Hello gamer,

I travel a lot and often use Uber to get around the city I've traveled to. I often ask my driver: "Are you making money?"

I get a lot of yeahs, and a few I don't knows. For the 'yeahs' I ask my follow-up and the real question... are you profitable? To those yes replies, I ask: How do you know?

I've been self-employed since 2006. A digital nomad, solopreneur, WFH Warrior —before those were 'things.' I'm pro-gig economy, but I want folks to be profitable —making money on their gigs. Many, many Uber drivers don't know if they are profitable; my big mom would call this short money. When you take $100 today, even if it costs you more over the week or month, you take the hit of the hidden costs because you need cash now. I’ve lived there, and many folks do.

There is no doubt folks are paying for GMs, DMs, MCs, etc, to run roleplaying games for us. From the Start Playing marketplace to publisher platforms like Magpie games, where they have trained, dedicated GMs running their catalog. But is it profitable? Is it profitable for us, not just the outliers running whale tables that we read about online?

This is kind of easy to math out, like coffee-water ratios! In the world of brewing coffee, the wisdom is to start with a 1:16 ratio. 1g of coffee beans to 16g of water. This is the nice, safe cup of Joe. For us trying to figure out prices, let's say our wisdom is $15 per player per game session. Let's start there - because the IRL numbers are wild! The World's Greatest RPG is the Metric Ton Gorilla on Start Playing, so let's say we're running that game. I can comfortably run five players; I prefer three online. I sometimes see seven for some sessions. Five players, one night of D&D. $15 a ticket. We sell out at $75 for that session. Let's say that session + prep work is four hours for maths. If I'm doing the 40 hours-a-week thing, I'll run a $15 ticket table of five for ten sessions weekly. $750 for the week. $3000 for the month.$36k for the year.

Is that a good income number? That will depend on your personal situation. It's not full gig-worthy for me. I've got kids, a car note, and two giant dogs. I'm diabetic, single -meaning not a two-income household. $36k is good side-hustle money for me, but I can't swing the extra 40 hours on top of my current workload.

We haven't even considered how much of a fee there is to run on these platforms we don't own. Both Start Playing, and Magpie take a cut of the ticket price. What other expenses are being ignored? This is what sneaks up on a lot of gig workers. The hidden expenses.

So like coffee brewing recipes, you'll have to mess with the variables of gig work time and ticket prices to get your desired taste.

Here's how I’d do it for me; you’ll have to tweak the recipe for you.

My GM-for-hire recipe. $20 per player per game session. Sessions are 2.5-3 hours long; for math, I'll call it 3. At five players per session, that's $100 per game session -if I fill the table. If I fill the table.

Four sessions in the week get me $400 a week, $1600 for the month. I'm looking at 12 hours a week + prep time. That workload is more likely for me. I'll need to fill those tables and keep my prep time efficient and you know what that means?! I'm running open table games, preferably sandbox, ideally West Marches. But you knew that was coming!

I would pick two systems that I could run in my sleep. Two systems that can support open-table sessions and, ideally, a west marches premise. All flavors D&D, Mutant Year Zero, Symbaroum, Forbidden Lands, and Lancer are games I've run that fit this bill for sure. I’m stressing the sandbox and West Marches angle because, IMHO, these games connect players, and there is continuity across the sessions. These games have the best parts of campaigns and one-shots.

If I stay with D&D, I will look at big mega dungeon settings like The Dark of Hot Springs Island, Rappah Athuk, etc. Something where I can improv off of what's already there without making it all up whole cloth; that's for later. Kevin Crawford’s Stars (or Worlds) without Number series of tomes are fantastic for this. I've used them in my Mad Lands West Marches games. I'd have someplace to communicate what previous player sessions have done (website, notion, discord, etc). We love lore, and every session run is lore for future sessions.

If I'm doing it right, then weekly, I'm spending 12 hours running these open table games and maybe 1-2 hours prep, let's say 15 hours a week total. Depending on my IRL schedule, I might be able to fit an extra game session in if I'm running under five players per table. This setup isn't much different than how I manage tables I run for convention games. Those are open-tables, one-shots. And I’ve managed three to six sessions over a three-day weekend.

I'd run this setup for a month to see how I feel about the workload, schedule, income, and whether I am having fun. I'm making changes to make things easier for me to run, fun, and easy for the players to engage with. Then I'm looking to add another session of play, something weekly, a campaign of 4-6 sessions of something I want to run, something I enjoy running. 3-4 players. 3-4 hour session. Homeworld RPG or Embers of the Imperium is out. Maybe it's that for six sessions. I'd start with a $30 player per session price. I'd have a dedicated Discord or Slack channel and some online spot for campaign information, details, and player handouts. With my open-table sessions smooth and stable, I have some room to experiment here with prices, sizes, and session lengths. Maybe I'm running new games I want to try in this space instead —but that’s some different math for a later post.

After a few months, if it's all working and still fun. I have to figure out how to get off that platform if it isn't mine, not to avoid fees, but how do players find me when that space fails? I'm looking at this as a side gig but also deciding if this can be my main gig. And do I want that?

I read a lot of "That would be a dream job!" -but don't forget about the 'job' part there. How many gaming stores do we know about failed because those folks were living the dream but forgot the job part? My pop likes to say: 'Folks get the job they wanted and then quit working.'

Soooo. Time to put skin in the game. This is my plan for Start Playing. My short list of offerings is down to D&D 5E(or BX OSE), Twilight 2000, Mutant Year Zero, Lancer, Cy_Borg? and Cortex Prime(sci-fi). I'll have to decide on two of these systems —at least for the short term. I'd love a BX open-table sandbox game. But ignore the D&D 5E beast at your peril! I'd like my second system to be a non-fantasy thing. As I see it, these open-table sessions are the workhorse. It's got to be easy and fun for folks to get into my sessions. These sessions must be fun and easy to prep for and execute - I'll be doing them for fifteen hours a week! I'm already on Start Playing. I'm mostly starting from zero out there. I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of weeks.

I only met one Uber driver who knew he was profitable because he was keeping track, so much so that he knew what fares were worth traveling to go get and which to pass on based on his location. I didn't know it, but Uber drivers aren’t paid for the travel to pick you up. Professional Gamemasters are a gig in the gig economy and are subject to all the hidden costs and short money I see with some Uber drivers. I believe it can be profitable for many who set out on that adventure if they prep for it!