I’ve said before, “Why would I charge you money for something I do for free?”

Anyone who knows me well, knows I don’t really do “perfeshional” anything. The only pros I really want in my life are doctors, nurses, mechanics, therapists, and others who basically keep me alive and/or safe. I prefer having pros who maybe help fix my plumbing, appliances, and house. Okay. Pros are a good thing in some sense.

My loving wife is a teacher. They have two or three professional development days per month. Is it really necessary? I have doubts about the efficacy of those days. My wife gets caught up on work, but her classroom is atypical compared to her regular ed coworkers. I really get the impression their P.D. days.

I don’t hate on professional GM/DMs. I actually admire the fact that they’re making money doing something they enjoy. It’s just not for me. If I had time to even run a game online, I’d happily do it for free.

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

But, the quality, and the amount of pressure the GM is under.

If you want to be my best friend as a player- show up, pay attention, play your character, ask good questions, maybe take some notes, and maybe bring treats. If someone wants to do me a favor, they can tell me they enjoyed the game and had fun. Yay. That’s mostly free. Compliments are free. Being a cool player is basically free.

When someone charges for TTRPG services, the quality had better be there. That is no small amount of pressure to ensure everyone is having a good time, which is a huge variable. Maybe it’s my social anxiety, but I could never justify charging $20-$30 per hour for GM services for fear of screwing up or cheesing someone off.

When people pay money for something, they are going to have high expectations. Some might want to bring characters in from other games or have unrealistic requests for their characters. But they’re paying for services rendered, so now what? I don’t think there’s a way to get an ironclad written document that any player would want to sort through in any reasonable amount of time. I feel sorry for anyone who actually does this DM/GM work because the threat of lawsuit and people begging for refunds surely have to be a problem.

As always, to each his own.

I’ve said before that the supposed GM shortage was bunk. There was no such thing, and never will be. It’s pretty much a gimmick to introduce AI GMs and promote paid VTT GM services. That story, IMO, was concocted by a certain large corporation to try to force more people into online play. It plays on fear, and it’s easily overcome be one player stepping up to be a GM. It’s never been intimidating or difficult.

Ultimately, the choice to hire a professional GM is up to the players and/or the tables. If you want to pay for a GM, that’s great. I know some very good GMs that do charge for their services. I admire their tenacity. It’s just not for me.

I hope whatever you end up doing, that it’s fun. We’ll talk more about the topic of FUN in an article soon. Fun has gotten a bad reputation among a certain section of the TTRPG community. (I call that section “toxic.”)  Enjoy your game. Enjoy your day. Have fun!

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.