Gamemaster - History and Variants of The Term

History and Variants of The Term

The term gamemaster and the role associated with it could be found in the postal gaming hobby. In a role-playing game context, it was first used by Chivalry & Sorcery. The term may have also been in use by Flying Buffalo in the 1975 game Tunnels and Trolls, with previous usage in a wargaming context including Guidon Games 1973 ruleset, Ironclad. In typical play-by-mail games, players control armies or civilizations and mail their chosen actions to the GM. The GM then mails the updated game state to all players on a regular basis.

Each gaming system has its own name for the role of the gamemaster, such as "judge", "narrator", "referee", "director", or "storyteller", and these terms not only describe the role of the gamemaster in general but also help define how the game is intended to be run. For example, the Storyteller System used in White Wolf Game Studio's storytelling games calls its GM the "storyteller", while the rules- and setting-focused Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game calls its GM the "judge". The cartoon inspired role-playing game Toon calls its GM the "animator". A few games apply system- or setting-specific flavorful names to the GM, such as the Hollyhock God (Nobilis, in which the hollyhock represents vanity), or the most famous of such terms, "Dungeon Master" (or "DM") in Dungeons & Dragons.