DNAphil

GM Consulting Services

As a GM with 26+ years of experience, I have tried, over the years to help out my fellow GM’s, whenever I can.  I have answered questions on discussion boards, I have written blog posts, and I have even given talks at GenCon, specifically to help GM’s.  While all of these efforts have been positive; in many cases they have been less specific, and more generalized.  In an effort to help GM’s more specifically, I am currently offering my GMing knowledge and skills for hire, to GM’s who want hands-on help.  I am your GM For Hire.

Credentials

A GM For Hire sounds like a pretty bold thing.  What makes me qualified as a GM?  I have 26+ years of experience playing RPG’s.  I currently blog about GMing.  I have given presentations at GenCon on various GMing topics.  I present a copy of my Gamer Resume (PDF) for your review.  This resume contains all my major campaigns that I have run, games that I have played, blogs I have written for, and presentations given.

I think this resume shows that I have a well rounded background in RPG’s and a lot of time behind the screen.  That background combined with my time GMing has given me a lot of experience to draw on, in helping you with your specific GMing needs.

Services Offered

So what kinds of things can I do for you?

• Brainstorm Ideas– I am very strong at developing ideas for all sorts of campaign elements.  I can help you create a complex NPC, develop a new cult, a nation, a conspiracy, etc. Running low on ideas for your next campaign arc?  I can help. You can provide me with a rough outline of what you are looking for, or I can develop them on my own.
• Player Analysis– Tell me about your players, and I can help you understand what kind of gamers they are, and more importantly what you should be doing to give them the best play experience.
• Group Management– Being a GM is not just about running the game, its about coordinating and facilitating the group.  I can provide tips for how to coordinate complex group schedules, resolve inter-group conflicts, and how to keep your group focused and engaged at every session.
• Session Prep Techniques– Time is very precious and getting your session notes created as fast as possible is key to being prepared every game.  I have developed a number of techniques for making session prep quick and efficient.  I can work with you to help you develop your own system that will work for you.
• Rules Counseling– I can review rules questions with you, help you design and review house rules, for your games.
• Campaign Management– Keeping a campaign alive and running is no easy task.  I have run many campaigns in my 26 years, some have been huge successes, and some have been huge failures.  In all of them, I have learned lessons about what contributes to the success of a campaign.  I can provide you guidance on how to keep your campaign running session after session.

Services Not Currently Available

Most maids don’t do windows, and there are a few services I do not provide as your GM For Hire.

• Running Sessions– There are too many logistical issues involved, so I am not running sessions for a group.  There are some people who are talking about those kinds of services, but I am not one of them.
• Adventure Design– While I will help you brainstorm and come up with ideas, I am not currently offering, full adventure design.  There are places that are offering up adventure design services, including my good friend, the Chatty DM’s Kobold Love, or Wolfgang Baur’s Open Design.
• Stat Block Building– I do not build stat blocks for NPC’s and such.  While I will help you brainstorm interesting NPC’s for your campaign, the mechanical creation of them is in your hands.

Deliverables

I will measure my deliverables to you in terms of words and pages.  The rule of thumb, that I use is that using Arial 12, on a standard page, is approx 400 words per page.  For projects that require a write-up, I will define a number of pages or words for the work to be done, in advance, for your approval.  Projects will be done in Google Docs, and at various times, I will share the document with you for you review.  At the end of the work, I will fully share the document with you.  You can then export the document to any number of formats, including MS Word and PDF.

For more discussion based work, campaign advice, player analysis, etc.  I will use a Gmail account to correspond with you.  I will only charge time, based on the time it takes me to write my email responses.  I promise no more than 24 hours for a response, but typically can promise same-day responses.

Pricing

Since I am not aware of anyone doing this kind of work before, pricing is not going to be an exact science, and may be subject to change, at future date.  For right now, I have two pricing methods available:

• Hourly Pricing– These are for small questions, problems, or issues.  In most cases, this pricing will be used, when I help you address a specific issue, come up with a single campaign element, etc.  The deliverable for this kind of work will almost always be an email response.  You ask the question, I will review it and let you know how many hours it would take to solve.  The rate for this, is $10/hr.
• Proposal– In this case, you define something you need, for your game, that is a bit larger or a needs to be more refined, than just an email response.  These can be things like: a conspiracy for an espionage game, or a set of nations for a fantasy game, descriptions of a conclave of wizards.  We set a number of pages of material you want and when you need it by, and I will establish a timeline, and determine a single price for the work.  I will define a schedule, detailing when I will complete various milestones: outline, first draft, and final document.  If the scope is large, I will ask you to make partial payments as I reach the various milestones.

As for how I get paid, well for that, there are two methods as well:

• Cash...more specifically PayPal– nothing wrong with cash, and I have a PayPal account set up, that you can make payments to.  Cash always works.
• Barter– I am in need of several things, all listed below.  If you are someone who has the skills for some of these things, I would be willing to trade an equal number of my hours of time, for your hours of time to get some of the following things (If you have some other item in mind, feel free to ask):

Wordpress Theme– I would like to get a new theme for my site, and I am not skilled in CSS or PHP.

New Logo– My limited CorelDraw skills got me my current banner, but I would love a professionally drawn banner, and logo for my site.

Cartography– I am terrible at maps, and I would love to get a map for my Iron Heroes campaign, The Throne Of The Demon King.  I have some crude JPG’s done in Fractal Mapper, but I have always wanted a nicely drawn map.

Character Drawings– I have no drawing skills in the least, and I would love to get a sketch of the 4 main characters in my Iron Heroes campaign.

Gamer Accessories– A gamer can never have enough pouches, or other handmade items.  I don’t have a specific list, though I am all set on a dice rolling tray, thanks to the guys at Dwarven Sweateshoppe.

If You Are Interested
Please fill out this page below, and I will contact you.
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As part of my Secret Project, I needed to create a document that listed my gamer credentials. A document that detailed my better campaigns, game systems I am familiar with, blogs that I have written for, and talks that I have given.  So I created a Gamer Resume.

Take a look. The resume (in PDF) can be seen here.

I did not do this for any kind of bragging rights. When the Secret Project is revealed, it will be clear what it is for. But for now, I found this to be an interesting exercise and a great way for me to document my own journey through this hobby; starting from the “Pink Box” D&D all the way through my Iron Heroes campaign.

I am encouraging everyone to create their own Gamer Resume.  Take the time to document the campaigns you have run, all the things that you have done in this hobby.  Over time, you may forget some of the games you have played in, but if you document them in your resume, there will always be a reminder.  Take time each year to update your resume, so that it stays current.

So if you want to start, I am offering up this MS Word document located here (Word 2007 format).  Feel free to change it up, add sections that I don’t have, remove sections you are not using, etc.  Make it your own.

Here are the major sections I included in my Resume:

• Entry into RPG’s– I listed the first game that I played as a player.  This is to establish just how old I am.
• Campaigns Game Mastered– Here I listed all my major campaigns.  I did not list the failures or any short run campaigns (less than a few months); only the more successful ones.  I don’t think I could even remember all the failures and short run campaigns now.
• Blogging Experience– This section lists all the blogs that I have written articles for.
• Presentations Given– These are the talks I have given at various GenCon’s of the past few years.
• RPG Systems Proficient– This lists all the game systems that I have played more than one game in.  No claims I remember the rules to every game system, but at one time or another I have played these systems.
• Collectible Card Games Proficient– I was never much of a CCG player, other than the requisite time playing Magic in the mid-90’s,  but you may have be a much more robust player.
• Miniature Games Proficient– CMG experience.  My only experience was a run of Mage Knight and MechWarrior a few years ago.
• Conventions Attended– I have been to a few conventions over the years.  Not as many as a lot of people, but enough that I thought I would list them.

So what is missing?  There are a few sections, that could be added to the format.  If you have experience in them, you may want to add some of these sections:

• Games Playtested– If you have playtesting credits, I would list them here.  Be careful about the non-disclosure agreements you have signed with various companies, before you list them.  I would say a safe rule of thumb is that if you are listed in the book’s playtesting section, add it.
• Publications– If you have officially published any gaming material, or have authored, or co-authored any published product, I would put it here.
• Convention Games Run–If you have experience running convention games, list that as well.

I am sure people will think of others, so if you do, list them in the comments section.

So go and create your own gamer resume, and when you do, add a link in the comments to your resume, so that we all can see it.