The threefold model or GDS theory of roleplaying games is an attempt to distinguish three different goals in roleplaying. In its original formation, these are: Drama, simulation, and game. It was the inspiration for subsequent theories , such as the GNS theory , which retained a three-way division but altered other aspects of the model.
46-399: In its most formal sense, the threefold model claims that any single gamemaster (GM) decision (about the resolution of in-game events) can be made in order to further the goals of drama, simulation, or game. By extension, a series of decisions may be described as tending towards one or two of the three goals, to a greater or lesser extent. This can be visualised as an equilateral triangle, with
92-821: A customer service representative for an online community . A gamemaster in such a game is either an experienced volunteer player or an employee of the game's publisher. They enforce the game's rules by banishing spammers, player killers , cheaters, and hackers and by solving players' problems by providing general customer service. For their tasks they use special tools and characters that allow them to do things like teleport to players, summon items, and browse logs that record players' activities. World of Warcraft has employees of Blizzard Entertainment that serve as gamemasters to help users with various problems in gameplay, chat, and other things like account and billing issues. A gamemaster in this game will communicate with players through chat that has blue text and they will also have
138-545: A play , in which the players are the lead actors, and the GM provides the stage , the scenery , the basic plot on which the improvisational script is built, as well as all the bit parts and supporting characters . Gamemasters can also be in charge of RPG board games making the events and setting challenges. GMs may choose to run a game based on a published game world , with the maps and history already in place; such game worlds often have pre-written adventures. Alternatively,
184-587: A "frequently asked questions" (FAQ) document by Kim on the threefold model stated, "An important part of the model is recognising that there are valid different goals for gaming." It has since then been circulated in a variety of places, including an essay by Petter Bøckman in As Larp Grows Up , a book published as part of the Knudepunkt 2003 LARP festival in Denmark. It was also the inspiration for
230-424: A communication structure is needed for both diegetic or non-diegetic communication. Effective gamemastering can require specialized user interfaces that are highly game specific. Certain sourcebooks simulate the decisions of a gamemaster by various means for either group or solo gaming. These include works such as Mythic Game Master Emulator, which employs an oracle system to allow players to play TTRPGs without
276-664: A gamemaster. Blackmoor (campaign setting) Blackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons . It originated in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson , the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons , as an early testing ground for what would become D&D . Blackmoor began as a development of David Wesely 's " Braunstein " games following Duane Jenkins' Brownstone (Old West) variant and Arneson's own wargaming sessions, into which he had begun to introduce fantasy elements. Initially inspired by Conan novels and gothic horror, Arneson expanded
322-439: A goal at each vertex, and the points between them representing different weightings of the different goals. As a consequence, a player or GM can characterise their preferred gaming style as a point on this triangle, or (since no real precision is implied) in words such as "mostly gamist" or "dramatist with a bit of simulationist" or "right in the middle". Another consequence of the model is the claim that by advancing towards one of
368-539: A major focus of the game. As demand for Blackmoor increased, Arneson fielded out refereeing duties to other players in his local circle. In the summer of 1972, Arneson famously wrote an article detailing "Facts about Black Moor" for Domesday Book #13, which brought his innovations to the attention of the rest of the Castle & Crusade Society . That fall, Arneson demonstrated the game for Gygax, and work on Dungeons & Dragons commenced. As rule development proceeded,
414-491: A multiplayer role-playing game . The act performed by a gamemaster is sometimes referred to as "gamemastering" or simply "GM-ing." The role of a GM in a traditional tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) is to weave together the other participants' player-characters' (PCs) stories, control the non-player characters (NPCs), describe or create environments in which the PCs can interact, and solve any player disputes. This basic role
460-644: A party of adventurers into Mystara's past to visit Blackmoor. The first of these, DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor , described in general the geography and politics of Blackmoor and the means by which the characters travel there. DA2 Temple of the Frog expanded the scenario that had appeared in the original Blackmoor supplement. DA3 City of the Gods explored the starship crashed near the Kingdom of Blackmoor, from which
506-400: A related model known as " GNS theory ", which has been articulated by Ron Edwards on the roleplaying discussion site The Forge . Gamemaster A gamemaster ( GM ; also known as game master , game manager , game moderator , referee , storyteller , or master of ceremonies ) is a person who acts as a facilitator, organizer, officiant regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for
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#1732793108100552-500: A special "GM" tag and Blizzard logo in front of their names. RuneScape has more than 500 moderators employed by Jagex to assist players and perform administrative duties in-game and on the site forums. These Jagex Moderators , as they are called, usually have the word "Mod" and a gold crown preceding their account names which ordinary players are not permitted to use. The game also has Player Moderators and Forum Moderators who are player volunteers helping with moderation, having
598-442: A trajectory desired by the game author. To ensure proper gamemastering can take place, four components are needed: some kind of sensory system to the game allowing the game masters to know current events, providing dynamic game information; dynamic and static game information lets game masters make informed decisions; decisions need to be actuated into the game, either through the game system or through manual intervention; and finally
644-490: A village priest, and then Bishop of Blackmoor. Others chose early in the campaign to side with the forces of evil, such as a wizard played by John Soukup. Early descriptions of the activities of the Blackmoor campaign circulated in a news sheet called the Blackmoor Gazette and Rumormonger . Players became increasingly drawn to the innovative dungeon exploration mechanic that Arneson invented; by 1972, that had become
690-475: Is a rich repository of pre- Dungeons & Dragons material which preserves original rules and campaign events. For example, it contains the entirety of the "Facts about Black Moor" article from Domesday Book #13. It also contains circa-1972 price lists as well as rules dating from the exile of the Blackmoor Bunch to Loch Gloomen in the late Spring of 1972. The 1977 first printing, including its cover,
736-423: Is in black and white. The cover says "The First Fantasy Campaign Playing Aid" with "Playing Aid" as a subtitle. It shows a large mostly circular picture with trees in the foreground and a fire elemental in the background, below which it says "by Dave Arneson" and "Judges Guild". There is no other verbiage on the cover and the price does not appear on the cover. The back cover has a product list titled "Booty List" with
782-481: Is more common for online games. Paid GMing was very uncommon for TTRPGs before the 2020s. In a role-playing game context, the term gamemaster was first used by Dave Arneson while developing his game Blackmoor in 1971, although the first usage in print may have been Chivalry & Sorcery . Each gaming system has its own name for the role of the gamemaster, such as "judge," "narrator," "referee," "director," or "storyteller," and these terms not only describe
828-575: Is the same in almost all traditional TTRPGs, with minor differences specific to differing rule sets. However, in some indie role-playing games , the GM role significantly differs from the traditional pattern. For example, in Powered by the Apocalypse systems, the other players assist the GM in creating both the NPCs and the details of the campaign setting . The role of a gamemaster in an online game
874-601: Is to enforce the game's rules and provide general customer service. Gaming systems have their own names for the role of the GM. For example, in Dungeons & Dragons , they are called dungeon masters , in the World of Darkness games, they are called storytellers, and in Powered by the Apocalypse games they are called a variety of names, such as MCs (master of ceremonies). GMs are typically hobbyists; however, they are sometimes paid employees or entertainers for hire. This
920-599: The Basic Dungeons & Dragons game. For various reasons, TSR published two different versions of their flagship game line. Over the course of several supplements, the Basic Dungeons & Dragons developed its own campaign setting, referred to at first simply as the Known World and later as Mystara . When the history of Mystara was codified, it was established that Arneson's Blackmoor had existed in
966-719: The "judge." The cartoon inspired role-playing game Toon calls its GM the "animator." Some games apply flavorful names to the GM to fit the genre or setting, such as the Keeper of Arcane Lore (in the occult -themed Call of Cthulhu ), the Hollyhock God ( Nobilis , in which the hollyhock represents vanity), the Groundskeeper (in the spooky Bluebeard's Bride ), the Mall Rat (in Visigoths vs. Mall Goths ), or
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#17327931081001012-470: The Blackmoor campaign continued, and began coordinating with a parallel campaign known as Greyhawk run out of Lake Geneva by Gygax and his circle. After the publication of Dungeons & Dragons , the Blackmoor campaign continued, but as a number of key participants (including Arneson) left Minneapolis to work in Lake Geneva, play of the campaign grew more sporadic. The original Blackmoor product
1058-538: The Blackmoor campaign, from Magic Swords (1971) up to the Blackmoor dungeons Arneson commonly ran at conventions in 1976. Only a relatively small amount of original material, primarily link text, was written specifically for the First Fantasy Campaign , though all maps and some connected illustrations were redrawn and relettered by the Judges Guild's Bob Bledsaw . Thus, the First Fantasy Campaign
1104-559: The Blackmoor campaign. Other than the "Temple of the Frog", Blackmoor did not include any information on the Blackmoor setting itself. Written by Dave Arneson and published by Judges Guild in 1977, The First Fantasy Campaign added information on the actual Blackmoor campaign setting. It included baronies, citadels, history of leaders and details on the Blackmoor dungeon. It also contained additional rules for creating lairs, character interests and vocations. The First Fantasy Campaign anthologizes material produced at various stages of
1150-503: The GM may build their own world and script their own adventures . In early virtual worlds , gamemasters served as a moderator or administrator . In MUD game masters were called " wizards ." Gamemastering in the form found in traditional role-playing games has also been used in semi-automatic virtual worlds. However, human moderation was sometimes considered unfair or out of context in an otherwise automated world. As online games expanded, gamemaster duties expanded to include being
1196-586: The Gaymaster (in LGBTQ -centered Thirsty Sword Lesbians ). The term gamemaster and the role associated with it have been used in the postal gaming hobby since the 1980s. In typical play-by-mail games, players control armies or civilizations and mail their chosen actions to the GM. The GM then mails the updated game state to all players on a regular basis. Usage in a wargaming context includes Guidon Games 1973 ruleset, Ironclad . The gamemaster prepares
1242-797: The Immortals , an epic adventure which described a massive war involving both heaven and earth, climaxes with the discovery of the preserved control room from the starship that had crashed near Blackmoor millennia ago. After the Basic D&;D game and its Mystara setting were discontinued, Zeitgeist Games, where Arneson worked prior to his death, produced an updated d20 System version of Blackmoor titled Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Campaign Setting , published by Goodman Games in 2004. Goodman and Zeitgeist also produced Blackmoor adventure modules. In 2009 Code Monkey Publishing released Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The First Campaign , an updated campaign guide for
1288-516: The Online Gaming Forum had only one real requirement (that is, be a member of AOL), OGFs were given powers quite similar to AOL "Guides" and could use them at will to discipline users as they saw appropriate. Battleground Europe , a medium-sized MMOFPS , has a team of Game Moderators , anonymous volunteers who moderate the game. Miniconomy , a smaller text-based MMO , has a team of Federals , experienced players that help moderate
1334-661: The ability to mute (block from chatting) other players who violate rules. In Helldivers 2 , a third-person shooter by Arrowhead Game Studios , a singular employee, named Joel Hakalax, functions as a game master for the playerbase. The game features many real-time events where territory is gained or lost, which are determined at the discretion of the game master. The now defunct America Online Online Gaming Forum used to use volunteers selected by applications from its user base. These people were simply referred to as OGFs by other members, and their screennames were indicative of their position (i.e., OGF Moose, etc.). While membership in
1380-492: The centerpiece of the game, and the various players attached to it (Greg Svenson, David Megarry , Dan Nicholson, Duane Jenkins ), initially represented the forces of good. Duane Jenkins, for example, ruled the Northern Marches, first as a bandit chief, later promoted to Baron as Sir Jenkins. As the game progressed, more of Arneson's Napoleonics players joined in increasingly diverse roles. Mike Carr, for example, became
1426-477: The early 1980s, but Blackmoor remained a part of D&D lore and was referred to in many later supplements. In a subsequent re-release of the world of Greyhawk for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, an arctic region of mysterious black ice in the northwestern area of the map was called Blackmoor . However, Arneson's Blackmoor became integral to a different setting and rules system, those of
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1472-631: The far northern reaches of the Great Kingdom, and it was there that he began to stage medieval games that led up to the Blackmoor setting. An announcement in Arneson's fanzine Corner of the Table describes the first game in the campaign, one built on the model of Dave Wesely 's " Braunstein " series of games: There will be a medieval "Braunstein" April 17, 1971, at the home of Dave Arneson from 1300 hrs to 2400 hrs with refreshments being available on
1518-518: The film The Black Room , as inspiration for Blackmoor as it was aired twice before the first game, and it was mentioned by Dave Arneson as a film he was possibly watching while reading Conan. The origins of the Blackmoor setting lie in the Castle & Crusade Society , a subgroup of the International Federation of Wargaming specializing in medieval miniatures combat; the group was initially driven by Gary Gygax . Dave Arneson
1564-481: The game and interactions. Transformice , an online multiplayer platformer, has a team of volunteer moderators called Mods who are experienced players that help moderate the game and interactions. ARMA 3 , an open-world military tactical shooter, has a Zeus role that allows any player slotted in that role to place down almost any asset in the game including infantry and vehicles, objectives, intelligence, and score-keeping modules. The Zeus can also modify aspects of
1610-399: The game session for the players and the characters they play (known as player characters or PCs), describes the events taking place and decides on the outcomes of players' decisions. The gamemaster also keeps track of non-player characters (NPCs) and random encounters , as well as of the general state of the game world. The game session (or " adventure ") can be metaphorically described as
1656-415: The goals, one is moving away from the other two. Thus a game that is highly dramatic will be neither a good simulation nor a challenging game, and so on. This assertion has been widely challenged, and led to criticism of the model. In the terminology of the threefold, the goals of drama, simulation and game have specific meanings. The threefold model was developed through a wide series of discussions during
1702-494: The highest number being 35 and "New Non-Sub Items" listing product numbers 36–39. It comes with the first printing of the First Fantasy Campaign Maps. This book consists of 92 numbered pages plus the cover, inside cover, back cover and table of contents for a total of 96 total pages. The dark red cover was used for the reformatted later printings that used a smaller font and fewer pages. Arneson left TSR in
1748-530: The role of the GM in general but also help define how the game is intended to be run. For example, the most famous of such terms, the " Dungeon Master " (or "DM") in Dungeons & Dragons , highlights the game's focus on dungeon crawling . The Storyteller System used in White Wolf Game Studio 's storytelling games calls its GM the "storyteller," while the rules - and setting -focused Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game calls its GM
1794-589: The setting around the eponymous town, castle, and multi-level dungeon using ideas borrowed from The Lord of the Rings and Dark Shadows and made use of the Fantasy Supplement rules from the Chainmail game. Blackmoor was a campaign centered on individual player characters capable of continuing progressions, which encouraged cooperative play to succeed. D. H. Boggs suggested a possible influence of
1840-445: The setting's intentional anachronisms derived. DA4 The Duchy of Ten dealt with a horde of invading barbarians, but was the only work not derived from Dave Arneson's original campaign notes. A fifth installment, DA5 City of Blackmoor , was announced but was never written or published. There were no further direct explorations of Blackmoor, although later Mystara products continued to make reference to it. For instance, The Wrath of
1886-405: The summer of 1997 in the rec.games.frp.advocacy Usenet group. Mary Kuhner developed many of the key ideas while John H. Kim later organized and expanded the model. The threefold model arose following long arguments and flame-wars about whether one style of roleplaying was "better" than another style. The name was coined by Kuhner, in a July 1997 post which outlined the principles. In October 1998,
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1932-563: The usual basis. ... It will feature mythical creatures and a Poker game under the Troll's bridge between sunup and sundown. The next issue of Corner of the Table promised "the start of the 'Black Moors' battle reports, a series dealing with the perils of living in Medieval Europe". Initially, The Northern Marches was set up to be an ongoing multiplayer wargame, with the potential for Braunstein games. The Barony of Blackmoor formed
1978-411: The world itself including time, weather, and wildlife to create dynamically progressing stories. Neverwinter Nights and Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption are video game adaptations of tabletop role-playing games that are played online with one player acting as a traditional gamemaster. Gamemastering, sometimes referred to as Orchestration is used in pervasive games to guide players along
2024-468: The world's distant past, achieved a technologically advanced civilization, and then destroyed itself in a global catastrophe that shifted the planet's axis. Its influence was now central to at least one of TSR's published worlds, but the actual setting of Blackmoor as Arneson described it had yet to be presented. This was finally remedied in the mid-1980s through the DA series of adventure modules , which carried
2070-573: Was among the first to join the Society in April 1970, and many other members of his Twin Cities gaming group followed, including Duane Jenkins, Bill Hoyt, Ed Werncke, Mike Carr , and Marshall Hoegfeldt. Within months, the leadership of the Society had decided to form a fictional "Great Kingdom", with parcels of land awarded to and contested by members of the organization. Arneson assumed responsibility for
2116-460: Was published by Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) in 1975, as the second supplement to D&D (the first being Greyhawk ). The booklet was named for the original role-playing campaign world by Dave Arneson, who also wrote this booklet. It added rules, monsters, treasure, and the first published role-playing game adventure, the "Temple of the Frog", a scenario from the Loch Gloomen section of
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