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Does not using the term "gamemaster" in my WIP game automatically...

Started by RNGm, March 17, 2024, 12:00:17 PM

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Zalman

#15
March 18, 2024, 09:16:53 AM
Quote from: honeydipperdavid on March 17, 2024, 12:20:53 PM
Arbiter (my favorite)

Yeah, me too, way underused!

"Gamemaster" may be the "generic" term this decade, but I still recall with disgust its inception.

Frankly, everyone is a douche that doesn't use "Dungeon Master". Alas, we're all douches at legal gunpoint.
Old School? Back in my day we just called it "School."

Steven Mitchell

#16
March 18, 2024, 10:16:45 AM
Quote from: RNGm on March 18, 2024, 09:05:20 AM
Just this weekend, I read "A quick primer for OSR gaming" by Matt Finch from 2008 to get a feel for the scene and it suprisingly used the term "referee" instead; I definitely wasn't expecting that from an OSR product.  Is that just a rare one-off instance from a single company or is it also common/uncommon in the OSR scene?

"Referee" gets used from time to time as a casual replacement for GM/DM.  However, usually what it refers to is a subset of what the GM is doing.  As in, "The GM should be an impartial referee when running the game," or something like that.

weirdguy564

#17
March 18, 2024, 10:30:09 AM Last Edit: March 18, 2024, 10:32:47 AM by weirdguy564
Referee is the original term.  D&D was created out of tabletop wargaming as a way of explaining where fantasy army generals get their gear for the next battle. 

Those wargaming battles used an arbitrary neutral 3rd person to referee the edge cases of how and when rules applied, and to provide a double-blind option for hidden units. 

Dungeon Master came from that, but that is a copy-write protected term.  So Game Master replaced it for non-D&D games. 

But, the OG term is Referee.  Use that.
I'm glad for you if you like the top selling game of the genre.  Me, I like the road less travelled, and will be the player asking we try a game you've never heard of.

RNGm

#18
March 18, 2024, 10:30:49 AM
Quote from: Steven Mitchell on March 18, 2024, 10:16:45 AM
"Referee" gets used from time to time as a casual replacement for GM/DM.  However, usually what it refers to is a subset of what the GM is doing.  As in, "The GM should be an impartial referee when running the game," or something like that.

In this particular case, the document seems to alternate between exclusively Gamemaster/GM or "the referee" when describing the role/duties/advice from section to section of the guide.  I don't know if it was actually written by committee despite only having one credited writer but that might explain the inconsistent use of both depending on the section.   Below is an example of its use...

QuoteYou have to tell the referee where you're looking for
traps and what buttons you're pushing. You have to tell the referee whatever tall tale
you're trying to get the city guardsman to believe. You have to decide for yourself if
someone's lying to your character or telling the truth. In a 0e game, you are always
asking questions, telling the referee exactly what your character is looking at, and
experimenting with things.

RNGm

#19
March 18, 2024, 10:32:04 AM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on March 18, 2024, 10:30:09 AM
Referee is the original term.  D&D was created out of tabletop wargaming as a way of explaining where fantasy army generals get their gear for the next battle. 

Those wargaming battles used an arbitrary neutral 3rd person to referee the edge cases of how and when rules applied, and to provide a double-blind option for hidden units. 

Dungeon Master cams from that, but that is a copy-write protected term.  So Game Master replaced it for non-D&D games. 

But, the OG term is Referee.  Use that.

I was definitely aware of the wargaming roots of D&D/Chainmail but not of the use of the term.  When did it switch over from referee to DM?

Svenhelgrim

#20
March 18, 2024, 11:08:45 AM
How about "Overseer"?  That should work right?  One who oversee's the game...

Oh wait...

weirdguy564

#21
March 18, 2024, 12:06:52 PM Last Edit: March 18, 2024, 12:14:03 PM by weirdguy564
Quote from: RNGm on March 18, 2024, 10:32:04 AM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on March 18, 2024, 10:30:09 AM
Referee is the original term.  D&D was created out of tabletop wargaming as a way of explaining where fantasy army generals get their gear for the next battle. 

Those wargaming battles used an arbitrary neutral 3rd person to referee the edge cases of how and when rules applied, and to provide a double-blind option for hidden units. 

Dungeon Master cams from that, but that is a copy-write protected term.  So Game Master replaced it for non-D&D games. 

But, the OG term is Referee.  Use that.

I was definitely aware of the wargaming roots of D&D/Chainmail but not of the use of the term.  When did it switch over from referee to DM?

Not sure, but probably in original white box D&D is my guess.

Referee has been around for a LONG time when it comes to wargaming.  Real militaries used war games to test tactics and strategies, as well as train officers.

The other term used a lot is Umpire. 
I'm glad for you if you like the top selling game of the genre.  Me, I like the road less travelled, and will be the player asking we try a game you've never heard of.

RNGm

#23
March 18, 2024, 01:38:39 PM
Quote from: Svenhelgrim on March 18, 2024, 11:08:45 AM
How about "Overseer"?  That should work right?  One who oversee's the game...

Oh wait...

I'd say that one is slightly more likely one referencing the master of the environment whose job it is to bait the players into combat... a masterbaiter of sorts.

Slipshot762

#24
March 18, 2024, 08:17:36 PM
Overlord...and each session must begin with a three round chant of "all hail the overlord!" or rocks fall and everybody dies.

Zenoguy3

#25
March 18, 2024, 08:34:24 PM
You aren't 100% instantly the bad guy for using a different term, as long as it's 1. relavent to the game and 2. not a dumb pretentios name.
Gamemaster is definetly the default, referee is a secondary default. Gillespie uses mazecontroller in dragonslayer since that game grew out of his barrowmaze campaign. but going of the rails and using something like stagedirector or other theater adjacent terms would give me at least the whiff of somebody that has their head up their rear.

Grognard GM

#26
March 18, 2024, 11:26:42 PM
Quote from: Zalman on March 18, 2024, 09:16:53 AM
Quote from: honeydipperdavid on March 17, 2024, 12:20:53 PM
Arbiter (my favorite)

Yeah, me too, way underused!

"Gamemaster" may be the "generic" term this decade, but I still recall with disgust its inception.

Frankly, everyone is a douche that doesn't use "Dungeon Master". Alas, we're all douches at legal gunpoint.

It was GM when I started playing nearly 35 years ago, and it's what I've always used.

I mean, Dungeon Master makes sense...when the game takes place in a dungeon. Why am I going to use that specific handle for the vast majority of games that don't take place in dungeons?
I'm a middle aged guy with a lot of free time, looking for similar, to form a group for regular gaming. You should be chill, non-woke, and have time on your hands.

See below:

https://www.therpgsite.com/news-and-adverts/looking-to-form-a-group-of-people-with-lots-of-spare-time-for-regular-games/

SHARK

#27
March 18, 2024, 11:41:34 PM
Greetings!

What's wrong with using the term GM?--(Gamemaster)?

What need is there for any other term?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK
"It is the Marine Corps that will strip away the façade so easily confused with self. It is the Corps that will offer the pain needed to buy the truth. And at last, each will own the privilege of looking inside himself  to discover what truly resides there. Comfort is an illusion. A false security b

Opaopajr

#28
March 18, 2024, 11:44:09 PM
 >:( My preferred term is "Grand High Overlord, who Oppresses You for Your Own Good!" GHOwOYfYOG!

But if you're well behaved I'll accept GameMaster.  ;)
Just make your fuckin\' guy and roll the dice, you pricks. Focus on what\'s interesting, not what gives you the biggest randomly generated virtual penis.  -- J Arcane
 
You know, people keep comparing non-TSR D&D to deck-building in Magic: the Gathering. But maybe it\'s more like Katamari Damacy. You keep sticking shit on your characters until they are big enough to be a star.
-- talysman

RNGm

#29
March 19, 2024, 12:13:23 AM
Quote from: SHARK on March 18, 2024, 11:41:34 PM
Greetings!

What's wrong with using the term GM?--(Gamemaster)?

What need is there for any other term?

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK


Abolutely nothing is wrong with using the term GM no matter what any purple haired mentally unstable baristas tell you otherwise.  Sometimes, though, it feels more thematic to use another term that fits the niche/genre of the game better.
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