Is TTRPGing an "Expensive Hobby"

[Reynard]

I would guess a 'player' needs to invest 100-200$ to really get going

Most players don't buy anything, and don't need to for the most part. The financial burden (all the burdens, really) has always been on the GM.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I absolutely agree with most people here. It absolutely requires nothing. All you really need is a notebook and pencil and some sort of random number generator if you're willing to do work. If you're willing to do less work you can buy a couple books and just play forever. It's how we did it in middle school.

Don't listen to Matthew Lillard, you don't need anything else.

 

[R_J_K75]

This is a difficult subject because expensive seems to be in the eye of the beholder. I've had people look me in the eye and tell me Warhammer 40k isn't an expensive hobby. If you want your own viable army, even a small force, you're looking at spending a few hundred dollars on miniatures, rules, paints, and painting supplies.

I never played Warhammer but I've talked to people that have. I'm sure this varies by what group you play in, but I've heard that some groups that won't let you play with unpainted armies; is this true in your experience?

 

[MGibster]

I never played Warhammer but I've talked to people that have. I'm sure this varies by what group you play in, but I've heard that some groups that won't let you play with unpainted armies; is this true in your experience?

In my experience, no. A lot of tournaments encourage fully painted armies by giving players who have one a few extra points, but if you're just playing a casual game with someone they're probably not going to have a problem if all your models aren't painted.

 

[R_J_K75]

In my experience, no. A lot of tournaments encourage fully painted armies by giving players who have one a few extra points, but if you're just playing a casual game with someone they're probably not going to have a problem if all your models aren't painted.

This was back in the mid-90s when I heard that and even then, it was secondhand hearsay, so I always took it with a grain of salt. Your explanation makes a lot more sense.

 

[Meech17]

Suggest that for your next D&D 5E game. See how well it goes over.

What’s technically the minimum isn’t really the minimum.

This is kind of the big kicker isn't it. A group very well could purchase the $20 starter set and never invest another penny. When I started playing a family friend lent us a 2e AD&D book and a single set of dice and we played that way a week before the group went out and dropped probably around $200 on the core set of 3.5e books, a set of dice for every player, and some other odds and ends. We were lucky enough to all live together so sharing the books wasn't problematic. While we could have stayed in at a $0 investment, it didn't take long before we didn't want to. I'm sure some groups would be fine at that level, but I don't think they make up a substantial portion of the community.

In 1989, the AD&D 2nd edition Player's Handbook retailed for $18.00 which in today's purchasing power is equivalent to $44.73 in January of 2024. As hobbies go, it's always been a fairly inexpensive one.



I think you'd win that argument. While RPGs are fairly inexpensive, you can certainly spend a lot more by purchasing miniatures, making your own props, or just increasing your collection of RPGs like they're going out of style.


I learned a long time ago that no matter how cool you think you're hobby or something you enjoy is, someone else thinks it's a waste. I can't fathom why anyone would pay $4+ dollars for a Starbucks coffee or $1,000 for a smartphone. But whatever. In my experience, most (not all) gamers are pretty solidly middle class and RPGs are very affordable. Now excuse me as I paint this $30 lance of Battletech miniatures I purchased last week.

I've had a lot of weird hobbies so this is something I got over very quickly. People were scoffing at those paying three-four figures to attend a Taylor Swift concert, but I could never do so in good conscience knowing I have a yoyo collection with a retail price tag in the low four figures. People like what they like, and who are we to judge them for how they spend their disposable income and free time

What hobby has a baseline of $0?

I'm sure they exist, but, the existence of cheaper hobbies doesn't make RPG's expensive. Note, 2 grand is EVERY SINGLE publication, PLUS online versions of the same. That's the absolute most you could spend from WotC. And, that's enough material to play for about ten years of regular play.

No one is going to go out and buy all the books at once and then buy all the digital versions as well.

I think if you're being pedantic enough, you could argue no hobby has a baseline of $0. Even reading library books has the cost of traveling to and from the library.

Here in the wilderness of Balkans (and probably most of east/ south east Europe), acquiring pdfs on high seas of internet is still a thing.

It's generally against rules on forums to discuss these matters, but the same deal goes for here in the US. My character sheet may say Lawful Good, but my D&D PDF collection says Chaotic Neutral.

 

[FrogReaver]

50 dollars for anything was very expensive for most of my life. Its only in the last 5 years or so that I’m to a point that 50 dollars seems trivial.

 

[Committed Hero]

I'd say it's not expensive. A cost-conscious person could play without spending any money beyond expenses for internet or other things they'd already be paying for.

Comparatively, roleplaying gives a better return on investment than similar hobbies I can think of. Especially if you consider a cost per time basis.

That said, there are plenty of ways to spend extravagantly on the hobby.

 

[Mannahnin]

I usually ask "compared to what" when asking questions like this. D&D can be cheap. I guess one can find free rules and adventures online and make dice like people in prison do to play. I would guess a 'player' needs to invest 100-200$ to really get going with some books and dice and a few figures and some peripheries such as a dice bag or rolling tray and a good set of pencils and such. It can be 100's of dollars like others have said above as well.

I like to play golf and D&D is way cheaper each year, and likely over my lifetime of playing 40 years. I guess golf can be rather varied in expense as well with a started set with all the clubs and bag and such for $300, but then you still pay for playing each time. I would guess an average bag of clubs with more name brands being about $1800. I mean a new driver is $600 and a putter is $300 nowadays. A lot of places charge $50 just to walk around the course each week.

Yep.

You CAN spend a lot of money on the TTRPG hobby, but you can also do it practically for free.

As hobbies and entertainment go, it's more expensive than borrowing books from the library or walking in parks, but it's cheaper than virtually anything else. Even if you buy your books full retail, $150 for three books (and most players just need one, if they even care to have a physical copy) becomes a vanishingly small $ per hour value if you actually play regularly. Far less than going to the movies, say, never mind stuff like golf or skiing or any other kind of sport with physical equipment or apparel.

I never played Warhammer but I've talked to people that have. I'm sure this varies by what group you play in, but I've heard that some groups that won't let you play with unpainted armies; is this true in your experience?

In my experience, no. A lot of tournaments encourage fully painted armies by giving players who have one a few extra points, but if you're just playing a casual game with someone they're probably not going to have a problem if all your models aren't painted.

This was back in the mid-90s when I heard that and even then, it was secondhand hearsay, so I always took it with a grain of salt. Your explanation makes a lot more sense.

Back in the 90s and into the early 2000s a few of Games Workshop's own stores experimented with a policy of requiring painted armies to play in their stores. The idea, I think, was to showcase the aesthetics of the hobby and to motivate players who frequented those stores. Some tournaments also require stuff to be painted. But in my experience that's almost never expected for casual games.

There IS a culture in traditional (historical) miniatures wargaming, where many clubs and players make it a point of pride never to field unpainted models. For them the visual is so important that they'd feel ashamed to diminish the spectacle of the game by playing with unpainted stuff. I've known some fantasy miniatures wargamers who personally take the same attitude.

I've always been really into the tactics and made competitive tournaments and leagues a major hobby for years. And when I first started playing I got some un- and partially-painted armies off eBay and another secondhand site, but I rapidly felt ashamed to be fielding unpainted stuff against some of the beautiful armies I faced. The players were totally gracious, but I quickly developed the desire to contribute better to the visual spectacle of the game. First learning and developing effective speed-painting techniques, and gradually getting to enjoy the painting side of the hobby for itself and take pride in a lot of stuff I painted.

 

[R_J_K75]

Back in the 90s and into the early 2000s a few of Games Workshop's own stores experimented with a policy of requiring painted armies to play in their stores. The idea, I think, was to showcase the aesthetics of the hobby. Some tournaments also require stuff to be painted. But in my experience that's almost never expected for casual games.

I'd imagine it was also to try and sell more product too. Can't blame them there.

There IS a culture in traditional (historical) miniatures wargaming, where many clubs and players make it a point of pride never to field unpainted models. For them the visual is so important that they'd feel ashamed to diminish the spectacle of the game by playing with unpainted stuff. I've known some fantasy miniatures wargamers who personally take the same attitude.

I quickly developed the desire to contribute better to the visual spectacle of the game. First learning and developing effective speed-painting techniques, and gradually getting to enjoy the painting side of the hobby for itself and take pride in a lot of stuff I painted.

My father and a lot of his friends for many years have been into scale model building, and painting. Mostly historic soldiers, tanks, planes, horses, war dioramas and such. This was always the impression that I got from them was that they had fun attending their modeling meetings, seeking out new hobby shops and showing off their modeling and painting skills at conventions.