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. 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 4 and 12 hours, for 5 to 12 people.

GM Privileges for Official Games:

A GM will receive a full membership and a priority slip for running at least one RPG that falls into one of the following categories:
[1] A game with a minimum of 30 player hours of games seating 5 or more people. A 6-hour 5-player game or a 4-hour 8-player game would qualify.
[2] GMs who have run RPGs for us before may qualify by running a completely original game running 4 hours and seating 5 or 6 players (No reworking of commercially-published adventures, please).
[3] A By-The-Basics game (D&D5 Basic, Fate Accelerated, Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, Starfinder); these 4-hour 5-player games are designed to be accessible to players who are new to the hobby, though anyone may play in them. Or, if you have another system you want to play by this format, ask us if it is in line with our needs.

Assistant GMs:

Requests for Assistant GM compensation are assessed on a case-by-case basis. For RPGs, the primary consideration is the total number of player hours and the total number of players. Think in terms of multiples of 5 players and multiples of 30 player hours for each assistant who will receive a full comp. We may use our discretion to stretch these numbers by no more than one additional slot for very large games; such discretion will normally depend primarily upon the game being extremely large. We do not consider the notion that a game might be significantly better for inclusion of an assistant and that in turn justifies additional comps. While we appreciate that this may indeed improve the quality of games, it is not something we will compensate.

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.

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 do 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. Please limit it to 40 characters and spaces; anything longer belongs in your on-line description. 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.

Make your game description 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 - a maxiumum of 160 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

We have more space for RPGs than ever before, but I still have to curate submissions to make sure we can offer a great mix of games. So I have to choose, and to disappoint at least some people. In that regard, all of the following statements are true:

For the best chance of being scheduled when you want, get your proposal in by November 1. Often GMs who submit after that will find that they do not get their first choice of space or time.
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. If you want a longer game slot, note the restrictions on scheduling, above. Also consider Friday noon or Monday start times, as these are more likely to be available later in the process.

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.