I’m looking for some outside perspective on a D&D recruitment experience my husband and I just had. We left the call feeling pretty uncomfortable, and I’m trying to figure out if we’re overreacting or if these are legitimate red flags.
We were looking for an online game and a girl messaged me inviting us to a Discord server. She said she was another player recruiting people for the campaign. No where was this mentioned that it was a paid game, but I am opened to paid dnd! When we joined, the DM scheduled an interview with us. The whole interaction quickly started to feel less like a normal “getting to know the players” conversation and more like a sales pitch.
He started by and continued to talk a lot about how his games are a “premium experience,” mentioning things like a high quality team, artists, custom music and soundtrack elements, merch he creates, and how much effort goes into the campaigns. It was framed very much like a product he was selling rather than just a game.
Another thing that felt odd in hindsight is that despite this being an “interview process,” he never even asked for our names or ages, or really anything about us personally. I eventually told him im getting my masters and he is getting his nurse practitioner license because I brought up scheduling.
Eventually he told us the price for both of us and he said that was already a discounted rate. He said $160 was the lowest tier at a discounted rate and that he encourages players to pay more if they want to support the game. He said it takes a lot to create art and he wished he could pay his artists better... this is important for later! He immediately said "If you cant afford that we can part ways and you wont waste my time" then pauses and says "and I wont waste your time". He then told us we could make a counteroffer if we wanted. I said $130 just to see what he’d say, and he immediately agreed, which made the pricing feel a little arbitrary. Now, I am not complaining about the price, because I am fine with paid to play! But the sales pitchy aspect threw me off as we are both brand new to pay to play and expressed this. I am wondering if the sales tactics are always this aggressive? I just wish we knew from the beginning so we were better prepared to handle the situation.
Something else that felt strange was the payment and the payment timeline he set. He asked us to create three characters and send them to him within two days, and said that in the next interview (in two days) after we submitted the characters he would collect the payment and move forward. It felt like he was trying to rush us through the process quickly toward paying. When I asked if we could have about a week to make characters instead, he seemed noticeably less enthusiastic and very put down by this. I want to add that he said a rule was only loose backstories allowed (like my sister is lost and im searching for her) so that we could easily play...
Some other things that stood out:
• He had us audition by doing character voices and said he would “train us in voice acting,” even though the game is not streamed, recorded, or turned into content. He also only made my husband voice act and not me (we were in the sale call together?) • When I mentioned that the recruitment message didn’t say anything about the game costing money, he said the girl who invited us had just joined and was also still in the interview process and hadn't made it to her first game yet..which confused me because she was already recruiting players? • When I asked questions about the price (like what happens if we take a month off for clinicals and rotations) he said something like “when the money came up you started backing out,” and then added “I understand it’s a lot, especially for college students,” which felt a little condescending considering neither of us are in "college" and he is not aware of our financial situation.
Another thing that bothered me was how he handled conversation with us. He directed most of the questions to my husband instead of me, kept calling him my boyfriend, and at one point said casually when discussing rules
“Since you’ve played D&D for 7 years, I’m assuming you’re fine if I flirt with your characters, right?”
When we went silent he tried to backtrack and said he just meant whether my husband would be offended if a character flirted with me. The way it was framed felt awkward because it was directed at my husband instead of asking me about my own boundaries.
He then tried to say that women love his table and he respects women but the whole interaction had already set off my red flags.
There were also some inconsistencies with the “premium” pitch. He talked a lot about having a high quality experience with artists and music or soundtrack elements. He mentioned his price point was being able to pay artists and his premium dnd team. But later admitted that a lot of the campaign materials were AI generated and encouraged us to use AI to generate pictures of our characters as well.
Another big thing that stood out to me is that he never actually talked about the campaign setting itself. He mentioned that it was a homebrew world, but during the entire interview he never explained the setting, story, themes, or anything about the world. When I asked about it, he told me to look through the server channels. The channels mainly just had a few AI generated images, but not much actual information about the setting.
He also mentioned that if players started talking in their normal voice and started messing up the accents he would pull them aside mid campaign and give them warnings, which felt a little strict.
I also asked if we could spectate a session before committing or if he had a recorded example session with his “premium team.” He said no to both because of privacy. I completely understand your paying players not being spectated on by newcomers, but I thought it was odd that I knew absolutely nothing about the campaign and he didn't have anything to show me about his dming style..
Nothing outright scammy happened. We didn’t pay anything and left before committing, but the whole experience felt strange and left us with a bad vibe. I know paid D&D games are a thing, so I’m wondering if this is normal for that scene or if these are the kinds of red flags people usually avoid.
Are we overthinking this, or does this sound off to other people?
Now, I am enthusiastically in the 'don't pay for D&D camp' - so maybe view this in that light.
That the GM sounds like he's selling a product maybe isn't surprising, seeing how that's precisely what he is. The rest sounds shady to me. This could potentially all be fine and above board, but make sure to see before you buy. Don't pay any money for something like this, without knowing indisputably that at the very least, there actually is a game.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
$160? For how many sessions? And for you or both of you? Already, I'd be backing out, certainly for $160pp/session. If he were worth anything close to that, the onboarding process would have been more professional. Even $80pp/session is a lot.
The several changes/misunderstandings are problematic. Individually, they can be innocent mistakes, but that it's happening so frequently is very worrying.
I'd back out. If you really like the pitch etc, then I'd insist on paying after service rendered - at the end of each session, not the beginning. I'd be worried that you'd never get a session out of them - or if you did, it wouldn't be anywhere near $160 level. You might, it could just be they're incredibly disorganised and without a clue on pricing and what the expectation is in terms of not-in-game stuff that does with it. Maybe the sessions themselves genuinely justify the asking price...but I'd want to see that before parting with $160-$320 for the session.
The cynic in me says they're trying to pump the money out of you as fast as possible with as little effort as possible, hence the pressure to do things quickly, the high price, the low effort and the misleading regarding "artists". That was deception by the way, and the thing that would have made me run away without looking back. I'm not so against AI that I can't handle people using it...but the BS about wanting to pay the artists more was nonsense. AI is either free or you get a subscription, it's not something you pay extra to make yourself feel good.
But as I said, individually, I could see those...things...happening either accidentally or just through incompetence. Neither inspires me to be spending money without seeing the real goods, as it were. I'd be backing out. I REALLY wouldn't part with even a cent until they've justified the pricing in this case, which means playing a session then deicding how much it's worth. A wiser course of action is to just leave right now, before they start trying to lean on your emotions, which if they're scamming (and they're acting like one), they will most likely try.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I think there are a fair few red flags here, yeah. The pushiness, the sales pitch vibe, the rush to get you to make characters and pay. When it comes to parting with your money, if your guy says no, trust it.
Seriously that's so many red flags you could stock a golf course. If nothing else the fact you felt uncomfortable would be enough before you even listed everything else but there's also the fact he lied about thae artist, he's using AI (which I consider a red flag all by itself) and he's presurring you to pay as quickly as possible, often a sign he doesn't want you to reconsider. I've never paid for D&D but $160 seems like a lot unless that's the whole campaign and even if it is what if you don't like it after session 1? Especially if he's not given any actual details of the campaign itself. Plus he's already giving creepy sexual harrassment vibes before you've even started.
If you're looking to play online and willing to pay look on something like Start Playing. They are much more upfront about their costs and have reviews so you can find someone that's already got a reputation
EDIT: Just for comparison of prices (as I say I've never paid or charged myself) I've just looked at Start Playing and the average for a session with a 5 star DM seems to be between $10 and $25 a session so that $160 better be for at least six sessions or hes way over charging
EDIT: Just for comparison of prices (as I say I've never paid or charged myself) I've just looked at Start Playing and the average for a session with a 5 star DM seems to be between $10 and $25 a session so that $160 better be for at least six sessions or hes way over charging
To add to this, I haven't played paid myself either but did look at it recently, most games I saw had a free session 0 (and often a discounted session 1) to make sure all (DM and players are happy with the group to continue committing to a campaign.
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"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war |Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Even taking the money out of the question, this is suspicious. There’s a lot of investment in bells and whistles, but all the custom music in the world doesn’t matter if the story is bad. If you don’t talk in an accent you go to the principal’s office?
Lots of red flags to me, from undisclosed paid game to flirting and improper interview. I never pay for game i run or play but if a price is agreed upon by everyone it's fine by me, but not telling it's paid game is the first red flag.
I've conducted interview for my last online campaigns and questions were always oriented on the player in an attempt to know its age, RPG experience, level of committment, respect toward game schedule, other players and DM etc...
Oh, fun game! Let's count what jumps out as immediate red flags for me in this...
1) Not asking for your names or anything about you initially. Tells me he's just viewing you as disposable sources of quick cash, and not active contributors to the campaign 2) The vague, detail-free backgrounds for the characters. See above -- also, less work for him to tie them into whatever prefab campaign he's running 3) The character voices thing. Are you supposed to be entertaining him? Nobody should be "forced" to do an accent or voice. He's not Matt Mercer, and you're not Laura Bailey 4) The overt sexisms. I'd be flat done at that point, if I wasn't already 5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam 6) Zero discussion of the campaign itself, in terms of setting, themes etc.? But he wants you to make characters already? How?
Out of curiosity, how many people were in that Discord? Did it seem like he had other campaigns on the go? If you are still thinking about it, you could always try reaching out to them to see what they have to say -- although the vibe of the whole thing is of someone who's going to take everyone's money and then vanish before the first session
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Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid) PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam
You know, it occurs to me...wasn't there a thread here a couple months ago where some paid DM went on a whole ridiculous rant about how it was unfair for players to have a problem with this? I wonder if this is the same person.
That was an interview entirely made of red flags. Run away fast and far. Don't contact them again, block them from contacting you. If they're a user on this forum, report them to the moderators.
I think Maya Angelou said "When someone shows you what they are, believe them." The entire point of this is to play in a story-driven world world. A DM should be really enthusiastic about talking about their world and the vision they have. If the person pitching this doesn't talk about what the campaign is at all, but instead talks about reasons why you should give them money, they have shown you that they care only about getting their hands on your money. I would be more surprised than not if a session actually materializes after the cheque clears. No bet on whether it would be a good experience. (It won't be.)
Also, never, ever sign up for a session where you cannot bring character art of your own but are required to pay some kind of official campaign artist. There is no good reason for that. It's just another scam.
I would go as far as to say that even if you're okay with paid D&D, you probably want to avoid any paid sessions which don't have a free first session to let you see what you would be paying for. As others have said, what if the table vibe is wrong, or the DM is putting no effort in, and so on.
5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam
You know, it occurs to me...wasn't there a thread here a couple months ago where some paid DM went on a whole ridiculous rant about how it was unfair for players to have a problem with this? I wonder if this is the same person.
I remember that thread, yeah. No way to know if it’s the same person, of course.
5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam
You know, it occurs to me...wasn't there a thread here a couple months ago where some paid DM went on a whole ridiculous rant about how it was unfair for players to have a problem with this? I wonder if this is the same person.
I remember that thread, yeah. No way to know if it’s the same person, of course.
.. it didn't look very nice at all and he required us to use ai to make art so that it would be "hyper realistic" .. this bothered us both because we both spend a lot of money comissioning art!
I would note that "red flags for paid D&D" aren't really all that different from red flags for other types of paid services -- you're just hiring a contractor, most parts of that process are standardized. The general red flags I notice are:
You were contacted by someone claiming to be a "player". That would imply that they are a customer of this online DM. Based on later conversation, that seems to have just been a lie (obvious red flag), but even if it were true, it's at least a warning light -- having the customers recruiting strangers is mostly a trait of MLM and pyramid scams (saying "tell your friends about our great product" is reasonable, but not "go out calling people to recruit them").
Not indicating up front that this is a paid product, in a business where that isn't immediately obvious (no-one will be surprised that a plumber wants to be paid) is a red flag.
A sales pitch isn't inherently a red flag -- they are selling something -- but it should be followed by a conversation that covers (in no particular order)
What they are offering (red flag: nothing but nonspecific buzzwords)
What you are looking for (red flag: missing).
General price range for various options (red flag: he gave you a price but never said what that price actually covered).
The basic purpose of this process is to figure out whether it's worth continuing the conversation.
Full payment up front is a red flag. Where setting up a project is a substantial cost to the contractor there can be an initial down payment (if I call a plumber, there will be a cost for just sending someone out to diagnose the problem, but it's generally going to be much smaller than actually fixing the problem).
If training in voice acting was supposed to be part of the offering, it should have been part of the original proposal. This sounds like an immediate attempt to upsell.
The whole stuff about flirting is a neon "STOP!" sign.
One tip for playing with a paid DM -- Do it in a game store where the DM is employed by the store and where the incentive is for them to welcome and appreciate your business, repeat or otherwise. At such stores, you generally have no reason to pay for more than one session at a time unless you are in a campaign that you are enjoying and you don't want to risk losing your spot to somebody who got to the store earlier than you could.
5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam
You know, it occurs to me...wasn't there a thread here a couple months ago where some paid DM went on a whole ridiculous rant about how it was unfair for players to have a problem with this? I wonder if this is the same person.
I seem to remember that particular rant was also very heavy on how they were offering a “premium service” so no way to know if it was the same person but an oddly coincidental use of words
Okay, full disclosure: I am not a paid DM, but I have been running 2 or 3 games a week for years. The number one rule at my table for everyone (myself included) is respect everyone at the table at all times. I lost count of how many times he was disrespectful toward you and you hadn't made it to session 0. Run far away! For so many reasons, you deserve better than this guy.
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I’m looking for some outside perspective on a D&D recruitment experience my husband and I just had. We left the call feeling pretty uncomfortable, and I’m trying to figure out if we’re overreacting or if these are legitimate red flags.
We were looking for an online game and a girl messaged me inviting us to a Discord server. She said she was another player recruiting people for the campaign. No where was this mentioned that it was a paid game, but I am opened to paid dnd! When we joined, the DM scheduled an interview with us. The whole interaction quickly started to feel less like a normal “getting to know the players” conversation and more like a sales pitch.
He started by and continued to talk a lot about how his games are a “premium experience,” mentioning things like a high quality team, artists, custom music and soundtrack elements, merch he creates, and how much effort goes into the campaigns. It was framed very much like a product he was selling rather than just a game.
Another thing that felt odd in hindsight is that despite this being an “interview process,” he never even asked for our names or ages, or really anything about us personally. I eventually told him im getting my masters and he is getting his nurse practitioner license because I brought up scheduling.
Eventually he told us the price for both of us and he said that was already a discounted rate. He said $160 was the lowest tier at a discounted rate and that he encourages players to pay more if they want to support the game. He said it takes a lot to create art and he wished he could pay his artists better... this is important for later! He immediately said "If you cant afford that we can part ways and you wont waste my time" then pauses and says "and I wont waste your time". He then told us we could make a counteroffer if we wanted. I said $130 just to see what he’d say, and he immediately agreed, which made the pricing feel a little arbitrary. Now, I am not complaining about the price, because I am fine with paid to play! But the sales pitchy aspect threw me off as we are both brand new to pay to play and expressed this. I am wondering if the sales tactics are always this aggressive? I just wish we knew from the beginning so we were better prepared to handle the situation.
Something else that felt strange was the payment and the payment timeline he set. He asked us to create three characters and send them to him within two days, and said that in the next interview (in two days) after we submitted the characters he would collect the payment and move forward. It felt like he was trying to rush us through the process quickly toward paying. When I asked if we could have about a week to make characters instead, he seemed noticeably less enthusiastic and very put down by this. I want to add that he said a rule was only loose backstories allowed (like my sister is lost and im searching for her) so that we could easily play...
Some other things that stood out:
• He had us audition by doing character voices and said he would “train us in voice acting,” even though the game is not streamed, recorded, or turned into content. He also only made my husband voice act and not me (we were in the sale call together?)
• When I mentioned that the recruitment message didn’t say anything about the game costing money, he said the girl who invited us had just joined and was also still in the interview process and hadn't made it to her first game yet..which confused me because she was already recruiting players?
• When I asked questions about the price (like what happens if we take a month off for clinicals and rotations) he said something like “when the money came up you started backing out,” and then added “I understand it’s a lot, especially for college students,” which felt a little condescending considering neither of us are in "college" and he is not aware of our financial situation.
Another thing that bothered me was how he handled conversation with us. He directed most of the questions to my husband instead of me, kept calling him my boyfriend, and at one point said casually when discussing rules
“Since you’ve played D&D for 7 years, I’m assuming you’re fine if I flirt with your characters, right?”
When we went silent he tried to backtrack and said he just meant whether my husband would be offended if a character flirted with me. The way it was framed felt awkward because it was directed at my husband instead of asking me about my own boundaries.
He then tried to say that women love his table and he respects women but the whole interaction had already set off my red flags.
There were also some inconsistencies with the “premium” pitch. He talked a lot about having a high quality experience with artists and music or soundtrack elements. He mentioned his price point was being able to pay artists and his premium dnd team. But later admitted that a lot of the campaign materials were AI generated and encouraged us to use AI to generate pictures of our characters as well.
Another big thing that stood out to me is that he never actually talked about the campaign setting itself. He mentioned that it was a homebrew world, but during the entire interview he never explained the setting, story, themes, or anything about the world. When I asked about it, he told me to look through the server channels. The channels mainly just had a few AI generated images, but not much actual information about the setting.
He also mentioned that if players started talking in their normal voice and started messing up the accents he would pull them aside mid campaign and give them warnings, which felt a little strict.
I also asked if we could spectate a session before committing or if he had a recorded example session with his “premium team.” He said no to both because of privacy. I completely understand your paying players not being spectated on by newcomers, but I thought it was odd that I knew absolutely nothing about the campaign and he didn't have anything to show me about his dming style..
Nothing outright scammy happened. We didn’t pay anything and left before committing, but the whole experience felt strange and left us with a bad vibe. I know paid D&D games are a thing, so I’m wondering if this is normal for that scene or if these are the kinds of red flags people usually avoid.
Are we overthinking this, or does this sound off to other people?
Now, I am enthusiastically in the 'don't pay for D&D camp' - so maybe view this in that light.
That the GM sounds like he's selling a product maybe isn't surprising, seeing how that's precisely what he is. The rest sounds shady to me. This could potentially all be fine and above board, but make sure to see before you buy. Don't pay any money for something like this, without knowing indisputably that at the very least, there actually is a game.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
$160? For how many sessions? And for you or both of you? Already, I'd be backing out, certainly for $160pp/session. If he were worth anything close to that, the onboarding process would have been more professional. Even $80pp/session is a lot.
The several changes/misunderstandings are problematic. Individually, they can be innocent mistakes, but that it's happening so frequently is very worrying.
I'd back out. If you really like the pitch etc, then I'd insist on paying after service rendered - at the end of each session, not the beginning. I'd be worried that you'd never get a session out of them - or if you did, it wouldn't be anywhere near $160 level. You might, it could just be they're incredibly disorganised and without a clue on pricing and what the expectation is in terms of not-in-game stuff that does with it. Maybe the sessions themselves genuinely justify the asking price...but I'd want to see that before parting with $160-$320 for the session.
The cynic in me says they're trying to pump the money out of you as fast as possible with as little effort as possible, hence the pressure to do things quickly, the high price, the low effort and the misleading regarding "artists". That was deception by the way, and the thing that would have made me run away without looking back. I'm not so against AI that I can't handle people using it...but the BS about wanting to pay the artists more was nonsense. AI is either free or you get a subscription, it's not something you pay extra to make yourself feel good.
But as I said, individually, I could see those...things...happening either accidentally or just through incompetence. Neither inspires me to be spending money without seeing the real goods, as it were. I'd be backing out. I REALLY wouldn't part with even a cent until they've justified the pricing in this case, which means playing a session then deicding how much it's worth. A wiser course of action is to just leave right now, before they start trying to lean on your emotions, which if they're scamming (and they're acting like one), they will most likely try.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I think there are a fair few red flags here, yeah. The pushiness, the sales pitch vibe, the rush to get you to make characters and pay. When it comes to parting with your money, if your guy says no, trust it.
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RUN!!!
Seriously that's so many red flags you could stock a golf course. If nothing else the fact you felt uncomfortable would be enough before you even listed everything else but there's also the fact he lied about thae artist, he's using AI (which I consider a red flag all by itself) and he's presurring you to pay as quickly as possible, often a sign he doesn't want you to reconsider. I've never paid for D&D but $160 seems like a lot unless that's the whole campaign and even if it is what if you don't like it after session 1? Especially if he's not given any actual details of the campaign itself. Plus he's already giving creepy sexual harrassment vibes before you've even started.
If you're looking to play online and willing to pay look on something like Start Playing. They are much more upfront about their costs and have reviews so you can find someone that's already got a reputation
EDIT: Just for comparison of prices (as I say I've never paid or charged myself) I've just looked at Start Playing and the average for a session with a 5 star DM seems to be between $10 and $25 a session so that $160 better be for at least six sessions or hes way over charging
To add to this, I haven't played paid myself either but did look at it recently, most games I saw had a free session 0 (and often a discounted session 1) to make sure all (DM and players are happy with the group to continue committing to a campaign.
"grandpa" Salkur, Gnome Arti/Sorc: Forged in Chaos | Pepin, Human Arti/Cleric: Goblin horde | Mixtli, Volc Genasi Arti: Champions of the Citadel | Erix Vadalitis, Human Druid: Rising from the last war | Smithy, Human Arti: Night Ravens: Black orchids for Biscotti | Tamphalic Aliprax, Dragonborn Wizard: Chronicles of the Accursed | Doc, Dwarven Cleric (2024): Adventure at Hope's End | Abathax, Tiefling Illriger: Hunt for the Balowang | Gorin Mestel, Human Arti: Descend into Avernus
Paid or unpaid, if someone said that at a D&D table, to me or anyone else, I'd be out the door immediately.
pronouns: he/she/they
"Nothing outright scammy happened"? I don't know how to tell you this, but you wrote ten paragraphs of scammy things that happened.
Even taking the money out of the question, this is suspicious. There’s a lot of investment in bells and whistles, but all the custom music in the world doesn’t matter if the story is bad.
If you don’t talk in an accent you go to the principal’s office?
Hard no on this game.
Lots of red flags to me, from undisclosed paid game to flirting and improper interview. I never pay for game i run or play but if a price is agreed upon by everyone it's fine by me, but not telling it's paid game is the first red flag.
I've conducted interview for my last online campaigns and questions were always oriented on the player in an attempt to know its age, RPG experience, level of committment, respect toward game schedule, other players and DM etc...
This game may have hidden agendas.
Oh, fun game! Let's count what jumps out as immediate red flags for me in this...
1) Not asking for your names or anything about you initially. Tells me he's just viewing you as disposable sources of quick cash, and not active contributors to the campaign
2) The vague, detail-free backgrounds for the characters. See above -- also, less work for him to tie them into whatever prefab campaign he's running
3) The character voices thing. Are you supposed to be entertaining him? Nobody should be "forced" to do an accent or voice. He's not Matt Mercer, and you're not Laura Bailey
4) The overt sexisms. I'd be flat done at that point, if I wasn't already
5) Talking about paying artists but then admitting to using AI art. Now it just sounds like a scam
6) Zero discussion of the campaign itself, in terms of setting, themes etc.? But he wants you to make characters already? How?
Out of curiosity, how many people were in that Discord? Did it seem like he had other campaigns on the go? If you are still thinking about it, you could always try reaching out to them to see what they have to say -- although the vibe of the whole thing is of someone who's going to take everyone's money and then vanish before the first session
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You know, it occurs to me...wasn't there a thread here a couple months ago where some paid DM went on a whole ridiculous rant about how it was unfair for players to have a problem with this? I wonder if this is the same person.
pronouns: he/she/they
That was an interview entirely made of red flags. Run away fast and far. Don't contact them again, block them from contacting you. If they're a user on this forum, report them to the moderators.
I think Maya Angelou said "When someone shows you what they are, believe them." The entire point of this is to play in a story-driven world world. A DM should be really enthusiastic about talking about their world and the vision they have. If the person pitching this doesn't talk about what the campaign is at all, but instead talks about reasons why you should give them money, they have shown you that they care only about getting their hands on your money. I would be more surprised than not if a session actually materializes after the cheque clears. No bet on whether it would be a good experience. (It won't be.)
Also, never, ever sign up for a session where you cannot bring character art of your own but are required to pay some kind of official campaign artist. There is no good reason for that. It's just another scam.
I would go as far as to say that even if you're okay with paid D&D, you probably want to avoid any paid sessions which don't have a free first session to let you see what you would be paying for. As others have said, what if the table vibe is wrong, or the DM is putting no effort in, and so on.
I remember that thread, yeah. No way to know if it’s the same person, of course.
Thank yall for educating me on the price ranges! We have never done paid dnd before so I appreciate it!
.. it didn't look very nice at all and he required us to use ai to make art so that it would be "hyper realistic" .. this bothered us both because we both spend a lot of money comissioning art!
I would note that "red flags for paid D&D" aren't really all that different from red flags for other types of paid services -- you're just hiring a contractor, most parts of that process are standardized. The general red flags I notice are:
- What they are offering (red flag: nothing but nonspecific buzzwords)
- What you are looking for (red flag: missing).
- General price range for various options (red flag: he gave you a price but never said what that price actually covered).
The basic purpose of this process is to figure out whether it's worth continuing the conversation.One tip for playing with a paid DM -- Do it in a game store where the DM is employed by the store and where the incentive is for them to welcome and appreciate your business, repeat or otherwise. At such stores, you generally have no reason to pay for more than one session at a time unless you are in a campaign that you are enjoying and you don't want to risk losing your spot to somebody who got to the store earlier than you could.
I seem to remember that particular rant was also very heavy on how they were offering a “premium service” so no way to know if it was the same person but an oddly coincidental use of words
Okay, full disclosure: I am not a paid DM, but I have been running 2 or 3 games a week for years. The number one rule at my table for everyone (myself included) is respect everyone at the table at all times. I lost count of how many times he was disrespectful toward you and you hadn't made it to session 0. Run far away! For so many reasons, you deserve better than this guy.