How my Patreon gaming hustle made me rich!
Or The Mad Jay Hustle: Year One
Imagine my surprise this week when I got an email from Patreon saying I should do something special for my one year anniversary on the platform. Where did the time go! I had a thought about starting a side hustle around my gaming hobby. I could do a podcast, share my approach to tabletop games, I could run games, share my hacked versions of the games I dig and just geek out on games. I picked tier levels based on other Patreon’s doing podcasts or gaming shows and Diceology was born.
For Diceology I wanted to talk with gaming folks we don’t always hear from, other gamers, indie designers, all the minorities of tabletop gaming, my kid. I wanted to share how they got into tabletop games, what growing up was like, their joys and struggles in the hobby.
I also do actual plays of games, but shorter and smaller. One GM and one or two players for about an hour. My son and I playing B/X D&D was a hit, and now our Young Mandalorian game based on Star Wars is more fun. There are also shows were I just nerd out with long time friends Rich Rogers and Paul Beakley.
I post blogs and game hacks and play talk in various posts on the site. I USED to go to a ton of game conventions. I wrote about playing and running games in those spaces with other gaming nerds you don’t yet know.
Dream Hustle Year to date. I’ve put just over $1000.00 in my bank account!
But Mad Jay, you said R I C H!!
Yes, I did say rich. I set out to develop this side hustle to monetize my hobby. The big win is to make it my day job. I’m still on that path, but this interacting with folks has a way of getting to you. Talking about being pregnant and navigating freelance work with Sarah Doombringer was a thing I wasn’t aware of, her definition of the horror genre experience was an eye-opener for me. Mike Pondsmith is a cool, regular guy that loves his fans, and staff and he’s got great stories. Chris Spivey, didn’t take no for an answer — now look at where Harlem Unbound is and the work he is putting out. Beau and I connected on our extended family histories and adversity. Mattais Haake, hustles like me, in the hobby he loves. The Incredible Misha B. She played Rolemaster RPG, stole my heart! Nathan Paoletta and his game Carry made me a fan, and we’ve worked a couple projects together since then. I get to nerd out with Rich Rogers on superheroes, Star Wars, baseball — all the nerd stuff. Deep game talk with Paul Beakley, who reminds us there is a craft here, in the facilitation, in the play of tabletop games; honing it increases the fun.
I’ve played Coriolis RPG, Defend the Blocks, Spire, Champions Now, Edge of the Empire, Liminal. I’ve been invited to play-tests of games. I’ve made new friends from Patreon, and have gotten to know old ones a little bit better.
And I rode the funkadelic mothership with James Mendez-Hodes. The real hustle was the friends we made along the way. So, when I say I’m rich from Patreon — you know what I’m saying.
Play Fearlessly.
“Mad Jay” Brown is a polyhedral dice pool. He has written The Clockwinders for Fate RPG, PRIME Supers for Cortex Prime RPG and By Acer’s Light for Burning Wheel. He is the host of the Diceology, a podcast about gamers and a GM-for-hire currently running 40+ player West Marches RPG at Into The Mad Lands. He likes games and stories about outsiders and underdogs. Jay games with his kids and loves his momma but she doesn’t game…yet.
