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Nerdarchy > Dungeons & Dragons  > 4 Ways D&D Enthusiasts Can Run a Business in Their Spare Time

4 Ways D&D Enthusiasts Can Run a Business in Their Spare Time

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Playing Dungeons & Dragons requires a lot of different skills: leadership, storytelling, acting, math, teamwork, communication, strategizing, resilience, and a whole host more. These aren’t just qualities that help you in D&D. They’re talents that you can use to run a casual business. Below I’ve listed four great businesses that are ideal for D&D enthusiasts to run in their spare time.

D&D enthusiasts business

Concept art done for Sintel, 3rd open-movie of the Blender Foundation. [Art by David Revoy]

Recommended reading: Running a D&D Game with a Go-To Adventure

Professional storyteller

D&D is all about storytelling. It’s full of characters, rich in plot, and puts an emphasis on the battle between good and evil. If you have experience as a Dungeon Master then a part-time business as a professional storyteller could be ideal for you.

Professional storytellers primarily find work in schools and libraries. Their fees range wildly, with some asking requesting just $50 for a performance and others charging up to $1,000 for a session.

One of the great reasons for a D&D enthusiast to start a storytelling business in their spare time is there are no required qualifications. You just need to be great with people, able to use props, and have the ability to use your voice effectively.

Check out the video below for tips on how you can be a professional storyteller:

Vlogger

Did being a part-time professional storyteller sound great to you but make you anxious about public speaking? Not to worry, there’s another role you can do in your spare time that lets you tell stories from your bedroom: vlogger.

YouTube has:

  • Over 1.5 billion monthly active users
  • 300,000 paying subscribers
  • 50 million users creating content

Twitch has:

  • More than 3 million unique monthly broadcasters
  • 1,027,000 average viewers — in 2018 alone
  • 45 billion minutes watched a month

The outlets are there but is there an active D&D fan-base? You’re darn right.

It’s difficult to quantify how much money you can make as a vlogger. However, it has been suggested that if you get 1,000 views per video, use adverts, and put out one video a week, you could make $70 a week.

Sell D&D accessories online

If you’re like me, you love collecting accessories. My Bucky O’Hare figure is one of my most prized possessions and I’ve owned it for 30 years. You can share your love of D&D with other enthusiasts by selling dice, figures, and T-shirts online.

There are many ways you can do this. Some of the best ideas include:

In 2017 D&D had its best sales year for two decades. With Stranger Things bringing it to global attention, more people are buying D&D products. Selling D&D accessories online might start as a part-time thing, but with so many fans it could become your full-time job!  

LARPing

Frankly, if you’ve not been LARPing then you’ve not lived — I’ve lived many lives. Live action roleplay isn’t just a pastime, it’s something you can commodify and make into a business which you run in your spare time.

There’s a lot for you to do but it’s all pretty straightforward. Anthony Insurance Services put the process into 3 stages:

1. Creation

  • Decide on a setting — Something magical for D&D enthusiasts
  • Write a juicy plot line — Game of Thrones loves family drama. You could use this!
  • Develop your characters — Costume and story variety keeps thing interesting

2. Organizing

  • Pick your location — Link to to your setting as closely as possible
  • Choose your Game Master — Someone charismatic and with lyrical flair
  • Memorize rules and preempt any questions — Your players need clarity  

3. Running

  • Bring supplies — Your players will be hungry and thirsty
  • Have a backup in place — If you can’t run your LARP event someone else has to
  • Evaluate once you’ve finished — Find out how to improve

You’ll need to give thought to marketing your event. This means you’ll need to set up an event page and social media accounts. Sending a blast out to your friends is a great way to start but don’t stop there. Go on D&D forums and share your event there. You should also decide on a appropriate hashtag (i.e. #DnDLARPingPhiladelphia) and use this in all of your marketing tactics.

The cost of LARPing events varies massively. Some places charge $60 and others over $100. What doesn’t vary, though, is that you can make some money in your spare time by making your love for role play games a reality.  

D&D is one of the most popular games in the world. While we’d all love to make money from it, it’s not possible for everyone. However, as you’ve seen from these four great business ideas, you can still turn your enthusiasm for D&D into a little pot of gold.

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Patrick Foster

Patrick Foster<span style="font-weight: 400"> is a writer and ecommerce expert from Ecommerce Tips, an industry-leading blog all about helping people launch successful online businesses. Keep checking the site for the latest updates, and follow along on Twitter @myecommercetips.</span>

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