The Ultimate Guide to Professional Storytelling Part 3: The Value of Professional Storytelling

Value Comes in All Forms

Everybody's work has value, but what kind of value it has depends on you. Some of us are just bursting with creativity, looking for a willing audience to teach how to roleplay and share the experience. Some of us are part of a huge community of volunteers that donate their time for the good of the community. Then there are the very few of us that have boldly stepped out to craft a career out of storytelling, exchanging our availability and services for money.

Many Storytellers have done their work for free (or for snacks) for a very long time. There's nothing wrong with this arrangement. Most of these arrangements were and continue to be get-togethers between local friends sitting down at a kitchen or basement table to tell stories for pure entertainment and camaraderie. The game is more of a feature of the interaction than the main focal point (though the Dungeon Master might disagree.)

For the hobby of roleplaying, many conflicts will arise:

whether they are conflicts of schedule (I have to work tonight,)

conflicts of interest (Game of Thrones is on!,)

or personality conflicts between players and/or the DM (that rogue stole my coin purse again!!)

Many sessions will fall by the wayside, but to everyone involved (except the brooding Dungeon Master) knows it was "just a game" anyway.

This is precisely how I started Dungeon Mastering myself, and it was the best place to improve my craft. When I started looking for partons as a professional storyteller, I thought really hard about my value proposition. What would people be willing to trade for a service? To do something for payment there are many adjustments that must me made. These may be different for different storytellers, but here is my current negotiation and some non-tangible benefits of becoming a regular patron:

• My patrons have control of the game's content (which module,) the start time, and the number of players.
• Donations are made in advance and are non-refundable. This is because I have done prep work and arranged my schedule to perform for my patron or patrons. It's like buying a ticket for an event. If you can't attend, then you lose the value of that ticket. This is not a hard and fast rule, but it has to do with reasonable consideration on both ends. If there is a real emergency on the patron's side, they would have a credit for a future session. If I had an emergency, I would issue a refund to a non-regular patron, and most of my regular patrons would just take a free session in the near future. In the eight months I've been doing this I've only had to deviate from my schedule once.
• Players who aren't donors can make a minimum donation that gives them a reserved spot in a publicly listed game.
• Donors get advanced notice of my publicly posted games. This gives them a chance to be higher priority on a waiting list.
• For return patrons (and other players) I have a better understanding of their character and them as a player. The more I know a player, the more I can adjust to give them an even more personal experience suited to their play style and interests.

I have found that this all works very well in conjunction with an online community and organized play. Compensation allows me to focus on the experience instead of worrying about my financial situation. It also allows me to be extremely flexible when it comes to scheduling. I do hold down a regular albeit part time position bartending and serving at a local restaurant, but that's during Friday and Saturday nights when most of my current patron base is out with their families and wouldn't be scheduling games to begin with. I think that's the route that most artists of any kind must take unless they have a family that fully supports and provides for them while they pursue their passion.

For my next article I'll be diving a bit deeper into some of the psychology behind putting a value on your own time and energy. I'll talk about how services are much different than products in this industry and strategies on how to approach individual prospective patrons. I'll also give some insight to those that are trying to pursue careers as product writers and designers on how to brand yourself or your team.

The Ultimate Guide to Professional Storytelling Part 2: My Personal Liftoff Moment

Every Person Has a Struggle and a Story

I was working as a manager of a cell phone store, and I had been doing so for about six months. I had weathered the winter, the holiday season, and had turned a rathole of a store into a much more professional place. I felt that I had accomplished a lot, and I did it in only about 40 hours of work a week. My regional manager had helped me a lot to get settled, and things were looking alright.

Then, my local friend John stepped into my store and changed my outlook on what I could do. I have always know that I've wanted to do something in entertainment, but it took a complete stranger to tell me that I shouldn't be afraid to try. He's a recovering cancer patient in his mid-60s, and he has his own ideas of what he want to do with and for people in business. I act as a sounding board for his own ideas, and I help him clerically with his ventures, which are going well. His confidence in himself and my abilities got me through the first few months of uncertainty.

With a good amount of savings but no real plan for the future, I resigned from my position after a "come to God" kind of conversation with my regional manager. 

"Are these other projects and your friends more important than your job?" he asked.

"You know, I really think they are" I responded.

"Well, can you at least give me two weeks so I can replace you?" I did, and it was the least I could do for a guy that pushed the wrong underling. I worked there because it was challenging, and I liked cleaning up the mess. I wasn't chasing commission checks, and I wasn't spending more time there than I needed to in a market of 3,000 people where 500 of them owe my store/company money.

After the holiday season, every new "promotion" was lipstick on a pig that just kept getting uglier. It was exhilarating to tell The Man to get lost after cleaning up years of neglect and misrepresentation from the last manager, and then being informed that my higher-ups wanted me to work "60 to 70 hours a week like the other managers do." I guess most people are just desperate to be employed. I'll tell you that being your own boss is challenging, but every moment you get do blame you for what happens and not anyone else.

Houston, We Have Liftoff

I experimented around with streaming games on Twitch for a couple of months. I had some success, but nothing that was even close to being able to pay the few bills that I had. I was doing some odd jobs for my new friend John, but I really did need more if I was going to make this life choice work. Then, I heard about Fantasy Grounds from Dragon+ on my phone, and it seemed to be everything I was looking for in a virtual tabletop. I had been a Dungeon Master since I was a Sophomore in high school off and on through D&D 3rd and 4th editions, and I was starting to pick up the core books and first few adventures for D&D 5th Edition. 

I loved D&D 5th more than any other edition or RPG I'd played, so I invested in the core modules on Fantasy Grounds and started running games for D&D Adventurer's League. I streamed them on Twitch, and after about a month I got the most important email of my life:

"I'll pay you $50 to run..."

I almost died of excitement. 

I had honed my Dungeon Master craft for over a decade, and now I was being given a shot to run a game professionally. 

My patron has always wished to remain anonymous, and was obviously impressed because the same day after our first session together:

"I'll pay you $100 a session, and here are the dates and times:"

Since September 2015 I've been running two to three sessions to week on average. Many of the games that my patron has set up as publicly listed on alonlinetools.net are not attended by said patron, but are ran for the public in stride out of my patron's generosity. Most people don't know that, but enjoy the benefits nonetheless.

The First Customer is the Most Important

I can't highlight enough how my first patron has changed my life. Without my patron, I would still be a lone nut out here on the Internet looking to create a whole new profession. Now I have three regular patrons, with occasional support by a handful of other brave adventurers. I'm hoping the trend continues and I can expand this into multiple storytellers and systems. Before you know it we'll be making a movement towards tons of memorable and awe-inspiring "you had to be there" moments.

Now it's official, but even if people still laugh when I tell them "I run Dungeons & Dragons games professionally," I'll be sharpening all of my creative and business skills every day on a sword of fantasy and improvisation. I'm more than happy to share my story with the world to tell you that if you're out there looking for a way to be a professional storyteller, you are no longer crazy. 

You can do this, and you should do this. 

A Word of Warning and Disclaimer

Results not typical. It takes a village to raise a storyteller. Make sure you have the experience and the support you need to journey down a road that could be a little intimidating and barren when you first embark. 

In my next blog I'll be discussing why professional storytelling is valuable and the negotiation points to consider when it comes to putting together an agreement for a storytelling gig.

The Ultimate Guide to Professional Storytelling Part 1: Getting Started Storytelling

A Triumphant Return to Blogging

This is my first post in a very long time, but for good reason. Since September of last year, I have been working diligently in the field of Storytelling. My ability to pursue it full time is due to the generosity of my current patrons, and for that I am grateful beyond words. At this point, I will be writing a series of How To blogs, from getting started as a Storyteller to more advanced topics such as how to market yourself to your community of choice.

Every Journey Starts With a First Step

The first thing to do as a Storyteller is learn a game system. This requires investment in some literature and time to read and understand its mechanics. Once you have done this through a time or two, move on to practical experience.

Storytellers will never really "know the rules" until they are applied. 

Don't get bogged down with the idea of rules knowledge perfection. Storytelling is a performance art, and improvisation and creativity are just, if not more important, than system knowledge. If there are players that have invested energy into being a wealth of rules knowledge, allow them to assist you when necessary. This validates their own efforts and helps you to make more consistent and satisfying rulings.

Remember the Golden Rule

A Storyteller provides a service with value. That value is derived from the level of entertainment that is received from their players. As an example, part of the D&D Adventurer's League mission is to "foster a welcoming atmosphere focused on fun."

When people have fun, they'll seek you out to run games for them in the future.

This isn't to say that all players will have the same goals, and you will have to adjudicate conflicts of personality between characters and players alike. In the future, I will be sharing some of my personal strategies for resolution, and when all else fails, a compromise.

An Army Marches on its Stomach

Next, Storytellers must be prepared. This comes in a couple of different forms since there are both in-person and online games.

In most cases, you need to be ready to provide everything.

If you are just starting out and really want people to give you a shot, you'll have to make sure there are zero barriers to entry. Run pre-published material to get yourself comfortable with performance. World building and writing are exciting ideas, but they are really a whole other skill that must be learned alongside the performance aspect of storytelling. Reading a module will give you an idea of how professional publishers structure their adventure material. This will give anything you do publish in the future a better chance of meeting the expectations of seasoned roleplayers.

Ask for Feedback, Don't Expect it

After you have done your best to facilitate fun and adventure, be sure to thank all of your players and persuade them to share their thoughts about the game. They may have insights into how you can improve as a Storyteller, and they also may be able to bring to light conflicts between players. Most of these conflicts should be mediated and resolved to really enhance the value of your services. This is the point I feel is most important for the growth and improvement of the skills of a Storyteller, and I will be writing multiple articles on aspects involving feedback and iteration/improvement of one's storytelling style.

Nobody Walks Alone

The very best way to expand your audience and improve your performance craft is getting involved with a large roleplaying community. My personal favorite is the G+ Tabletop Roleplaying Games Community. Its moderation is superb, and its discussions are kept constructive. It also hosts Giant Dragons Gamer Chat on most Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons which is a semi-open forum for talking about gaming events going on, gaming products new and old, and gaming philosophy discussions. If you are interested in this type of interaction, please contact +Jonathan Henry and let him know! He'll add you to his list of invitees, which already numbers in the hundreds.

UPDATE (02/16/2019): Tenkar's Tavern Discord is really a great place to be! Check it out here: https://discord.gg/f2YQEr3
With Google+ going away, the G+ community is using MeWe as a lifeboat, and possibly a new home: https://mewe.com/group/5bbbea4c9b97560bb8288389

Thank you for taking the time to peruse this article. You have plucked my words out of an endless sea of data, and I am honored to host your attention, if just for a few moments. Go forth and game with passion! 

Basic D&D Next: First Impressions

Hold on to Your Dice!

After skimming the new Basic D&D PDF, I have to say that I'm filled with a sense of optimism and excitement. Even in this first offering of the new system my mind and spirit are drawn in to the new way characters are composed, as well as new core systems like Advantage and Inspiration. In this article I'll talk briefly about the top level mechanics and my thoughts. This series will continue with a deeper discussion about races, classes, equipment, and spells to give some opportunity for discussion and debate. On with the show!

Advantage Play

From the beginning of the playtest I've been a staunch proponent of the Advantage system. Mathematically the system changes the deviation of rolls without having to give some kind of real bonus. With a mechanic as simple as "roll two d20 and take the highest/lowest result," it is an elegant and general solution for tackling all kinds of archetypal and mechanical instances where players and DMs alike would have the feeling of "this should succeed/fail a lot." This also lends well to flattening out all of the numerical values for Difficulty Classes and Armor Classes, allowing even the lowest level of characters to make some progress against overwhelming odds instead of it being a completely futile exercise. Giving players more choice instead of shutting things off mechanically is a great way to foster the fantastic and vast openness of possibilities in a role-playing game.

Find Your Inspiration

Inspiration further builds on the Advantage system, allowing Dungeon Masters to reward players that are true to the character they have created. Also, since a character can only be Inspired or not, it encourages players to use that Advantage roll liberally instead of constantly saving them for the most challenging moments. It also seems to give DMs the opportunity to describe how things are resolved during those rolls, making the Inspired player a focal point and encouraging other players to earn Inspiration status themselves.

A Touch of Character

One of the complementary systems for Inspiration is the addition of Ideals, Bonds, and Flaws to characters. I find that many players would be much more engaged in the acting and improvisation of an RPG experience if they just had a little direction. Players are, in fact, actors, and these tidbits can give even the creator of a character a place to start from when it comes to portraying themselves as their adventurer. Like a good director, DMs and the system itself should give their players the tools to succeed. I believe that emphasizing these attributes in conjunction with the Inspiration system will incentivize players enough to do just that.

I Cast Burning Hands... FOR SCIENCE!

I think this was one of the more subtle changes in this edition, but the description of the areas of area of effect spells is fantastic. Now it is a geometric description of the area instead of "this is what a 30ft cone looks like in squares" as it was in previous editions. The math nerd in me giggles in delight since I now have good, solid rules to back up a decision of where AoE should reach.

Keeping Up With the Jhessails

For the first time by my observation, the idea of having Lifestyle Expenses in a concrete way is not something I have had in my own games. I really like the idea of characters having a home instead of being vagabonds, both for role-playing opportunity and to give players a sense of belonging to the world. A little drip of gold out of the character's pockets, along with descriptions of where it goes, seems to add even more life to them at the table.

You Are What You Eat (or Don't Eat)

I'm also glad that they have added meaningful and balanced penalties for lack of food, water, and rest to the Basic game. These needs seem to be overlooked in a lot of sessions in which I've played. However, they are a vital part of anyone's life, and the quality of your food, drink, and rest can really have an impact on your health and sharpness in important, even life-threatening, situations.

All of these aspects of D&D Next and more give my team's pursuit of writing a fantasy campaign setting an even better foothold. These rules are innovative and really seem to emphasize the openness of the RPG platform beyond its recent tactical focus. As we saw with 4th edition, over-engineering can be a bad thing. Instead of constantly bloating out the rules, the D&D guys can put more energy towards telling compelling and engaging stories while enriching their own campaign setting with wonder instead of concrete abilities and status modifiers. I'm sure there is much more complexity to come, but for a younger and more general audience, the Basic D&D rules are plenty to chew on as the rest of the books are released.

What do you think? I'm all ears when it comes to your own observations and takeaways.

Gamers United!

Cavin "Pox" DeJordy

D&D Next Basic PDF http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/basicrules

Bards, Traders, and Commoners: Turning Gaming in to Commerce

After spending some time interacting with the community, it seems like there is this universal sentiment that making money through developing a game, role-playing system, or associated art, is inherently evil. There are the haves and the have-nots, and those in the latter category can’t imagine themselves as a money-grubbing sellout. My mission has been and continues to be one that helps to break down this misunderstanding, and show how with modern technology this doesn't have to be the case.

In a classical publishing model, large companies capable of handling demand for physical products scour the landscape of starving artists to find one that will play by their rules. There are production schedules, contracts, and obligations that must be met in order for the gears of the big publishing machine to turn. The writer or designer is just a small part of a huge value chain which has the potential to reach the entire target market.

Most gaming writers and designers I am in contact with couldn't imagine operating in this framework. They are independent, self-motivated, and will create when they are inspired instead of feeling forced by a contractual obligation to produce. Many I know wouldn't even want to write or create full time, but most share the urge to attract others to their personal game sessions or systems of choice.

What’s the solution? I want a company that has no vested interest in specific game platforms, play styles, or artists beyond a positive, open market relationship. As a neutral platform, I will incentivize my company and community to support all gaming projects and their associated art with fervor, showing no underlying bias for one game or another. Employees and owners alike would be encouraged to support their favorite projects through their votes and their dollars, but no matter your position, you have one vote. The market will decide who is popular, who is not, and for what period of time they are relevant.

The barrier to entry for even allowing someone to put up a creation on the Google Play store and other similar platforms is criminal. I want to pursue a model where anyone can put up any of their creations up for sale, while having a system in place to ensure the quality of a project and highlighting those who have submitted for approval. Although the endorsement by our company would not be required, it would definitely be worth it for designers to assure the quality to an adequate level before spending their money on a mostly unknown and untested game or piece of art.

This philosophy will also extend over to our tournament organization, management and retail platforms. We will strive to have exciting, large scale tournaments for every game possible, grouping smaller communities together if needed to still allow for efficient use of resources. There are also some amazing non-profit initiatives with gaming at their core, such as Child’s Play and the SDA (Speed Demos Archive) community and their charity marathons. These initiatives deserve to have their efforts recognized by an even larger audience, and we will drive more awareness and donations to those organizations with pride.

Gamers United!

Cavin “Pox” DeJordy

Child’s Play: http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

SDA Charity Marathons: http://marathon.speeddemosarchive.com/

Tavern Keeper: Hospitality at Its Finest

It is a common fantasy role-playing trope for the bar or tavern to be a center of strategy and planning for countless adventuring parties. For game leaders and those character’s controllers, the paperwork and record keeping involved can always be a challenge to keep updated and organized. Why not collaborate with your Tavern Keeper and let him do the mundane so you can focus on the story?

On Sunday, Kristi and Bill Centinario held an open Q&A for Tavern Keeper, a campaign advertising platform for game leaders with bookkeeping and game session support. I had an opportunity to learn more about their current beta version, as well as their Kickstarter plans, stretch goals, and licensing opportunities with game designers and producers. The passion for their product is evident, and they've already laid the groundwork with initial product development and community outreach. A Tavern Keeper is out of work without a tavern to work in and happy, engaged, and repeat customers. Fortunately, their initial users who have listed their games on the beta website are these first few happy patrons, proof of concept, and will be the first to enjoy the improvements as this project is funded and developed.

Currently, Tavern Keeper Beta is a solid backbone on which all of the functionality will be built. There are already plenty of games being advertised through the system, and the generic character sheet is still a great start for rules light systems like FATE and Numenera. The functionality I’m most excited for is their plans for Dynamic Character Sheets, which would allow the sheets to derive and look up all of the stats and bonuses associated with base stat, race, and class choices (ex. D&D stat modifiers, Initiative, Attack Modifiers, etc.). They also talked about some great ideas for a game leader display which would make finding any system information a snap.

One of the toughest things I've found about my new venture is that I’m trying to do everything and anything to improve gaming experiences. This is overly ambitious, and without a more narrow focus, is doomed to suffer feature bloat and countless delays. Luckily there are plenty other entrepreneurs in the Google+ community who are spearheading the development of complimentary products to my own. I’m looking forward to working with the Centinario's and Tavern Keeper in the future as we both help enhance the experience of our role-playing customers.

Gamers United!

Cavin “Pox” DeJordy

Tavern Keeper: https://www.tavern-keeper.com
Discussion: https://www.tavern-keeper.com/#discuss

Stronghold: A Company By Gamers, For Gamers

Design and organization is seldom appreciated for the amount of work required. For most of us, art, experimentation, and exploration all come from a personal need to express ourselves, along with the need to collaborate and innovate with others who share our same passion. Even after all of that hard work there are plenty of regulatory and communication hurdles to overcome to make your mark in the entertainment industry. My aim is to offer many more opportunities to showcase talent, facilitate artist collaboration, as well as bring together a community that is ready to vote with their feet and their wallet on the project’s success.

Modern gaming is still an emerging market, especially when it comes to gaming competition and performance. Where previous artists worked in oils or clay, gaming artists work in the medium of Counterstrike, or Madden, or Dungeons & Dragons. This presents a host of challenges and opportunities which I aim to tackle with my new venture.

Over the next few days I will be writing a series of articles outlining my plans for creating a company which focuses on helping designers, writers, and performers meet, get their projects up and running, funded, and showcased on a digital stage that was built with interactive entertainment in mind. Everyone and anyone is invited to participate, contribute, and comment on this monumental undertaking.

Gamers United!

Cavin “Pox” DeJordy