I'm exploring becoming a(n amateur) professional DM to earn a little bit of extra cash. I was thinking about creating pre-gen characters on D&D Beyond for new players and making that part of the initial package of hiring me (I'll teach you the basics and give you your first character, too!) to save the time of having a Session Zero with people who might not know the mechanics of character creation.
My question: is there a way to gift/transfer a character I create to someone else so they can edit it?
You can create unassigned characters in a campaign that a player can claim. You can do this directly from a campaign by clicking "create unassigned character"
If that’s your reason for being a DM, move on. If you want to be a dm because you enjoy it as a money-loosing hobby, go for it. With all the little extras you will continually buy, you will never break even. Not as a DM.
Thanks for the tip for unassigned characters. Re: "money-loosing hobby," I'm with you - there's a market for live DMs to make a career. Hell, I DM my home group because no one else wanted to. But tbf, this would strictly be a side hustle for me to get gas & grocery money, not to buy a house. It would also be primarily online, so "extras" are a pretty small budget.
I dislike the idea. If they already know how to play, then they can build their own character. If they do not, session 0 is a chance to teach the players how to play.
Pre-made characters is pretty common for things like one-shots and newcomer friendly adventures. The Starter Kit comes with 5 pre-made characters and if I'm running a one-shot, I'll often make a selection of pre-made characters for people to pick from.
Yeah, characters creation is a fun part of the game, but it's not always possible to go through the process every time. And some people don't want to learn how to make a character for their first game, they just want to start playing.
What's the player-DM relationship like if the DM is literally hired by the players. I feel like as a player, I would be more cynical and less charitable for questionable calls or any laziness... I don't know if that fear would be grounded in reality at all, but it does seem like it could spawn a weird dynamic
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
D&D, Youth Work and the Priesthood sadly do not typically interact... I do what I can!
I'm exploring becoming a(n amateur) professional DM to earn a little bit of extra cash. I was thinking about creating pre-gen characters on D&D Beyond for new players and making that part of the initial package of hiring me (I'll teach you the basics and give you your first character, too!) to save the time of having a Session Zero with people who might not know the mechanics of character creation.
My question: is there a way to gift/transfer a character I create to someone else so they can edit it?
Carrion
You can create unassigned characters in a campaign that a player can claim. You can do this directly from a campaign by clicking "create unassigned character"
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
If that’s your reason for being a DM, move on. If you want to be a dm because you enjoy it as a money-loosing hobby, go for it. With all the little extras you will continually buy, you will never break even. Not as a DM.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
I would disagree, I personally know a few people who make money dm'ing. It's a hard gig to pull off, but it's possible.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Thanks for the tip for unassigned characters. Re: "money-loosing hobby," I'm with you - there's a market for live DMs to make a career. Hell, I DM my home group because no one else wanted to. But tbf, this would strictly be a side hustle for me to get gas & grocery money, not to buy a house. It would also be primarily online, so "extras" are a pretty small budget.
I dislike the idea. If they already know how to play, then they can build their own character. If they do not, session 0 is a chance to teach the players how to play.
Pre-made characters is pretty common for things like one-shots and newcomer friendly adventures. The Starter Kit comes with 5 pre-made characters and if I'm running a one-shot, I'll often make a selection of pre-made characters for people to pick from.
Yeah, characters creation is a fun part of the game, but it's not always possible to go through the process every time. And some people don't want to learn how to make a character for their first game, they just want to start playing.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
What's the player-DM relationship like if the DM is literally hired by the players. I feel like as a player, I would be more cynical and less charitable for questionable calls or any laziness... I don't know if that fear would be grounded in reality at all, but it does seem like it could spawn a weird dynamic
Bloomberg had a good article on it last year. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-07-08/how-to-be-a-professional-dungeons-dragons-master-hosting-games