The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca [48]
As director the game master moves the pieces for nonplayer characters in the game. He controls everything from the staging (weather, luck, economics) to the other actors. Similarly, the game master also helps direct the player characters, sharing information and nudging them in a direction that presumably is interesting for all parties involved. Because game masters control the “opposition” as well as allies in the game, they function as a sort of game engine that would later be simulated (but never fully replicated) by computer and MMORPGs. In essence, the game master is an inherent part of the game’s system.
Finally, as referee the game master manages the players. He dictates disputes and conflicts between players, between the adventuring party, and the events in the game, including ignoring and adhering to certain rolls of the dice. In fact, the term “referee” was the predecessor to “game master” in the first editions of Dungeons & Dragons.
The game master’s role sets role-playing games apart, but it also limits them. Men & Magic noted that the referee “bears the entire burden here, but if care and thought are used, the reward will more than repay him” (Gygax 1974:5). Presumably the referee is repaid in fun; a significant challenge of Dungeons & Dragons has always been in the imbalance between players and the game master, who needs considerably more time and preparation before starting a game. As Men & Magic said, the game master does indeed bear the entire burden.
Assistant Game Master
In large groups, Gygax recommended an additional game master who can help with the more burdensome tasks of running the game (1989:143). He delineated tasks for the assistant, including preparing the scenario’s details prior to play, aiding in record keeping prior to and during play, and debriefing players after the game.
The assistant game master role, characterized by Gygax’s early campaign when his own game expanded considerably to twenty participants, was actually a two-stage process. First, an able player was drafted as an assistant game master who handled a variety of tasks. Then he was eventually made an equal “co– GM.” The first co–GM was Rob Kuntz, a legendary name in gaming in his own right (Archer 2004:45).
Participant Roles
Age has an important distinction in gaming, as it subtly influences the social strata of a group. The age breakdown of role-playing gamers within the marketplace, according to the Wizards of the Coast survey in 2000, was clustered around 25 to 35 years old.
The Wizards of the Coast survey found that more than half the market for hobby games was older than 19. There was a substantial dip in incidence of play from ages 16 to 18 (2000).
The early population of role-playing gamers was inherently volatile. Roleplayers traditionally entered the hobby between the ages of 12 or 13, before entering high school, and played until they were 16. This was driven chiefly by lack of mobility, as embodied by access to a vehicle; players who drive have a wider range of competing entertainment activities to choose from. This limitation returns a few years later in college, when players are similarly constrained by budget and mobility. According to Hite, most role-playing campaigns don’t last much longer than four years at most (2007:38).
As Fine put it (1983:179), “While there is an informal perception that it is legitimate to kill gorgons, harpies, chimeras, and manticores, it is considered improper for a fourteen-year-old to lead a party of adventurers in which there are twenty-year-olds.” Fantasy can only be stretched so far for the participants, and certain attributes like maturity cannot be easily masked in media-rich game participation. This may well be why there is such a problem with “griefers” in games with less media-rich and more anonymous environments, where players are