Long-story short, I think the DM deserves some respect in the very least, and hopefully some kind of help if it’s necessary. Personally, I would be happy with the rule I mentioned above. If I’m gonna set up the game, that’s quite a bit of time out of my week. Sure, I enjoy it, but it can also be stressful. I think it’s a pretty small price for my group to pay to make sure I have a couple slices of pizza and a cup of pepsi.

As far as compensation for game products, I think each person should just buy the books they want. If they’re cool, they’ll let other people use them, and in turn will use the ones others have purchased. If you can actually get your group to cost-share, power to you, but I haven’t had consistent enough groups for something like that. I’ve got a bunch of inch-grid paper, and a bag of Castle Legos for monsters (and PCs if the players don’t have minis), and markers for everything else. I just don’t think all the terrain is worth the money *shrug*

No-one is forced to be a GM. No GM is forced to buy a rules supplement or minis. (And some games only have one rulebook and no minis at all.) If I like a game enough to want to play it and GM it, then I would buy the core rules anyway. Usually, in our groups, everyone, GMs and players alike, owns at least the core book(s) if they’re playing one system regularly. If someone has a supplement I don’t own and we want to use it, I will borrow it and make a copy for private use. I have once, as a student, split the money to buy a supplement with a friend, and I made a photocopy of it while he kept the book because we had split 40/60. Heck, back then I had as much photocopied stuff as printed books.

Yes, a few Euros would be a small fee, even in a weekly game. But really, where does it lead? Only people with money to spend can play? People who have forked over the largest amount get preferential treatment for their characters? GMs kick out players who cannot pay and offer seats to those players with cash?

I’ve seen people forced to drop out of games where they’d have to drive to the GM’s house because they had lost their job and money was tight. (And that’s here in Germany, where people unable to find a job at least don’t have to face starvation, although they’re poor and there would be no money for buying roleplaying materials.) And I’ve seen people with a well-paying job tactfully offer less fortunate friends to cover their traveling expenses rather then see them drop out of the game and social circle.

Our games usually take place at the GM’s house (or at someone else’s apartment if the GM’s place is too small); I’ve also played in groups where people met weekly at a room in a public youth centre where entrance was free. But these days, we’re all older, we only get to game every few months so we meet for a whole weekend. When my husband or I are hosting the game, yes, there is added work since we have to clean up prior to the game and after the weekend. But if you invited friends to a party at your house, would you tell them they have to pay a fee to get in??

True, we have some additional cost for water, electricity, but the players have to pay for gasoline or train tickets to come here. Everyone either brings something to eat to share, or my husband and I shop for the whole weekend and then afterwards the costs are split evenly among the whole group.

Now, if someone brought me unpainted minis and asked me if I could paint them for him, and if it was more than one mini, I’d probably hint at some financial compensation if he didn’t offer one by himself, because I’m providing a service, using up my paints in the process etc. He is hiring me to paint his minis.

When I was a GM, I didn’t charge but, admittedly, the huge time and effort investment keeps me away from being a GM now. No reasonable amount of money would probably induce me to go back; I’ll only GM again if I want.

Poker games are a good model. You can play nickel-dime-quarter with your friends; you can go to a card room and join a beginning or professional game; or, you can hire you own dealer to come to your house or business. It’d be cool if it is existed for GMs. As a player, I’d definitely go the card room route as time permitted and if it was a fun experience and I might even hire my own GM.

If I paid for a game, I would pay to be catered to and the more that I paid, the more I’d expect the game to cater to me. So, if I paid $5, I’d expect it to be a drop-in, only-if-space-available, only-if-the-GM-is-in-the-mood game. If I paid $40 for a 4 hour period, I’d expect the game to take place no matter what, that I could “reserve” a space and that I could expect a certain amount of quality play. If I was “renting a GM”, of course, I’d expect personalized service.

If you’re in the Silicon Valley and you’re doing something like this, let me know. I’m looking to play in September.

Now I wouldn’t charge for being the GM of a game. I don’t believe that there is a market for it because there is a lot of strong competition out there that will do the same for free. I am all for having a club with dues and having the group (GM included) cover the costs associated with the game. But this ridiculous argument, and it is ridiculous, that you shouldn’t charge for doing that which you enjoy is nonsense.

If you enjoy practicing medicine, you train to become a doctor and expect a certain level of compensation for your skills. If you love to paint and create art, you sell your works at a price that you deem worthy of their value to you as an artist. If you are a magnificent GM and love to run adventures for players, why shouldn’t you be able to profit from your trade like anyone else would from theirs?

As I mentioned earlier, I don’t think that professional GMing will ever take off due to the competition offering a comparable service for free. But I also believe that anyone with the desire to try and make a profit from their skills and talents has a right to do so, and that there is nothing obscene or immoral about that. Thomas Jefferson wrote the phrase “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” in the Declaration of Independence. He was basing that phrase on the works of John Locke who used the terms property, estate, and profit instead of happiness in his original works.

Anyone who scoffs at another person’s attempt to profit from their abilities and honest work, and tries to demean such attempts by saying that it is less than honorable or some form of evil to make an honest profit through such means is a fool. They ridicule the innovators and risk takers who move our society forward even if it is through their failures. Such a person is not a counter balance to the innovators of our society, but instead they are merely dead weight with a lack of insight and empathy. They provide no value other than to be the example by which others should learn how not to behave and act.

Do you want to try and make money as a GM? Go ahead and give it your best shot. I don’t believe that you will succeed, but I respect your ambition and would be delighted to learn if you were to prove me wrong.

Whenever I sit down and put any time into developing a game I do so because it is a honour to so, because I enjoy doing it just as much as playing, and because it’s a shared aspect to the game, its mechanics. No players, no campaign/game… likewise, no GM, no game.

It is mutually agreed upon that we all pitch in, for food and drinks and help clean up at the end of a game, with no one person being “expected” to provide anything (even the game being good is dependent upon both DM and players). Now, as a DM and hosting a game, I would sometimes make a big batch of pasta, invite my players (friends) over early, most would bring refreshments, some even desert (much like a pot-luck). We would eat, discuss the game, movies, weather… then clean-up and get to gaming…

The only time I can see someone being “compensated” for GMing a game is at a convention venue, where a room, event tickets, food vouchers, some cool game swag and possibly travel costs would be covered/provided, to endorse the Game company running the convention and wanting to promote their game.

RPGaming, D&D, is a game for fun and socializing with good buddies, learning about yourself and your friends, especially on the “home base” level.

Start turning it into a business and you may have to fork out a share of that to WotC… royalties for using their product to make yourself a profit.

Food for thought

Just my opinion on the subject.

Thanks.
AncientGamer.

and not that I don’t expect a darn good game from the regular crew, but you can accept down days and sessions from them because life interferes. For a paid DM this is life so they’d better have brought their A-game every time.

with my gaming group? only if we had to rent space to play.

Do you currently charge (or pay to play) and, if so, what are your circumstances?

nope. Everyone buys the books they want to buy, brings snacks, and buys their own dinner. We rotate houses so no one is always hosting and rotate games so no one is always DMing. Occasional ‘DM bribes’ in the form of candy or chips are as close as it gets.

Bonus question: Would you have different expectations of a GM if you paid a fee?

oh heck ya. It had better be a pretty spot-on game – well-prepped and with some tailoring to the group.

-Get a place with 5-6 rooms, sized for 6-8 people
-The rooms are mostly medieval themed, but some with futuristic theme
-GM’s chair with computer + projector/screen or flat screen behind him for players
-Speakers for music and sounds
-Nice table with props/mini’s available (free for some, at a fee for others)

-Hardest part : get good GM’s
-Sell time slots for game’s with or without GM’s -”Bring your own GM’s ™” for those without the space/time/(insert other reason) to host their games

-”bar/tavern” with drinks (i assume juices and softdrinks, since i assume a younger audience will be there also) and snacks

There’s the gist of it, but there are surely a million other ideas i forgot while i’m posting..

Can’t wait to win that next lotto 6/49

1. As a fellow player with my friends, I would never charge them to run a game for them, because it’s my own conscious decision to buy the books, spend the hours of prep time, and run a game for 8 hours every two weeks. To suddenly bring up the matter of compensating for my time or at least reimburse me for my expenses to play a game is insulting. It’s part of my enjoyment to run the game and it’s my own choice to jump into the “gotta collect ‘em all” mentality when it comes to buying game books.

2. The idea of a professional GM is a good one though. If a group of strangers want someone to come over a run a game or some RPGA mods that’s fine as well, but the players and GM should have reasonable and very clear expectations as to what they are getting for their buck. I would seriously hate to chip in $40 or $50 bucks (or whatever a rate would be) with my other players only to get some yokel who makes up adventures as he goes, doesn’t bring or really own any books, or fails to bring the basic necessities such as dice, paper, and pencils. I went to a convention and played a Fantasy Hero game with such a GM who had to borrow my dice and gave us the lame excuse “girlfriend packed all my stuff away”. I seriously feel that my price of admission at the convention was devalued when having to play in such games.