not sure if this is the right forum to be posting but im a huge D&D fan and perma-DM, and i love talking about it, from OCs, NPCs, stupid skill combos, and stories of horrible/fantastic players!

i'd love to chat to more players/DMs so i thought i'd make a tentative post here xx

waves Actual professional DM here! All my pets are actually D&D characters I've made because I'm a nerd. I get to play a fair amount which is nice even though I DM far more these days. Always nice to meet fellow players/DMs :)

ahh so sorry, i was a bit confused and considered posting on gaming but it seemed to be directed towards pc/video games rather than tabletop so i was unsure qq

and that is actually my dream job, i was lurking through other boards and saw that you did dnd for a job! i wanted to ask if you actually got paid to DM, and either way how you got to where you are now at dnd? ive tried finding local communities/groups to play in but it's hard to find despite living in a big metropolitan city, we dont really have 'local comic book shops' or such qq i was also intimidated by online groups like roll20 and such since ive heard my fair share of horror stories! i already had a bad start with d&D with a bad crew who mistreated me so i was a little reclusive at first about the hobby T T

I do, and I make about as much as my roomie who works a retail job these days.

Don't be afraid of the online spaces, I do all my work entirely through roll20 so I never have to leave the house. There are def some bad people I've met, and a few I've had to ban, but they are few and far between considering all the amazing people. And honestly when I worked retail I met far more terrible people than I have doing D&D online, honestly.

I got started coz my roomie wanted something for us to do together so we started going to a local place but that really didn't work out. We turned to the internet instead, specifically roll20, and after playing for a few months I decided to try my hand at being a DM. Ran a few free games and got a lot of compliments, then decided hey why not I may as well get paid for this since roll20 allows you to charge for games. Started small, around $3 per person per session, but the more compliments I got the more I started charging until I got into a comfortable range and that's how that happened.

Any time I hear people got mistreated over D&D I always feel bad. I want to give people like you hugs and tell you it's okay and show you a good time because D&D is just honestly so amazing.

ahh that's actually so amazing, im so impressed and you are literally my idol rn doing my dream job! maybe i'll try out roll20 in the future then, to see if i can do something similar. does a reputation need to be built up in order to start charging, or can you just start doing that from the get go? unfortunately im pretty unfamiliar with how roll20 works and how popular it is, or how easily a game can be filled once a DM is established.

and ikr! i always knew that D&D was amazing because i heard soo many fantastic stories from friends, and honestly it was a little on me because i only stuck with that group because i was desperate to try it out myself

Haha, thank you. I honestly never thought I'd be here, but life is funny like that sometimes XD

roll20 does have a bit of a learning curve if you've never used a virtual tabletop before, so I'd suggest playing around with it a little first. There's a tutorial you can go through that's really nice, and if you like D&D shows roll20's YouTube has a bunch of stuff where they did like Tomb of Annihilation and other modules where it's recorded from the DM's side so you can see him using all the features and get a good look at how they work DM side.

From the moment you sign up you can start charging for games, but if people will sign up is another thing. I know for me I always ask what drew people to my game specifically and the two biggest answers are the number of hours I have on roll20 which is displayed publicly on your profile along with when you signed up and the fact that my game listings are extremely organized and I know exactly what I'm looking for and what kind of behavior I will and will not tolerate at my table.

My honest advice is to get yourself familiar with roll20 itself and then run maybe like one free game in your spare time just to get used to the system. Take advice from your players, especially if they've been on site a while and know a few tips and tricks, and go from there. I still learn things every week, honestly!

Also roll20 is just absolutely massive and has a lot of people because it is free. You can pay for games and upgrade your account for more storage and some cool DM features, but you don't have to. There are a few other sites that offer virtual tabletops, but as far as I know they all charge in some capacity which is what makes roll20 as attractive as it is to a lot of people looking to get into virtual tabletops.

I started last year!

The group I found, well, we coalesced into a pretty good friend group, but I think we're a better friend group than we are a D & D group. I'm the sole introvert along with a bunch of extroverts, and I turned into The Rules Lawyer quite quickly since literally I was the only one who really cared about the rules. LOL

Suffice to say we have fun, but...I could wish we got more in-depth into character building and plot. Our DM (who is a lovely person and quite creative) tends to get bored easily and so we've never really finished a campaign. That and the cross-talk chatter across the table gets so loud that you literally can't hear our DM explaining a plot point or conversation or scene except the sole person he's talking to. HUGE pet peeve of mine.

I keep meaning to take steps to maybe find another group that might be more interested in story continuity/character beats and a more respectful cross-table volume, but...well, it's daunting and what I have is kind of good enough, mostly? Also I'm so new to the game I'm still learning how to be a good player, and...well, I guess I consider my current group the equivalent of training wheels.

[edit] Bless. Bless 4 life, and NOBODY APPRECIATES THE BLESS. Until it saves their butts.

[edit] I should also say if you're curious and maybe looking for local groups, I found mine through meetup dot com. It may be hit or miss in your city because it's user-started and if no one's using it to start a group, that might not work, but it's a possible way to connect.

Also, conventions. There are always game areas at a nerd-themed con, and I guarantee whatever local group there is will be holding "drop in" games. I've played a couple of quick one-hour one shots with strangers at cons and that was pretty fun, too, plus they were eager to share details about their group, which was nice. The only reason I haven't taken that group up on the offer is because they're across town from me and I haven't gotten to the point where I can justify the long trip on a weeknight. Plus, introvert.

The official Wizards/D&D stance is that fun matters more than the rules, tbh. Which is why there's a huge negative association with the words 'Rules Lawyer', honestly, but at the same time if no one cares about the rules and the campaign is chaos that's also never really good.

I'm really thankful I started charging because people are more acutely aware it's on their dollar so I when I start talking they shut up and listen usually. The few games I play in are free because I can't justify spending for a paid DM just yet and that seems to be a very abundant problem and I'm usually the one who reminds people to quiet down so the DM can talk or explain or what have you because I have been there, done that and I know how frustrating that is for a DM and for the players who wanna listen.

Meetup is how my roomie and I found the local place we used to play, but we never liked how it was a rotating cast each week aside from us and like 2 other people because so much time was spent getting people set up and caught up that it ate into play time. But yeah, it's a great way to see if there's an existing game in the area honestly. And yes, conventions are amazing places because there's pretty much always a tabletop room and they'll usually be running D&D or Pathfinder or some other ttrpg you can get into, but on the downside conventions can be costly to attend and short-lived, and it can be hit or miss to find a group that way.

I feel you on being an introvert though, I'm one too and I have anxiety issues but somehow D&D just doesn't feel like everything else to me. I don't get the same kind of social draining out of it, even when I run a game, and a lot of my anxiety is eased because I know talking to these people we all have at least one thing in common and things go from there.

Honestly I would recommend checking out online play for you, too. No need for a long trip, all you need is an internet connection, a computer, and maybe a mic because I know at least on roll20 games can be listed as text only, voice only, or video and voice and you can filter your search results to only show whatever. I do voice only because I know not everyone is comfortable having a webcam up or even has a cam, and so far it's been amazing but there are plenty of games that run text only as well or will say voice but will take you if you don't have a mic as long as you can type and keep up with the rest of the group :)

I started a year ago with my ex and his best friend. Our campaign really never got off the ground because of everyone's schedules, now it's pretty non-existent and it sucks because it was just getting good. Plus, I'm not very good with speaking clearly to get my point across so our campaign was helping me with that.

I have Vilania on here loosely based off my D&D character, even though she's a work in progress. I'm thinking I should actually have my complete character on here since the name is free. And use Vilania for a different OC I have in mind.

I probably should have phrased that more like "my expectations for the game are not quite what everyone else's expectations are for the game", because yes, the entire point of a group activity is that everyone has fun. But when I'm not really having fun, then it's a chance to take a look at that and analyze whether it's me being unreasonable about it, or whether the group itself isn't a good fit for me. It's why I took the chance on a couple of one-offs, and I've come to the conclusion that there are folks out there who run games more my style, and that this one just might not be a great fit for me.

For example, one time I said "I cast turn undead" and my DM turns to me and says, "What does that do?"

Routinely, people turn back to the table after full-throated discussions of what they're going to be doing that weekend and say "what did I miss?"

....that's what I mean when I say I became the Rules Lawyer. That might be an inaccurate title, because I guess it carries some connotations. I suppose more accurately, I became the designated "look up everything because you are the only one who regularly brings the book and can look up spells and writes down what we've done each episode." So, yeah. Maybe not a super great fit.

I've made my peace with it, for the most part, and accepted the group for what it is and the level of play for what it's going to be, but part of me still wishes for something a little more in-depth.

I've considered online, but haven't looked seriously at it.

Heh, I'm glad I'm not the only one who imported a DnD character to other sites. :D

I play with a small group of close friends. We aren't super smart about it and like do probably a lot of stuff wrong that other DnDers would hate. But we are just playing in private for fun. I've DM'd a little and about to start a campaign again to give the current DM a break and a chance to be a PC. I enjoy making up stuff but then realize how hard it is when I sit down like trying to make a session.