There are a lot of different RPGs out there, and a lot of them use the same keywords, names, and in some cases book titles. As such, guessing what game system it talked about can be quite difficult, or rather, guessing incorrectly can be too easy. And you, the asker, do not want answers that are for the wrong game system. We have therefore a policy<sup>†</sup> which requires you, the asker, to specify which game system the question is about unambiguously. This means to specify what game system you are asking about by both name and edition. You can do so either in the body of the question or by using the appropriate tag (see below). If you add it to the title, it will likely be edited out of it, and added to the body and/or tags. Note that while we do allow commonly accepted acronyms — such as D&D, PF, or L5R — we consider only using a shorthand for edition to not be sufficient clarify, even if commonly used (for the simple reasons that many systems have multiple editions and similar shorthands). See in particular https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/q/9312/52137. If we find it not sufficiently clear, we’ll ask for clarifications in the comments, and the question might get [closed while waiting on that detail][2]. ### Are there times when I don't need to specify the game system? If the game system simply isn't necessary, such as for many questions about RPG related social problems, or about the design of your own system or similar statistics questions, stating the system is not necessary, but can be still be useful. However, any question about a game's rules, content, or other facets needs the game system to be clear, so we know what the relevant rules, content, or other facets are. # System tags A system tag is simply the tag which corresponds to a game system and which gathers the questions asked about it. For most questions, the game system is specified by including the system tag. This makes searching and filtering easier, and means the body doesn’t need a line to explain the game system where it doesn’t otherwise flow naturally. Simply including the tag when asking, or editing it in when requested, solves the issue. Many tags use common abbreviations, such as [tag:dnd-4e] or [tag:gurps], while others spell out the full name, like [tag:masks-a-new-generation]. You can search among our existing tags [here][1] (note: includes non-system tags). There is a notable exception here, which is the [tag:dungeons-and-dragons] tag which is *not* for any question about a specific edition, but for questions about the series as a whole. ### What if I can’t find the system tag? Not, all game systems have tags here, because not all of them have questions asked about them. Or maybe we’ve just given it an odd name. Either way, make sure to clearly state in the question body what game system you’re asking about, and someone will create the tag and add it to your question shortly. # What do I do if I don't know what system we're playing? That's ok, we'll still do our best to help you. Ask your fellow players, perhaps in particular your GM/DM if applicable. If you have the rep you could also hop into [chat][3] and users there should be able to help you. Otherwise, describe the game to the best of your abilities to get it identified, such as the name of the books you're using, and perhaps they're publishing date (should help experienced users tell you what edition it belongs to). But be prepared for the question to be closed while we try to suss out what edition it is. For Dungeons & Dragons and World of Darkness we have questions which should help you tell what edition your books are for: - https://rpg.stackexchange.com/q/135571/52137 - https://rpg.stackexchange.com/q/164886/52137 --- †: You can read our most recent discussion on this policy here: https://rpg.meta.stackexchange.com/q/9805/52137. [1]: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/tags [2]: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/help/closed-questions [3]: https://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/11/trpg-general-chat <!--- replace this with the specific Q&A proposed once that has been asked --->