How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

I'm not really a proponent of the concept of "paid" or "professional" GMing, but I've definitely seen it become a lot more common over the last few years. I admit the possibility that I may even live under a soundproof rock and that professional gamemastering is the trend of the future. Dunno.

My question has three parts:

1. Would you be at all interested in utilizing a professional GM for GURPS?
2. If you did hire a GM, what kind of skills and expertise would you expect them to bring to the table?
3. What kind of wage do you think a GM should earn?

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

Hell, no. Playing RPGs is something I do with friends or friend-adjacent types. If I'm not with that kind of group, I'm not going to play.

I wouldn't, but speaking in the abstract a pro GM would have good rules mastery but comprehensive skills would be overkill. First and foremost, though, they'd be a facilitator and entertainer. They'd be skilled at improvisation, but on top of that they should have the people skills to deal with players with a wide range of dramatic skills, motivations, and so on, managing spotlight time while making sure events unfolded in an entertaining way.

What the market will bear. I don't get it, but Those Kids Today(tm) have pro GMs, mostly in the D&D space. It doesn't pay most people well, but there are livestreamed D&D games, notably Critical Role, which pull in a devoted viewership and an average of around $160k per month in revenue. Now, that pays for various costs of doing business and there's a large cast to be paid from whatever's left, but it's plausible that there's a middle class wage lurking in there. If there are well-heeled nerds willing to shell out that kind of dosh for a GM, then more power to them.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

1. Nope.
2 & 3 n.a, because of “Nope.”

I’m forgiving w/GMs, but, in addition to basic competence with the rules, I think the essential skills (paid or not) are:

1. imagination
2. motivation to eventually master the rules
3. consistency and fairness
4. staying organized
5. commitment to playing on the agreed schedule
6. leadership ability

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

1] Nope
2] This could vary, and weaknesses can be made up for by expertise in other areas, but they would have to be GOOD, and really consistently so. I would expect really good preparation and execution, great battle maps, engagement with every character...
3] This would vary widely depending on the time investment they were giving to the game, If they are showing up with little to no props, figs, or maps, and just seemingly winging it, I'd only want to pay them for their time at the table (Maybe 15-20 bucks an hour. so four players could each pitch in 20 bucks for a four-hour session), but for a GM whose investing outside time and resources for writing and materials, quite a bit more. But these are just rando thoughts from a guy that is very unlikely to do such a thing.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

#1 No, like Turhens Bey said I consider gaming a social activity and do it with friends. I might be willing to share in the expenses, but that is harder now than it used to be. Back in the old days we often shared our books with each other, easier to do that with physical copies than PDFs, at least safer and more ethical as only one copy is used and you don't have to worry about others not deleting the copy after the session or preparation.
Also I don't have the money I once did.

#2 IF I did they would have to be very entertaining, then I would view it as an entertainment expense and like going to a movie or something. Since a LOT of the fun is hanging out with friends this would be a high bar to reach.
I would expect good organization and preparation. Rules competency, though not necessarily mastery. They would also have to excel at social skills like motivating the players, keeping them focused, matching their motivations and desires, and coping with distractive or bad players who would bring the game down for everyone else. Finally they would need to be really creative and put forth interesting ideas.

#3 Hmm, group of 5 for two hours, say $5 an hour for $25 a game? And I doubt most people would pay more than that, so alternative revenue such as from streaming would be needed to even come close to minimum wage considering the preparation time needed.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

It's a social thing, not a professional sport, so no. If someone finds they have customers for professional GMing, good luck to them.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

I would expect them to run mainstream FRP adventures, most likely dungeon fantasy. I'm not in the market for dungeon fantasy. More generally, I prefer campaigns with a lot of character evolution and personal relationships and with some depth to the motivation for action and combat, and I can't realistically anticipate that a random group of strangers would have signed up for that sort of thing. So I don't think I'm in the market.

I think that if I were running games for strangers, I would probably want about $7.50 per hour per player, assuming that cash expenses were negligible. That assumes that I wanted to do it at all, which I'm not sure of.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

I'm forever a GM by choice and by nature. I like being the GM. I don't play. I haven't played a game in about 6 years and my last GM was Doug Cole for a half dozen sessions in an X-COM inspired campaign.

That said, I've been a paid GM in the past and it has worked well for me. Might do it at some point again. We'll see. I have a post on this on my blog that sums up my thoughts pretty well.

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

Our gaming group is small and rather insular, chances are extremely low we'd hire a pro GM from the "outside".

Re: How likely would you be to utilize a paid GURPS GM, and what would you expect?
 

No.

Back in college days -- 40 years ago now -- when I was broke, a bunch of my players suggested paying me, and offered me a pretty handsome stipend for the day.

I rejected it. Then as now, it was a labor of love. I GMed because I loved GMing, I ran four separate groups because I wanted to do so, and when I got burned out enough to take a few months off, I took a few months off. I felt that the moment I took money for it, I'd become their employee. It wouldn't be MY game any more, MY setting, but theirs. Whether or not they pressured me to do so, I'd feel that I ought to give them favorable rulings, plot immunity and happy endings. "Hey, Bob, you should put X into your setting ... really." "Hey Bob, how come I seem to be getting less XP than Sally?"

(Heck, the first such offer was in 1979, when my brother offered me $25 for a vorpal blade. $25 was a lot for a college student then -- and as to that, was a lot for my brother, a high school senior -- but I had the same notion; that the weapon would bedevil me for years and set a nasty precedent.)

Nope. Oh dear me no.