Almost nobody in this business publishes a price. You are expected to fill in a form, join a Discord, book a call, and only then find out. We think that is a waste of everybody's time, so here are the numbers.
The only thing that varies is the campaign seat, because individual Dungeon Masters set their own rate inside our range. You will always be told the exact number before you sit a session zero, and you are never charged for a campaign you decided against after it.
Campaign seat
- Weekly session, same night, 3–4 hours
- A session zero before you commit to anything
- Foundry VTT, Discord, 2D and 3D battlemaps
- Your backstory written into the plot
- A campaign built to reach level 20
- No books, licences or software to buy
Crit Fails Academy
- The full Dungeon Master video library
- New lessons added as members ask for them
- Private Discord of DMs at every level
- Weekly live Q&A office hours
- Campaign planning resources and tool recommendations
- Free while you run an active table with us
Run games with us
- We advertise your games and fill your table
- Training: voice, worldbuilding, encounter balance, VTT
- Custom music, maps, items and homebrew to use
- Multi-table events for your players
- Free Academy membership while you run a table
- Non-exclusive — keep your own games
How the money actually works
You pay per session, not up front for a campaign. If a session does not happen — the DM is ill, half the party is away — you are not charged for it. There is no joining fee, no subscription attached to playing, and no minimum number of sessions.
Session zero is where you find out whether the table is right. If you decide it is not, that is the end of it, and you have not paid for a campaign you are not going to play.
Academy membership is separate from playing and is billed monthly. If you are running an active table through our Discord, it is free for as long as that table is running.
What the rest of the market charges
Every figure below is the vendor's own published price, checked on 31 August 2026. They move, so check before you take our word for it.
Read the middle column first. Almost nobody in this business quotes the same way: we and StartPlaying price per player per session, two of the others price per hour of play, and one prices a whole event. A big number and a small number here are often the same amount of money.
| Where | Published price | Billed as | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| StartPlaying (marketplace) | $15–$20 a session | Per player, per session | Any Game Master who signed up. Quality unmanaged, and the platform takes 15% of what your DM earns. |
| Crit Fails and Fairy Tales | $20–$30 a session | Per player, per session | A DM we interviewed, trained and stand behind. Foundry production, free session zero, and someone to talk to if a table is not working. |
| StoryForgers | $48.99 an hour (campaign) | Per hour. The site does not say whether that is per player or per table | An agency running one-shots and campaigns. Read as a table rate, a four-hour session is about $196 for the group. |
| Session 0 Studios | $55 an hour, or $235 premium | Per hour of gameplay, with prep time billed on top | Studio production and corporate events. Prep is charged at one hour per three hours of campaign play, so a four-hour session bills over five. |
| Dungeon Master Direct | $375 per online event | Whole group, up to 6 players, 3–4 hours | Flat-rate private bookings. Works out around $63–$75 a head for a party of five or six. |
Put on the same footing — one four-hour session, a party of five — we are the second cheapest option on that list and the only one of the cheap two that vets its Dungeon Masters.
We sit deliberately above the marketplace average and well below the studios. Above, because interviewing and training Dungeon Masters costs something and a marketplace does neither. Below, because you are buying a weekly campaign rather than a produced event, and a weekly campaign has to stay affordable for years or it stops being weekly.
One honest caveat: StoryForgers and Session 0 Studios do not state on their sites whether their hourly rates are per player or for the whole table. We have read them as table rates, because per player they would be extraordinary. If we have that wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Questions about money
Why is there a range instead of one price?
Each Dungeon Master sets their own rate inside it. A DM running four hours with 3D battlemaps and custom audio charges differently from one running a tight three-hour theatre-of-the-mind table. You see the exact number before session zero.
When am I charged?
Per session. Not up front, and not for sessions that do not happen.
Is there a contract or minimum?
No. Campaigns here run for years because people want to keep coming, not because they signed something.
Do you charge for session zero?
No. Session zero exists so you can find out whether the table is right for you, which only works if it costs you nothing to walk away from.
Is the Academy included if I play?
No, they are separate — playing is per session, the Academy is $25 a month. But the Academy is free for anyone running an active table through our community.
Find your table
Tell us what you want out of a game and we will point you at the DM who runs it. No charge to talk, and no charge until you have sat a session zero.
Join the Discord