. The group itself keeps playing on its own platform, and Telegram isn’t among the venue options.

How we counted

  • Reddit, Tumblr and X. Recruitment posts published between 1 August and 20 October 2026: 946 by 336 writers on Reddit, 297 by 82 on Tumblr and 45 by 43 accounts on X, coded with the same rules and counted by writer. Adult-content groups and groups for minors were left out.
  • Complaints. 576 public X posts about text roleplay with human partners, 1 August – 19 October 2026.
  • Telegram. 2,448 unique Russian-language group ads from five channels, 18 April – 18 October 2026, from our group ads study.
  • Privacy. Aggregate counts only, without the names of servers, groups, channels or people.

Questions roleplayers ask

How do I advertise my roleplay server?

Post on r/RoleplayGroups with the right venue flair, list the server on Discord directories such as Disboard, share it on Tumblr and X, and post it on FictionCore’s Groups board, where players filter by play mode, joining rules and minimum age. In every ad, say how often scenes move, what activity you expect, which roles are open and who can join.

Where can I advertise a roleplay group?

r/RoleplayGroups, Disboard and Roleplay Index for Discord servers, Tumblr, X and FictionCore, an app with a separate board for roleplay group ads on Discord, Reddit and forums.

How do I get people to join my roleplay?

Make it easy to say yes: a clear hook, an honest pace, an age limit, a list of open roles and one simple way to join. Ads that skip pace and activity attract players who drift away. On FictionCore, these are fields, so players who join already know how your group plays.

What should a roleplay recruitment post include?

The world and its hook, the platform, play-by-post or scheduled play, a typical pace, a post length range, open roles, an age limit, your character rules and how to apply. Our template above covers all of them.

Is there an app for recruiting roleplay players?

Yes. FictionCore has a Groups board where a recruitment ad has fields for the venue, how the group is run, the play rhythm, group size, who you’re recruiting, how joining works and a minimum age, with a cast list of open and taken characters. It’s for adults (18+) and available on Google Play for Android.

How do I keep a roleplay group active?

Keep the cast list current, give new members a scene on day one, announce activity rules before you enforce them, and give members something to shape. Most complaints about groups are about taken roles and surprise rules.

The world brings players in. The details you write down keep them.