Improve Player Engagement with Cast Analysis
Understand table dynamics using real conversation data from your TTRPG sessions
Published: December 2, 2025 ⢠10 min read
The modern DM has access to more tools than ever, but almost none help you understand how your table actually behaves. Memory is unreliable. Big moments stand out, but the quieter patterns that matter most often get lost during play.
The Problems DMs Can't See in Real Time
- Spotlight imbalance
- Gradual sentiment shifts that erode engagement over hours
- Turn rotation patternsâwho responds to whom and how often
- Late-session disengagement or fatigue
These issues are real, but nearly impossible to measure manually. Cast Analysis gives you a clear, factual picture of table dynamics drawn directly from your session transcript.
This guide walks through how to use participation metrics, sentiment trends, and player scorecards to improve pacing, spotlight balance, and overall table health.
Compare players across multiple engagement metrics
What Cast Analysis Is (and Why It Matters)
Cast Analysis is a participation and table-behavior dashboard generated from your session transcript. It shows who spoke, how often, how turns rotated, and how the emotional tone shifted across the session.
As a DM, you remember big moments, dramatic beats, and the energy of the tableâbut not the quieter patterns that actually define engagement. You don't see who faded out for an hour, who dominated early scenes, when pacing slowed, or whether tension spiked where you expected.
Cast Analysis surfaces these details objectively. It shows exactly what happened, not what you think happened, so you can understand your table's real dynamics and adjust intentionally.
Because it's based on conversational behavior rather than rules mechanics, it works for any RPG systemâfrom D&D to PF2 to story-games.
One personal example: I learned that one of my players consistently loses steam near the end of sessions. Their sentiment dips, their word share crashes, and their average turn length shrinks by nearly half. The fix was simple: add a short mid-session break. I never would have spotted that without the data.
Table-Wide Metrics Every DM Should Understand
These metrics give you a high-level view of your session's balance, pacing, and energy.
Shows how much each player contributed. Perfect for spotting overshadowing, or determining whether participation was evenly distributed or driven by a few voices.
Indicates how smoothly the "floor" moved around the table. Low rotation means turns bounced between only one or two people; high rotation means broad engagement.
Quantifies fairness of participation. A high imbalance highlights players who may need more structured opportunities to contribute.
Visualizes when players were active or quiet during the session. Useful for spotting pacing dips, long silences, or late-session fatigue.
Tracks emotional toneâexcitement, tension, frustration, positivityâacross the session. Shows which scenes energized players and which ones dropped the mood.
Compare participation and overall tone across your table at a glance
The Six Core Participation Metrics (Player-Level Insight)
Cast Analysis provides a detailed profile for each player across six engagement metrics:
Measures how much floor time a player controls. High dominance is not inherently negativeâstorytellers or face-characters often leadâbut extreme values flag potential overshadowing.
Shows whether a player's contributions were short and punchy or long and narrative. Useful for spotting pacing issues tied to monologues or overlong descriptions.
Shows how often a player responds to or picks up on other players' statements. This identifies the "connectors" who keep social interaction flowing.
Players who ask questions drive discovery. A low rate suggests someone who waits to be prompted; a high rate marks curious, proactive participants.
Indicates whether a player participated steadily or in spikes. Consistent engagement often signals sustained focus; spiky patterns may reveal disengagement or scene preferences.
Shows how predictable or dynamic a player's participation style is. Useful for identifying players who change dramatically based on scene type.
Speaker Scorecards: Understanding Individual Player Behavior
Cast Analysis generates a per-player scorecard that summarizes their behavior during the session. These metrics work together to show contribution, pacing, interaction style, and emotional tone.
Participation Stats
ContributionLines spoken, total words, and percentage share of the table's conversation.
Questions & Responses
InteractionHow many questions they asked, how often they answered others, and whether they helped drive discussion.
Turn & Silence Patterns
PacingAverage turn length, longest silence stretch, and whether their engagement was steady or spiky.
Sentiment Contribution
ToneWhether their contributions tended to raise or lower the emotional tone of the table.
Scorecards turn impressions into facts. Instead of wondering whether someone was quiet or highly active, you can see exactly how their participation compared to the rest of the table during the session.
Correlations and Deeper Patterns
Cast Analysis reveals relationships between metrics that are difficult to spot during play:
- High question rate plus consistent engagement â curious players tend to stay mentally present throughout the night
- Low talk share plus high response share â quiet but highly supportive players who anchor the flow when prompted
- Sentiment spikes tied to specific players â some players reliably lift the table's energy when they speak
- Dominant players clustering activity early â spotlight-heavy players who front-load their participation instead of spreading it out
- Tone shifts tied to spotlight changes â emotional mood tracking who is driving the scene
These correlations give you a map of how your table interacts moment to moment, helping you shape encounters, pacing, and scene framing around real behavior instead of assumptions.
Timeline showing how emotional tone rose or dipped across the session
Turning Insights Into Action
Cast Analysis is most useful when it leads to specific changes at your table. Each pattern below combines what you see in the metrics with a clear next step you can take as a DM.
Spotlight Imbalance
SpotlightSignals: Talk equity is skewed, one or two players have very high talk share, and their dominance scores are noticeably higher than everyone else.
What it means: A small number of players are driving most scenes, while others get little time on the mic.
How to respond: Design scenes that explicitly invite quieter players. NPCs can address them by name, or plot hooks can tie directly into their character arcs. Build encounters with multiple decision points that require input from different players.
Slow or Lopsided Pacing
PacingSignals: Turn rotation is low, average turn length is high for one or two players, and the activity timeline shows long stretches where others are quiet.
What it means: Conversation is bouncing between a small set of voices, and long turns are dragging overall pacing.
How to respond: Add more distributed decision points and break up long monologues with reaction beats. Use mechanics or structured turn-taking in key scenes to ensure everyone gets an opportunity to contribute.
Quiet but Highly Responsive Player
EngagementSignals: A player shows low talk share but high response share, with solid sentiment and engagement consistency.
What it means: They rarely initiate, but they respond thoughtfully when brought into the conversation. They are engaged, just not self-forward.
How to respond: Give them direct prompts and structured opportunities to participate. Let NPCs ask them questions, or build scenes where their character has key information or leverage so they naturally step forward.
End-of-Session Fatigue
FatigueSignals: Engagement is strong early but drops in the last third of the session. The activity timeline flattens, average turn length shrinks, and sentiment dips late.
What it means: Players are losing energy as the session goes on, even if the content is good.
How to respond: Add a short mid-session break and consider tightening your overall session length. Place important scenes earlier and use the final stretch for lighter, lower-stakes beats so energy doesn't crash before you wrap.
Low Curiosity and Questioning
DiscoverySignals: Question rates are low across the table, and you see few players asking for details, clarification, or options.
What it means: Players are waiting to be led rather than driving discovery. They may not feel empowered to poke at the world.
How to respond: Present situations that reward curiosityâmysteries, puzzles, investigative scenes, and branching choices. Make it clear that asking questions reveals information, unlocks advantages, and moves the story forward.
Combat Frustration and Tone Drops
ToneSignals: Sentiment over time dips specifically during combat segments, even if the rest of the session trends positive or neutral.
What it means: Combat may feel too long, too difficult, or unclear in its stakes. Players might be bored, confused, or frustrated.
How to respond: Tighten rounds, reduce unnecessary complexity, and add more reactive elements that let players see immediate results from their choices. Use sentiment swings to spot which encounter styles land well and which ones consistently drag morale.
FAQ
How can I improve player engagement at the D&D table?
Cast Analysis shows where energy rises or dips across a session. Use it to plan scenes that invite more voices, adjust pacing, and highlight moments that spark excitement in your D&D or other tabletop games.
How do I know if my players are engaged in TTRPGs?
Engagement shows up in talk patterns, not volume. Cast Analysis tracks talk share, turn rotation, and question rates so you can see who contributes consistently, who only speaks when prompted, and where attention drops.
How do I balance spotlight time between players?
Check talk equity to see who drives most scenes. If a few players dominate, design encounters that require decisions from multiple people and give quieter players defined roles. Cast Analysis makes imbalances easy to spot.
How easy is it to get started?
If you already record your game sessions, you're set. Cast Analysis runs automatically using your existing Archivist transcripts. No extra hardware or setup.
Will this change how my players interact?
No. Cast Analysis observes natural conversation patterns in TTRPG sessions so players can speak however they normally do. No behavior changes or special phrasing required.
What RPG systems work with Cast Analysis?
Any tabletop RPG system works! Cast Analysis is system-agnostic, so whether you're running D&D, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, or any other RPG, it analyzes conversation patterns and player engagement.
Conclusion
Good DMing is about intentional pacing, balanced spotlight, and understanding how your players actually engage at the table. Cast Analysis provides objective visibility into participation, tone, pacing rhythm, and how each player contributes across a session.
With clear metrics and actionable insights, you can design better encounters, address issues early, and support each player's experience more effectively. The data helps you see patterns that might otherwise take many sessions to recognize through observation alone.
Whether you're looking to improve spotlight balance, understand pacing issues, or better support quieter players, Cast Analysis gives you the concrete data to make informed decisions about your table dynamics.