Professional GM Discussion

Summary

The Professional GM Discussion is an extended out-of-character conversation that took place in Session 10 of the campaign, centered on Shawn's potential transition to game mastering as a professional career. Erin initiated the topic by asking "Sean, do you ever think about doing this as your job?" The conversation explored various business models, pricing structures, and practical considerations for running RPG sessions as a paid service, with contributions from multiple players sharing their perspectives and experiences with corporate interest in tabletop gaming.

The discussion revealed that Shawn had recently spoken with Abdul about this possibility, and that Abdul had presented "a very clear first step" (creating a website) that made the prospect feel achievable rather than overwhelming. The conversation also touched on Dayna's experience being "harassed since the beginning" at their company to run a D&D campaign for approximately 12 interested coworkers.

Details

The discussion began with Erin directly posing the question to Shawn, who explained that the topic had been on their mind for some time. Shawn mentioned having talked extensively with their partner Jessica about the possibility. However, the breakthrough came through a recent conversation with Abdul, who reframed the undertaking: "Because of like, you were just like. I was thinking about it like, gotta promote, gotta put all these packs packages together. Gotta figure this out. But you were just like, you seen a website?" This simplified first step made the idea feel practical rather than overwhelming.

The group identified several potential business models for professional game mastering:

Corporate Team-Building Events: A significant portion of the conversation focused on this model, representing the highest-value client segment. The group observed that "there are a lot of companies nowadays that are like we'll do like a D and D night to kind of get everybody synergized." Shawn acknowledged this could be "a good racket," though they immediately qualified the phrasing.

Online Play for Time-Constrained Players: The group discussed how "there are a lot of people where that's the situation. Especially with like online play being as prevalent as it is now." Shawn noted that "there are friends that have, you know, more money than time" who "just want somebody to help facilitate a good time."

Dedicated Private Groups: The group discussed "a starting fee which could be like, I don't know, five or six hundred dollars" for running games for non-corporate groups. This model assumes regular, ongoing sessions for a consistent group of players who are paying for professional GM services.

Subscription-Based Models: The discussion considers Patreon as a platform offering tiered access to content or experiences. The conversation examined multiple price points: "We can introduce a $50 level that is that. Although that feels like it should be more." The conversation then escalated to "Or a five hundred dollar level," suggesting premium tiers that might include direct participation in games or exclusive content access.

Pricing Structure: Shawn stated a clear rate for corporate sessions: "My rate is very reasonable. It's $500 a session." When questioned with "For real?", Shawn confirmed: "Yeah, I'll do it. No problem."

The conversation included a concrete example when Dayna revealed being pressured to run a campaign at their workplace, with about 12 people interested. The group discussed the logistics of splitting this into three separate games of 4 players each across multiple nights. This led to a practical challenge identified by the group: "But if you only have like four people at a time doing it sort of makes it. It's almost like you have to construct a different version of"—the sentence trails off, but the implication is that running multiple small games may not effectively serve the team-building purpose when the goal is to get a larger group working together.

The group references researching existing models, with one participant noting: "I'll look around and see what other shows have done. Yeah, and Daddy just has done that in the past." This indicates an interest in studying established precedents before implementing their own pricing structure.

History

Session 10

The Professional GM Discussion occurred in Session 10 as an extended sidebar during the campaign. Erin initiated the conversation by directly asking Shawn whether they had considered game mastering as a professional occupation. Shawn explained that both their partner Jessica and Abdul had discussed this possibility with them recently, with Abdul's approach of suggesting a simple first step (building a website) making the idea feel more achievable than previous considerations.

The conversation expanded to include various business models, with Brad, Dayna, and others contributing observations about the market for professional game mastering services. Dayna shared their experience of workplace pressure to run an RPG campaign, providing a concrete example of corporate demand for tabletop gaming experiences. The group collectively worked through the logistics of how such corporate sessions might be structured, identifying both opportunities and challenges in the team-building application of the format.

The group explored corporate team-building as a high-value market segment, establishing a $500 per session baseline for that client type. They contrasted this with pricing for dedicated non-corporate groups, proposing a starting fee in the five-to-six-hundred-dollar range for ongoing private games. The Patreon subscription model received particular attention as a potential revenue stream, with the group debating appropriate tier pricing from $50 to $500 premium tiers, though the specific benefits at each level were not detailed. One participant indicated they would research how other shows structure their professional GMing services and Patreon tiers, specifically mentioning that "Daddy just has done that in the past" as a reference point for established practices.