D&D General Professional DMs making $45k/year off it?
darjr
I crit!
@Burnside keep us informed about the event please?
When doing in person games, how many of those are remote to you? How many DMs outside of your local area.
How many DMs and games do you currently manage?
Also do you ever host DM classes? Especially voice stuff and/or improv?
Also how stable are the groups?
When doing in person games, how many of those are remote to you? How many DMs outside of your local area.
How many DMs and games do you currently manage?
Also do you ever host DM classes? Especially voice stuff and/or improv?
Also how stable are the groups?
1. Will do!
2. We have DMs across the US & Canada and I am currently working to line up one in Europe. However, with the DMs that are not local to me, we only get them online clients so far. I have never arranged an in-person game for a DM outside the greater NYC metro area. However, keep in mind that almost all of this has been during the pandemic, so it just has not been possible to run many in-person games, period.
3. I personally currently run 2 ongoing online (paid) weekly campaigns, and 1 online (personal, unpaid for friends) bi-weekly campaign at the moment, and am a player in the podcast game which records twice per month. So:
Curse of Strahd (weekly, paid) - DM
Lost Mines of Phandelver, has now transitioned to Rime of the Frostmaiden (weekly, paid) - DM
Dungeon of the Mad Mage (alternating weeks, free personal game for friends) - DM
Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus (actual play podcast) - Player
One shots (about 1/month, usually free) - DM
Personally, as publicly advertised games I will only run one-shots. My ongoing paid campaigns are actually invitation-only, to players with whom I've already played in one-shots, or if a player I know approaches me to run for them. For me, even though it's for pay, if I am committing to a long-term campaign, it has to be with the right players. No money is worth running hours and hours and hours for the wrong players.
4. I don't host classes, but we do have a Discord server which has an advice area where we help other DMs, and once a month we do a free audio show on Discord where anybody can join in & ask questions. The Discord link is here: Connect with Us
Everything on our Discord is free. We also post discounts on our DMsGuild stuff and the occasional free map, and we have starting doing some video prop-crafting videos. Example: Time-lapse, making the spirit board from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
5. The groups are very stable. As somebody mentioned upthread, people who want to pay to play D&D are generally serious, dedicated players who are going to show up on time and be very focused for the sessions they have purchased.
J-H
Hero
I don't think anyone's going to get rich DMing, but for someone who's good at sales, marketing, and DMing, and has access to a good market, it can be a great side hustle, second job, or mid-earning full time job. I don't think it'd be enough to support a family on a single income on. The areas that support higher fees (Silicon Valley, NYC) also have higher costs of living.
My main obstacle to playing D&D is that time. I have a job, a small homestead (1 hr per day), and 2 small children that we homeschool. Life is full!
I could see paying $5-$15 per session for a good DM (5 players, $75/session, 5 hrs = $15/hr or $30k per year @ 40 hrs/week) if I had time. The one group I play with now - most of them probably wouldn't... but again, time is the big constraint for us.
My main obstacle to playing D&D is that time. I have a job, a small homestead (1 hr per day), and 2 small children that we homeschool. Life is full!
I could see paying $5-$15 per session for a good DM (5 players, $75/session, 5 hrs = $15/hr or $30k per year @ 40 hrs/week) if I had time. The one group I play with now - most of them probably wouldn't... but again, time is the big constraint for us.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
jmartkdr2
Hero
I don't pay for dming currently - all my groups are going strong - but if I were to pay, I'd want more than just a game that happens. One thing that would push me toward paying is art assets - online that means enough to keep the visual style of the entire campaign consistent - all pc tokens, all monsters, all backgrounds in the same art style the whole way through turning the whole thing into a cohesive visual experience (and matching music), that's something I'd pay for.
In a live game it would mean minis and terrain.
In a live game it would mean minis and terrain.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
Music and sound effects are extremely easy, assuming the virtual tabletop allows for it. I own a bunch of Michael Ghelfi albums I use for atmosphere, and they're sensational.
1. Does it pays well, no, but one shouldn't compare a business to a
The 45 kUSD a year is the result, given 6 to 7 players per session, 4-hours sessions and 15 USD/session/person, and 8 to 10 sessions per week, 52 week/year. (52*9*6.5*15=45,630). 10 sessions is one session each night, plus 3 additional on week-ends. I am not sure one could perform well at DMing when it's the end of the week, the Sunday night session, third session of the day. Marathon sessions happened to me when I was younger but I wouldn't say they were great sessions until the end... And at 6 to 7 players per session, it's hard to do character specific spotlight and story, something you might want from a great DM. It's certainly possible to deliver such a performance, but the preparation amount would be intense and the business would be close to minimum wage, tiring for the DM in the long run and have no way to improve profitability in the long run.
The 45 kUSD a year is the result, given 6 to 7 players per session, 4-hours sessions and 15 USD/session/person, and 8 to 10 sessions per week, 52 week/year. (52*9*6.5*15=45,630). 10 sessions is one session each night, plus 3 additional on week-ends. I am not sure one could perform well at DMing when it's the end of the week, the Sunday night session, third session of the day. Marathon sessions happened to me when I was younger but I wouldn't say they were great sessions until the end... And at 6 to 7 players per session, it's hard to do character specific spotlight and story, something you might want from a great DM. It's certainly possible to deliver such a performance, but the preparation amount would be intense and the business would be close to minimum wage, tiring for the DM in the long run and have no way to improve profitability in the long run.
That doesn't take into account the time you also have to spend promoting and marketing your games, plus prepping adventures, or expenses.
I personally couldn't run 10 4-hour games per week and have them actually be good games - even if I wasn't also working full time at a day job. But maybe someone could.
$15 USD per player for 4-hour session isn't a viable rate tbh. You need to charge a bit more. $15 per player is sustainable for a 2-hour session.
