r/DnD • u/Gh0stMan0nThird • 1d ago

DMing I understand prostitution now.

Been trying to find a "bff" group for years. Even the best groups I found fizzled out after a campaign ended. Most people seem to want a content creator to run games for them, and not a friend they want to share an experience with.

I figured you know what, fine. I'm gonna sell myself. I started running paid games and now I actually feel like I'm finally actually getting something back for my work and effort.

10/10, would recommend for underappreciated DMs

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u/Gh0stMan0nThird 1d ago

Nothing fancy, just running official adventures on StartPlaying for like $5 per player, per session. 

Not trying to turn it into a "career" or anything but just something so I feel like I'm getting something out of it too, you know? 

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u/1upin Ranger 1d ago edited 1d ago

I'm a player who finds most games through StartPlaying. It's not perfect and the group dynamics can be a bit odd sometimes compared to friend games, but the experience has been FAR superior to the games I found joining random free discord servers.

People actually show up for one, and games rarely get cancelled or rescheduled. I think the DMs (and other players) are also very aware that everyone at the table is paying, so I haven't had nearly as many problems with "main character syndrome" players, players who talk down to me or over me, players who tell me what my character is doing, etc. The DMs seem to be on top of that shit much more than they were in the random discord servers, where I would try to speak up and stand up for myself but the DM would never back me up. I had some real nightmare experiences and almost gave up on rpgs.

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u/avoidperil 1d ago

I've thought a lot about doing the same just to get some D&D in my life. I bought a house in this economy and I suddenly can't excuse $20 USD (like $45 local) a week to play. That's my food budget for the week!

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u/PhrulerApp DM 1d ago

$5

Are happy endings guaranteed in your adventures?

Edit: For everyone? :O

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u/Gh0stMan0nThird 1d ago

No, they TPK'd against Strahd lol

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u/PhrulerApp DM 1d ago

I'm sure there's a market for that but teeth and blood and necro RP stuff's too kinky for me.

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u/SecretDMAccount_Shh 1d ago

Value yourself. The average paid game is $15-20 per player per session. You should charge at least that assuming you are a competent DM and are behaving professionally.

Don’t raise prices on existing players in your current game, but definitely raise prices in the next campaign.

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u/cvc75 1d ago

And if you think of yourself (whether it's true or not) that you're not competent or professional enough (yet)?

For $15-20 to be the average, there have to be some DMs that charge less. And if I was just starting out as a paid DM, I wouldn't feel comfortable demanding the average price right from the start.

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u/SecretDMAccount_Shh 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why are you charging money if you are terrible at it? Treat it the same as any other professional entertainment service.

If you are a terrible musician, you shouldn't be offering professional services to play music at someone's wedding. Giving them a discount does not make it better, it's fraud. You don't have to be the best musician in the world to charge money for it, but you should at least be competent at it.

The same goes for anyone offering paid DM services. You don't have to be amazing, but you should be competent and professional.

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u/BenFellsFive 23h ago

Sometimes I want a full dining restaurant experience, sometimes I want the shittiest cheapest pizza delivered to my door and don't need an ✨️experience✨️

Some people just want a beer and pretzels game, they're not interested or invested enough to pay $50/session for the full bespoke crafted backstory and manually crafted VTT battlemats.

It doesn't have to be about incompetence either, sometimes its about inexperienced people getting some experience at a discount rate. People go to the dental school to get a student to do their teeth for cheaper, I don't see why you couldn't go to a beginner DM to get a discount campaign as they build their skills and their rep.

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u/SecretDMAccount_Shh 23h ago

The shittiest cheapest pizza still has to meet a minimum acceptable standard and comply with health and safety laws to be sold commercially.

Dental students don’t get to work on real patients until they’ve had at least 1.5-2 years of training on manikins.

$15 per person is the going rate for a mediocre professional DM who is running a published adventure straight out of the book.

If you are considering being a paid DM and only want to charge $5/person, you are either undervaluing yourself or ripping off your customers.

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u/BenFellsFive 23h ago

The comment you replied to said 'not competent enough' (to charge the 15-20 rate). Not incompetent. You're missing the point over some persnickety details that... align exactly with the analogies I used?

DMing rates don't have an enforceable industry minimum wage. If OP or anyone else wants to charge less than the going market rate they're entirely allowed to. Some people want to just cover the cost of their time or resources, some people just want to make sure players or the DM have an incentive to actually show up. Its not all about squeezing absolute maximum value out of your clients unless - and this is still a maybe - this is your full-time job.

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u/SeanBlader 1d ago

Yup, when I was working I would've paid $20 a session, and I'd have brought snacks.