Quick Links
The rich world and interactivity ofDungeons & Dragonscan do amazing things for one’s creativity. Dungeon Masters and players alike will often find the 20-sided muse taking them, urging them to create custom characters, mechanics, stories, magic items, and more. Maybe you just love some good world-building and plot development, or you have great ideas for new mechanics that would fit any D&D game.
What if I told you that all that creative energy could be converted into cold, hard cash? Well, you can! It most likely won’t result in a wave of wealth, but sharing your homebrew content on monetized platforms can be a fantastic way to both share your ideas with the world and make some extra money in the process. Here are some of the easier ways to make money from your D&D content.
Your first assumption might be that you can’t make money from anything using Wizards of the Coast’s intellectual property. So anything set in the Forgotten Realms, or usingcharacters like Volo, Elminster, and so on. That’s not true, however! A platform called Dungeon Masters Guild, or DMsGuild, is a collaborative project between WotC and Roll20 thatallows anyone to sell modules, adventures, or supplements that utilize official D&D properties.
Registered creators canupload their creations, setting an optional price tag. Then, anyone online can download your content for the determined price, with you gettingan approximate 50 percent cut of the profit.
The catch, however, is thatyou have to adhere to their specific requirements of content. We’ve outlined them in short below, but we recommend exploring theirCreators Info Centerfor more in-depth information.
What You’re Allowed To Use
You’reallowed to use any of the 5th Edition D&D rules published by Wizards of the Coast, along with all of the published material for that system (if thatmaterial was published after 2014). This includessettings, items, plots, and characters. Want to make an adventure where you help Drizzt Do’Urden defeat Vecna aboard a spelljammer ship? you may!
You are allowed toexpand on the existing rules and lore with your custom content, as well. For example: You would be allowed to create an adventure thattakes place in the Curse of Strahd campaign setting, adding a new NPC or introducing an injectable side questto that world and plot.
You are also allowed touse the other content available on DMsGuild in the same way, expanding or drawing on their established lore and mechanics. Want to includeMatt Mercer’s Totem of the Duck barbarian subclasshomebrew in your own custom content? That’s allowed!
If you plan to use something from another DMsGuild creator, they strongly recommendgetting in touch with that creator and asking first, or at the very least, crediting them and linking to it in the final product.
Almost any official D&D setting is allowed, but due to certain restrictions, some aren’t. To simplify it, here’s a list of every allowed setting:
You are alsoallowed to have a neutral setting. This means that no specific setting was specified, andyour content could reasonably be injected into an approved setting. NPCs and items originating from unapproved settings CAN be added to the content if the content itself is in an approved setting.
What You CANNOT Use
That IP freedom comes at a cost, there area handful of restrictions as to the content you are allowed to shareon the platform.
How To Get Started
If you’ve made content and you’re absolutely certain it meets the qualifications, you cansubmit the completed files(Usually a PDF, sometimes with extra files like map images, etc) by making a DMsGuild account, going to theAccount page, and finding the “Enter New Community Created Title” under theMy Contentsection.
Fill out all of the information on that page and submit. Assuming everything is right, it should appear on the marketplace soon.
Once you’ve made a sale, and money has accrued on your account, a My Money section will appear on the account page. Here, you can request apayout of accrued profit via PayPal.
Maybe your content doesn’t qualify for use on the DMsGuild marketplace. You have an original story, with original characters, in an original setting. You just want to use the 5e rule system. Or maybe you don’t!That’s where DriveThruRPG comes in. This is a sister site to DMsGuild that essentially hosts what DMsGuild won’t.
Understand The SRD, CC/OGL, And Fan Content Policy
Thisdoesn’t meanyou’re free to use whatever you want for your content, though. A new set of rules applies to content here. Namely,all content must adhere to the System Reference Document, the Open Gaming License/Creative Commons, and the Fan Content Policy, when applicable.
What You Can And Cannot Use
DriveThruRPGhosts adventures and supplements for not just D&Dbut countless other tabletop RPGs, likeCall of Cthulhu, Warhammer, and Pathfinder. As such, their general content guidelines are dependent on which RPG you’re writing for.
Since we’re focusing on D&D,the general content guidelines are whatever the SRD and OGL/CC dictate. In short, this means you can use thed20 system and concepts like species, classes, skills, and spells, as dictated in the SRD, but you need to come up with everything else. Be sure to double-check the SRD and the license you’ll be using for any nuances.
DriveThruRPG does havea small selection of rules for all content, as well.
They also have somerules about AI-generated work.
If you’re interested in publishing on DriveThruRPG, visittheir Getting Started pageand follow the instructions. Once an account is made,they provide guidance for getting started, such as advice on formatting.
If you’re unsure if you have everything you need and you meet all the rules,consult theirNew Title Checklistfor a step-by-step processto check if it qualifies.
Depending on your choices, you will earn a65-70 percent royalty on all sales. Payout instructions are provided.
Explore Other Platforms
There arecountless other platforms out there that can host D&D-related content and provide a way to monetize your work. This includes the Roll20 Marketplace, for integrating your material into their Virtual Table Top system, releasing content regularly to a Patreon page or other subscription-based backer platform, or even just making your own website!
Roll20 owns DMsGuild and DriveThruRPGand offers methods for easily hosting your content on both platforms.
There aretoo many ways to detail all of them, which is why we focused on the two biggest platforms. But you don’t need to stop there.
Potential Ways To Monetize Your Custom Content
Of course, the profit margins, traffic, and consumer interest will vary wildly with each idea.ensure you do your researchwhen considering a platform.
Things To Keep In Mind
Any D&D content you want to monetize will still have to follow the rules set by the SRD and OGL/CC, as mentioned in the DriveThruRPG section. These rules apply to all formats, regardless of where you’re trying to monetize them.
While finding different platforms will provide greater freedom in the variety of content you may provide, you still will need to play by Wizards of the Coast’s rules. ensure you understand what is and is not allowed when choosing where to sell your content.
Once your content is out there, you’ll have anice, passive incomebefore you know it.
