Roleplaying Game Submission Tips

DunDraCon focuses much of its energy on table-top Roleplaying games; we schedule upwards of 150 individual games every year. RPGs are given a private room for playing. I can accommodate requests for adjacent rooms or rooms directly across the hall from each other for linked games, and we have limited access to the seminar rooms at night for linked games in the same room. There are also limited spaces for mega-RPGs (more than 12 players). I am willing to work with the GMs and Hotel to make other special accommodations, just let me know.

Facilities:

RPGs are usually scheduled in a private room. If you have special needs for room assignment, be sure to fill in the Additional Information for the Scheduler field in the form below.

Players and Game Length:

Games should last between four to twelve hours, for six to twelve people. (4 hour/6 player games are only considered for inclusion if rated 'Family')

GM Compensation:

A GM will receive a full membership and a priority slip for running a minimum of 32 player-hours and 6 players. Game length must be between 4 and 12 hours. Longer or shorter games will not be scheduled.

Assistant GMs:

Requests for Assistant GM compensation are assessed on a case-by-case basis.

Things to be aware of when making your game request

Please read our Game Policies before submitting a game.

The first games start on Friday at noon. Don't ask for an earlier start time, it won't happen.

The last game ends on Monday at 4pm. Don't request a 10- or 12-hour game on Monday!

Games start on the even hours. All games will be scheduled for an even number of hours, so if you ask for a 5-hour game slot it will automatically be upgraded to 6 hours. Games asking to start at an odd-numbered hour (say, 7pm) will be adjusted to the next hour (8pm). We accept submissions only via this website, or an e-mail with the necessary information attached or incorporated in the body of the e- mail. We no longer accept submissions via U.S. Mail, as we need a working e-mail address to communicate with all our prospective GMs.

Games should be for 6-12 players. I won't schedule a game for less than 6 players, and the rooms get extremely cramped with more than 12 people. A few slots will exist for mega-RPGs, usually scheduled into a salon or one of the seminar rooms; those will take many more players, but require special handling, so let me know right away if you have such a game in mind.

The number of players in the game (roster size) is a parameter published in the program and on-line. GMs must add walk-up players to fill a game to the published roster size if players are available, either to fill slots not filled by registration, or where registered players does not show up. Where there are more walk-ups than available slots, the choice of players is at the GM's discretion. GMs are allowed to add one walk-up player over the published roster size (assistant GM, for example) at their discretion, but may not add walk-up players beyond that number.

Include a brief description of any variations that you expect to be using. It shouldn't be an exhaustive list or description, just enough to let the players know what sorts of things to expect. If you don't want a specific character type (e.g. No Psionics) this is the place to list it.

Power level should be described in terms of the game system (e.g.: "1^st-3^rd level"; "50 Build points"; "Best Skill 75%"). This lets players know what they can look forward to in terms of opposition. If you are not providing characters, it is also your criteria for what character levels you expect players to provide. Try not to put too much information in this space.

We only have room in the book for a 30-word game description, so be succinct. Try to hit the high points of why a player should choose your game. This is your advertisement to the players, so make it snappy (and short)! We have more room on the website, but try to keep it down to less than a thousand words.

The Additional Information field is meant to let the scheduler know of any special needs. This information will not appear to the public.

What I am looking for in a game

Game space gets tighter every year, as more and more worthy game proposals come to me, but the hotel doesn’t get any bigger. So I have to choose, and to disappoint at least some people. In that regard, all of the following statements are true:

The earlier you get a proposal in, the better chance you have of being scheduled.
The less restrictive you are about time slots you will accept (that is, the less time you rule out in the ‘Can’t Run’ field of your proposal), the better chance you have of being scheduled.
The better written your proposal is, the better chance you have of being scheduled. Spelling counts, grammar counts, logical consistency counts. Story counts too.
The easiest games to schedule are those running 8 hours or less. I happily schedule 10- and 12-hour games, but they are harder to fit into the schedule. If you want a longer game slot, get your proposal in early, and be flexible about when it can run.

Apart from the above, I am trying to balance lots of factors:

Diversity of game systems—I want to see everything from GURPS to Paranoia to Deadlands to Buffy to Call of Cthulhu to Spirit of the Century to [you-name-it]. While we’ll always have a lot of D&D and Heroes-system games, and are happy to offer them, I want to offer a very broad spectrum of other game systems on the schedule as well.
Diversity of style—I want epic games and games for beginners, intense games and off-the-wall games, and everything in between. Especially, I want games with great stories to power them.
Diversity of GMs—I hope to see lots of veteran GMs return, and I want to schedule GMs who have never before run a game at DunDraCon.

So that’s how it works. Keep these guidelines in mind as you compose your game, and I’ll give you proposal careful consideration when I get it.