startplaying.gamesReviews of startplaying.games

A fairly good site to let you find paid Gamemasters to run a game, either joining into a group they are making, or as a group. The site is fairly well run, and there's a good choice of games to select from. Trying to find a good fit can be work, but that's the nature of TTRPG's. There seems to be a lot of mediocre and generic games, but again, that's the nature of TTRPG's, and some people like their games predictable and vanilla. The safety tools, while nice for trying to make a more comfortable table, sometimes have the opposite effect, creating a feeling of tacit bullying and intimidation that you don't dare complain about. Not a common problem, but one that has occurred. Generally, a decent site, as long as you expect to try out a few gamemasters and games to find some that suit you.

I am glad that I can find someone to run games I'd like to try. Still navigating the options. Considering running some myself as a side hustle.

The Good: A lot of GM's in a variety of timezones, pricing for both the luxury seeker or someone looking to play a little cheaper and get an experience without needing to do the prep yourself or deal with scheduling conflicts (they still show up, mind you; but I've noticed that 9 out of 10 times players seem more likely to show up and pay attention when they've invested money in it). I've learned systems I really wanted to learn, can reach out to a GM who runs a specific system to ask them questions or to run a starter set, and overall there's a really positive vibe within the community I've met. And their search engine, for the most part, is likely to find you a system and campaign you're looking for (I've not quite figured out their SEO for finding buzzwords in-site; but I've had some good luck using Google to narrow finds down too) The Mid: You won't know what you're getting for your money all the time. I've had a $40 game that felt like it should have been $15, the GM was extremely laxadasical and had no pregens for a system I'd never played in before and said "just bring any character you want, even 5e", which confused me a lot since I'd been very eager to learn and try Tales of the Valiant and it seemed like they'd really phoned that session's prep work in. The Concerns: I don't know how they vet the GMs. There is a review system in place; which can give you some insights on the GM, but sometimes all people will say is "Great game!" with not much else to go by. My general advice, do your own vetting just to make sure you're getting what you want.