This post is about the humble Game Master and the 5 essential roles that they play in tabletop games.

 

 

When it comes to Tabletop Role-playing Games (TTRPGs), there is perhaps nothing more recognizable or iconic than the Game/ Dungeon Master. 

You have probably seen one before even if you didn’t know what they were called. He's the guy sitting at the head of the table behind a propped-up screen. 

By the way, what is up with that screen? What is he hiding under there, his beer belly? 

Actually, they usually hide cool things that they want to keep hidden from their players like miniatures and battle maps, but that's information for another post. 

Besides the burning mystery of the game screen, you may be wondering what is a Game Master, and why are they so important to tabletop gaming? Let's find out. 

 

What is a Game Master (GM)?

To begin, let's clarify what makes a tabletop role-playing game different from a regular board or card game. 

With most board and card games, every person who plays has the same role, a player. As a player, they work independently or together to try to win the game.

Sure, occasionally players have other small roles like passing out fake money as a banker or dealing cards, but for the most part, everyone is a player.

A tabletop game has players too, but the main difference is that there is always one person in charge, the Game Master. 

The Game Master has a much more important and complicated role than a banker or a dealer from other games. 

Everything that happens within a tabletop game is planned and created by them, and whenever a player interacts with the world around them they always go through the GM.

 

Setting the stage.

The Game Master is the most complicated role in a tabletop game, and also the most time-consuming. They plan everything that happens in a game session, improvise when things go off track, and plan new and exciting material to keep players engaged. Here is how they set the stage

 

1. What in the World?

One of the most important tools in a Game Master’s bag of tricks is called the theater of the mind.

Many regular games have a board to play on. Depending on the game, this can be a map of the world, a mansion, or perhaps a city with different properties to purchase.

The only problem with using this tactic in a tabletop game is that the game usually takes place in a fantasy world similar to ours.

In this world, there are continents, countries, kingdoms, cities, and towns. With so much packed into one space it would be impossible to represent everything on a game board. This is where the theater of the mind comes in. 

 A fantasy world like this can’t be seen like in a movie or a video game, it has to be told. Just like reading or listening to a book, the GM breathes life into the world by describing it in detail.

They describe surroundings, sights, smells, and the overall feeling of a location so that players can almost imagine that they are in a rotting crypt, a tall snowy mountain, a rotting swamp, or anywhere else they can imagine.

 

2. People Playing

Now that this big beautiful world has been created, it's time to fill it with people.

Here are some terms to be familiar with. The real-life people who are playing the game alongside the GM are called Player Characters or PCs for short. 

But it's not realistic for the only inhabitants of an entire world to be just a handful of players. This world is full of other people called Non-player characters, or NPCs for short.

An NPC is anyone in the entire gaming world that is not a player. This includes kings, shop owners, monsters, beggars, and villains.

While players control their character, the Game Master controls everyone else, and has the responsibility to play any NPC the players meet and interact with,

Here's how it works. Say a player wants to go shopping for a magical item. Once they find a shop the player approaches the shop owner, who is an NPC, and asks them about magical items that they have for sale

The GM will first describe what this person looks like and will then respond to the player as if they were the shop owner. 

It is up to them to decide how to portray the NPC. Is the shop owner really helpful to the player or do they suspect they might steal something?

They also decide what each NPC looks like, acts like, and how they fit into the overall story.

Interacting with the GM this way may sound silly, but you would be surprised how natural it is when you get used to it.

 

3. Story Time

So now that the world is created and filled with people and monsters, players need stuff to do, or in other words, they need a story to follow.

Stories in tabletop games often come in the form of quests.

Quests can come in all shapes and sizes. For example, one quest can involve finding the lost sheep for a kindly old gnome, while another quest can involve killing a fearsome dragon that's been terrorizing the kingdom.

Many players live for quests and the more creative that a GM can get in creating them the better. 

Fortunately, there are ways to make quests more exciting, and that is by adding obstacles, which challenge the players and also add variety. 

One common obstacle is called a dungeon crawl. This is when players have to explore some foreign location like ancient ruins or caverns deep in the mountains. 

Players often explore these dungeons to find ancient treasure, secret knowledge, or maybe to destroy an insidious villain set on destroying the world.

To add even more variety Game Masters can add more obstacles including enemies to fight, traps, puzzles, and mysteries to solve. 

 

4. Conflict is inevitable

While many players prefer quests to anything else in a tabletop game, other players prefer combat.

Combat in tabletop games is both simple and complex at the same time, especially for the GM.

 The simple part is that they are often only two sides to a conflict, the players and their enemies.

Combat usually takes place on a battle map with a grid of either squares or hexes, and all participants take turns fighting each other, using any special abilities to try to gain the upper hand. 

For players, the only thing they have to worry about is their character. Each player has a certain amount of movement they can use each turn, which allows them to travel square by square across the battle map.

Players also can choose to attack their enemies with weapons or spells, or they can take less heroic actions such as running and hiding. 

On the other hand, the Game Master controls the enemies which can include monsters, bandits, or even the main villain of the game. 

Enemies also can move about the map, and depending on the monster, have access to special abilities to help them win the battle.

Game Masters have a lot to keep track of during combat. Not only do they have to control the monsters, but they also have to keep track of the turn order, and be familiar with any rules to keep the fight running smoothly

 

5. Keeper of Rules

Now we have to talk about rules, which is enough to make most people groan in disappointment.

Although the use of rules may seem restrictive, they are essential to a GM who instead of having to create everything from scratch, now has a ruleset to follow to help them make decisions.

The Rules of a tabletop game depend on the type of game system the Game Master is using, which affects everything in the game such as world-building, social encounters, and combat.

Some well-known examples of gaming systems include, such as Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, but there are many more.

Although a GM doesn’t have to memorize each rule they do need to be familiar with the rules enough to either improvise or at least know where to find a rule in a pinch.

The GM can be relied on as an impartial referee between the players and the rules, but ultimately makes the final decisions, with the power to ignore a rule if the situation calls for it. 

Conclusion

Game Masters wear many hats to keep the game moving and enjoyable, and by far takes the most time and effort. But being a GM is also the most rewarding as you craft a tale and story that will keep their players on the edge of their seats and remember forever.

This post is about the humble Game Master and the 5 essential roles that they play in tabletop games.