Game Master

The Game Master (or GM, occasionally known as Dungeon Master, or DM) is the arbitrator of the rules and creator of the initial situation in role-playing games which require such a participant. Usually, the GM also controls the Non-Player Characters (although he or she will often field these out to Players whose characters are not participating in the immediate action of the story) and the environment. 
Philosophies on the role of the GM differ wildly, from those who believe that the GM is the primary storyteller who pushes the players (hopefully subtly) towards the intended story, to those who believe that the GM's role is to be reactionary, solely informing players how their actions interact with the mechanics and the world and playing NPCs solely by their character traits, and everything in between. There are even those who believe in games which have no GM at all.
Aeldrum's accepted GM style allows for some flexibility, but tends to assume that the Players will be the primary driver of the story, and it is the GM's job to set up the initial situation (through character creation, in particular) to lead to meaningful situations of Player Character interaction with other PCs and NPCs, with the object of creating a campaign that will organically be within a genre of play.
Category:Real-World
Category:Game Mechanics