Meet the Woman who Turned Her Passion for Gaming Into a Gig That Pays $24,000 a Year

From releasing music online to gaining more exposure for digital art, the internet has unlocked new possibilities for people to turn their passion into a viable source of income. Mari Murdock is a professional game master, a role that earns her $24,000 per year. The 36-year-old organizes and narrates tabletop roleplaying games like "Dungeons & Dragons" (D&D). Murdock did not expect to get paid for running "D&D" games, but she eventually turned her hobby into a paying gig. Murdock shared her story with CNBC Make It, describing her work in detail.

"Dungeons & Dragons" is an open-ended tabletop game in which players shape the narrative with the choices they make. They do so through combat, puzzles, or negotiation. A GM is the world-builder and narrator for the players' actions and they enforce and explain the rules, like a mediator or referee. Since many different scenarios can play out in the game, a good GM needs to be an adept improviser who can keep the story moving based on the circumstances. The gig isn’t easy but since Murdock played tabletop games through the 2010s, she had the required skills.

Working as a GM for Dungeon Master Direct became Murdock's main source of income since 2021. The Utah-based company she works for, specializes in online and in-person tabletop roleplaying game sessions that cost about $375 to $750. Murdock makes about $24,000 as a dungeon master for the company, while she makes $13,000 teaching writing at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, where she lives with her husband, Scott.

After graduating from BYU-H, Murdock got a communications job on campus and was soon joined by Scott. They helped create a gaming club on campus, with Murdock acting as the club's faculty advisor. It was a hit and became the second-largest student group on campus. Murdock got more involved and in 2013, she entered and won an open audition to write fiction for "Legend of the Five Rings," a popular collectible card game.

In 2016, Murdock moved to Salt Lake City with Scott to pursue a master's degree in transatlantic literature. All this while, she continued freelance writing, mostly for "Legend of the Five Rings." She was first paid in the form of merchandise but later got paid in cash.

In 2020, an old friend from Murdock's university gaming club founded Dungeon Master Direct, a professional dungeon master service, right when tabletop gaming became popular during the pandemic. In May 2021 Levine hired Murdock as a game master, commonly called a dungeon master when playing "Dungeons & Dragons."

She also helps run company events like the largest game of "Dungeons & Dragons" ever played, which got to the Guinness World Record. Thus, she juggles freelance writing, GMing, and teaching. Apart from these, she volunteers 10 hours a week for the Relief Society, an LDS philanthropic women's organization.

In 2023, Murdock and Scott purchased a detached two-bedroom home in downtown Salt Lake City for $535,000, with a down payment of $40,000, as per CNBC. They took a personal loan within their family, and now they pay about $777 in monthly payments in addition to their mortgage.

They are also managing roughly $15,000 in credit card debt they accumulated during the pandemic. “We're hoping to maybe foster children or adopt children because that's something we've always been interested in," once the debt is paid off, Murdock told CNBC Make It.