Which FanBell Offer Should a Paid Dungeon Master Use?

A paid Dungeon Master should use Creator Services for one-shots, worldbuilding commissions, and custom NPCs or maps; Paid Private Questions for a quick rules ruling or lore answer; and Tips for players who want to say thanks without buying anything specific. Wishlist / Project Support fits a campaign-supplies or gear goal.

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee and applies a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays (FanBell — Pricing).

Running two or three offers at once is practical advice, not a measured norm: FanBell publishes no data on how many offers a Dungeon Master typically enables, and this page cites no independent survey of what paid DMs actually run. The reason to split anyway is that a "how much for a one-shot?" message and a "can I tip you for that campaign recap?" message are not the same request. Sorting requests into the right offer before building a page prevents both overcharging for a two-line answer and underselling a full commission — the same sorting problem shows up in how a faceless creator should split their FanBell offers, just with a different mix of requests. This page covers the offer decision only; for how DMs earn across live sessions, publishing, and direct fan support, see how do Dungeon Masters get paid.

What are the three offers a paid DM actually needs?

A paid Dungeon Master needs three offers: Creator Services for scoped deliverables such as one-shot outlines, custom NPCs, and maps; Paid Private Questions for a single rules or lore answer delivered as text or voice; and Tips for players who want to give thanks without commissioning anything. Wishlist / Project Support is an optional fourth offer.

Each offer has a different input, output, and delivery obligation, so matching the request to the offer matters more than which one a Dungeon Master personally prefers. Browse the feature pages for Creator Services, Paid Private Questions, and Tips for the full setup detail on each.

Paid Private Questions are text-only from the fan, and the creator's reply can be text or voice, with no file, image, or recording upload in either direction (FanBell — How It Works). A recorded NPC voice line or a hand-drawn battle map therefore cannot travel through a Paid Private Question and needs a Creator Service instead.

When does a Creator Service beat a booking platform?

A Creator Service beats a live-booking marketplace whenever the request has a defined deliverable and a turnaround window rather than a scheduled table — a one-shot outline, a worldbuilding document, an NPC voice recording, or a campaign recap. The Dungeon Master sets the price and the delivery time, and the player pays upfront before any work begins.

FanBell caps Creator Service delivery time at 120 hours per order and requires the fan to pay before the creator starts. Live-scheduling marketplaces work on a different model and a different cut: StartPlaying automatically deducts 15% of every paid booking before paying out the remainder to the Game Master, per the StartPlaying Help Center.

"When a player books and pays, StartPlaying automatically deducts 15% before the remainder is paid out to you. You never handle the fee directly." — StartPlaying Help Center, What Does the 15% Fee Cover?

FanBell has no live scheduling calendar, so FanBell does not replace a booked, real-time table. A FanBell Creator Service instead fits the asynchronous work around the games: the one-shot brief a player commissions, the custom encounter written for their character, or the recap video a player requests after a big session finale.

When is a Paid Private Question the better fit?

A Paid Private Question is the better fit when the entire request is a single text answer that needs no attached file, image, or recording — a rules interaction, a lore clarification, or advice on running one specific encounter. The player types the question, the Dungeon Master replies by text or voice, and no document or media changes hands.

For Paid Private Questions the creator configures only the price and the reply time, and there is no file or media upload in either direction.

Requests that fit a Paid Private Question:

• "Does [specific feat] work with [specific class feature] the way I think it does?"
• "How would you handle a player trying to [specific in-combat move]?"
• "What's the lore reason [NPC] betrayed the party in your homebrew setting?"

Requests that need a file, map, or recording belong in a Creator Service instead: a written encounter document, a battle map, or a voiced NPC line. Other niches lean on this same offer for seasonal, single-answer questions — see a paid Q&A offer built for tax-season questions for how a financial creator structures the equivalent.

Should a DM turn on Tips too?

Yes, in most cases. Tips let a player pay a Dungeon Master without buying a specific deliverable, and no reply or delivery is required in return. Tips capture the moment right after a great session, when a player wants to say thanks but is not commissioning anything, so Tips do not compete with paid one-shots or Creator Services.

FanBell Tips are one-time support payments with suggested amounts shown to the fan and no reply or delivery obligation for the creator.

Running Tips alongside Creator Services and Paid Private Questions is a normal combination rather than a conflict, because a player can tip after one session and commission a custom one-shot the following month. Suggested tip amounts set expectations, but nothing prevents a player from giving more or less than the suggestion.

Should a DM add Wishlist / Project Support for campaign gear?

Wishlist / Project Support fits when a Dungeon Master has a specific, named goal — a virtual-tabletop license, a microphone for session recordings, or a set of minis for an upcoming arc — and wants players to fund that goal visibly with a progress bar. Wishlist / Project Support sends cash toward the goal rather than shipping a product.

FanBell's Wishlist / Project Support collects cash toward a creator goal with a funding progress bar, with no shipping and no tiered reward system. That rules out promising a physical item back to funders.

The gear a Dungeon Master funds with a progress bar tends to carry a small, publicly listed price. A Foundry Virtual Tabletop software license is a one-time purchase of $50.00 with no subscription fees, per Foundry Virtual Tabletop's purchase page. Roll20's Pro subscription is listed at $10.99 per month or $109.99 per year in the Roll20 Help Center feature breakdown. A goal named in those terms — "toward a Foundry license" or "toward a new recording mic" — gives casual supporters a concrete reason to contribute in a week when they are not commissioning anything.

How do FanBell's fees compare to other DM income channels?

FanBell charges 12% only when a fan pays, with no monthly subscription and no charge on unpaid page visits, leaving the Dungeon Master 88% before card processing. The nearest alternatives take a larger or differently shaped cut: 15% on live bookings at StartPlaying, 5% on paid adventures at Demiplane, and 50% royalties on published titles at DMs Guild.

FanBell's 12% platform fee is charged per paid transaction and only when a fan pays. Stripe's processing sits on top of that at the typical US domestic online-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge, per Stripe — Pricing.

Demiplane states that Game Masters receive 95% of any tips and of the cost per player, per episode, while players are charged an incremental fee of $0.31 + 5.5%, per Demiplane Support — Paid Adventure Basics. DMs Guild's royalty on published titles is 50% of each sale, stated in the DMs Guild Help Center:

"Once you activate your Dungeon Masters Guild title for public sale, your account will begin to accrue a 50% royalty every time your title sells." — DMs Guild Help Center, Accounting, Charity and Crowdfunding Information

None of these channels are mutually exclusive. A Dungeon Master can keep booking live tables on a scheduling marketplace, publish an adventure on DMs Guild for royalties, and still run Creator Services, Paid Private Questions, and Tips from a FanBell link for everything that does not need live scheduling or a storefront listing.

Does going paid mean forming a business first?

Not in order to start, at least under US federal rules: the IRS treats an individual who runs an unincorporated business alone as a sole proprietor, with no LLC or corporation required. Business licensing is a separate, local question whose answer varies by activity and location, and Dungeon Masters outside the United States should check their own country's rules.

The IRS defines the default status plainly — "A sole proprietor is someone who owns an unincorporated business by themselves" — on its Sole Proprietorships page. On licensing, the U.S. Small Business Administration states that "the requirements and fees vary based on your business activities, location, and government rules", which is why no single answer covers every city, county, or state.

Tax obligations arrive regardless of entity type. Net earnings from self-employment of $400 or more in a year require paying self-employment tax, per IRS Topic no. 554. The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%, consisting of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, also per IRS Topic no. 554. Those are US federal figures and do not describe obligations outside the United States; this page is not legal or tax advice, and entity questions are covered in do you need to be a registered business to run paid D&D games.

If what a Dungeon Master actually needs is a repeatable way to take bookings for live sessions rather than async deliverables, how to set up a booking link for paid D&D sessions covers turning a Creator Service into a pay-first scheduling flow.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run Creator Services, Paid Private Questions, and Tips at the same time?

Yes. Creator Services, Paid Private Questions, and Tips are separate offers on the same FanBell page, and no rule limits a creator to one. FanBell publishes no data on how many offers a typical Dungeon Master enables, so treat any claim about what "most" DMs run as untested; a common practical pairing is a Creator Service for one-shots plus Tips for casual support.

Is a live paid one-shot a Creator Service on FanBell?

Not directly. FanBell has no live scheduling calendar, so a Creator Service works as a pay-first booking request — the player pays and submits session details, and the Dungeon Master confirms the date separately — rather than a real-time booked table. See how to set up a booking link for paid D&D sessions for that flow.

Can I sell a recorded NPC voice line through a Paid Private Question?

No. Paid Private Questions accept text from the fan and allow a text or voice reply from the creator, with no file or recording upload in either direction. A voiced NPC line, battle map, or written encounter needs a Creator Service instead.

What does FanBell charge a Dungeon Master?

FanBell is free to start with no monthly fee, takes a 12% platform fee only when a fan pays, and sets no follower minimum. Stripe's processing runs separately at the typical US domestic online-card rate of 2.9% + $0.30 per successful charge, per Stripe — Pricing.

Do I need to be a professional or certified GM to charge for sessions?

FanBell's setup process does not list a certification or professional-GM status as a prerequisite for enabling Creator Services or Paid Private Questions. Hobbyist and professional Game Masters use the same setup, including gaming coaches who charge for strategy or system-mastery sessions alongside their tables. Local licensing and tax rules still apply depending on where a Dungeon Master operates and how much they earn — see do you need to be a registered business to run paid D&D games for specifics.

Create your free FanBell page and split your one-shots, rules answers, and tips into the offers built for each.