Tips for Paid/Pro DMing...please share!
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Hi everyone,
I've been DMing for my friends for about 4 years, and I recently decided to jump into paid/pro DMing and give it a shot. I signed up for StartPlaying.Games and set up some campaigns to see if I can add some gigs throughout the week. I know it's unlikely to take off quickly...I need to start accruing sessions and get more reviews, etc. But I thought I'd just try. It's free to sign up so if I get no bites for months, all I'm losing is some time.
As I'm new to this effort, I thought I'd start a thread about it. I will share anything I learn as I go, but if you are doing this or have done this, please share any advice you've learned in the process!
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@AGreaterMonster, the only things I've learned about being a pro GM are thus:
- Everybody and his dog is running D&D.
- Almost nobody is interested in other game systems.
- FLGS are not going to be any help whatsoever.
- You're going to be lucky if you make enough for gas money. Forget about rent and bills.
- A lot of your customers are going to be expecting Critical Role levels of professionalism and polish.
- StartPlaying basically doesn't do a damned thing to help you out. The theory that you suddenly become more interesting after you get 5 reviews is bollox. YouTube's algorithms are more transparent.
- The various events which StartPlaying involves themselves with don't attract much attention, either. I scheduled demos of different games for Onyx Path's "Virtual Con" a while back. Not a damned thing. Least I got some starter materials on DriveThruRPG out of it.
- You will undoubtedly see promotions by a member going by the name "Friday," offering a webinar about how to get started. Don't fall for it. It's entirely predicated on you running D&D and they have no idea about how to market outside of that. Yes, they make stupid money. They are the exception, not the rule.
I've been at it now almost two years. I'm one of maybe half a dozen GMs running Cyberpunk RED (see Point #1) and it's been a soul crushing slog that some days I absolutely despair over. But I will say that when a game's going and the players are right, it's a blast.
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@RavingArmy Appreciate the thoughts, thanks for sharing! Everything you say makes sense.
I figured that I'll be lucky to get any games going at all right now with the clogged market, but thought that maybe there would be a big influx of players thanks to the movie. If I get enough to pay for some rpg content, like premium modules for Foundry, a Patreon sub, or a new rule system, that would be enough for me to feel it was worth it. I know I won't make a living at it, but some pocket change out of it would be nice.
Right now, the system I know best is 5e so I'm running that. I started recently running an occasional game for my team in Shadow of the Demon Lords, but I don't feel like I have quite the mastery of it yet to offer it. But I'll probably do so once I have a few more sessions under my belt with my friends. Next up after that I'm learning a system that is probably a terrible offering--great game but very few people play it...Champions/Hero, the 6e system. Well, maybe if I pitch it as superheroes for beginners that might work. That said, it's another one I'm a long time off from running. I need to swing it with my friends first.
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@AGreaterMonster
Something I've found just weird as hell so far is the lack of interest in 3rd party settings which use 5E. About a year ago, I tried promoting games for Auroboros: Coils Of The Serpent and (more recently) Adventures In Rokugan. There's not a whole lot of new mechanics to learn, but somehow neither one of them grabbed any attention. The Rokugan one really surprised me, given its earlier 3rd Edition relationship with D&D and its Legend of The Five Rings fandom. I've made mention about running a campaign when The Secret World finally comes out (probably later this year) from Star Anvil Studios and folks are excited, but we'll see what happens when the rubber meets the road. -
@RavingArmy That is odd, but maybe just related to lack of familiarity of the name. I'm going to run my homebrew world so it will be totally unfamiliar and that might hurt me. But I hope the hook is that I will craft the experience around the characters rather than a pre-canned storyline. Here's my listing: https://startplaying.games/adventure/clg115sli000408l53xtu1hbd see what you think. I'm offering it on 3 different days of the week right now.
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oh sweet, I didn't know that someone was making a secret world ttrpg. I loved the game, and a tabletop equivalent sounds like it would be really fun.
I don't blame them for going with 5e to ensure a safe market, but it would have been cool to see them go with a Call of Cthulhu based system, or the Year Zero engine to try to capture the narrative elements of the game better.
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@RavingArmy I think a big reason people aren't interested other systems is the lack of experience with tabletop in general. DnD is huge, complicated, clunky, and hard to learn. It's a big investment of time to get into it, but it's heavily aided by the massive amount of memes and whatnot on social media which helps to fill in the blanks in a fully passive way.
Most people don't want to learn another system because they think it's gonna be as hard as learning DnD was (not understanding that other systems can be far easier to learn and play) and because there's no social media equivalent for other systems to learn them passively.
Principle Software Engineer at Unplay
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@joey said in Tips for Paid/Pro DMing...please share!:
@RavingArmy I think a big reason people aren't interested other systems is the lack of experience with tabletop in general. DnD is huge, complicated, clunky, and hard to learn. It's a big investment of time to get into it, but it's heavily aided by the massive amount of memes and whatnot on social media which helps to fill in the blanks in a fully passive way.
Most people don't want to learn another system because they think it's gonna be as hard as learning DnD was (not understanding that other systems can be far easier to learn and play) and because there's no social media equivalent for other systems to learn them passively.
True enough. But the opposite is also true...Pathfinder 2 is the next most popular heroic fantasy system. I've played one session of it, and I'd describe is are more complicated to learn than D&D. I'm also learning another system now which is one of the most crunchy out there! Champions--Hero System 6e. Then there are some that are probably at least equal in complexity...Vampire the Masquerade, for example. Personally, I don't like games that are too focused on storytelling without strategic combat. I find it less game-like, which appeals to some folks but not me (or my team of players). I need maps and token movement and details to feel we are not just making a story together but playing a game. So for me, it generally is a big investment to learn a new system because I'm not very interested in rules-lite games.
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@joey
There's likely something to that. But I will counter that with a good GM who has a good grasp of the basics of any given system, any system can be learned relatively quickly. The hitch is that there's a shortage of good GMs who can teach a system. And people who figure that learning more than one system is going to be a chore aren't going to be motivated to take the chance. -
@RavingArmy Good point. I've set up 2 beginner-focused campaigns and two regular campaigns that are open to both beginners and experienced players. I'm just starting...no bites yet in the first week. From what I hear, it's hard to get the first signups and first few games going.
