How do you become a better Game Master? What are the tools of the trade for a Game Master? Is it possible to develop a business out of this skillset? These were all questions at the first professional development for Game Masters at Badwolf Adventure studio.
I had the opportunity to attend the event. I also moderated a panel on Professionalization for Game Masters. I have played table top role playing games twice in my life. I have not played the most popular one Dungeons & Dragons. I have also followed the industry over the years as I am a Gen X’er with plenty of friends that played D&D in college.
Are you familiar with the industry behind D&D? If not, I would suggest watching this short video from CNBC about the game. On the surface, it is easy to dismiss D&D as just some niche nerd industry. As you will see in the video, over 85 million people worldwide have played this game- and the industry is going through explosive growth. Wizards of the Coast has brought in over $1 billion in yearly revenue since 2021. Watch the video to learn more about the industry!
I had four key observations from attending this event.
Becoming a good Game Master requires an integrated skillset
Good Game Masters are built, not born. It requires continuous development to ensure the best experiences are being created for the players.
Let’s use the theater industry as an analogy to describe what Game Masters are doing. They are often writing the scripts and adventures, preparing the set for the game, directing the game, and playing one of the leading roles (to guide players). They are doing this against the backdrop of also ensuring all the participants have a great experience. It requires a lot of different skills that are balanced out over the course of the game.
There are some professions where you learn a core skillset. Once you build it- and execute that same skillset over and over again. This is not one of those professions. It’s a very hands on experience. It that requires creativity and often some improvisation.
The topic of paying Game Masters came up in several ways throughout the day. Game Masters recognize there are many skills that must be built to truly be good at this role. There can be a lot of pushback from communities on the idea of money changing hands. It's viewed as a hobby. How dare you charge for it?
Here is where my perspective as Editor of Handmade Seller magazine can help. It is much like the pushback that an artist or a candlemaker gets when they charge for their products. Some will view any price that is more than $0 as too much. This can lead you to be frustrated and try to convince them that it is worth money. In my personal experiences, this is a road to nowhere.
If you get pushback about charging for being a Game Master, this is valuable information. Developing any business requires customers with a willingness to pay. In those cases, those prospective customers don't have a willingness to pay. This allows you to move on to the audiences that value that skillset. Look for those with a willingness to pay. Shifting the focus to the places where you can grow and on the integrated skillsets that provide value is a more productive exercise. It moves you into a place of curiosity and creation. And one step closer to a business that works as a business.
There are many different pieces of hardware and software to enhance the experience
Badwolf Adventure Studios hosts TTRPG games facilitated by Game Masters. I was amazed at how far all the supporting technology has come for the industry. From products like Dynamic Dungeons to project maps on to gaming tables to Huetro to control the lighting, there are an increasing number of tech choices available.
Every time you introduce a new piece of technology or a new tool- people need to be trained on those tools. There is also a lot of trial and error with the tools to determine how they fit in for a particular Game Master. In the session I attended, there were a number of “Oh, I didn’t know it could do THAT” to “what happens if you try xyz?” Having time to explore the technology with a trainer was clearly beneficial to the participants.
Professionalization is possible through a thoughtful approach to business development
As part of the professionalization panel, I had the opportunity to interview three people with very unique business models in the industry: Chase McAllister of Badwolf Adventure Studios, Marcus of Dragons Dungeons & Drinks, and Jordan Peacock of Sortilege.
There were many thoughtful considerations as part of this discussion. There are so many opportunities for new things that all participants discussed community over competition. So many existing businesses use a winner take all strategy. Seeing others win is something to be jealous of, not something to celebrate. But that was not the vibe as part of this discussion. Many of these businesses are in the earlier phase of their business lifecycle, and actively working to build community. There were many interesting considerations as part of the business model and professionalization conversation:
What are your ultimate goals that drive the experience you are creating?
Have you joined in with the rest of the existing community yet so you can understand what is available already? This can provide valuable information.
Think about how you can create offerings that expand what is available in the industry. It’s the rising tide lifts all boats analogy. What can you create that welcomes new people to the industry while leveraging your skills?
Carefully consider how fast you want to grow- do you want to own all of what you create, or franchise it? Marcus shared “Owning it creates a higher ceiling for how high it goes, while franchising creates a floor of what’s required. Think through which one works for what you are creating.”
Online versus in person- which is better? Jordan shared “I do both. They can both work if designed properly and meet different types of audience needs. It all goes back to the goals of what you are trying to create.”
How do I price it? Pricing is not easy for most businesses. Think about the model that will make it a viable business. If it’s too cheap customers won’t really value it and you don’t have any margins to grow it. But if it’s too expensive you limit how many will come through the door. Chase shared a great example from Badwolf’s early days. “I remember when we switched to a subscription model for games. It was really scary to make that change. Will people pay it? We realized yes they would. And it allowed us to do other things. Once we had the subscription model in place, we no longer had to charge for our Intro to D&D training. These sessions are now routinely full because we don’t have to have that revenue.” Badwolf was able to use the adjustments to their model to support initiatives that help grow the overall business.
Opportunities exist at many levels of the industry
A resounding theme of the day was that there are still so many opportunities in this industry. It is a growing industry. This is where integrating into what is already available can be so helpful for new businesses. The audiences for many businesses is really the whole fandom for a particular TTRPG. So the collaboration strengthens the offerings for the fandom for ways to engage and immerse yourself. Food for thought as you work to build out your business.
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