What's the deal with Pro Game Masters (GMs)?

Today, I’ll be talking about why we started our Game Master for Hire initiative and some of the major frustrations I see when on the group message boards.

My husband Jason and I started this business in 2013 because we believe deep in our hearts that play is important and that it can change lives. After years of creating fun, exciting interactive programs for kids, we have embarked on adding high quality virtual tabletop role playing game experiences for adults.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Dungeons & Dragons message boards with folks looking for virtual games. There is something that comes up a lot when I tell people that we offer professional games in our Game Master for Hire program.

If you are a gamer, let me know if you’ve ever had this question: When someone calls themselves a professional Game Master, what does that mean?

For lots of people, it simply means that:

they have some experience running Dungeons & Dragons games or something similar and
they have signed up with a service that will list their pay to play games.

Let me give you some more detail.

A Bit of History

Professional Game Masters or Dungeon Master is not a role that there is a professional certification for. There is no governing board deciding who gets to be a professional game master, no regulations and no standards that they have to live by. In our current world, anyone with experience running role playing games can take on the moniker of a professional.

A bit of history – in 2017, Wired featured an article on pro GM Timm Woods who was making a living of $250+/hour running Dungeons & Dragons games in Manhattan. This idea spurned lots of other people wanting to make careers (or at least a side hustle) out of pay to play D&D.

Fast forward to 2020 and the pandemic – people were looking for ways to supplement their income by using their skills. In fact, it was March of 2020 when we pivoted to start to offer our in-person Dungeons & Dragons games for kids to a virtual format and started discussing a program for adults.

Are any games worth paying for?

Please don’t get me wrong – when I say that Pro-GMs don’t have a governing board certifying their status, that does not mean that I think no one offering this service deserves to call themselves professionals.

Game Masters have a skill that is often worth paying for. The time and talent it takes to offer high quality virtual or in-person tabletop game experiences is unique. Game Masters (pro or not) spend hours prepping for games and spend a considerable amount of money on extras that help create fun, exciting experiences for their players.

But since the pandemic, there has been an explosion of people taking the Pro-GM moniker which has left players confused and sometimes disillusioned about what to expect when paying to play in their games. Because of this, some people have had bad experiences which end up giving ‘pay to play’ a bad name.

I’d like to talk about how the Mastermind Adventures GM for Hire initiative is different.

How are the Mastermind Adventures Professional Game Masters Different?

You can see that the current market for pro-game masters is in a sort of a ‘wild west’ stage. It’s really hard to know who to trust or what kind of quality you can expect from professional GMs. It’s hard to know what kind of standards that GMs follow, who to trust and who is worth your time and money.

There are 3 reasons why we are different.

THE VETTING PROCESS: Our professional game masters have passed the test to prove that they can offer a professional level of games, storytelling and service. To become one of our GMs, applicants must go through several interviews with people at different levels of the company. They must submit videos of sample games showing their gaming style. They have to pass a background check and agree to a professional code of conduct. AND they have to go through training and agree to contribute to the larger community.
BACKGROUNDS & EXPERIENCE: The GMs who we hire have backgrounds in theater, performance, voice acting, improv, live action role play, teaching and storytelling. They all have years of experience offering tabletop role playing game experiences – some are even professional game designers or writers.
COMMUNITY NOT COMPETITION: We have designed this initiative to create a community of support around the game masters. They help each other and work together. They have each other’s backs, have fun together and want to help each other succeed.

We have confidence in recommending games to you, because we know that each and every player will be treated with respect, regardless of your level of experience. We truly want to help you find your perfect game, because play is important – community is important and we don’t want to waste your time.

We’re here to save you time and money

To wrap things up, I just want to say that, Adventurer – I see you! I know that you have limited time and limited budget, and you just want to have fun and find like-minded people where you can play your game and connect with others.

I understand that the choices are overwhelming.

As a community of gamers, we are looking out for you and that’s why we put so much time and effort into finding some of the very best game masters in the country who want to play with you.

Since 2013, we have created one of a kind experiences for hundreds of our clients, and we are dedicated to helping you find your perfect game.

We want you to feel safe so you can relax and just have fun. After all, isn’t that what it’s all about?

Thank you!

If you are looking for a high quality D&D game for any age, you can book some time with our adventure specialist, Kayleigh who will ask you some questions to help us make personalized recommendations for you to find your perfect game.

We are here for you because you have always wanted to play.

Krysten Callina
Founder & CEO
Mastermind Adventures