recently i started building up my own Discord dnd community. The reason for this is simple Corona gave me time to prepare something i will be able to continue even after it has finaly left us. I searched for DMs and players and got many answers some of them where Paid DMs. As a DM myself i know how much love, time, work, sweat can go into preparing something. But i always saw D&D as something to enjoy, to have fun with friends or to meet new people. The Concern i wish to state with this threat is. Should a DM be paid, i can understand that it can be seen as a service but still is that the idea that D&D needs or wants? On the one side i always enjoy something with a good story and im doing it so i can enjoy myself and go into another world and imerse myself there, its not a job in my eyes that should be paid. If you want to get paid for D&D in my eyes you should focus on creating content like in the Dungeon Master league, something that is usefull in the whole community. Build up a Resume and aply for the D&D beyond Team or Wizards of the Coast.
I would love to see how you people think of this it makes me curius that i just stumbled now on this and not before.
They have been around for years. Before the internet, it was rare and hard to get gigs. Not enough players.
Once gaming moved online, suddenly your customer base went from the people in your town to the people who spoke your language. Then the business took off.
But it is not hard to find a free game, if you do not want to hire a pro.
yea i know that im only concerned about how far this can or will go, even as a hobby dnd is not that expensive if you ad together the numbers. its something a group can agree and get pretty easy and read through and enjoy.
But now that a paid DM becomes a "thing" more and more how far will it go and how will it influence the RP game we all loved so much through the years?
How comercialized will it get and maybe get consumed by greed?
My opinion on paid Dming is that it's not bad. If every player contributed 5 dollars per session and you have five players that's enough to get 5+ cheap minis on reaper. Which enhances the experience for everyone at the table. There's also the price of maps, which a standard draw erase mat can run you 20+ dollars depending on the type you buy. So, the first session at that price is basically going to cover a draw erase map and maybe a mini or two. The books on here are about 30 dollars each meaning one book costs more than one session at 5 dollars a pop. Paid DMing is merely a way to recuperate costs. Would I ever personally do it, not in a game with friends but if I'm DMing for random strangers I might. The issue is that instead of selling paid DMing as a business it should be sold as a simple way for DM's to recuperate some of the costs that go into being a DM while enhancing the game for everyone.
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call me Anna or Kerns, (she/her), usually a DM, lgbtq+ friendly
As a player, I think it is something to be enjoyed and made free HOWEVER, there are source materials that need to be purchased. I think that’s a cost that should be split by the players.
The players are “paying” to have the dm and sources for their campaign while the dm is receiving heavily discounted D&D source content.
The DM is often the only person in the group burdened with being required to purchase materials so I think it’s fair to split the cost to help them out. Once they have the material, there’ll be no further need to re-purchase the content so everyone can be happy!
If I wanted to throw a D&D birthday party session of D&D I would be quite happy to pay for a professional dungeon master who brings the special effects, a wizards hat, all the minis etc.
I think there are a lot more concerning things. Like why people play Dota when it is so toxic compared to D&D.
As a player/DM with 35+ gaming.. IMO........I can see a small fee to make sure players are serious. on the other hand paying a DM behind a paywall like a subscription or a max level patron ex. for 100 dollars a month. is just criminal! kind of stuff is disgusting!
AND NO I WOULD NOT PAY TO PLAY WITH SO CALLED CELEBRITIES!!!
How can you make sure the Dungeon master will be good enough for the price you pay? it is a person you dont know at all, especialy through online play.
How can you make sure the Dungeon master will be good enough for the price you pay? it is a person you dont know at all, especialy through online play.
No one knows that answer. I'll be doing this on my next campaign and one shots. But it'll take half a year in prep to do it right. With paid dms you don't know if they are good or not. So you take the chance on them and you might hate what is going on and you're out the money.
Hard to find a good DM that's worth your money. Even if it's 5 bucks for an hour. Even at 5 bucks.. why pay 5 bucks for a bad experience? Has to be better than that.
recently i started building up my own Discord dnd community. The reason for this is simple Corona gave me time to prepare something i will be able to continue even after it has finaly left us. I searched for DMs and players and got many answers some of them where Paid DMs. As a DM myself i know how much love, time, work, sweat can go into preparing something. But i always saw D&D as something to enjoy, to have fun with friends or to meet new people. The Concern i wish to state with this threat is. Should a DM be paid, i can understand that it can be seen as a service but still is that the idea that D&D needs or wants? On the one side i always enjoy something with a good story and im doing it so i can enjoy myself and go into another world and imerse myself there, its not a job in my eyes that should be paid. If you want to get paid for D&D in my eyes you should focus on creating content like in the Dungeon Master league, something that is usefull in the whole community. Build up a Resume and aply for the D&D beyond Team or Wizards of the Coast.
I would love to see how you people think of this it makes me curius that i just stumbled now on this and not before.
I am with you. Paid DM would feel like selling my soul.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
-Barbarian don't break doors! The monsters hear us! Here you turn slowly and you push!
At the end of the day, the game should be fun for all parties involved. It's going to be hard fostering a fun group if they are shelling out money to play. I suppose it could work if the DM actually spends that money to increase the player experience such as buying better props or adding special effects. But I know many DMs that would gladly do all of that for free. Seeing players become invested and have agency in a story unfolding before their eyes is something I wouldn't want to charge anybody.
I mean if you have friends and you want to enchance the expiriance for all you just tell them "hei guys lets buy some cool props" everyone puts something in the moneypool and till now it always worked for me. when i did it it was with some nice maps covered in plastic wraps to paint on them. or with my master tier in dnd beyond i have 1 or 2 friends who sahre some expenses on it. And as statet above i just cant befrend a paid service where i would expect perfection. But from somoane who does couse hes liking it, i will accept some mistakes, i will accept it if he says i had no time for this it wont take away the fun.
At the end if you play magic as a hoby (thats very expensive) you dont ask somoane to pay so he can play with you. In DND even if you are like 6 people who decided to play for one year youl spend around 250 euros for one big adventure and the source book pack. If you split the costs among 6 people it will be 41 euros in one year per person. That is the equiwalent of 4 sessions of a DM who wants 5 euro per person per session who all persons on it. So if your paying a DM with the thought hes covering his expenses its a nono he is making money out of it clearly. Damn he is even making more money of it then the Content creators who work 40 a week to make this books if he has 3 such sessions a week. and he is enjoying a game he "loves".
To me there's a clear difference in sharing expenses and getting paid. If your DM here on Dndbeyond ask for everyone to share the payment for his master subscription or for paying for the campaign book - that's perfectly ok.
I would never "rent" a professional DM for a regular basis. To me RPG's is something I do with friends. We have been playing together for a quarter of the century now, and playing RPG is a one of the ways we stay in touch, meet and get together.
But on the other hand, we are probably also the kind of group that could be willing to pay a GM to just test out something. We don't use miniatures and things like that, so if we wanted to try that out for real and found someone was offering a real cool such session for money, we would have paid for that.
Most of the "paid GM's" I've known and heard about have been running games for kids either as an after school activity or been paid by parents to run a campaign for their children. Can't see anything problematic about that.
You're forgetting the biggest expense of D&D: minis. As a DM most of the time you have to pay for all the player characters minis (which if you buy some of the cheapest on reaper will still run you 15+ dollars) and then all the monster minis. So, if every person contributed 5 dollars a session you should be covered for minis. Of course, you could go the pawns route which while cheaper overall requires bigger payments up-front. If you want painted minis because you don't have the time or know-how to paint them then your best bet is icon of the realms boxes, which if you buy in bulk runs you about 3 dollars a mini, but a purchase price of 100 dollars for a brick (32 minis) which is your best option. Having everyone pay in some is a great idea, but if you're playing with strangers they might not put anything forth and just foot you the bill. I do agree that 5 dollars an hour is exorbitant, though. DMing shouldn't be a job, it's a hobby. Albeit a hobby DM's are expected to shill out hundreds for if they want to play with minis.
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call me Anna or Kerns, (she/her), usually a DM, lgbtq+ friendly
It's always valuable to keep in mind a few things:
Firstly, DM'ing is much like any other creative endeavour such as painting, writing, music, graphic design or programming; a lot of people do it for fun, but that doesn't change the fact it's hard work. Often, if you're fortunate, you can turn what you love to create into an income. People write apps for D&D that they sell. People write modules or offer commissions or design maps and sell those goods and services too. Why should DM'ing be any different? It's a time and energy consuming creative endeavour that some people do not have the time, energy, skill or desire to do themselves. As such, those people who can't or won't DM may be inclined to pay those that can and will.
Secondly, as with all of these hypothetical "why pay when you can do it for free?" type scenarios, the answers is "If you can and want to do it for free, then you can. If you want to pay, then that option exists." I could design all my D&D maps myself, but I still support creators on patreon. I could write all my modules myself, but I still buy content off the DMs guild. And paid DM'ing is just another option that's available, doesn't mean anyone has to take it.
I often see the argument "it's not in the spirit of D&D", but really the 'spirit' of D&D is about having fun. If paying someone to DM for you brings you fun, that's totally in the spirit of D&D. If being paid to DM brings you fun, then that's in the spirit of D&D. Much like many other hobbies that people make a living off, like cosplay or streaming, engaging with it is down to you. It's easy enough to avoid if you wish.
Its a valit point Davedamon, i only startet the topic to get opinions on that mater i just fear how far it can be commercialized and stop beiing what it is now. Its just a concern.
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Hello,
recently i started building up my own Discord dnd community. The reason for this is simple Corona gave me time to prepare something i will be able to continue even after it has finaly left us.
I searched for DMs and players and got many answers some of them where Paid DMs.
As a DM myself i know how much love, time, work, sweat can go into preparing something. But i always saw D&D as something to enjoy, to have fun with friends or to meet new people.
The Concern i wish to state with this threat is. Should a DM be paid, i can understand that it can be seen as a service but still is that the idea that D&D needs or wants?
On the one side i always enjoy something with a good story and im doing it so i can enjoy myself and go into another world and imerse myself there, its not a job in my eyes that should be paid. If you want to get paid for D&D in my eyes you should focus on creating content like in the Dungeon Master league, something that is usefull in the whole community. Build up a Resume and aply for the D&D beyond Team or Wizards of the Coast.
I would love to see how you people think of this it makes me curius that i just stumbled now on this and not before.
I've seen pay to play DMs before so it's nothing new to me.
I'm not paying to play nor would I charge someone to DM; even though after a bad group or two you might want to.
I never knock another person's hustle so if they can pick up a couple bucks DMing more power to them. Hopefully they are worth the coin.
They have been around for years. Before the internet, it was rare and hard to get gigs. Not enough players.
Once gaming moved online, suddenly your customer base went from the people in your town to the people who spoke your language. Then the business took off.
But it is not hard to find a free game, if you do not want to hire a pro.
yea i know that im only concerned about how far this can or will go, even as a hobby dnd is not that expensive if you ad together the numbers. its something a group can agree and get pretty easy and read through and enjoy.
But now that a paid DM becomes a "thing" more and more how far will it go and how will it influence the RP game we all loved so much through the years?
How comercialized will it get and maybe get consumed by greed?
https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/dungeons-dragons-discussion/dungeon-masters-only/8800-paid-dming-yes-no-maybe
Lots of discussion on it from a few years ago for some added insight from members here.
Thanks for the link will take a look through it
My opinion on paid Dming is that it's not bad. If every player contributed 5 dollars per session and you have five players that's enough to get 5+ cheap minis on reaper. Which enhances the experience for everyone at the table. There's also the price of maps, which a standard draw erase mat can run you 20+ dollars depending on the type you buy. So, the first session at that price is basically going to cover a draw erase map and maybe a mini or two. The books on here are about 30 dollars each meaning one book costs more than one session at 5 dollars a pop. Paid DMing is merely a way to recuperate costs. Would I ever personally do it, not in a game with friends but if I'm DMing for random strangers I might. The issue is that instead of selling paid DMing as a business it should be sold as a simple way for DM's to recuperate some of the costs that go into being a DM while enhancing the game for everyone.
call me Anna or Kerns, (she/her), usually a DM, lgbtq+ friendly
As a player, I think it is something to be enjoyed and made free HOWEVER, there are source materials that need to be purchased. I think that’s a cost that should be split by the players.
The players are “paying” to have the dm and sources for their campaign while the dm is receiving heavily discounted D&D source content.
The DM is often the only person in the group burdened with being required to purchase materials so I think it’s fair to split the cost to help them out. Once they have the material, there’ll be no further need to re-purchase the content so everyone can be happy!
I think its great, there is one nearby.
If I wanted to throw a D&D birthday party session of D&D I would be quite happy to pay for a professional dungeon master who brings the special effects, a wizards hat, all the minis etc.
I think there are a lot more concerning things. Like why people play Dota when it is so toxic compared to D&D.
Some throw up a pay wall to weed out the darker side of players. Time-wasters, trolls, etc.
As a player/DM with 35+ gaming.. IMO........I can see a small fee to make sure players are serious. on the other hand paying a DM behind a paywall like a subscription or a max level patron ex. for 100 dollars a month. is just criminal! kind of stuff is disgusting!
AND NO I WOULD NOT PAY TO PLAY WITH SO CALLED CELEBRITIES!!!
How can you make sure the Dungeon master will be good enough for the price you pay? it is a person you dont know at all, especialy through online play.
No one knows that answer. I'll be doing this on my next campaign and one shots. But it'll take half a year in prep to do it right. With paid dms you don't know if they are good or not. So you take the chance on them and you might hate what is going on and you're out the money.
Hard to find a good DM that's worth your money. Even if it's 5 bucks for an hour. Even at 5 bucks.. why pay 5 bucks for a bad experience? Has to be better than that.
I am with you. Paid DM would feel like selling my soul.
-Barbarian don't break doors! The monsters hear us! Here you turn slowly and you push!
-You speak in riddles wizard.
At the end of the day, the game should be fun for all parties involved. It's going to be hard fostering a fun group if they are shelling out money to play. I suppose it could work if the DM actually spends that money to increase the player experience such as buying better props or adding special effects. But I know many DMs that would gladly do all of that for free. Seeing players become invested and have agency in a story unfolding before their eyes is something I wouldn't want to charge anybody.
I mean if you have friends and you want to enchance the expiriance for all you just tell them "hei guys lets buy some cool props" everyone puts something in the moneypool and till now it always worked for me. when i did it it was with some nice maps covered in plastic wraps to paint on them. or with my master tier in dnd beyond i have 1 or 2 friends who sahre some expenses on it. And as statet above i just cant befrend a paid service where i would expect perfection. But from somoane who does couse hes liking it, i will accept some mistakes, i will accept it if he says i had no time for this it wont take away the fun.
At the end if you play magic as a hoby (thats very expensive) you dont ask somoane to pay so he can play with you. In DND even if you are like 6 people who decided to play for one year youl spend around 250 euros for one big adventure and the source book pack. If you split the costs among 6 people it will be 41 euros in one year per person. That is the equiwalent of 4 sessions of a DM who wants 5 euro per person per session who all persons on it. So if your paying a DM with the thought hes covering his expenses its a nono he is making money out of it clearly. Damn he is even making more money of it then the Content creators who work 40 a week to make this books if he has 3 such sessions a week. and he is enjoying a game he "loves".
To me there's a clear difference in sharing expenses and getting paid. If your DM here on Dndbeyond ask for everyone to share the payment for his master subscription or for paying for the campaign book - that's perfectly ok.
I would never "rent" a professional DM for a regular basis. To me RPG's is something I do with friends. We have been playing together for a quarter of the century now, and playing RPG is a one of the ways we stay in touch, meet and get together.
But on the other hand, we are probably also the kind of group that could be willing to pay a GM to just test out something. We don't use miniatures and things like that, so if we wanted to try that out for real and found someone was offering a real cool such session for money, we would have paid for that.
Most of the "paid GM's" I've known and heard about have been running games for kids either as an after school activity or been paid by parents to run a campaign for their children. Can't see anything problematic about that.
Ludo ergo sum!
You're forgetting the biggest expense of D&D: minis. As a DM most of the time you have to pay for all the player characters minis (which if you buy some of the cheapest on reaper will still run you 15+ dollars) and then all the monster minis. So, if every person contributed 5 dollars a session you should be covered for minis. Of course, you could go the pawns route which while cheaper overall requires bigger payments up-front. If you want painted minis because you don't have the time or know-how to paint them then your best bet is icon of the realms boxes, which if you buy in bulk runs you about 3 dollars a mini, but a purchase price of 100 dollars for a brick (32 minis) which is your best option. Having everyone pay in some is a great idea, but if you're playing with strangers they might not put anything forth and just foot you the bill. I do agree that 5 dollars an hour is exorbitant, though. DMing shouldn't be a job, it's a hobby. Albeit a hobby DM's are expected to shill out hundreds for if they want to play with minis.
call me Anna or Kerns, (she/her), usually a DM, lgbtq+ friendly
It's always valuable to keep in mind a few things:
Firstly, DM'ing is much like any other creative endeavour such as painting, writing, music, graphic design or programming; a lot of people do it for fun, but that doesn't change the fact it's hard work. Often, if you're fortunate, you can turn what you love to create into an income. People write apps for D&D that they sell. People write modules or offer commissions or design maps and sell those goods and services too. Why should DM'ing be any different? It's a time and energy consuming creative endeavour that some people do not have the time, energy, skill or desire to do themselves. As such, those people who can't or won't DM may be inclined to pay those that can and will.
Secondly, as with all of these hypothetical "why pay when you can do it for free?" type scenarios, the answers is "If you can and want to do it for free, then you can. If you want to pay, then that option exists." I could design all my D&D maps myself, but I still support creators on patreon. I could write all my modules myself, but I still buy content off the DMs guild. And paid DM'ing is just another option that's available, doesn't mean anyone has to take it.
I often see the argument "it's not in the spirit of D&D", but really the 'spirit' of D&D is about having fun. If paying someone to DM for you brings you fun, that's totally in the spirit of D&D. If being paid to DM brings you fun, then that's in the spirit of D&D. Much like many other hobbies that people make a living off, like cosplay or streaming, engaging with it is down to you. It's easy enough to avoid if you wish.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Its a valit point Davedamon, i only startet the topic to get opinions on that mater i just fear how far it can be commercialized and stop beiing what it is now. Its just a concern.