Cobh man Apollo rolls a natural 20 on career as D&D game master

Running games of Dungeons & Dragons has managed to generate half of the 23-year-olds income, bringing together players of all ages to the tabletop experience

Apollo Pierce, voice actor and Dungeons & Dragons professional dungeon master, has his dice ready for the next campaign. Picture: Larry Cummins

While some men enjoy wearing suits to work, Corkonian Apollo Pierce prefers shining armour.

This might look out of place in his predominantly conventional wardrobe. However, for the 23-year-old, it represents the sort of creative freedom “nine-to-fivers” can only dream about.

For the last year, Apollo has earned around half of his income playing tabletop fantasy role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). 

The professional game master, who lives in Cobh, runs multiplayer games in which he acts as a facilitator, storyteller, and referee.

Apollo first became interested in pastimes like cosplay and acting while studying for his undergraduate degree in Greek and Roman civilisation at University College Cork. After achieving a postgraduate degree in music and technology at MTU Cork School of Music, Apollo longed for a career in the arts.

“I only starting playing Dungeons & Dragons around six years ago and it’s been a lot of fun,” he told the Irish Examiner.

“It has given me some crazy opportunities. I’ve played D&D on stage many times which is always wild. I’ve also played for fundraisers where I was just one of a ridiculously large cast.

“When I say tabletop role-playing games, we’re talking about games that traditionally would have been played around the dinner table.

Apollo loves when players become invested in their characters and the story of the game. Picture: Larry Cummins

“The goal is to tell a fun story with the people around you. Usually one person will take on the role of the game master or dungeon master, and everybody else will be a player. The game master creates the world and the environment and challenges.

“Meanwhile, the players create characters that live inside that world. As you play along, there’s an element of improvisation.”

In person and online

People from all walks of life avail of Apollo’s services.

“I started in January of last year,” he said. “I had hobbies that were separate in their own right but they all came together well for this. I’ve been involved in projects where we’re playing these games where we all show up in costume and that really adds to it.

“With that said, I’ve also played in games over Zoom where everyone is in the house in their pyjamas. It’s the type of hobby that you can totally immerse yourself in with costumes or choose to go without.”

Apollo says the most rewarding part of his job is the joy it brings people: “The location for one group I was playing with was a cathedral. When I walked in with the priest’s shirt, everyone just lost it. It’s seeing these moments of joy and everybody being connected through the story we’re all telling that really makes it worthwhile for me.”

Getting invested

Players can often get carried away, as Apollo explains: “My favourite part is when you can tell from a person’s eyes how invested they are in the story we are all trying to tell. It doesn’t always click for people, but when it does it’s amazing.

“For example, I was running a game recently that was set in a Celtic folkloric world. One of the players had a fairy character who found out that a witch had been squatting in her home.

“The player was visibly angry. asking ‘who does she think she is?’ She was really connected with the story. I can see how quickly the emotions rise for people and that can be extremely satisfying.”

Apollo says players sometimes appear to sessions in costumes, further connecting themselves to their D&D characters. Picture: Larry Cummins

Apollo explains how the sessions can be tailored to suit people of various ages: “I love running games for families. I have a friend who plays these games with his kids and it’s just like story time for them. When there’s children involved, you’ll usually have to modify it to some extent.

“I’m usually playing the game with adults in their 20s and 30s but what’s fun for them might not necessarily be fun for a child. It could be something as simple using words like ‘the big mean dragon’ instead of presenting them as super evil.”

Benefits of the game

Apollo said there are many benefits to playing these games, for young and old: “It’s a collaborative storytelling game which is really good for kids. I used to work in a summer camp where I taught English as a foreign language. I often ran this game with my students.

“Games like this are very beneficial for communication skills because you need to be able to communicate within the story, but also with the people around you. You are learning about creative problem solving. Additionally, it builds really strong interpersonal skills.”

Apollo also dabbles in video games: “I came into gaming late in life. When I was kid, I dabbled in Pokemon games and that franchise but that was about it. 

"After college I decided it was time to get really nerdy about video games. The first thing I did was get a games console to play all the games I didn’t have the chance to when I was a kid.”