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If you’ve ever searched online for pen and paper groups, you might have stumbled across paid “professional” games. The Dungeon Master is usually paid per session by the players. But are the paid sessions actually better and was it worth it? I tried paying for D&D sessions. Here’s how it went for me and whether it might be right for you too!
How did the process work?
After I found the game through Roll20.net, I was invited to a Discord server and received lots of nice support with character creation. The characters were created in a central Roll20 room and then exported to the actual game rooms.
Before the session, I had to transfer $10 via PayPal to the person organizing everything. It wasn’t a problem to skip a session occasionally and not pay for it. And then we were off!
How were the paid sessions?
I played in a total of three sessions. The setting was Theros, inspired by Greek mythology. The group was relatively large with 4-6 players and changed every time. The Dungeon Master was also swapped out each time, so the sessions were mainly disconnected “one-shot” adventures.
The game masters had a very good understanding of the rules and access to all the rulebooks on Roll20. They were very competent when it came to roleplaying and the sessions were always fun.
Would I recommend paying for D&D sessions?
I think it’s not fundamentally wrong for Dungeon Masters to receive a small compensation for taking the time to prepare the game. Plus, they’re usually the ones who buy many of the books and make them available to all group members. When playing with friends, the others can bring snacks or similar things, but online it’s mostly just the game master who puts money and time into sessions.
Unfortunately, I felt that the money was too important to cancel a session when the Dungeon Master wasn’t available. This gave me the feeling that I was paying for a worse experience than I could have found for free on Roll20.
I’ve played in several great, free groups online and the biggest difference seemed to be that these Dungeon Masters couldn’t afford all the books and tools. While these tools are nice to have, they’re far from essential for a good gaming experience.
I don’t regret trying it out, but I would recommend starting with free games first. There are plenty of offerings from very good Dungeon Masters and you can always give them something as a token of appreciation if reciprocity is important to you.
If you want to play online yourself, you can learn more here about how and where you can get started!
