I'm really not a fan of the term "dungeonmaster" and no one would every mistake me for a leftist wingnut.  It's been around so long that it's vanilla ice cream in gaming circles, but it's still irredeemably nerdy to folks outside the hobby.  I think such terms create a real barrier to trying RPGs in many cases.  We're so used to our own lingo that we don't realize or care that it makes the hobby less accessible to newbies.  There are a few good options.  "Gamemaster" is almost as bad as "dungeonmaster," IMO, but I like "arbiter" which someone upthread suggested.  For my current project I went with "narrator," because that's what a GM actually does.  He narrates what happens, taking into consideration player choices, dice rolls, the rules, and the fictional environment.   This time around I am making a conscious effort to use words that will be intuitive to nongamers in an effort to make the game accessible to folks who want to try an RPG for the first time.

Quote from: Mishihari on March 19, 2024, 02:00:53 AM
For my current project I went with "narrator," because that's what a GM actually does.  He narrates what happens, taking into consideration player choices, dice rolls, the rules, and the fictional environment.

I don't think narrator is a terrible term, but I wouldn't use it. The only thing your description's missing is the decision making, which I think is more important than the narration itself. The narration could be done by a TTS program, you need the gamemaster or whatever else your calling it for everything else.

Quote from: Mishihari on March 19, 2024, 02:00:53 AM
This time around I am making a conscious effort to use words that will be intuitive to nongamers in an effort to make the game accessible to folks who want to try an RPG for the first time.

Gamemaster is plenty intuitive I think, master of the game. Part of getting into a hobby is learning its idiosyncrasies and lexicon, I don't wanna sand down all the rough edges too much.

GameMaster is fine.

I do prefer his holy royalness, lord of all lands and seas, first and last arbiter of thy rules, and consumer of pizza & soda. 

Quote from: Mishihari on March 19, 2024, 02:00:53 AM
I'm really not a fan of the term "dungeonmaster" and no one would every mistake me for a leftist wingnut.  It's been around so long that it's vanilla ice cream in gaming circles, but it's still irredeemably nerdy to folks outside the hobby.  I think such terms create a real barrier to trying RPGs in many cases.  We're so used to our own lingo that we don't realize or care that it makes the hobby less accessible to newbies.  There are a few good options.  "Gamemaster" is almost as bad as "dungeonmaster," IMO, but I like "arbiter" which someone upthread suggested.  For my current project I went with "narrator," because that's what a GM actually does.  He narrates what happens, taking into consideration player choices, dice rolls, the rules, and the fictional environment.   This time around I am making a conscious effort to use words that will be intuitive to nongamers in an effort to make the game accessible to folks who want to try an RPG for the first time.

1.- I don't think that having more people in the hobby is a net good.
2.- Someone who is so easily discouraged as to GameMaster being enough for them not to try the hobby isn't a good fit anyway IMHO.
3.- You might have a case for the terms being "obscure" lingo if it wasn't for TV shows and movies helping popularize them.

In Portuguese, the term used more often is just "mestre" as in "mestre do jogo", a literal translation of game master. Purple-haired people won't be able to make associations to slavery in our case because "mestre" wasn't the word used for a slave owner, it was "senhor", which is translated to "mister, sir, lord". Other common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame. My favorite game, unfortunately (?), uses narrator. It is the SAGA System for Dragonlance: Fifth Age. The whole game uses a lot of literary terms, like scene and act. Maybe that is why I flirt with pretentious terms like protagonist in my own game system.

Another kind of terms for game master that I never grew to like are the very specific to the product ones, like castle keeper. I think read too many indie games from the early 2000s with lots of 'tude and "proprietary" names for the GM.

Quote from: zer0th on March 25, 2024, 09:57:18 AM
In Portuguese, the term used more often is just "mestre" as in "mestre do jogo", a literal translation of game master. Purple-haired people won't be able to make associations to slavery in our case because "mestre" wasn't the word used for a slave owner, it was "senhor", which is translated to "mister, sir, lord". Other common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame. My favorite game, unfortunately (?), uses narrator. It is the SAGA System for Dragonlance: Fifth Age. The whole game uses a lot of literary terms, like scene and act. Maybe that is why I flirt with pretentious terms like protagonist in my own game system.

Another kind of terms for game master that I never grew to like are the very specific to the product ones, like castle keeper. I think read too many indie games from the early 2000s with lots of 'tude and "proprietary" names for the GM.

IME and in order of popularity:

Dungeon Master (occasionaly translated to Amo del Calabozo like in the cartoon translation) DM

A very far second place goes to GM Game Master (Maestro del Juego)

Tied in second place DJ (Director del Juego) Game Director a loose translation from GM.

Narrator because Vampire.

Quote from: zer0th on March 25, 2024, 09:57:18 AMOther common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame.

Interesting.  The English version of Vampire and, I believe, the rest of the White Wolf games used "storyteller."  So I find "storyteller" cringey due to the association despite it otherwise being an alright word, while "narrator" is free of negative associations.

Quote from: Mishihari on March 25, 2024, 05:15:32 PM

Quote from: zer0th on March 25, 2024, 09:57:18 AMOther common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame.

Interesting.  The English version of Vampire and, I believe, the rest of the White Wolf games used "storyteller."  So I find "storyteller" cringey due to the association despite it otherwise being an alright word, while "narrator" is free of negative associations.

storyteller translates to "narrador" which can also be translated to narrator in English, bet the same is true in Portuguese.

Quote from: Mishihari on March 25, 2024, 05:15:32 PM

Quote from: zer0th on March 25, 2024, 09:57:18 AMOther common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame.

Interesting.  The English version of Vampire and, I believe, the rest of the White Wolf games used "storyteller."  So I find "storyteller" cringey due to the association despite it otherwise being an alright word, while "narrator" is free of negative associations.

The direct translation of storyteller would be "contador de estórias", but that would sound too folksy to Brazilians. So, as Geeky assumed correctly, narrador is an acceptable translation of storyteller.

(double post, sorry)

Quote from: zer0th on March 26, 2024, 09:20:38 PM

Quote from: Mishihari on March 25, 2024, 05:15:32 PM

Quote from: zer0th on March 25, 2024, 09:57:18 AMOther common terms in Brazil is "narrador" (narrator), because Vampire was big here, and dungeon master, no translation (actually, "dê-emê", DM, as we do love short terms and acronyms). What is used in Mexico, Geeky?

I find narrator borderline cringe, so things like stage director would make me leave the room in shame.

Interesting.  The English version of Vampire and, I believe, the rest of the White Wolf games used "storyteller."  So I find "storyteller" cringey due to the association despite it otherwise being an alright word, while "narrator" is free of negative associations.

The direct translation of storyteller would be "contador de estórias", but that would sound too folksy to Brazilians. So, as Geeky assumed correctly, narrador is an acceptable translation of storyteller.

Well yes, I wasn't making a direct translation to Spanish either, which would be "contador de historias", too cumbersome so it was switched to narrador because it's one word and conveys the same meaning.

"Keeper" from Call of Cthulhu is about the only good unique name I can think of. It really depends on the game and what term would make sense. If there was a Matrix rpg I could totally vibe with the GM being called the "Architect". Otherwise just stick to generic.

Or you could go Latin and call yourself the "magister ludi". 

It's officially Keeper of Arcane Lore but no one says that.

I use "referee" when I play Traveller, because it is the official term there.

Quote from: Nakana on March 30, 2024, 01:05:15 AM
Or you could go Latin and call yourself the "magister ludi". 

Thanks for the recommendation; I think magister is a viable alternative option with the flavor of the original but without the baggage liable to trigger the ignorant (of history) whiners.