What "that guy" is called

[Ian Charvill]

Catle Falkenstein - The Host
Dying Earth - Game Moderator (which may be a Robin Laws thing - Feng Shui uses it too)
I think Ars Magica uses Story Guide but I wouldn't swear to that.

Ian

[Mike Holmes]

You know what? Thinking about it, I'm not sure that its "the Computer" in Paranoia. To be technical the Computer is a very powerful NPC, but not absolutely omnipotent (and certainly not omniscient). In any case, thinking about it, I think that it's GM. I just always think of the GMs role in Paranioa as the Computer, and label him so.

Mike

[hardcoremoose]

Ha, I've got one!

The crappy Tales From The Crypt game, put out as part of West Ends' d6 line, calls it the Game Monster.  You'd think they would have went with CryptKeeper, but he's an NPC I guess.  Anyway, pretty clever, considering that bad puns were a staple of both the old EC comics and the HBO series.

- Scott

[contracycle]

Theatrix uses Director

I'm sure I've seen Moderator

Celtic Legends used Legend Master

Dark Conspiracy used referee.

Tribe 8 used Weavers

[damion]

Your right Ian.
Story Guide for Ars Magica- I consider this valid, as it uses slighly different GM semantics.

7th Sea-Something Odd, can't remember-Referee?!

The trends are kinda interesting, accross companies/designers.
WW-StoryTeller
FASA-GM
WOTC-{GD}M
Robin Laws-Game Moderator

[jburneko]

7th Sea-Something Odd, can't remember-Referee?!

7th Sea, was just Game Master, I remember because my group was very disappointed with it so we came up with a bunch of house names: Sea Master, The Fates, Sea Bitch (when my girlfriend was GMing, she picked this herself).

Jesse

[Mike Holmes]

The trends are kinda interesting, accross companies/designers.
WW-StoryTeller
FASA-GM
WOTC-{GD}M
Robin Laws-Game Moderator

Some companies, sure. But others were inconsistent. As I pointed out, Traveller used Referee, and Gareth points out that Dark Conspiracy did as well. But they used other stuff on other games, I'm sure. Anyone remember what Gygax used in Lejendary Journeys for GDW? I'm sure it wasn't referee. Considering that the PCs were something like Dramatis Personae.

Mike

[greyorm]

What was the wacky title from Immortal? That game had wacky terms for everything.

Narrator.

Wackiness!

;D

[Zak Arntson]

For what it's worth, I was curious to see this as a big list, and stuck the whole thing up at a webpage:

http://www.harlekin-maus.com/gm.html

Maybe if I'm inspired I'll sort it also by title (or someone who also knows JavaScript can send me the code. I'm a little lazy right now).

[Paul Czege]

Okay, I'm home...

Puppetland uses puppetmaster
Shattered Dreams uses Gamemaster
Arrowflight uses Game Master
Suzerain uses director
Extreme Vengeance uses Director
EPICS uses Director
MERP uses Gamemaster
Dying Earth uses Game Moderator
Whispering Vault uses Gamemaster
Tales from the Floating Vagabond uses Game Master
Lost Souls uses referee
Aria uses Mythguide
Cyberspace uses Gamemaster
James Bond uses Gamesmaster (note the "s")
Space 1889 uses Referee
Zero uses game master
Abyss uses Gamemaster
Orkworld uses Game Master
Le Mon Mouri uses GameMaster
Everway uses Gamemaster
Story Engine uses narrator
Psychosis uses Guide
WYRD uses Ring Giver
QAGS uses gamemaster
Pocket Universe uses Game Master
Swashbuckler uses Gamemaster
It Came from the Late, Late, Late Show uses Director
Epiphany uses GameMaster

Can you tell I'm procrastinating on something I'm supposed to be doing?

[Jared A. Sorensen]

Here's a lot of the work done for ya:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6856

[Tim Denee]

B-Movie RPG (Guildhall Press): EM (Evil Mastermind)
Starchildren (apparently) and our frustration: The Man

[Jack Spencer Jr]

Tunnels & Trolls?

I can field this one.

I have a photocopy facsimilie of the original 2nd ed of T&T, which was the first edition from Flying Buffalo with a sea serpent cover. The 1st ed unicorn cover was from Ken st Andre only and only 100 or so have ever existed of this edition.

Anyway, Originally T&T used the term "Dungeon Master" which is unsurprising. T&T was written as a response to D&D because St Andre like the idea of the game, but couldn't get D&D to work, so he wrote his own, keeping what worked and changing what didn't. Heck, T&T was originally called Dungeons & Dragons until St Andre decided it needed a new name. The term Game MAster was used by the fifth (last) edition pub. 1979. Steve "GURPS" "The Fantasy Trip" Jackson may have had a hand in this since he edited the sister game Monsters! Monsters!

BTW, we could probably start other threads for other gaming terms like Campaign and such.

[M. J. Young]

In response to the fact that I, as the D&D referee of our 1980 gaming group, got such a colorful name as "Dungeon Master", my wife and our good gaming friend (who ran Star Frontiers and Gamma World, respectively), took the names "Space Queen" and "Mutant Master".

Multiverser uses "referee"; it is not capitalized except when appropriate.

--M. J. Young

[Le Joueur]

In Monopoly, they're called the Bank or the Banker (I forget which).

Fang Langford