LFG Notify Bot

>>> There is now a web page to subscribe to the bot easily <<<

This is a bot that aims to make using r/lfg easier to use and provide notifications when a tabletop game that meets your criteria is posted on reddit. It can be hard to find a game that matches your schedule or plays a tabletop game that is uncommon. And unless you are lucky, have an open schedule, or are able to endlessly scroll the subreddit, it can be difficult to find a game. So this bot is here to help.

How to Use

Send the bot a message with the subject "Subscribe" and in the message include the information below, or use this web page to help generate your message. Note: Only game is required, everything else is optional.

Information	Example/Options	Description
Game (Required)	5e, PF2E, coc, flexible	Any game in the LFG subreddit game tags list ("Flexible" and "Other" game tags use flexible). With the updates to 5e, added support for 5E 2024 tag (will match 1DND or 5.5e as the same game)
Timezone	EST, GMT-5, UTC, gmt+10:30	Most of the Europe, North American, and Australian 3 or 4 character codes are support, as is any GMT+#. Posts missing timezone information can still be included with no-tz if other timezones are included in your filters. Timezone Help
Day of Week	Monday ormon, and/or tues, and/or weekends	Any day of the week can be provided: Monday, Tuesday, ..., Sunday (Most abbreviations are supported). Posts missing day of week information can still be included with no-day if other days are included in your filters.
Keywords	[strahd] [New york] [star wars]	This is a case insensitive text that must be included if you want a to filter on something specific. These must be included in square brackets "[]", and each keyword must be in it's own set of brackets.
Specific flair	GM & player's: gmplw Player's wanted: plw GM wanted: gmw	By default "GM and player(s) wanted" or "Player(s) wanted" are searched, but this can be limited to any of the 3 options
NSFW	Include: nsfw Only: =nsfw	By default all nsfw posts are excluded, if you are okay with nsfw posts, then include nsfw and if you only want nsfw then include =nsfw.
Location Type	Include: offline (off) Only: =offline (=off)	By default the bot only looks for online games, but you can include off to include offline and online games, or =off for only offline.
Identity	LGBTQ+: lgbtq Feminine or Woman: fem People of Color: poc Accessible: accessible	Several identity tags have been made available for users who may have a harder time than most making a group of people, these flags then include only posts that explicitly mention identity.
Age	Not age gated: anyage 18 and older: 18+ 21 and older: 21+	anyage excludes age gated games. 18+, and 21+ search for games labeled as such. (Note 21+ includes any games labeled 18+ as well)
Play by Post	Only: =pbp Exclude: -pbp	Include only play-by-post games with pbp and exclude all play-by-post games with -pbp.
One-shot	Only: =oneshot Exclude: -oneshot	Include only one-shot games with oneshot and exclude all one-shot games with -oneshot.
Virtual Tabletop	Theater of the Mind: theater_mind Roll20: roll20 Fantasy Grounds: fg Tabletop Simulator: tts Foundry VTT: foundry TablePlop: tableplop TaleSpire: talespire Sigil: sigil Owlbear Rodeo: owlbear AboveVTT: abovevtt	Include only games that expressly mention a Virtual Tabletop (VTT) or Theater of the Mind (the best VTT as its free and preinstalled). Not recommended when looking for offline games. Want to add another VTT? Message the developer

Message Body Examples

CoC, PF2e
Monday, Wed
PST, GMT-7

or

5E EST Weekends
[curse of strahd] [strahd] [cos]

or

40k 5E gurps
thursdays \ Friday
gmt gmt+1
nsfw plw offline 21+ lgbtq
-pbp -oneshot
[seattle] [bellevue] [WA]

Notes / Tips

• By default only online, non-nsfw, and "GM and player(s) wanted" or "Player(s) wanted" flaired posts are matched.
• You can include as many games, timezones, days of the week, keywords as you want and the bot will send you a message when someone posts a game looking for players that meets your criteria.
• If using keywords, keep them short and use abbreviations if they exist. Instead of just using [curse of strahd], use [strahd] and [cos]. More is usually better, as keywords match any of your inputs.
• It's NOT recommended to include keywords used by other options, such as identity, vtt, or any other option.
• Don't include every day of the week, every timezone, or all vtt options. By default all options are included, these are meant to filter down the notifications.
• The bot provides many filters, but you don't need to use them all, pick the ones that you care about most. Too many options, and the bot won't find any posts, but too few (especially for D&D 5th Edition) and you may get too many.

Disclaimer

While this bot does it's best to parse a user post, due to inconsistencies in how people post, there is no guarantee that the data it collects is 100% accurate. While the bot does try it's best, the very nature of text parsing is difficult. If you subscribe to this bot, make sure to read through any post the bot thinks is applicable to your filters.

If you see a blatant issue, please add an issue to the github page, or send the developer a message on reddit.

FAQ

• Q: Why am I getting a notification so late after a post has been created?
  A: Due to how reddit rate limits messages, the bot can only send 10 messages every 5 minutes. This limit changes with time and karma.

• Q: I sent the bot a message, but I haven't gotten any messages back, is it working?
  A: When you subscribe, the bot should send a reply with your settings. Make sure you send a message and do not use the reddit chat feature. There is also a status page to see if the bot is down for some reason.

• Q: How do you set the bot to notify you of specific flairs and the Online tag?
  A: See the Specific flair filter option. By default all online tagged posts are included.

• Q: Does this also work for finding in person groups?
  A: Yes, see the Location Type filter option above. This can be combined with keyword searching to limit to a specific city, state, province, or other location information.

• Q: Can't you already do the same thing just by using the search tool?
  A: Think of this as push notifications.

• Q: Can the bot do <insert feature here>?
  A: Probably not yet, but you can submit an issue to the github page or upvote features you want to see on reddit. I have currently no features on my todo list, so please don't hesitate to ask for something.

• Q: How can I help?
  A: Best way to do so is submit issues for bugs or features. And if the bot was helpful, leave a comment on reddit with your success story or a good/bad bot message.

• Q: You should make an app/website.
  A: I like reddit and overall the lfg subreddit is full of good people, but also getting a app/website with the user base needed to sustain it is very difficult. There is now a web page to subscribe to the bot easily however.

• Q: Are you gathering any data or statistics with this bot?
  A: I do gather generic reddit post data which is updated daily and contains many of the search criteria. Note: The data is not perfect. As new filters are added and updates are made to better filter reddit posts, the statistics may vary sligtly over time. All data | Year 2023 | Year 2022

Have a question, that is not answered here? Send the developer a message

User Data

By subscribing to this bot, you agree to provide your reddit username and search preferences to be stored by LFG Notify Bot. When you unsubscribe, that data is deleted permenantly within 24 hours. User data is never shared.