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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Man in the Funny Hat" data-source="post: 5894070" data-attributes="member: 32740">Buy-in for players is 1/3 the cost for DM's simply because they don't need a MM or DMG. If the DM is pretty savvy to start with then he doesn't really need an MM either... or a DMG for that matter though it sort of depends on the edition you're talking about. If you want to use miniatures and similar cool props then yes, the cost to support the game becomes significant - but that cost need not be borne solely by the DM. Players can be supporting the habit for everyone by contributing equally to the ongoing investment in widgets. The difficulty there comes in deciding who ultimately OWNS the widgets. With a little maturity and effort it's not hard to keep track of who owns what miniature or what percentage of the dwarven forge pieces or the battlemats if someone should decide to quit or move away, but then I also don't have an issue with players letting the DM simply keep the fruits of the group investment as compensation for the significantly higher time and effort the DM puts into running a good game. If your DM sucks then why would you be putting money into the game in any case? Though I have no experience at all running or playing 4E I have yet to become aware of any version of D&D that requires any significant cost to continue to play. I have chosen, personally, to expand my own enjoyment of the hobby by expending my hard-earned dollars on a lot of miniatures. Yes, my players get a lot of benefit from this that they haven't PAID for but I don't CHARGE players for the privilege of playing in my games and the money that I put into it is ultimately for VERY selfish reasons. If they have more fun, I have more fun, but I have more fun with a lot of miniatures at hand no matter who bought them. Still, I can and still do occasionally run large swaths of D&D without more cost than paper and pencils. My players don't need to invest tens or hundreds of dollars in new rules and power-ups and neither do I. That was sort of the attraction of the hobby - the benefits of using nothing more than your imagination to entertain yourself and others. So, no. There is no cost disparity between DM's and players that at least cannot be easily overcome - and the edition that you play is irrelevant in this determination.</blockquote>

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