How Much Money Does A Professional Game Master Actually Make?
- Dec 4, 2025
- 5 min read
Image recoloring by TopComms
So, you’ve heard about professional GMing and you’re wanting to make the transition into this business. Who wouldn’t, right? Running games and getting paid for it is every GM’s dream, but how much money does a professional game master really make?
I offer premium games, so I typically charge my public players $30 per seat, and my games typically run from 2.5 to 3 hours per session. My prices are higher than the $20 average session cost on StartPlaying. I also generally spend an equal amount of time prepping for the game as I do running it. This is particularly important, because we need our income to also support the hours we labor that are not included in paid time at the table.
Additionally, because REAL human game mastering is a provided service, the game master essentially sells their time, so they can only ever run up to a certain number of games that is within their abilities.
I live in the United States. I’m originally from California, but now find myself located in North Carolina. We’ll be using both of these states as examples for tax purposes.
I am not a financial advisor and this is not financial advice. This is just what I see when I look at my own income.
So, let’s do some math.
PRICE PER SEAT: $30
PLAYERS PER TABLE: 4 to 6
6 players = ideal
5 players = realistic
4 players = low-end realistic
FULL-TIME SCHEDULE (40 hours):
6 total games, designating 5 hours per game, per week
approx. 3 hours play, 2 hours prep
10 hours per week for business administration and customer service
approx. 2 hours a day, 5 days a week
I am considered a 1099 independent contractor, so taxes will include:
Self-employment tax: 15.3%
Federal income tax: 12% bracket (most likely, based on possible income range)
State income tax examples:
NC: 4.75%
CA: 6%
REVENUE PER GAME (Before Any Deductions)
Players | Revenue |
4 | $120 |
5 | $150 |
6 | $180 |
REVENUE AFTER PLATFORM FEE (85% to GM)
Players | GM Receives After Platform (85%) |
4 | $102.00 |
5 | $127.50 |
6 | $153.00 |
Okay, now that we know how much we're getting paid after StartPlaying also does, let's combine our taxes (self-employment, federal bracket, and state), and apply that to our take home pay.
So, my total tax rate is:
NC total tax: 15.3 + 12 + 4.75 = 32.05%
CA total tax: 15.3 + 12 + 6 = 33.3%
NORTH CAROLINA TAKE HOME
Players | After Platform | NC Tax (32.05%) | NC Take-Home |
4 | 102.00 | –32.05 | $69.90 |
5 | 127.50 | –40.87 | $86.63 |
6 | 153.00 | –49.09 | $103.91 |
CALIFORNIA TAKE HOME
Players | After Platform | CA Tax (33.3%) | CA Take-Home |
4 | 102.00 | –33.96 | $68.04 |
5 | 127.50 | –42.42 | $85.08 |
6 | 153.00 | –51.00 | $102.00 |
Oh, but wait, did you think we were done? Haha, honey, we are running a business and we need to pay for some things to do that!
The game master has recurring monthly expenses, and also must occasionally solve various hardware replacement issues or purchase new content for games. These vary, and thankfully the IRS will likely consider them deductible business expenses, but that doesn't negate its immediate financial impact.
For example, I had to buy both a new computer and microphone this year. Those things weren't cheap, so hopefully I won't have to replace anything any time soon. But I still should anticipate something going wrong.
I also had to purchase the new Dungeons & Dragons 5e 2024 core rule books three separate times: a copy of each on D&D Beyond for easy access and player quality of life, on Foundry VTT marketplace to have prebuilt options ready for use with out VTT, and a physical copy for my own bookshelf and preparation purposes. If it's not D&D Beyond, it might be Demiplane. If it's not Foundry VTT, it might be Roll20. Of course, it's not every day a system gets an entire overhaul, but I do typically have to purchase newly released content across multiple platforms.
Since we can't expect those expenses regularly, let's assume:
$600 per year for hardware replacement → $50/mo
$600 per year for new books/modules across platforms → $50/mo
TOTAL MONTHLY GM EXPENSES
Category | Monthly Cost |
Premium assets (i.e. D&D Beyond Master Tier subscription, access to Patreon memberships like CzePeku, theripper93, JB2A animations, and Discord bots to provide high-quality and community experiences) | $100 |
Web hosting + internet | $135 |
Hardware replacement | $50 |
New content | $50 |
TOTAL | $335 / month |
In the best case scenario, I would be consistently running 6 sessions per week, 4 weeks per month. Ideally, I am running 24 sessions per month.
So these monthly expenses must be divided up over these 24 monthly games.
Monthly expenses = $335
Per-game expense = $335 ÷ 24 ≈ $13.96 per game
Let’s round to $14 per game for clarity.
NORTH CAROLINA FINAL PAY
Players | After Fees + Taxes | Minus Expenses | Real GM Take-Home Per Game |
6 (ideal) | $103.91 | –$14 | $89.91 |
5 (realistic) | $86.63 | –$14 | $72.63 |
4 (low) | $69.90 | –$14 | $55.90 |
CALIFORNIA FINAL PAY
Players | After Fees + Taxes (CA) | Minus Expenses | Real GM Take-Home Per Game (CA) |
6 (ideal) | $102.00 | –$14 | $88.00 |
5 (realistic) | $85.08 | –$14 | $71.08 |
4 (low) | $68.04 | –$14 | $54.04 |
NORTH CAROLINA REVUNE LOSS BASED ON ABSENT PLAYERS
Players | Real GM Take-Home | Income Loss vs Ideal (6 players) | Percent Loss |
6 (ideal) | $89.91 | – | 0% |
5 (realistic) | $72.63 | $17.28 less | –19.2% |
4 (low) | $55.90 | $34.01 less | –37.8% |
CALIFORNIA REVENUE LOSS BASED ON ABSENT PLAYERS
Players | Real GM Take-Home (CA) | Income Loss vs Ideal | Percent Loss |
6 (ideal) | $88.00 | – | 0% |
5 (realistic) | $71.08 | $16.92 less | –19.2% |
4 (low) | $54.04 | $33.96 less | –38.6% |
So, in conclusion, after factoring in platform fees, federal and state taxes, and ongoing monthly business expenses such as VTT hosting, internet, premium asset subscriptions, and tool replacements, the realistic income of a full-time Game Master is far below surface-level expectations.
In the most optimistic (but highly unrealistic) scenario, where I run 6 sessions per week, 6 players per game, year-round (52 weeks), without any vacations, cancellations, or absences, my final take-home pay is:
North Carolina: approximately $28,052 per year
California: approximately $27,456 per year
In a less-than-ideal scenario, where I run 6 sessions per week, with only 4 players per game, year-round (52 weeks), without any vacations, cancellations, or absences, my final take-home pay is:
North Carolina: approximately $17,441 per year
California: approximately $16,860 per year
This represents a 38% reduction in income solely due to two empty seats per game.
The data makes one thing clear: player reliability has a significant impact on professional game master sustainability. Regardless of player count, the game master’s prep time, resource investment, and business overhead remain fixed.
If the tabletop community is to support professional game masters meaningfully, understanding the economic realities of professionals is essential.
Consistent attendance is one of the most impactful ways players can contribute to the quality and longevity of the games they love.
