Comments on: Making Money by Being a GM

By: The Chatty DM

The Chatty DM — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:23:41 +0000

While I don’t know if GMing for hire will succeed or fail, I stand strongly behind Phil and am also his first client.

I do however agree with you that a change is coming. Being heavily involved in the RPG blogging market I can feel deep in my gut that there’s a shift of the talent pool from Forums to Blogs.

Having discussed it with some industry people, they give Bloggers more and more authority and listen to us (Heck I got my open letter to Hasbro be actually read by management over there!)

I too am looking at non-advertising driven ways of making money out of the work I do. I think e-books and starting a RPG imprint of licensed material is the way to go.

By: Jamie Sims

Jamie Sims — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:11:42 +0000

Making money out of this hobby is a thorny issue . The hobby itself leans away from any kind of corporate success in so much as the ‘action’ really takes place in the imaginations of the players. Quite often the best games are had when not enough or only incorrect figures are to be found , when you think back to the events of a game you dont get a picture of the figures and floorplans in your head do you?

As for people needing help with creativity though, get this ,
A couple of years back I co-hosted a panel entitled ‘The role of the GM’ at The World science Fiction Convention in L.A. and one of the questions asked was ;

One of my players has a very high level cleric whos out of control. How can I reign him in ?

No really , I replied ‘how pious has this cleric been lately?’ and the guy was elated , so much so that he came and thanked me profusely afterwards. Another question was how to deal with players who just disrupt the game , answer , you dont invite them. But the point is , people obviously do need help with their Gming.

Oh and Hi Rob , Andy Norman put me on to your site after you took Mr chambers to the airport the other day. I have one pic that fits your excellent site name pretty well. Although quite sketchy , its dynamic. Drop us a mail and I’ll send it you. Love what youre doing here btw .

Jamie.

By: DNAphil

DNAphil — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:02:02 +0000

First, thank you for the link and your discussion about the idea of GM consulting. I will say that it is a very niche market, and likely not a service for everyone. As for if people will pay for GM advice, I will state that people are willing to pay to attend workshops and seminars at conventions to listen to various GM’s (including myself) give GM advice.

What I am offering, which I think sets myself apart from the vast amount of blog articles and forum posts (which I contribute to both), is that I am offering one-on-one advice. I think you see that in a somewhat limited form online, when people post responses to a discussion thread, or write a custom blog article.

As for taking away the best things that make being a GM, that is coming up with ideas, I agree with you. I would rather a developing GM hire me to help teach them methods of generating ideas, so that they can grow as a GM and, to be honest, not need my services in the future.

I think that while a large number of GM’s have access to the internet and its generalized concepts and ideas, there a number of GM’s who have specific issues that are not addressed in the general blogging market, and that is where I would come in, as your personal GM Consultant.

As for any illusions about this being a sound business venture, I have none. In fact I am at my day job right now, getting the day started. What I am really offering an extension of what I have done in years past at GenCon, but this time providing it in a one-on-one environment, and tailored to the needs of an individual GM.

I think the topic of making a business out of the RPG hobby is an interesting one, and I appreciate the the post and your views.