D&D General Professional DMs making $45k/year off it?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Um, holy crap. I had no idea professional DMing -- which was still the subject of flame wars and mockery only a few years ago -- was now this profitable.

From Polygon:

Bethany Dillingham has been playing Dungeons & Dragons since the early ‘90s, but she was having a hard time trying to find a new game in 2018 when she hopped on the virtual tabletop platform Roll20. She found there were so many people trying to get into games that she couldn’t get a slot. Then she saw the section for pay to play games, hosted by professional Dungeon Masters (DMs), that typically cost between $5 and $25 per session.

“I played a game and thought ‘I can do that,’” she said. “It’s a good side hustle.”

Dillingham was working as a bartender at an Olive Garden in Goldsboro, NC at the time, and that side hustle quickly turned into her main job. Now she runs about eight to 10 games a week, charging six to seven people $15 each for four hours of 5th edition D&D.

“I think that being a storyteller is an art form,” she said. “It’s the same as a guy playing a guitar at a concert, or a painter. If you’re telling a good enough story that people are going to want to come back to, then they’ll pay for it.”

Well, I guess I know what I'll be doing if I get laid off in the next round.

 

[Zaukrie]

I am laid off, and have considered doing this. I think I read someone making much more, even....I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Morrus]

You can DM, sure. But the hard part — like any business — is building the business, the customer base, etc. I would imagine that it’s a a lot of hard work to build the business up to the point that this person has.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You can DM, sure. But the hard part — like any business — is building the business, the customer base, etc. I would imagine that it’s a a lot of hard work to build the business up to the point that this person has.

For sure, but getting steady temp work in a big city is work, too. (Last time I was unemployed, I had to apply to six different agencies, call each of them daily and then wait for them to decide I was too close to qualifying for benefits and for them to tell the customer that I was unavailable and tell me that my services were no longer required.)

Downloading and mastering all the virtual tabletops and posting on all the forums is less work with more personal control over the results. And a hell of a lot more pay, even compared to temping in one of the biggest cities in the world with a greater than 100 wpm typing speed.

 

[payn]

45K is not the floor.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

45K is not the floor.

As in any entrepreneurial work, $0 is the floor. I wouldn't recommend being self-employed or entrepreneurial work to anyone who wanted a guaranteed salary or benefits, whatever the field.

 

[Morrus]

For sure, but getting steady temp work in a big city is work, too. (Last time I was unemployed, I had to apply to six different agencies, call each of them daily and then wait for them to decide I was too close to qualifying for benefits and for them to tell the customer that I was unavailable and tell me that my services were no longer required.)

Yeah but you had agencies. Now try that without the agencies!

 

[payn]

As in any entrepreneurial work, $0 is the floor. I wouldn't recommend being self-employed or entrepreneurial work to anyone who wanted a guaranteed salary or benefits, whatever the field.

If you are serious about this being a backup plan, I strongly suggest you start now.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah but you had agencies. Now try that without the agencies!

The Roll20 Forums, etc., and other meeting places cited in the article serve the same function.

 

[jmartkdr2]

As in any entrepreneurial work, $0 is the floor. I wouldn't recommend being self-employed or entrepreneurial work to anyone who wanted a guaranteed salary or benefits, whatever the field.

The floor is below that - you're gonna need to spend a bit up front.