Rent-A-DM

[amethal]

anyone have info about sad story about this Bugaboo character? the one that apparently impaled himself on his dice (from what i gather)? I looked on Google and couldn't dig up much (well nothing actually).

As far as I can tell, Bugaboo was EnWorld's most famous troll, and apparently could be quite entertaining. Before my time, unfortunately.

Any of the people making Bugaboo jokes would be better placed to explain, but they don't seem to be in any rush to do so

 

[DonTadow]

I don't think anyone could replace their normal job with being a paid-DM, however, there are probably a number of people who could make some extra money doing something they like to do anyway.

This way, the prices so far mentioned don't necessarily have to be so high. Also, I don't think it is out of the realm of reality to pay to have a good DM. It may be a lot easier to pay some one to go through all the prep and forethought and just come and play.

I think there would be two realms of Pro-DMs: The Rockstars - Play in the Forgotten Realms with Ed Greenwood, or the Local Guru - the that lives near you that has a knack for putting on real great games. Each realm would charge different amounts accordingly.

I could see this becoming popular one day. D and D is a hobby that is progressing along the scale of other hobbies. Think about it, a long time ago people climbed mountains on their own dime. Now you have companies who make their business escorting and climbing mountains with you.

I had a former DM who's campaign I"d gladly pay for. I practicaly did when I was gaming at his table (drove 1.5 hours to his game which was about 10 bucks in gas both ways). There's also a DM, Todd fuller i think, who DMs non d20 games at conventions. He charges a bit more for his games but it is incredibaly worth it.

Not to brag, but I consider myself a damn good DM and would charge for my services for anyone outside of my normal gaming group. I think if you're going to charge you should have some type of credentials. Either won a major championship (two time Gencon Iron DM) or have made a significant contribution to the RPG world.

 

[Imperialus]

If you are a cleric of Bugaboo you have to have a favorite colour, a hated colour, and throw parties for children. Part cult, part D4 scheme.

 

[Asmo]

I wish I was Jack Black so I could write crazy songs about this Bugaboo character.

Asmo

 

[delericho]

To truly prep well (this would include making props, maps printed on 'parchment' and all that) and make sure you are up to date on all relevant rules, have good notes on 'what happened before' etc.) means you have at least as thrice as much time invested in prep as actual play.

My costs were based on an exchange rate of £1 = $1.5, rather than the current odd level. For campaign play, I assumed one hour of prep per hour of game time (I'll cover one-offs a bit later). I also assumed this was a side-venture rather than my main source of income, so I didn't include a 'risk factor', but did include something of a premium for cutting into my valuable leisure time.

Your prices scare me... but it would absolutely be your prerogative to charge whatever you thought the market could bear.

About one-offs: My assumption here is that the prep time for a one-shot would be significantly higher, since I'd do props, pre-gen characters, and all sorts of handouts (basically, I would supply everything that was needed to game, including books, pencils and dice). However, by the same token, the assumption would be that I would build up a 'bank' of a dozen or more pregenerated adventures suitable for repeated use. As such, much of this prep time would be considered an investment for later one-offs. (And, by the same token, I wouldn't be open to a group hiring me for two one-offs per month rather than the campaign play option... at least not without paying more. As indicated, the expanded prep has to be an investment to be worthwhile - without that I have to either cut it down or charge more.)

I think if you're going to charge you should have some type of credentials. Either won a major championship (two time Gencon Iron DM) or have made a significant contribution to the RPG world.

Ideally, we could really use some sort of really good ranking system for DMs, something covering not just rules-fu but also storytelling and table mastery elements. Alternatively, some sort of clearing house where customers can post reviews of DMs they have used in the past. Assuming five grades of DMs, I would then expect to reach at least the second-top grade before considering charging (and, in my arrogance, I would like to believe I am good enough to get there already).

However, restricting it to people who have won championships or people who have made a significant contribution not only vastly limits the field (and especially to those who can actually attend GenCon regularly), but especially the second criterion doesn't really give any great indication of actual skill - Jack Chick has made more contribution to RPGs than most people here, but I doubt he has any skill as a DM (I expect it would be fascinating to find out, though).

 

[Nightfall]

If you have the cash, with my NPCs you clash.

I'll keep that in mind for air fare, room and board and stuff.

I'm nothing if not hospitable to incoming DMs.

 

[EricNoah]

I hate to spoil a good running gag, so only read on if you are interested...

[sblock]as indicated above Bugaboo was a masterful satirist. He posted about this sort of "pyramid scheme" where you recruited other DMs and got paid for it. It had some "getting paid to DM" elements in it as well as some other stuff that made it quasi-plausible, thus heightening the entertainment value. It struck some as offensive and others as funny. It kind of depended on how good your BS detector was. He even made up a fake website for it. The sad thing is I can't find the DM Friends Network stuff anywhere -- I would love it if it tuned up in the Internet Archive or in a Google cache somewhere.

To my knowledge, the man behind the Bug did not, in fact, fall on 3d12 four-sided dice and perish. I will be mortified if it turns out to be true. [/sblock]

 

[shilsen]

I hate to spoil a good running gag, so only read on if you are interested...

[sblock]as indicated above Bugaboo was a masterful satirist. He posted about this sort of "pyramid scheme" where you recruited other DMs and got paid for it. It had some "getting paid to DM" elements in it as well as some other stuff that made it quasi-plausible, thus heightening the entertainment value. It struck some as offensive and others as funny. It kind of depended on how good your BS detector was. He even made up a fake website for it. The sad thing is I can't find the DM Friends Network stuff anywhere -- I would love it if it tuned up in the Internet Archive or in a Google cache somewhere.

To my knowledge, the man behind the Bug did not, in fact, fall on 3d12 four-sided dice and perish. I will be mortified if it turns out to be true. [/sblock]

Darn you, Eric! The first rule of Bugaboo is that you do not talk about Bugaboo!

 

[EricNoah]

I know, I know. But our generation needs to let the new generation, the people of a couple of years later, in on the secrets of the past. How else will they carry forth the torch of silliness? I would pull each of the curious posters aside individually but I'm so terribly, terribly lazy.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

I actually had someone ask me what the "EN" stood for in ENWorld. I wasn't sure what to say (is this common knowledge I should impart, or one of the test questions for the Secret Masters of Gaming?), but I was amazed how old I suddenly felt. Now even 3e culture has real newcomers.

I thought you, in particular, would be amused.