“Is This Game Right For Me?” How to Help Players Self-Select For Your Role-Playing Game
Is This Game Right For Me?
Guest Writer: Tara M. Clapper
Have you ever encountered a role-playing game title or description and wondered whether it was right for you? If you don’t already know the person running the game, and if you’re unfamiliar with the game or module itself, you’ll need some more information to determine whether the game is a good choice for you. This is known as the process of self-selection.
As the person running the game, this is important info for you to provide. If you don’t, you could end up with players who made incorrect assumptions or didn’t have the information they needed to determine whether the game was a good fit for them.
Self-selection is a key tool for avoiding conflict between players and between players and your storytelling style.
What is Self-Selection?
Self-selection is an incredibly important component of a player deciding whether your game is right for their needs. Many factors go into the self-selection process, including practical details. As the GM (game master), storyteller, facilitator, or DM (dungeon master), it’s your responsibility to provide all the information players need to determine whether the game is a good fit.
Some information will relate to the practical details, but content is important as well.
What Do Players Need to Self-Select?
Players need adequate information to self-select. Information that can help them includes both practical and content-related information.
Practical Game Information
Game type: Campaign, multi-game limited, or one-shot?
Genre: Unless it’s obvious, tell your players about the genre.
Session length: How many hours is each session?
Format: Is your game online or in person? If online, do you expect cameras on?
Location: Do you play at a store in a specific town? If digital, what platform(s) do you use?
Time of game: What time is your game? If online, make sure you include your time zone. I prefer to include a link to a time zone converter.
Amount of players included: How many players do you want at the table? They may want to give a friend, or may prefer a game with a set amount of players.
Game title: What module will you run? What world will you run it in? If it’s homebrew, include an exciting paragraph about your original setting.
Age range or restrictions: Is your game 18+ only, or is it family-friendly? For games like Dungeons & Dragons and Pugmire especially, this is important–kids love those games!
Game Content Information
Tone of game: Is your game investigative, spooky, or serious? Or would you rather play something irreverent and comedic?
Potentially triggering content: Try to think about any content that could be triggering for any individual. Commonly triggering content includes abuse, suicide, bullying, racism, and sexism, but individuals may have their own limits. For example, if you’re running Curse of Strahd, you should talk about manipulation and gaslighting; most Groundskeepers (GMs) who run Bluebeard’s Bride will generally include body horror. It’s also helpful to describe whether you are playing against any themes. I run a lot of games that allow players to play against oppressive forces, so it’s important to both indicate that these forces exist in the games, and that the game is about providing the players with opportunities to overcome those forces in a way that they may not be able to in real life.
Game setting: Where is the setting of your game? Go beyond a genre description. After all, a steampunk adventure could take place in Victorian London or entirely on a dirigible.
How mechanics-heavy is this game? How do players resolve conflict and challenges in your game? How often are they expected to do so?
How often will you roll dice? This goes along with the above question. You can be a mechanics-heavy GM that doesn’t require rolls often, so describe your style.
What’s your storytelling style like? You can run 5th Edition D&D with few dice rolls and combat encounters, or many. Are you more about collaborative play and storycrafting, or is the goal to roll a demon in a cave through four sessions of combat?
Is this game collaborative or competitive? Will the characters expect to work together or in conflict or competition with each other? Is this a “secrets and powers” style gameplay?
Some players might have a question about the practical detailing or content that you haven't answered in your advertising materials or summary. Provide them with a means of contacting you so you can get accurate information to them for self-selection.
Bonus tip: Have you ever been to a convention that provides the above information in a format you’ve appreciated as a player? Use that as an example. I recommend following Gen Con’s format.
How to Help Players Self-Select For Your Role-Playing Game
Here are my submitted games and seminar topics for Gen Con. In addition to these details, Gen Con also asked me which edition, age appropriateness, and short and long description. In the description, I provided information about my emotional safety system and the content involved in each game.
I also attempted to name and list my games with hints about the content. For example, Sanctuary Avalon is only open to femmes. Anyone can come to my free seminar, but the advice is really geared towards people who run games or hope to do so. I’ve also used words like “dramatic” and “empowerment” to provide big hints about the theme and tone. On most websites, for conventions or other online gameplay, you only get a limited amount of space for the title. In that space, you should do your best to indicate:
Genre
Audience
Content
Tone
At Gen Con and some other conventions, you can figure out what type of event it is by the first few letters. For my events, they’re larps (LRP), table top role playing games (RPG), and a seminar (SEM). In the description of my tabletop, I’ve made sure to include information about it being rules light and diceless, with the GM providing answers and information in-game (as the ship’s computer). This gives players an idea about the type of story we can tell together, but it will also let someone looking for a dice-heavy combat game that they might want to try something else instead.
Issue Formal or Informal Surveys
Once you’ve got your players signed up, you should issue surveys. This can be done somewhat formally with a Google Form, or you can chat about it in a video call. However you decide to do it, you’ll want to collect some crucial information about your players’ expectations and hopes:
What is their play style? (Example: I get nervous making decisions and prefer to play a support role. I like easy mechanics.)
What high concept do they want to play? (Example: Traumatized paladin on a quest for love and redemption.)
What subjects do they want to cover/avoid? (Example: Items like sexual assault are usually off the table, but a game master might not know that I can’t handle head-on collisions in car accidents. Lots of people have these specific things.)
Within the selected genre, what do they hope to explore? (Example: The Silversides Event is supernatural; would they like to encounter Cthulu cultists, aliens, or Atlantis?)
Are you making character connections with another player? (Example: My partner is playing my character’s guard. I’d like to explore what happens when she is in danger and he is helpless.)
Anything else the player wants to add: (Example: I work late on Thursdays, so I won’t be at the 6:30 game until 7 pm)
Any items specific to the particular game you are playing: (Example: This is a game for new players. Do you need me to bring extra dice or other materials for you?)
Make sure you provide a due date for their responses, and restate your availability and contact info in case they have questions.
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Run a Session Zero–Even If It’s Not In Your Campaign Book
Session Zero is crucial for many types of games. Some games, like Bluebeard’s Bride, cover Session Zero and emotional safety items as part of the 4-5 hour gameplay. In that case, you may wish to avoid a Session Zero. Most games, however, rely on you, the Game Master, to fill in some details.
Session Zero allows your players to get acquainted with one another. They can learn about their play styles, as well as basic facts like pronouns, what they study in school or do for a living, etc. Beyond that, you can use the surveys you’ve received to create a cohesive conversation around the type of game you’d like to play together. What story do you want to tell?
Session Zero is also useful for practical details. If you haven’t decided about how often you want to play, or at what time, you can use this session for that information. Session Zero is also great for character creation; players can create characters independently and with each other’s help.
A Session Zero is an excellent tool for ensuring everyone feels included and part of the story. That said, you should also let everyone know that if they have scheduling problems or for any reason need to leave the game, they should reach out to you so you can make the process as smooth as possible.
A crucial emotional safety tool can also reflect this: if anyone has to leave at any time, they are welcome to do so. This is known as “the door is always open.” While it might seem noncommittal, it actually allows most players to feel safe and take more emotional risks in game.
With these self-selection tools, you can provide players with enough information to determine whether a game is right for them before gameplay begins. If you’re committed to flexibility, you can also change some story details to suit the safety and needs of the group.
Tara M. Clapper (she/her) is a game designer and role-playing game writer, editor, and game master. With decades of experience in live-action and diceless tabletop gaming, Tara runs games online and at conventions, as well as for private groups. She’s known for her work in innovating digital larps and as the founder and senior editor of The Geek Initiative, a decade-long initiative to encourage inclusivity in geek culture. View her portfolio and gaming CV at clippings.me/storyteller.
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