Have you ever paid someone to write part or all of your campaign?

[WereRabbitz]

I was curious how you guys would feel about paying someone to write part of your campaign? I know with family and work I sometimes get stretched a bit thin, and once paid a guy online to write up a dungeon to the specs of my story line and it went very well for many reasons.

The guy didn't charge much and he provided dungeon material written in the same quality as the D&D Premades with maps and interactive puzzles and I was able to finish out some longer term details on the campaign. I didn't tell my group, but it seemed like a alright deal to me. I off loaded some generic parts of the campaign to someone who has DM'd before and I can work on the more intricate storyline.

It also gave me some perspective and threw my players for a loop as his style was different then my own so I gained a couple ideas from reading it and my players got a nice surprise.

So all and all I wouldn't pay someone to write my whole campaign, but off loading a side quest from time to time doesn't seem like a terrible idea at all.

Any thoughts?

[Sigreid]

Um, sort of? I tend to buy adventure paths and modules, cut them apart and use the pieces to do my own thing.

[SirGraystone]

Isn't that what Dungeon Magazine was use for?

[Nifft]

Um, sort of? I tend to buy adventure paths and modules, cut them apart and use the pieces to do my own thing.


Isn't that what Dungeon Magazine was use for?

These are basically what my smart-ass answer was going to be.


Also sometimes I ask random strangers here on the internet for advice, for which I occasionally pay SAN points.

[Davrix]

Its no different from commissioning someone for an art work or a story

As long as the price is reasonable and you feel like you got your monies worth then there is no problem.

[willdaBEAST]

I think valuing work involved with games and hobbies like DnD is always a good thing. As I've repeated ad nauseam in threads about professional DMs, creative work is almost always undervalued. It can be hard to accurately gauge how it should be appraised, but even on these forums you see people totally fine with sub-minimum wage payment or balking at the idea that anyone should get paid for anything relating to DnD.

A lot of the podcasts and streams do exactly what WereRabbitz is talking about: Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc: C-Team are some examples.

It's easy to burn out and even at the top it seems that no one has the luxury to solely support themselves off of DnD (maybe there are a few DMs out there). My philosophy has always been, don't we want that to be a reality? Shouldn't we encourage those possibilities?

TL;DR: I think it's great to pay someone to write part of your campaign, it can also be a good way to promote diversity or tackle sensitive topics. Do you struggle as a man to write strong female characters, or write for different ethnic groups? Hire someone with those life experiences to help!

[Sigreid]

I think valuing work involved with games and hobbies like DnD is always a good thing. As I've repeated ad nauseam in threads about professional DMs, creative work is almost always undervalued. It can be hard to accurately gauge how it should be appraised, but even on these forums you see people totally fine with sub-minimum wage payment or balking at the idea that anyone should get paid for anything relating to DnD.

A lot of the podcasts and streams do exactly what WereRabbitz is talking about: Critical Role and Acquisitions Inc: C-Team are some examples.

It's easy to burn out and even at the top it seems that no one has the luxury to solely support themselves off of DnD (maybe there are a few DMs out there). My philosophy has always been, don't we want that to be a reality? Shouldn't we encourage those possibilities?

TL;DR: I think it's great to pay someone to write part of your campaign, it can also be a good way to promote diversity or tackle sensitive topics. Do you struggle as a man to write strong female characters, or write for different ethnic groups? Hire someone with those life experiences to help!

My only quibble is creative endeavors are paid what they are worth since something is only worth what people will pay for it by definition. That doesn't mean you have to be happy about the value people put on it though.

[willdaBEAST]

My only quibble is creative endeavors are paid what they are worth since something is only worth what people will pay for it by definition. That doesn't mean you have to be happy about the value people put on it though.

My problem with that is we have no problem putting an arbitrary minimum payment by the hour for rote manual labor, or unskilled tasks, but have a double standard for creative endeavors. This is often justified by, "but it's fun!", "think of the exposure you're getting!", etc. You can't pay rent with exposure, but you can die from it.

I'd argue that all work is only worth what we'll pay for it by definition, we just have an easier time quantifying concrete tasks. Paying someone to move a stack of cinderblocks from one side of a field to another has a much more clearer duration and purpose than writing a poem about cinderblocks.

My recurring example that was provided in one of the paid DM threads was an anecdote about a guy DMing children's parties. He'd have a table of about 6-8 kids paying $5 for a 4 hour session. A babysitter would get more than $40 to watch 8 kids for 4 hours, they might even get paid more to watch 2 kids for that same period of time.

[WereRabbitz]

It depends on the Quality and Price for sure, but it's not to have a break from time to time and it's never wrong to get some help on these things.


I kind liked the idea of everyone pitching in a few dollars and having a third person write the campaign and everyone take turns being the DM. That way everyone gets a chance to play and no one has to spend a ton of work "after hours" working on the campaign.

[Sigreid]

My problem with that is we have no problem putting an arbitrary minimum payment by the hour for rote manual labor, or unskilled tasks, but have a double standard for creative endeavors. This is often justified by, "but it's fun!", "think of the exposure you're getting!", etc. You can't pay rent with exposure, but you can die from it.

I'd argue that all work is only worth what we'll pay for it by definition, we just have an easier time quantifying concrete tasks. Paying someone to move a stack of cinderblocks from one side of a field to another has a much more clearer duration and purpose than writing a poem about cinderblocks.

My recurring example that was provided in one of the paid DM threads was an anecdote about a guy DMing children's parties. He'd have a table of about 6-8 kids paying $5 for a 4 hour session. A babysitter would get more than $40 to watch 8 kids for 4 hours, they might even get paid more to watch 2 kids for that same period of time.
I agree on the arbitrary wages. I also do agree that people frequently do not understand how much they value artistic or entertainment endeavors. I dont pirate entertainment items simply because each dollar spent is a vote for the kind of material I wish them to create more of.

All that said, if the art dries up people will find within themselves the motivation to figure out what they really think it is worth.

[Nifft]

My problem with that is we have no problem putting an arbitrary minimum payment by the hour for rote manual labor, or unskilled tasks, but have a double standard for creative endeavors. This is often justified by, "but it's fun!", "think of the exposure you're getting!", etc. You can't pay rent with exposure, but you can die from it.

That's not really a double-standard, it's just a tactic used to rip off creative types.

There are other tactics used to rip off other types of people.

- Pay for your uniform in advance (one rip off vs. service industry people).

- Pay for headshots (i.e. pay to have a resume, rip off vs. actors / models).

- Unpaid internships are free labor.

- Mandatory unpaid overtime is free labor.

- Etc.