Launch HN: StartPlaying.Games (YC W20) – Tabletop RPGs run by pro game masters

I guess what I am saying is, when all those costs are considered, premium GM at $25 does not sound unreasonable. I am not sure if the market would accept more, but then.. DnD has become mainstream. I would not bet against it.

I am in my first paid campaign now, and as a first time player my sense was that probably 80% of it was really complicated and could be stripped away for simplicity. Things like: speed, rolling for character creation, initiative, casting times, etc. These are sacrosanct to DnD players but there is a much larger gamer/board game crowd that doesn’t care. They want to get to the exciting story moments where you roll a D20 and win or lose, that’s it, in about 10 minutes.

First there was Dwarf Fortress and then there was Minecraft. I think there is an opportunity for the Minecraft of DnD, appealing to 10x as many people.

Well, yeah, people need materials to play - that's just a given and it doesn't change if you're paying a DM or not. Realistically though, you're talking about playing in the single most expensive manner possible:

* D&D Beyond content sharing reduces the cost of manuals since they only need to be purchased once (no more fighting over the PHB or making everyone buy their own, plus associated splatbooks with character options)

* Dice are $20 for a 1lb bag, and while everybody having multiple sets is useful you technically only need a single d4, d6, d10, d12 and d20 per player (d100's are just d10, roll one twice)

* I don't get the obsession with mini's. But I also think if you're going to run grids you're better off buying a Foundry VTT license and throwing the map on your TV, which will set you back less than the cost of a single mini in most cases; I generally stick to theater of the mind for in-person sessions and use Sly Flourish's Zone-based Combat when there's an encounter that takes place outside of a 30x30 area

Babysitting if you're a single parent or have a spouse that plays and food don't have any good options to reduce cost, unfortunately.

Note I'm only trying to say D&D is as expensive as a hobby as you want it to be. To play anything other than the three box sets that include the core rules (Starter Kit, Essentials Kit, D&D vs Rick and Morty) you literally need the PHB, a bag of assorted dice and an adventure (published or your own). Hell, you can skimp on the PHB and play with the SRD5 document and need nothing but dice.

> I guess what I am saying is, when all those costs are considered, premium GM at $25 does not sound unreasonable. I am not sure if the market would accept more, but then.. DnD has become mainstream. I would not bet against it.

Except it's a premium DM at $125-150 per week, all players considered. For those that don't need babysitters (because they don't have children, have a spouse that will watch the children, or they play online) that's way more than buying pizza when it's your week. I'm not going to say the price is unreasonable given that's $6.25/hr (less, considering prep time), but it's not enough for anybody to make a living on without severe short-cuts being made in prep work (thus ruining the point of a paid DM in the first place, since anybody can do it if they get over whatever perceived problem is preventing them from doing so).

Being a parent, much like being a married, doesn't mean you stop being your own person. Everybody needs time to do their own thing, away from their partner and children; as much as we love them we also need to take care of our own wants and needs.

So yes, absolutely, speak with your partner and figure out some time you both can step away guilt-free. And keep in mind that groups are more than willing to accommodate your needs.