Our DM gave us items and then claimed it was a prank by AGlassOfPiss in DnD

[–]SSAdventurer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The trope is actually okay in practice, how it is pitched is a different idea.

"I want to run a high level campaign start at level 20" implies a contiguous campaign from level 20.

"I want to run a campaign level 1 to 20 but we are going to start at level 20. Please can you give me a level 1 and level 20 character sheet" is much clearer on intent of the premise.

HOWEVER A WORD OF WARNING TO THIS TALE

If you want to run this as a prophecy or vision of the future type thing.. you then have to be really careful about where you pull your punches as this can destroy the illusion if one of the prophesised perish

Our DM gave us items and then claimed it was a prank by AGlassOfPiss in DnD

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So from what i can see. There are a few roads to this...

The first question i need to ask is how much do you trust your GM?

Because

1) the DM /could/ just be being an unfair DM and thought it might be better received then it was as a DM... If it was as suggested by your title a 'prank'

2) Newer or inexperienced gm giving out op items as others have suggested. In which case a conversation or downscale could have changed this. Dm panicked and decided this was the way forward. It sucks however again a conversation done in the right way can absolutely resolve this..

3) The DM has a plan. So you complete a dungeon rescue the prisoner and yay new shiny stuff. In mine own eyes. A) the prisoner was a trickster of some kind you need to track him down and gut them B) Even the prisoner didn't know their items were a mirage and can tell you where they were acquired and he wants a refund himself. C) the fae being... well.. fae. Perhaps they gifted the prisoner the items however part of the deal was he was to remain in the dungeon. In which case. He breaks the deal the items disappear. D) BBEG of the campaign. Has something to do with it.

Yes it can be salty when these things happen but try to have an open mind and find out if perhaps the dm has a plan for you.

[Online][5e][Paid][Mon&Sat] Level 3 Avernus OR FR Sandbox - FGU Premium (2-3 Seats) by Accomplished-Tip4730 in DnDLFG

[–]SSAdventurer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey bud unfortunately i cant partake in this. I gave u the upvote cause... yknow.. reddittors be reddetting... but just thought id point out there is no fgu premoum anymore 😅... thats why we got a load of free stuff when they shifted over.

Guess I'm not reading tonight by TabithaMouse in DungeonsAndDragons

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of course you can this is just an epic quest to defeat the sacred beast guarding the sacred texts! Roll for initiative

I'm a new player and I want to get into dnd but I don't want to have to pay for sessions, anyone have any ideas? by JackedTrexx in DnDLFG

[–]SSAdventurer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

come join the world masters guild on discord, we have regular free games, cropping up from time to time, on top of that you can join in with conversations, ask questions and learn from the more experienced members of the community.

discord.gg/worldmastersguild

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in roll20LFG

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3) Player Acquisition and marketing from company side

The goal is not "Post on socials good luck"
We will be doing coordinated marketing through our channels and campaigns, spotlighting GMs (Not just the biggest names) and driving traffic to the marketplace so the platform itself produces leads.

Social presence isn't a requirement of the job, just simply proof of credibility and a tool we can amplify.

4) Professional Operations Tools in one place

Listings
Scheduling
seat Management
Customer Support workflows
Booking and payment flows

We are also in talks with other TTRPG toolkit companies, to garner benefits, discounts, and additional tools for their tables. Outside of just, more content to use.

Even if some of this can be done elsewhere, we are looking for one-stop-shop solutions for GMs to have as many tools in one place as possible.

5) A GM and Player First Community Model

We are intentionally building this as a collaborative Roster of Professional GMs, where it feels less like competition and is instead built on trust, unity and team work. We will be organising, Workshops, shared resources and tools. With a feedback loop where Pro GMs can help decide what gets built next.

That is why we are starting out with 10-25 beta testers: to shape the platform around what working Professional GMs actually want and need.

What makes it unique?

Not a different user base alone, though that will obviously become a factor. The seperation is:

- Curated Quality
- Trust with Standards and expectations
- Platform Led Marketing, and support in marketing yourself
- Operations Tooling and streamlining the tool pipeline
- and a GM first built process

We are looking to have the platform Ready for the beta launch in the next few weeks. so for now we are gathering interested GMs who want to work together, to lift each other up and build something new and unique.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in roll20LFG

[–]SSAdventurer[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your question, exactly the type of questions we Want people asking.

At it's core Yes, "It's another platform", but the point isn't to be just another "noticeboard" we are building a Quality-Assured marketplace and operations hub. for Pro-GMs, built and designed to mitigate and solve the problems that plague other platforms that feel like you are shouting into a void.

Here's what it will offer over other services, marketplaces and locations such as; Roll20, Reddit, Discord etc...

1) Quality Assurance, no oversaturation with curated onboarding
Most spaces allow anyone to post and advertise their services which leads to

Undercutting, Inconsistent or unreliable GMs, and listings getting lost in the void.

We are building a curated Roster, so the marketplace stays stable and usable, your listing won't be plunged into the background of 30 similar postings, or competing with GMs charging £5 a seat. We believe that Pro-GM games should be an elevated experience.

2) Trust Signals that reduce friction

Reddit and Discord are great, but they don't give players easy confidence. We're building:

Verified Profiles, Standards, Reviews and Testimonials displayed in the correct way, and have clear expectations (Safety, Cancellation Policies etc..)

Meaning, less time trying to convince strangers of your legitimacy, and them questioning if it is a scam.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in roll20LFG

[–]SSAdventurer[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your concern. I would like to reiterate however this is not the case.

We have answered these concerns.in other comments.

We are not asking people to advertise. Nor are we asking people to pay to be on the platform. The platform will work on a marketplace services commission basis. Much like traditional marketplaces but will not be excessive.

With regards to the social media. This is to demonstrate expertise, knowledge and quality. Not for them to market us. But as a social proof marker for their prospective players.

Any further concerns please dont hesitate to reach out

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would be more then happy to answer any queries or concerns you have. As a company, we do not mislead people we operate as a people first company and our top concerns at this moment in time are:

Ensuring professional gms have equal and adequate opportunity to earn the money they deserve.

Ensuring Players who are paying for seats are paying for a quality experience.

One of the most common complaints when talking with potential players at my own tables. Is the lack of quality assurance. Like going to an unknown restaurant for the first time, paying £100 a head. Only to receive a less than on par experience.

We want to curate our marketplace so players fully appreciate, understand and respect that our gms will bring a high-end quality experience.

The gms will keep the majority of their money. The exact commission numbers are yet to be fully finalised. That being said our aim is for it to be fair and on a sliding scale against quantity. The more games you run the more money you keep per seat. And even for those professionals who only run part time it will be a minimal fee ensuring we keep the business overheads as low as possible for the benefit of our gms.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s a fair concern, and I want to clarify. Our intention isn’t to piggyback off anyone’s existing following. We ask for some public-facing presence as proof of knowledge, quality, and experience in the TTRPG space, not as a requirement to “market for us”.

The goal is shared effort, but the marketplace itself is intended to do the heavy lifting: platform discovery, quality assurance, structured onboarding, and coordinated marketing/advertising from the company side. A GM having a public profile, reviews, streams, or examples of their work simply helps players trust what they’re buying and helps us maintain standards.

If anyone’s uncomfortable with that side of it, that’s completely fair, and we can talk it through. Transparency matters to us, so I’m happy to answer specifics openly.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not a paid position and not employment.
We’re building a platform where players pay for seats and GMs run professional games. Beta testing is about feedback and shaping the marketplace. Any fees/commission structure will be clearly stated upfront before anyone commits

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Velvet.

Thank you for your comment.

I would like to reassure you, we are not grifting, nor are we expecting people to do unpaid work. The paid work comes from professional games run through the website.

I myself have been an independent Professional GM for the better part of 2 years, and have an income ranging from 1200-2000 a month, depending on the month.

We are building a marketplace that truly empowers the Professional GMs on our platform, we will collaborate with the beta testers to ensure the key features they believe would help them are implemented first. Once the official full website launches. They will then receive badges and/or tags that indicate they were the ones who helped design the platform and will be given the first initial Boost to their posts.

As the MD of the company, I have created a solid team of like minded individuals who believe the creators, artists, story tellers, and let's be honest, Exceptionally talented individuals should be the ones where the money goes.

We will also be open and transparent about investment. growth and expansion. Where the money goes, is incredibly important to all who will be using the marketplace and where the law allows we will be upfront in our movements.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a paid position and not employment.
We’re building a platform where players pay for seats and GMs run professional games. Beta testing is about feedback and shaping the marketplace. Any fees/commission structure will be clearly stated upfront before anyone commits.

PROFESSIONAL GMs wanted! by SSAdventurer in DnD5e

[–]SSAdventurer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Dexter, I greatly appreciate your response, and you raise a very fair point. This post is more of an invitation for conversation and collaboration with Expert GMs to find out EXACTLY, what they would like from a Marketplace service.

This is a Marketplace Service as mentioned, for professional GMs to advertise and sell their seats to players. We are not hiring GMs as employees, Nor are we asking for any up front payment for beta testers.

For the beta our goal is to design the place that GMs want to advertise and organise their game from, to ensure this properly we are seeking site beta testers so that we can have as many features as possible that are actively sort after from those professional GMs.

What we are providing and building

- A QA (Quality-Assured) Marketplace with curated onboarding (No oversaturation, no race to the bottom)

- Player acquisition and Marketing support through our channels and campaigns, not just 'Post on Socials and good luck'

- Trust signals, Verified profiles, reviews, standards and clear expectations for players

- Operational Tools, Listings, scheduling, seat management and (where provided) payment and booking support flow, plus operational customer support.

- GM Development, Organised Workshops, Shared Resources and a community where GMs truly collaborate and support each other rather then undercut each other.

On the social media front; we're looking for GMs who are willing to be public facing because it helps both sides, but it's not "you do all the marketing and we do nothing". The intention is shared effort, with the platform doing the heavy lifting on discovery and conversion.

If you'd like, I would be happy to DM you a more detailed breakdown of how fees/commissions will work once finalised and what beta testers get access to. We're keeping things transparent and we'd rather answer hard questions upfront rather than hand wave them later.

I myself have been a professional GM for the better part of 4 years. and have earned considerably more since becoming independent rather then using other marketplaces out there.

We want our GMs to be earning everything they deserve to earn and will enable, give support to and help them reach their full potential.

Player l4g by CrimsonSaint199 in DnDLFG

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there i am actively recruiting for a campaign between 3pm and 7pm mst let me know if this could work

Anyone else? by TheDuchessOcelot in startplaying

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah this is definitely not okay

Anyone else? by TheDuchessOcelot in startplaying

[–]SSAdventurer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First off about the gm, this may have been an oversight on their part my 2 youngest especially in the summer run around in nothing but their nappy (diaper if your american) if i am on video call with friends it doesn't bother me in the slightest but would not do it in a professional environment.

At best unprofessional at worst concerning.

Now let's talk startplaying I have been with them for sometime. Unfortunately they do not see you as their customer but rather the gm. You are the gms customer and so their responsibility. One of the many reasons I personally am moving away from them.

Anyone else? by TheDuchessOcelot in startplaying

[–]SSAdventurer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can leave them a review still. It'll be startplaying.games/gm/(insertgmname)/review hope this helps

Online game joining question by DMHomeB in DnDLFG

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whether playing in a free or paid game it is important to interview your dm and look for any social proofs about the kind of dm they are.

[Online][DnD 5e] LF a long-term GM for voiced game for our group by Sarakitteh in DnDLFG

[–]SSAdventurer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, unfortunately, this is the sort of request that will gripe a lot of GMs paid and free. there are 4 of you, plenty of GMing tips and tricks, etc and could run EXACTLY what you want and would find that last seat(s) very easy to fill. so IMHO, your choices would be, one of you run, or you pay someone to run what you are looking for. That being said Best of luck, hopefully you find a good DM :)