Professional DM's? This is pretty cool

[GreyWolfVT]

It' started with me reading this article then watching a news video about a guy that makes $100 per hour to be a professional DM.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careers ... yD3wINbhAc
Dungeons & Dragons Master Gets Paid $100 Per Hour to Play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMEx1hO4jRM

I find this highly interesting but it kinda feels a little wrong at the same time imagine if we all were charging to be running games on here or any of the other games we already do for fun on the side for nothing. I am not sure personally I'd love to be a paid professional DM but after a while I think it'd feel a little wrong to charge people for something that a lot of other DM's do for free.

[Rukellian]

If you are looking for someone who supports this idea, then I have nothing good to say.

However, if you would like my honest opinion on the matter, click on the spoiler down below for my 2 copper pieces.

Sorry to say, but I'm not going to bother to click on those links. The whole idea of charging people to play a game seems highly inappropriate to me, charity events and official tournaments being the exception. DnD and any dice rolling game really have always been a way for me to flex my writing and storytelling skills. I host games to create for others, to have fun and build an exciting adventure with others. To turn it into a direct business makes it less of a fun hobby in my eyes.

[dmw71]

I'll apparently be the voice of dissension since I don't have a problem with it. In fact, I say go for it.
In my mind, it's not really different than any other service-based business.

• If you possess a skill or talent that others are willing to pay for -- and you're able to reach those people -- why not?

We're living in a time of Twitch and Patreon accounts. People pay for content. Or for entertainment. Or to develop social skills. Or team building. Or to learn something. And so on and so forth.


I've been aware of Timm Gunn, from Ed's YouTube video, for a few years now. I'm actually kind of glad to see he's still going, and evolving. This -- It’s a Living - Meet One of New York’s Best Professional D&D Dungeon Masters -- is a much better article about him, and his start, and where he is (at least as of a couple years ago).

Heck, I'm not going to lie. If I could get paid to play D&D, and earn enough to support myself and my family, I would gladly trade in my current job for that opportunity.

[GreyWolfVT]

Here's my part in all of this. I love the idea in my mind if I were a better DM that would be my dream job to get paid for D&D. So I'm partially envious and partially a little i suppose lacking a better word in the moment "appalled" albeit only very slightly. As you mention Dave if you have a skill and others are willing to pay for it then "Why not". I love the idea that it is also bringing in new people to D&D that wouldn't typically be in that group it's pretty cool idea. Just a bit up there in the price range in my opinion. Then again going back to defending the getting paid for what most of us offer for free. You pay to go to conventions right? You pay for the materials correct? Technically we are already paying someone else to do this stuff. Technically it's someone else being inventive or maybe expanding upon that by offering DM services as some of you may well know it's hard enough in some places to find enough people to play a game sometimes finding someone to DM is even more of a struggle. I still find the entire idea very cool/interesting and yes it leaves me wanting.

[Rex]

I agree with Dave on this. If someone is willing to pay why not make money. It doesn't mean I would pay someone to DM, but maybe if I had crazy money I would. People spend more money in the US now then ever before on entertainment, why shouldn't roleplaying be included. I spend a bunch of money each year on PDF's and hard copies of all sorts of stuff for roleplaying games.

[rredmond]

I think, good for them for now. Once the Stranger Things/Joe Manganiello shine starts to wear off, it'll give us a few more D&D players likely. But I doubt enough for someone to have that kind of job. But we'll see, and I wish them luck!

[rredmond]

It reminds me of the old Stuart Marshall saying, when folks asked him about getting into selling old school D&D stuff: You too can be a hundredaire!

[OGRE MAGE]

I used to think the idea of making money doing this was absurd. Who would pay to play a game that we just make up as we go along?

Then I slowly started to realize how many people actually watch others playing. Not playing themselves, but watching someone else's games. I wondered who in their right mind would pay to watch someone else play a game. But live streams and recorded games just kept getting more and more popular all the time. There is clearly a demand for such things, despite my aversion.

Then I started thinking about how much money I have stuck into this hobby, with books, mods, mini's, terrain, maps, mats, DF tiles, etc.. I started to realize that running games for money would be a great way to offset the cost of these things, if you could actually find someone willing to pay for such a service. It seems that there must be people out there looking, because this is obviously a real thing.

Now I am actually thinking about looking into the feasibility of starting something like this up in my area. I am currently in the process of talking with a few of the hobby shop owners who I know that might have a better feel for the local demand. (So if anyone knows of a group willing to pay to play in east central Wisconsin, let me know.)

What's that old saying? "If ya cant beat em, join em."

[rredmond]

Ian, a dude from & Mag, actually makes it a pretty full time job. Well, when he didn't get tenure or something from the university he worked at. But he makes a whole thing out of it, kids parties and camps, corporate team building, etc. His website is here: http://www.blackdragongames.ca/
He's a pretty nice guy too Rob, if you ever wanted to pick his brain.

[dmw71]

I think, good for them for now. Once the Stranger Things/Joe Manganiello shine starts to wear off, it'll give us a few more D&D players likely. But I doubt enough for someone to have that kind of job. But we'll see, and I wish them luck!

The thing is, and while the "Stranger Things/Joe Manganiello" shine certainly hasn't hurt, I suspect 'it' is actually much larger than that.

Thanks to the Internet.

I'll use myself as an example.

I fell out of gaming during college (early 90's), and my old gaming group was largely gone when I returned. On a whim one day, I searched for an online option and discovered RPoL.net.

RpoL.png (23.61 KiB) Viewed 719 times

I was hooked.

Again.

About a week later, I discovered this site.

US.png (36.89 KiB) Viewed 719 times

I officially migrated from RPoL.net to here, making this my home for online gaming, and I don't see that changing any time soon.


Virtual Table Tops. I wasn't a backer of the Roll20 Kickstarter, but I did follow it, and did take to the tool pretty early:

Roll20.png (34.35 KiB) Viewed 719 times

I've recently been planning to shift away from Roll20 to Fantasy Grounds, but I'm quickly learning that the former has one significant advantage over the later -- it's online, and can be accessed from anywhere. Games I create in Roll20 can be updated from home, while at work, or really anywhere that I have a device that can connect to the Internet.

A debate over which VTT is better. 40 years ago the thought of such a thing would seem insane. Now, it's a very nice problem to have.


Sure, a theater of the mind game is great, but even as a kid I remember drawing out maps with wet-erase markers on an unrolled Chessex battle mat and using dice, or coins, or pieces of cereal, or whatever for tokens. That method is still awesome! A VTT takes it next level.

Even in live games, the terrain and tiles that companies like Dwarven Forge produce now is awesome stuff! Or being able to use a site like Hero Forge to really customize what your miniature looks like is amazing.

Is any of that "stuff" necessary?

No.

But, it does elevate the "coolness" of a game to a whole new level... which would certainly make the game look more interesting to potential brand new players. And the fact that this new "stuff" exists, and could increase the appeal of the game to the curious uninformed, lends to its continued success.

You also can't discount the fact that the game is a lot more diverse and inclusive now, and is being used a wildly different ways:

• There are summer camps built around the game.
• The game is increasingly being played in school's; either as a class, or a club.
• It is also starting to be adopted to help individuals on the autism spectrum, whose struggles with social interaction is very real.

Maybe the strongest sign that the hobby isn't likely to loose steam any time soon is the popularity of online content. Games being streamed live on Twitch. Recordings of live games uploaded to YouTube. People playing full games via Skype. There are countless channels that steam D&D material beyond just live games, too. Rule discussion. How-to videos. You name it, it's out there. And podcasts. More than can easily be followed. The fact that you can now have thousands and thousands and thousands of pages of rules, and adventures, and other content easily accessible from a phone or tablet at any time is a really nice advantage as well.



All this to say, the game is still extremely popular, and doing a good job of reaching new players, so there is plenty of opportunity to capitalize on this.

If you're interested.

And able.

[dmw71]

Ian, a dude from & Mag, actually makes it a pretty full time job. Well, when he didn't get tenure or something from the university he worked at. But he makes a whole thing out of it, kids parties and camps, corporate team building, etc. His website is here: http://www.blackdragongames.ca/
He's a pretty nice guy too Rob, if you ever wanted to pick his brain.

This is a nice example of how it can be done.

It can be more than just being a paid DM for a group of gamers, or those new and curious about the game. It can be used as a team-building event. It can be used in the classroom, or in a school club. Or for birthday parties.

It's a game of creativity.

Get creative.

The opportunities are there.

[dmw71]

That, or publishing D&D content can apparently be pretty lucrative as well.

I have recently become a huge fan of Kelsey Dionne of The Arcane Library. I'm not even sure how I first learned of her material, but her minimalist style really appeals to me. She has four adventures available for sale on her website (and has a free adventure two available as well), and, according to Twitter, recently quit her job to take up publishing D&D material full time.

That would be pretty cool, too.

And most likely a more "legit" method of making money on the hobby.

[OGRE MAGE]

Ian, a dude from & Mag, actually makes it a pretty full time job. Well, when he didn't get tenure or something from the university he worked at. But he makes a whole thing out of it, kids parties and camps, corporate team building, etc. His website is here: http://www.blackdragongames.ca/
He's a pretty nice guy too Rob, if you ever wanted to pick his brain.

Priceless info!

Thanks a lot Ron!

[AsenRG]

I've provided that service . Well, it was just a two-days stint, at least 8 years ago (or more, I'm sure 5e wasn't even out), and I didn't get paid even close* to $100 per hour.
Some guys in the IT sector had decided to do some team-building, obviously, and to learn something about the whole D&D thing .

*Though that was due to me living in a country where the standard of living differs significantly from the USA. Basically, it was decent pay for two days work, by the local standards !

Also, if I can get paid for writing an adventure, I see no reason why I couldn't get paid for writing and running one .