Which Brillay Offer Should a Paid Dungeon Master Use?

A paid Dungeon Master should use Custom Work for one-shots, worldbuilding commissions, and custom NPCs or maps; Paid Questions for a quick rules ruling or lore answer; and Tips for players who want to say thanks without buying anything specific. Goals fits a campaign-supplies or gear goal. Custom Work lets you offer clearly scoped commissions and services: you set the price, the scope and the delivery time, and followers submit a brief and pay before you start.

No monthly fee, you only pay a small platform fee when you get paid. 8% platform fee when a follower pays for work, 5% platform fee on tips and goals. Card processing is separate. Brillay — Pricing

Running two or three offers at once is practical advice, not a measured norm: Brillay publishes no data on how many offers a Dungeon Master typically enables, and this page cites no independent survey of what paid direct messages 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 Brillay 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 follower 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: Custom Work for scoped deliverables such as one-shot outlines, custom NPCs, and maps; Paid Questions for a single rules or lore answer delivered as written; and Tips for players who want to give thanks without commissioning anything. Goals 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 Custom Work, Paid Questions, and Tips for the full setup detail on each.

Paid Questions are one typed question and one written reply (Brillay — How It Works). A recorded NPC voice line or a hand-drawn battle map therefore cannot travel through a Paid Question and needs a custom request instead.

When does a custom request beat a booking platform?

A custom request beats a live-booking marketplace whenever the request has a defined deliverable and a delivery time window rather than a scheduled table — a one-shot outline, a worldbuilding document, an NPC written reply, or a campaign recap. The follower pays when they ask; you reply when you can.

Brillay caps custom request delivery time at up to 5 days per order and requires the follower 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?

Brillay supports asynchronous offers alongside booked, real-time tables, and a custom request lives on the DM's own page rather than a searchable roster of Game Masters, so the player who already follows the table finds it directly instead of browsing a marketplace listing to pick someone new. A Brillay custom request 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 Question the better fit?

A Paid 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 in writing, and no document or media changes hands. A live paid one-shot has to be scheduled and held; a written ruling can be answered between sessions, inside the reply window you set.

For Paid Questions, the creator configures the price and reply time, and followers send one typed question for one written reply.

Requests that fit a Paid 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 custom request 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, while Custom Work covers commissioned work such as a paid one-shot.

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

Running Tips alongside Custom Work and Paid 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 Goals for campaign gear?

Goals 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. Goals sends cash toward the goal rather than shipping a product.

Brillay's Goals collects cash toward a creator goal with a funding progress bar; every contribution remains yours even if the target is missed, there is no deadline unless you set one, and there is no shipping or 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 Brillay's fees compare to other DM income channels?

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.

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 Custom Work, Paid Questions, and Tips from a Brillay link for asynchronous requests and direct support.

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 custom request into a pay-first scheduling flow.

Frequently asked questions

Can I run Custom Work, Paid Questions, and Tips at the same time?

Yes. Custom Work, Paid Questions, and Tips are separate offers on the same Brillay page, and no rule limits a creator to one. Brillay 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 custom request for one-shots plus Tips for casual support.

Is a live paid one-shot a custom request on Brillay?

No. Brillay supports asynchronous requests alongside separately scheduled live sessions. Use Custom Work for a defined deliverable around the game, such as a one-shot outline or encounter plan, and use a separate scheduling tool for the live 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 Question?

No. Paid Questions let the follower send one typed question and receive one written reply from the creator. A voiced NPC line, battle map, or written encounter needs a custom request instead.

What does Brillay charge a Dungeon Master?

Brillay's platform fee is the one stated at the top of this page, and there is 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?

Brillay's setup process lets creators enable Custom Work or Paid Questions directly, independent of certification or professional-GM status. 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 Brillay page and split your one-shots, rules answers, and tips into the offers built for each.