Professional GM: Possible Return

[f33b]

@OP: please also consider having your new picture taken against a "flat" background that does not contain visible media, such as the bookshelf present in your current picture. There are several good examples on the meetup.com pages you have joined.

@no one in particular. This just one post in a truly epic tale. It is interesting to note that the responses Mr. Tek received from this community were much more reasoned and polite than those offered in at least part of a similar thread started over at rpgnet, but not nearly as polite as the responses on the Penny Arcade forums, I didn't dig deeply enough into the OOTS forums to determine how that thread panned out. I concede that responses in this thread may have be influenced by those other threads.

 

[Noumenon]

I think Commando almost has to do this now just to see for himself whether he can do it. If you don't put your heart into making something quixotic work when you're young, when are you gonna do it? You guys could have talked Steve Jobs into applying at McDonald's.

Was there a link posted to the web site with picture? I realize it's only going to be drowned in mockery but I did want to see for myself. You could PM me with the URL.

Edit: and as long as I'm asking for links I'd like to see the reaction from the polite Penny Arcade people.

 

[aboyd]

I don't recall at any time in my years in Human Resources when D&D was used for team building, but hey, I've been wrong before.

Actually, that part is true. There is a guy here on En World who has posted a lot of stuff about how he stumbled upon being a professional GM, and how he was hired by a company to host D&D games as "team building exercises."

He has a blog about it; it was pretty funny. I was mostly amused by how he put together his game with a Palm Pilot because he thought it would impress them, but when he arrived at the house it was a mansion and he realized they wouldn't even think a Palm Pilot was novel at all.

I'm afraid that unique situation has probably been the impetus for a lot of what we see here.

Um, has it traditionally been difficult for LFR nuts to power level their characters?

I wasn't implying that it's difficult. I'm just saying that it will be very easy as opposed to easy to legitimately power level with my hired service, made more affordable for this month.

Whoosh.

OK, CC, I'm just going to say this flat-out.

I know it's not difficult for the LFR guys to power level, and I know you weren't implying it. That wasn't my point. I wasn't actually asking the question I asked. I was trying, too subtly I guess, to hint that these guys are currently power leveling for free and I was further implying that therefore there is no market.

So when you pop up and say "now you can power level for cheap!" I suspect all the LFR guys shrug and say, "I'll stick with power leveling for free!" When you say, "My service makes it very easy" I suspect all the LFR guys will say, "No, actually, because you're charging and don't have a home to host us in, your service is more difficult."

I mean really, your market is power gamers? Wouldn't they all have DMs or be DMs themselves?

Sometimes I just want to laugh at all this, but today it just makes me depressed.

Some LFR power gamers hire this guy over & over again so my cynicism can die a little each time. Please?

 

[Captain_Commando]

I mean really, your market is power gamers? Wouldn't they all have DMs or be DMs themselves?

The best customers for the LFR service (as a reminder, there are multiple different services offered, not just LFR) would likely be power levelers with schedules that conflict with the game day(s) on which they could power level or don't want to bother with the organizing process themselves. Also, my service offers greater capacity for power leveling, assuming those gamers want to do it legitimately. Plus, many LFR DMs want to play and level up too.

 

[catsclaw227]

The best customers for the LFR service (as a reminder, there are multiple different services offered, not just LFR) would likely be power levelers with schedules that conflict with the game day(s) on which they could power level or don't want to bother with the organizing process themselves. Also, my service offers greater capacity for power leveling, assuming those gamers want to do it legitimately. Plus, many LFR DMs want to play and level up too.

If they already are LFR power levelers, isn't it because they already can make the game days on which they could power level?

Listen, I really hope you are successful.

More importantly, though, you should spend at least 1-2 hours on a job hunt or developing other relevant job skills for every 1 hour you spend on this project.

 

[Dathalas]

Captain,

After reading your responses, it's pretty clear to me that you have no clue who you're marketing to. You mention businesses and wealthy socialites and LFR power levellers and ... and ... and ...

That's a very dangerous approach to starting a business. You can't possibly hit all of those markets effectively, so you'll squander whatever resources you have ... and your time is your most valuable resource at this point.

I'm starting my own business right now with very little capital, so I know what I'm talking about. I know exactly who my target market is and I know exactly how to reach them on a shoestring budget.

Figure that out and focus on them like a laser. Gear all of your marketing to them.

 

[JPL]

Step Three is Profit!

 

[Bullgrit]

I haven't read this whole thread -- only read most of the first page.

Several years ago, when World's Largest Dungeon came out, I considered buying it for someone if they would run it beginning-to-end for me (and others). I dearly wanted to play a long-term dungeon crawl. (Historically, I've mostly been a DM, and rarely played a character.) I would have done this had timing and people worked out for me.

I would, right now, pay $8/hour for a good (at least decent) DM to run a campaign for my group. There are 5 of us in my group, so a 5-hour game session would cost us $8 each. If this poster lived in my area, and would run a D&D3 game, I would gather my friends together and hire him.

Whether we would continue this more than a one shot would depend on how good a DM he is.

So I see this is a valid option for gaming.

Bullgrit

 

[Noumenon]

That's actually a pretty good idea, Bullgrit! Who would respond to this ad:

Experience a new dungeon from one of Magic's great designers! Professional GM takes you through Monte Cook's new megadungon, Dragon's Delve.

Interested in the new adventure from the author of Return to Temple of Elemental Evil and Ptolus, but don't want to pay the $96 yearly subscription fee? Want to experience his DungeonaDay project but don't want to drop your current campaign or prep two games at once? John Tek, professional GM, brings this campaign to your home. 4th Edition. Custom campaigns also available.

This way you remove uncertainty about the quality of GMing and market "the Monte Cook experience!" instead. You also lower your prep work greatly -- no design, run the same dungeon for multiple groups. You establish right off the bat that you're providing a service other people think is worth paying for -- and you get people thinking they're buying a Monte Cook module (something they've done before) -- not buying an unknown GM.

Any other Enworlders that would be as excited to see this ad as I am? I would jump at the chance to try dungeonaday.com with someone who would keep up with it and run it for me with all the suggested minis. And I think I could sell my group on it much easier than "random paid DM" because they've played RttToEE and 3.5 before.

You would be free riding off Monte Cook's name and reputation and probably ought to pay him for it, but at the scale your business is operating I think he should just be thankful for the exposure and extra subscription.

 

[Captain_Commando]

The Monte Cook thing sounds interesting. I might try that when I can afford it. To save time for now, there are a number of published 4e adventures I intend to adapt or enhance to add to my services. For example, I'm going to be adapting/enhancing Keep on the Shadowfell for a 8-10 hour one-shot.

I just set up a time table for adding services to the business. There's going to be at least 4 days between designing original adventures.

I'll be demoing Delver's Requiem at a Dave Arneson memorial game day next Saturday. I'm going to add a little something to the story to honor him.

Today I rushed through "Heathen" from Dungeon magazine in less than 5 hours at the meetup. I was originally planning to demo Delver's Requiem but I felt it needed more work. I read it on the train to the meetup and had to read it really fast as I ran the game with 7 players at the table. Also, I hadn't slept for over 24 hours and I was very hungry (thank God someone brought cookies). The players seemed to enjoy the session though. Lots of laughs and I helped some beginners learn the game better. My brain hurts.