Rating GM names for fun

12 Jan, 2026

I was thinking about writing an informative introduction where I highlight the prominence of the GM role and things like that. Unfortunately, I'm not going to dig through data to find out if most of the ttrpgs today still have some kind of mediator, game master, referee, facilitator or whatever. I don't think there is data, really, I don't know of any rpg product aggregator that tags whether games have GMs or don't... Anyhow, I'm bored and I decided to make a list of GM names and rate them!

Dungeon Master

As seen in that one game about dragons and dungeons

I think Dungeon Master is a pretty mid-to-bad name because it has never been a game about being the entire time in a dungeon. Ok, you took your gold back to the safe haven, did the mediator become the Wilderness Master, than the City Master? Did they lose their authority? Is the dungeon actually the whole world?

Also it kind of fuels the adversarial dming thing, which is not my vibe. It does allow me to say "DM does not stand for Date Manager, folks, schedule a day already", so it's not thaaaat bad.

Veredict: C tier

Referee

As seen in Into the Odd, FIST, and a lot of OSR-ish stuff

I quite like Referee, it poses the platonic ideal that the world is actually existing in the fiction and the person responsible for refereeing is merely determining if the outcomes are possible. It communicates well the intention behind the OSR play culture, but it does sound weird when you say that the Referee is playing an NPC. Well, that's not really refereeing, now is it?

Veredict: A tier

Game Master

As seen in... Way too many games, so let's say Land of Eem

If I could go back in time and make it so the word Master never became the primary choice for the "Game Master" role, I would. But since it is already entrenched deep into our ttrpg vernacular, I will stand by the idea that Game Master is the most acceptable way of using it. While "master" can still give adversarial vibes, attributing mastery over the whole "game" better communicates the idea of being the person that makes sure the game goes well and functions appropriately.

The fact I default to GM when referring to "the GM's role" knocks it down a tier, here's to being an annoying little hater of the status quo.

Veredict: B tier

Game Moderator

As seen in 2400, Stoneburner

The clever bastards, they kept the acronym and removed the Master bit. This might be my favorite one for the more generic approach to GM naming.

Veredict: S tier

Storyteller

As seen in Vampire: The Masquerade and others like it

Ugh, this one is quite lacking. When I think of a Storyteller, I think of something rather one-sided. If someone is telling me a story, I can discuss it with them, ask for clarification, or even offer a remark, but that's it. A storyteller also sounds like someone who is talking about events that already happened, which confuses me a bit.

Not to mention that, if a game is a story game, shouldn't all players be the storytellers?¹ Storygamers, even (I will never write down this word again).

Veredict: D tier

Warden

As seen in Cairn, Mothership

I love Cairn², but Warden doesn't really spark joy. It's a cool word, but what am I warding? "Oh I'm gonna ward a game of Cairn this sunday" is just bonkers. I guess it's better than some of its peers and it's short and easy to remember.

Veredict: B tier

Narrator

As seen in Household, Memento Mori

While Narrator could be interpreted in a way similar to Storyteller, I think it has a lot of advantages over it. For starters, I like the word better, it's less pretentious. Storyteller feels like Homer chanting the Illiad in the agora, Narrator feels like the impersonal voice the communicates the fiction³. The Narrator adds context, but the characters are the ones impacting the world.

Also, in Household, there is the whole history book aesthetic, which fits nicely.

Veredict: A tier

Master of Ceremonies

As seen in Apocalypse World, City of Mist

I... Honestly couldn't fathom calling myself the Master of Ceremonies while playing a game. I know it has a thematic link to AW but still... I have no connection to hip-hop and eletronic music or, I don't know, the catholic church? And it even has Master in it!

Veredict: D tier

Keeper

As seen in Brindlewood Bay, Bump In The Dark

Keeper goes hand in hand with Warden: it's a cool and snappy word, but it doesn't really mean anything for me. It wobbles between evoking a keeper of secrets (kinda adversarial) and a keeper of the experience (kinda valid), but the chaotic mind can relate it to a sexist remark made by a family member regarding your new romantic partner.

Veredict: B tier

Director

As seen in Outgunned, Night's Black Agents

I get the thematic idea behind it, especially in Outgunned which is made to emulate an action movie, but for me Director is a miss. The Director might not be the one who wrote the story, but in my mind they're the person who keeps yelling at people to do things differently. Which is fine in a movie or play, that's what the director does, but that's not how I see the role in a ttrpg table. Even though I'm pretty sure that's not what Outgunned is going for, those are the vibes that I here receive.

Veredict: C tier

Death

As seen in 9 Lives to Valhalla

Ok this one is a banger. To someone who hasn't read or played 9 Lives To Valhalla, it might seem adversarial, but the game makes it very clear that Death only has authorial power over the players when, well, death is on the line. Death's job is to make sure player characters can die in awesome and unique ways.

Oh, and Death is also a character in the game, who can even be challenged by a player and killed with a dice roll. The player's character takes over the mantle of Death and the previous Death creates a character. Very neat stuff.

Veredict: S tier.

Strife Player

As seen in Agon 2e

I can see the vision. It puts the role in the same level as the players (which is also reinforced by the fact that Agon suggests to players to switch the Strife one each session) and it clearly communicates the role of opposition, but not in an adversarial way. This is the player responsible for the conflict instead of being the one responsible for The Dungeon. Doesn't roll off the tongue, though.

Veredict: B tier

Loremaster

As seen in The One Ring 2e

I wouldn't find this one particularly wonky if it wasn't for the fact that The One Ring's book literally spells out that the GM doesn't need to be a master of Tolkien lore. Mastery aside, it sounds ok and is cohesive with the Lord of the Rings world in a way.

Veredict: C tier

Conductor

As seen in Electric Bastionland

While part of the appeal is hearing the choo-choos in my head whenever I read this word, I think Conductor is an inspired way of spinning the Referee from Into the Odd. I don't know anything about trams or trains, but for me the Conductor was always a "making sure everything is running smoothly" kind of job instead of "deciding the destination" one, and that aligns pretty well with both what I think a GM should be doing and what I think Electric Bastionland wants from its Conductor.

Veredict: A tier

So what now?

Lists are fun, right? I might do more in the future. Here's the compact list, even though I'd like to believe the real fun comes from reading the post:

• S tier: Death, Game Moderator
• A tier: Referee, Narrator, Conductor
• B tier: Game Master, Warden, Keeper, Strife Player
• C tier: Dungeon Master, Director, Loremaster
• D tier: Storyteller, Master of Ceremonies

There are a lot more GM names around, but these are the ones I remembered and wanted to yap about a little bit. The rating is obviously entirely subjective and I always think it's fun to see what the authors of a book are going to come up for their GM name. Every now and then I see some reddit threads of people discussing this, so I guess I'm not the only one.

anb

🐔Previous Next🐤

#ttrpg