Okay, before anyone gets up in arms, I am not going to sit here and call anyone anything or think less of anyone for not wanting to pay for the services of a Game Master.
In fact, I understand. Games are a luxury these days and that’s a fact. Prices are on the rise and some of us simply want to play a game with friends. This is something that I absolutely can get behind.
Another fact, being a Game Master that charges money can turn many players off. It’s a pretty easy, built-in vetting system, one that the Game Master can confidently employ and keep many entitled players away from the table, but it’s a double-edged sword, it also keeps away some good players.
Recently, one of my friends on Twitter expressed the following:
Ben’s quoting the low-end of what he’s found. I’ve seen some do single-session games asking a couple hundred dollars or more per person, per session. $35, in comparison, doesn’t seem all that steep to me. Again, I’m not asking you to accept this and do it yourself, I’m only asking you to consider the a few things and then make the decision for yourself.
One person goes to the movie theater. They go based on the strength of the trailer. While they are there, maybe they would like snacks and drinks. If you figure, on the low end, maybe $20 a ticket and another $15 in snacks, maybe less if you hit the Dollar Tree and you’re good at smuggling your own in. You’ve paid $35 for only 90 minutes and who knows what irritations you’re having to deal with. There are people aiming their phones at the screen, people talking and generally being douchebags and if you don’t like the movie, was it really worth it.
Some will say “A-ha! Gotcha! I buy all my movies from the $5 bin at Walmart!” or “I have a streaming service for less than $10 per month!” or something like that, and that’s fair but the comparison is this.
$35 per session. If that session lasts anywhere from 5 to 6 hours, you’re paying $5.83 per hour for a six-hour session and you not only get to interact, but you are more likely to enjoy your time there. The Game Master makes $140 for that six-hour session and they may have expenses such as providing snacks, books, materials, time spent building their own campaign or purchasing one or even designing a one-shot.
Most of us would do it for free, myself included, but how many of us have had to cancel or have had sessions cancelled because of work on the part of the GM or the player? This GM? That’s their job. They may be very well doing this for a living. So the $23.33 that they make per hour for six hours is needed. Some of us spend more on video games, whether in time or money. In money, you don’t have to spend time grinding and grinding in order to level up. Believe it or not, I have severe problems today trying to get people to accept me on their heists in GTA Online because my level isn’t high enough. I have to grind and grind and these days, I don’t have time for that.
I’ve often said if I could play Magic: The Gathering or D&D as a profession as a young lad, that would be my dream job but there’s so much I hadn’t considered. During playtesting of decks, players will have all-day freak-outs over one single card in the deck, agonizing over whether to include it or replace it. Look at how much is on the line for these guys. It’s all they do. All day, every day and they have to live off the winnings. The professional GM has to travel, go to conventions, go to gaming stores, rent halls sometimes. The time and money investment on their part means they will provide more value.
Let’s go back to the movie/TV reference for just a moment. Consider how much we used to pay for cable. I’m old enough to remember basic cable being only $30 per month and there were so many channels open to me. On top of that, going to the movie theater was a rare experience. I also bought movies on DVD. None of them were ever interactive and some movies, I didn’t like. I soured on some TV shows. Reality TV just wasn’t my thing and some shows, I knew for a fact, took big creative liberties.
Recently, fans of Star Wars have been under attack to the point where we’ve walked away from anything new being produced. Our argument being “I can play better than what is being written.”
One of the most cost-effective ways to do that? This game right here…
Is this Star Wars? No. It’s Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. James Spahn can’t use anything trademarked by Disney or Lucasfilm, so, The Force became The Way, The Jedi became Space Knights…you get the idea. Between these two books, I can stay faithful to the existing lore in the movies, those whom have read all the books and played all the games can give me stuff they’d like to see in the game and I can craft an adventure. There’s nothing stopping me from calling The Way “The Force” or calling your Space Knight a “Jedi” at the table. It just couldn’t be published that way.
Now, for six hours of you playing a
Space smuggler, a space knight, a bounty hunter, so on and so forth that performs better than what Disney has to offer, would you pay $35 to see that movie or own it? I would! In fact, at most, what’s being charged for the Original Trilogy on Blu-Ray on Amazon is $27.99 plus shipping (with Prime) brings it to $29.84 to be here by Wednesday. I’ll grant you that it’s a cheaper option and the runtime lasts a bit longer but do you get to play a part? No. If you think of a character that you have ever wanted to play whether it’s a space wizard, space knight, smuggler, bounty hunter, an ace X-Wing pilot, a character that turns to the dark side, how is that not worth the value? Let me also ask, with the prequel trilogy, how many were disappointed with that? Better, how many of us have been disappointed with the sequels?
Making our own at the table, together, makes the value worth it to me.
Then there’s the D&D Movie Honor Among Thieves …Do any of us still want to give Disney or WoTC the money? I’d rather give that to a Game Master who might know what they’re doing. I’d rather have fun.
It’s okay to talk to the Game Master in question to see what it is they know and how they plan on running things to get their pitch and decide whether it’s right for you but there is value in what services they provide and now you have a vested interest in it, there’s even more reason to respectfully negotiate some things.
Again, this isn’t something you must do but I want to ask you to at least consider these points. The end goal is for everyone to enjoy themselves. With both you having a vested interest in having that fun and with the GM wanting to keep you coming back to the table, then it’s in everyone’s best interest to go to the table and learn how to present themselves well and be convincing without being entitled about it.
These are just things to be considered.