Paid DM Work?

I know it isn't something that everyone agrees with, but it is something that I've had suggested to be several times. This question is mostly for those that would be willing to pay for a dm. I've seen a huge variance in the amount that people are charging for the service and wanted to know what was comfortable on average. I had considered charging around $15 per person per session with an average of 4 hours per sessions($60 per session). I would include in my services a free session 0, the option of choosing to do a homebrew campaign/one shot, run a campaign book(if able to be obtained), and quality game with fun experiences.  My experience with DMing is being the permanent DM for multiple groups over several years dating back to pathfinder days. I tend to stay to 5e as of recent, both because it is easier to use and newer. I've done lots of roleplaying on forums, mmo's, and some mild larping. I have a flair for the dramatic when it comes to my stories, often hearing that they are some of my players most fond memories when playing. I wouldn't claim to be the best, but will confidently state I am far from the worst.  Do you think my considered pricing is fair? Would you be willing to pay more? Less? I'd love to hear your reasoning. 0

That sounds reasonable, but make sure the work is "done" like make sure the maps are ready, and you have a strong understanding of the system. If you are running a module, its expected that you have the appropriate maps and tokens etc.

That's very fair. It should be expected that the work side of things are done. Maps, tokens, music, etc. The foundation of the session should already be in place before the game starts. I also like to believe that there should be extra little things that the dm can add/improv if needed. 

I would highly recommend getting a Pro account before offering services as a paid DM. Speaking as a player who specifically looks for paid games, I always skip ads from Free accounts. I also tend to overlook Plus accounts because of the lack of API access. Limited access to Compendium Sharing is something else to consider. $15 for a homebrew campaign is honestly a fairly standard price. However, the number of players you want to focus on will have a huge impact on how much that $15 will ultimately be worth. If you're looking for $60 a session, then you won't be cramming the party, and you'll most likely have a better retention rate and happier players. $15 for running a published adventure is kinda steep imo, but it really depends on whether or not you'll be adding anything to it (like weaving in character backstories, adding npcs/hooks/special items specific to the players, etc), expanding it into a bigger campaign, or running it as-is.

Hey, Sin. As a professional DM my biggest piece of advice is to charge what people are willing to pay.  Like any goods and service it comes down to quality and reputation.  So DMs are worth $2 an hour, others $5, others $10, and some none at all.  What qualities do you bring to the table that are worth paying for?  What experiences will I as a player receive that I can't get other places?  Much like what vii said, having a pro account and access to all the features is something people look for.  When my company was running games in person, one of the reasons people came was because we brought everything.  We had character folders, minis, 3D terrain, music, sound effects, hand outs, costumes, dice, pencils, etc.  All of the material were provided by us on top of the facilitating of games and world building.  That is why we would have a group of 50 players at one of our locations every week. I hope that helps! Happy Gaming, Dane Co-Owner, Master of Creative The Bearded Dragons Inn

If I may ride the coat-tails of this thread, this is also something that I'm also considering. I've been running campaigns for 20+ years; PF1 ever since its inception, and 3.5 and 2nd Edition before that. However, I'm still fairly new to Roll20. I've gotten the basics down: maps, sight lines, tokens, terrain, etc. However, I'm not running any APIs because I usually do such things behind the scene using a self-created spreadsheet I've created to track everything in the game. How tied are players to "seeing" pretty things in the game, such as APIs and special effects, and things being tracked in-game?

Depending on the player I would say. They are definitely a bonus but not a need. Depending on what time you can offer to prepping your game/s they are something that you could easily overlook but some players stay in games for how great things look while others on the story so it really all depends on how much you have the time to offer in prep work and what you would be willing to do to make sure that you are ready for each game.

Craig said: How tied are players to "seeing" pretty things in the game, such as APIs and special effects, and things being tracked in-game? One thing I have discovered is most players are into that on Roll20.  Roll20 games tend to be a little more, shall we say, map focused.  Where in person games can go on with everyone just sitting around, the online platform is a little different.  In many of my in-person games we'd have entire sessions (or even multiple sessions) where there was no combat, or even dice rolling.  It was all dialog.  That works great in-person because you can talk over each other, read facial features, etc.  Online it is a lot more difficult to do those things and so games tend to focus a little more on what players can see. Since the visual aspect is now much greater I prefer to make the visuals and interface as impressive as I can.  Anyone can toss a map on there and move some tokens around.  That is easy.  When people are paying for my services I need to wow them as much as I can.

Thank you all for providing some wonderful insight. There is certainly is a difference between online and in person games, differences that would need to be considered for anyone attempting to provide a dm service. I'll keep these things in mind for the future should I decide to pursue it myself. 

Some very good info in this thread.  My two cents as a paid DM: I charge $15/session but provide a free session if four sessions are paid in advance (so $60 purchases five sessions, dropping the price per session to $12.)  I find this helps gauge the commitment level of players, especially when you are just getting started with a new group.  If someone chooses to pay by the session (rather than paying for four sessions up front to get the discount) then they might not be in it for the long haul.  This can help you as a DM with planning. Determine what the minimum number of players are that you are willing to run a session for and recruit accordingly.  I will run a session with at least four players, so I generally recruit a group of five or six players.  I find five is the magic number, but if one or more of the players is flaky in attendance, having a sixth player can really help to prevent session cancellations.  Also keep in mind that replacing a paid slot is more difficult than filling a free slot. I strongly recommend against time-based pricing (i.e., you pay a price for however many sessions occur during a month regardless if that is five or three, etc.)  This pricing model provides stability for the DM as they have a better idea of how much they will make per month, but runs the risk of leaving players feeling cheated.  Over the past couple of years I have had more than a few players that joined one of my games come from one of these time-based pricing games and they can't say enough bad things about them. Avoid subscription-based payments (i.e., money is automatically taken from a player on a set day of the week/month.)  This is another method that causes a lot of player complaints.  If your sessions are good, players will pay.  Requiring they set up an automatic payment gives the impression that you as a DM are worried that players won't find your sessions worth the price. Bring your A game to every session.  You should be as prepared as needed to successfully run the session - no one likes waiting around for the DM to setup a map or look up a rule in a book.  A good tip to help avoid this is at the end of each session ask the players what they plan to do next session.  Get some kind of consensus from them, and then be prepared for their plans. Players willing to pay for a game usually do want all the bells and whistles (API scripts, Dynamic Lighting, Music, Handouts, Character Voices, etc.)  Be upfront with your players as to what you offer and make sure to deliver whatever you are promising. Don't just accept any player that applies to your game.  This gives the impression that the most important thing the player brings to the game is their money.  Have a discussion with the prospective player and explain to them how you run things, what you expect from them, what they want out of the game, what they enjoy about TTRPGs, etc.  This a good opportunity to weed out any prospective players that won't be a good fit for group play. Hope these tips help anyone attempting (or already in) the Paid DM game. -Adam

It really depends on how many games you are trying to run. If you are just trying to fill out 1 game and dont mind waiting for players, then by all means shoot for the $15. If you are trying to fill 3 games a day then I wish you the best of luck at that price. $15 is generally the highest price you will see for a game, and as such may have difficulty finding players that will sign up / stick around after the first session, or need to quit later on due to the price (even if you are doing long games such as 4+ hours). You don't need to be the best GM or have every bell and whistle, just be prepared and provide a consistent and fun experience. I find people are quite more receptive to $5, but this is basically just covering whatever food and beverage cost you get for yourself for game day. However, you can stack up a whole day of games that are around 2 hours long and with 6-7 players and it becomes more tenable. It can still be a fun experience for the players if you have lightning quick combat and really keep the pace of the game moving forward. (I've played in games such as this).  This also opens up options to play more than once per week, since you've just had a frantic 2 hour blast and people want more immediately. I've personally found 3 hours and 5 players to be the sweet spot, and can reasonably fill out a group or two of players at $10 a game to start a new campaign. Another option if you are just starting out with this idea is to network with other GMs and run short campaigns / 1 shots and get a pool of players and word of mouth going at around $5 for a normal game. Then you will know what expectations the players have, and who is willing to support you more financially, so that way everyone is getting a good shake of things.