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SO I am making my first step into being a Professional DM

Started by GhostNinja, August 03, 2024, 10:23:58 AM

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GhostNinja

August 03, 2024, 10:23:58 AM
So a group of players asked my to run a 5e game for them and they would pay $10 each per person per session.  Admittedly I have always run free games and I have never really thought of being a paid DM.

The players are on the west coast, we will be playing via VTT and we will be playing the module Baldur's Gate - Descent into Avernus and the sessions will only be 3 hours.  They were playing this module with another DM who was a student but could no longer run the game.

Not sure what to expect.  A week from this Monday is our Session 0.  it's 4 men and a women and it should be interesting.

I will let you know what happens.
Ghostninja

Mishihari

#1
August 03, 2024, 11:21:14 AM
I'm very interested in how this turns out.  Please let us know.  I'm wondering if the social/power dynamic will be the same if the players are paying customers.

Eric Diaz

#2
August 03, 2024, 01:01:36 PM
Interesting, I'd love to know what happens!

Did you run Avernus before?

Chaos Factory Books  - Dark fantasy RPGs and more!

Methods & Madness - my  D&D 5e / Old School / Game design blog.

GhostNinja

#3
August 03, 2024, 06:02:13 PM
Quote from: Mishihari on August 03, 2024, 11:21:14 AMwill find out in j
I'm very interested in how this turns out.  Please let us know.  I'm wondering if the social/power dynamic will be the same if the players are paying customers.

That is an interesting question.  Will it be the same as a free game or will it just be transactional?

I will find out In just over a week.   And with it being a module there is less prep for me.
Ghostninja

GhostNinja

#4
August 03, 2024, 06:06:20 PM
Quote from: Eric Diaz on August 03, 2024, 01:01:36 PMInteresting, I'd love to know what happens!

Did you run Avernus before?



I will post afterwards and let everyone know.

I haven't run Avernus before.  I have the module for fantasy grounds and I am reading through the pdf of the adventure to prepare.
Ghostninja

Exploderwizard

#5
August 04, 2024, 10:37:02 AM
Prepping for a game that I was paid to run would feel like work, not fun. I'm not sure if would want to turn one of my favorite fun activities into just more work.
Quote from: JonWakeGamers, as a whole, are much like primitive cavemen when confronted with a new game. Rather than \'oh, neat, what\'s this do?\', the reaction is to decide if it\'s a sex hole, then hit it with a rock.

Quote from: Old Geezer;724252At some point it seems like D&D is going to disappear up its own ass.

Quote from: Kyle Aaron;766997In the randomness of the dice lies the seed for the great oak of creativity and fun. The great virtue of the dice is that they come without boxed text.

GhostNinja

#6
August 04, 2024, 10:38:08 AM
Quote from: Exploderwizard on August 04, 2024, 10:37:02 AMPrepping for a game that I was paid to run would feel like work, not fun. I'm not sure if would want to turn one of my favorite fun activities into just more work.

It's just one game.  I have two other games (My Old School Essentials and other 5e Game) which I do not charge for.
Ghostninja

Omega

#7
August 04, 2024, 03:55:59 PM
Quote from: GhostNinja on August 03, 2024, 06:02:13 PM
Quote from: Mishihari on August 03, 2024, 11:21:14 AMwill find out in j
I'm very interested in how this turns out.  Please let us know.  I'm wondering if the social/power dynamic will be the same if the players are paying customers.

That is an interesting question.  Will it be the same as a free game or will it just be transactional?

I will find out In just over a week.   And with it being a module there is less prep for me.

From experience. Paying players can be either absolutely normal, or come across as entitled. Sometimes out of the blue.

It can also put an unseen shackle round your neck as you get the urge to cheat to keep the PCs alive for fear you lose a customer.

Ruprecht

#8
August 05, 2024, 09:20:53 AM
Quote from: Exploderwizard on August 04, 2024, 10:37:02 AMPrepping for a game that I was paid to run would feel like work, not fun. I'm not sure if would want to turn one of my favorite fun activities into just more work.
I think it might be best to just use modules. Assuming you already own them. If you've run the module before you've already done the prep.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing. ~Robert E. Howard

GhostNinja

#9
August 05, 2024, 08:50:07 PM
Quote from: Ruprecht on August 05, 2024, 09:20:53 AMI think it might be best to just use modules. Assuming you already own them. If you've run the module before you've already done the prep.

That's probably what I am going to do.  I am already running two other games with settings that I created.  Don't want to do a third one.
Ghostninja

GhostNinja

#10
August 05, 2024, 08:53:03 PM
Quote from: Omega on August 04, 2024, 03:55:59 PMFrom experience. Paying players can be either absolutely normal, or come across as entitled. Sometimes out of the blue.

It can also put an unseen shackle round your neck as you get the urge to cheat to keep the PCs alive for fear you lose a customer.

Yeah, we will see. I have the session 0 next week and I will let them know that if characters die, they can go through the usual process to revive them but if they die as per the rules, they are dead.
Ghostninja

yosemitemike

#11
August 06, 2024, 12:05:15 AM
I have considered running paid games.  I am a bit concerned that players will view me as their employee.  In a sense, I would be.  I am worried that this will make players feel more entitled and some players are already very entitled.  You have to allow my homebrew race.  You have to add in the romance plot I want.  You have to accommodate my kink.  You have to queer all the things.  You have to use safety tools.  I am worried that my hobby will turn into a customer service job.  I get enough of that at work. 
"I am certain, however, that nothing has done so much to destroy the juridical safeguards of individual freedom as the striving after this mirage of social justice."― Friedrich Hayek
Another former RPGnet member permanently banned for calling out the staff there on their abdication of their responsibilities as moderators and admins and their abject surrender to the whims of the shrillest and most self-righteous members of the community.

GhostNinja

#12
August 07, 2024, 09:58:15 PM
Well the paid gig just landed in my lap and I still run two free games.

As for as safety tools, they really never caught on and never come up so I am not worried.

If the players at this paid game want safety tools then I am out.

I don't Condon those silly things.
Ghostninja

Svenhelgrim

#13
August 09, 2024, 03:19:29 AM
Congratulations Ghost Ninja!  Getting paid to run RPG's sounds like my dream job.

Regarding session Zero:  perhaps you could tell them the parameters of your campaign in advance? So when the time comes to play you can give them a taste of adventure!  Maybe run an encounter that sets the stage? Something story-neutral like ORCS ATTACK, ROLL INITIATIVE!

I hope you have a great campaign and I am looking forward to reading the recaps.
 

Eric Diaz

#14
August 09, 2024, 09:36:01 AM
I think paid games introduce an interesting dynamic.

I wonder if I'd feel MORE freedom as a paid DM than DMing from my friends, because it is easier to get new "customers" than new friends, and unless I had to make a living out of it I could always wrap things up whenever desired.

It's been a while since I DMed for strangers. I should do this more often.
Chaos Factory Books  - Dark fantasy RPGs and more!

Methods & Madness - my  D&D 5e / Old School / Game design blog.
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