Thanks, I was asking because I've seen the concept float around but it never really represented a tangible experience for me. Mostly because I'm fortunate to have rarely had to rely on other people except my parents and my romantic partners, so "building and maintaining a support network" has never felt like a personal reality.

That said, except if you're in a dire mental health or economic situation, for which a mental health professional or a mutual aid organization are respectively more relevant, a support network as you described is built on the same foundation than potential friendships and romantic relationships, you have to meet new people, there's no way around it.

I understand that it may be hard for you, but there aren't any shortcuts for what you describe. Especially RPG groups can be a great starting point because you can express yourself with strangers through your game characters much more than through small talk. Paradoxically, RPG players are less living in fantasy than for example NFT enthusiasts, even though the latter involves real money. RPG's elaborate imaginary worlds actually involve a lot of down-to-earth thinking to solve the problem at hand within the constraints of limited fictional characters.

It may not be for you, but I strongly disagree with your assessment that RPG players are "living in fantasy". Especially since RPG sessions involve less gaming than one might expect, between the setup and the wrap-up, there's a lot of inter-personal relationship building that doesn't happen in the fictional universe.