Game Master: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"In [[Dungeons and& Dragons|D&D]], there is no act more reckless and fraught with danger than that of outsmarting the DM."''|'''Shamus Young'''}}

* ''Author'': The GM plans out ([[SchrodingerSchrödinger's Gun|in the loosest sense]]) the plot of the story of which the [[Player Characters]] will become heroes (or villains, or rich, or whatever); creating (or adapting, or just choosing) the setting, populating that region with villains and other [[NPC|NPCs]]s, and assigning them any necessary backgrounds, motivations, plans and resources. Beware, as overdoing this aspect can lead to [[Railroading]]. This role is most likely to be minimized with the use of premade modules, but rarely does a module not need adjustment for a particular set of player characters.

* ''Director'': During the game, while each of the other players typically controls the actions of ''one'' of the Player Characters, the GM decides the actions of all the NPCs as they are needed. The GM may also direct a particular "NPC" that travels with the party (commonly known as a [[GMPC]]), but this may occasionally be open to abuse since the [['''Game Master]]''' having a "pet" NPC may compromise his neutrality.

* ''Referee'': In most [[Tabletop RPG|Tabletop RPGs]]s, the rules are supplied to resolve conflicting situations (avoiding the "Bang! you're dead!"/"No, you missed!" quandary). The GM is expected to provide any necessary interpretation of those rules in fuzzier situations. The GM may also approve or provide [[House Rules]] in order to cover these corner cases or provide a different gaming experience. See also [[Rule Zero]].

* ''Manager'': The least officially prescribed portion of GMing, and thus the part that takes people the most by surprise. The GM is typically the one to organize the game in the first place, find players, schedule sessions, and figure out a place to play, as well as acting as a mediator and having to balance the needs and desires of all participants -- sometimesparticipants—sometimes having to divine the real desires of indecisive or self-deluded players.

Often, the GM is separated from the other players at the table by a cardboard screen that hides his notes on NPCs and upcoming events in the story; many games print custom GM screens, decorated with various tables and charts from the rulebooks, to reduce the amount of book referencing needed during play. Such screens have become less common -- mostcommon—most GMs and players prefer to use their computer to create their ''own'' screen, if they ever use one at all.

Game Masters will often be practiced actors, and many of the better GMs are also talented vocal artists and authors -- forauthors—for some, they're skills that see a ''lot'' of use, and many games have come into legend because of a memorable GM-controlled NPC.

Not to be confused with General Motors. Unless you're running some sort of automobile centered RPG. Note that the GMs in MMO Games (RPG or otherwise) are more like ''moderators'' with punitive powers but no ability to change the fundamentals of the game itself. They're the cops, in other words, whereas a Tabletop GM is the ruling deity of his or her world.

* "Referee" was the original term, as used in the very first version of ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' (published in 1974 by [[Gary Gygax]] and Dave Arneson, may they Role-play In Peace), and in [[Traveller]] (published in 1977).

* "Dungeon Master", or "DM", in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]''; this term arrived with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, with Game Master being a genericized expansion from it.

* "Host" in ''[[Ironclaw]]'', ''Jadeclaw'', and other games from Sanguine Productions -- aProductions—a term that deliberately emphasizes the ''Managerial'' hat in addition to the others. Even if the "Host" isn't inviting the other players into his ''home'', he's inviting them into his ''world''.

* "Director" in the RPG adaptations of ''Buffy'', ''Angel'', and ''Army Of Darkness''.

* The "Nightmare Weaver" in [http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Panic Panic].

* [[Seventh Sea|7th Sea]] simply calls it the Game Master...but in the book Los Vagos (detailing a secret society run by a [[Captain Ersatz]] version of [[Zorro]] in Castille, Spain's [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]]), it's called El Maestro de Juego...which is just Spanish for Game Master.(Said book contains a lot of [[Gratuitous Spanish]].)

* [[Dragon RaidDragonRaid]] uses the generic-sounding (but not actually very common) "Adventure Master."

* ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' and all related games use "Keeper."

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