Game Master Styles

When it comes to being a Game Master(GM), there are many styles that one can become, however not everyone knows how to describe their style. Being able to describe your style to players is important. Why? So that you can find the correct players that will fit with your style and leave everyone happy. It is also important to understand your style; it gives you insight into what you're good at, and maybe not so great at. As Game Masters, we can all improve and do our part to help the TTRPG community thrive from good, reputable games.

I have compiled a list of Game Master styles below that I believe cover every aspect of nearly every Game Master, with endless mix and match combinations being possible. I am hoping that providing this content will mean happier players and Game Masters all around.

Interested in learning about Player Styles? Click here to read.

---

Use the carrots to the left of the titles to see the dropdown and learn more about each style!

The Adherent

The Adherent adheres to the rules and mechanics of a system or setting. They are well-versed in their knowledge, great at teaching new players, and they have well-constructed worlds within the boundaries of the lore, leaving minimum plot or world holes. The adherent might throw in some house rules, although they will keep it balanced and consistent. They are usually better with combat and cool features, but not always the best with roleplay. The Adherent tends to mix with the Warlord or Creator styles. They are perfect for the players who want to learn more about the game or setting, or those that want to have order in a game.

The Warlord

The Warlord has a fascination with creating empowering, difficult, and tactical combat with new monsters to face. They tend to mix with the Homebrewer or Adherent style, as they enjoy creating new challenges that leave players feeling accomplished after a long combat session, while ensuring everyone understands their mechanics and possibilities. They likely have your character sheets memorized. They risk running games that are combat heavy and lack roleplay immersion, but they are perfect for the older gamer or meta-player that wants something new and challenging. (Or perhaps those murder-hobo players, absolutely perfect for a GM like this)

The Narrator

The Narrator works to develop a story that is cohesive and compelling. They tend to avoid improvisation, as they want everything to go to plan and sound like it should. They often craft delightful stories that will make you want to come back for the next session, leaving you on cliffhangers at the end of sessions. They will keep you hooked and turning with plot twists, at the risk of having you be railroaded. They run the risk of being disappointed when a player might miss a hook or not notice the foreshadowing, but they will usually adapt and allow for players to have freedom to expand on their hooks and ideas. The Narrator can sometimes mix with many of the other styles, although it mostly leans towards the Immerser or Chaos Gremlin. They are a great match for the players looking for a more roleplay heavy experience, although depending on if they would like the Immerser Narrator or the Chaos Gremlin Narrator, it could be two entirely different experiences.

The NPC Hoarder

The NPC Hoarder enjoys creating compelling non-player characters for the party to interact with. This can mix with the Narrator style, as they search to build a compelling story using NPCs as the main source of intrigue and intel. They design some wonderful characters that have complex motives, ideals, and goals, each entirely separate and different from one another. Even combat can become interesting, as NPCs might be adopted by the party and be intelligent in combat strategy. The NPC Hoarder runs the risk of enjoying their NPCs more than the PCs at times, or favoring a PC with an in-depth backstory. They tend to deliver fantastic dialogue with remarkable voice acting. The NPC Hoarder can mix with nearly any of the GM styles, although they run different positive and negative traits depending on what the mix is. Their perfect players are those wanting to have roleplay, in-depth stories with NPCs to match, and/or have some fun. It’s a good thing as a player to know if you would like to have more absurd goofy interactions or serious interactions with the NPCs and/or story, as this is what can differentiate the NPC Hoarder’s mixed style.

The Creator

The Creator will spend months to years creating the perfect world, with maximum lore dumps, usually beautiful descriptions of everything small to big, and have every part of the world set-up and ready for players to enjoy the openness without risk of hearing a session needs to end early due to being unprepared. The Creator likely also mixes directly with the Homebrewer, as they have likely built the entire setting and its creatures without the help of main or third-party content, it is all theirs for you to play around in, usually. They feel truly happy and motivated seeing players enjoy their creation, at the risk of being hurt or disappointed if someone doesn’t like something, potentially losing joy and inspiration. They can mix with the Improviser as well, feeling like they can leave room for improvisation, knowing their world top to core, and being able to create something quickly that still fits into the world. If the Creator is mixed with the Chaos Gremlin or too heavily into the Improviser, they can create wonderfully creative content that generates creativity from the players too, at risk of being scatter-brained, inconsistent, or running aimless sandbox games. It is important as a player to find a game that has a setting you really enjoy, and that you enjoy how a Creator mix might suit you best.

The Free-Spirit

The Free-Spirit is a GM that will be free with their rules, lore, story, and perhaps even their own style. They wish to truly play a game that everyone is enjoying, pleasing everyone with the lack of structure and openness to play the game how they would like to. They can mix into most of the GM styles, laying a base structure to start with, but otherwise allowing most things to happen. They tend to have a really enjoyable game, for the right group of people, and have quite memorable games. They run the risk of choosing a game system and being far off from the game in their free-flowing spirit, so it is important to be clear what system or ‘rules’ you are going by, as some players might feel frustrated in signing up for a game that is not what they expected. They tend to have light-hearted games, perfect for the player who simply wants to have a good time, and isn’t worried about trying to be serious.

The Improviser

The Improviser tends to improvise a good majority of their sessions. There can be incredibly talented improvisers and quite poor improvisers, so it is important to be clear how much of a Free-Spirit the GM might be, or if they are secretly an Improvised Narrator at heart, able to freely build the story out without much thought. The Improviser also tends to mix with the Chaos Gremlin or the Immerser, surprisingly. For some, improv comes naturally to them, and they could be so detailed in this, that it might come off as being one of the most immersive GMs you could play with, only to learn that none of the session was planned aside from perhaps the one monster chosen to encounter! For others, they run the risk of being too scatterbrained in their improv that it isn’t consistent or quick. Players best suited for the Improviser are those wishing to explore an open world or scenario without having to wait for a response, or looking to check something out in a book, or perhaps those wishing for a heavy roleplay experience. That’s where the NPC Hoarder GM can mix in well, as they could quickly pull an in-depth character out of their head in seconds, and be able to respond to any questions without second thought. This is definitely a skill that takes time to build.

The Chaos Gremlin

The Chaos Gremlin is ready to have a fun time with unique plots and settings that definitely set their games apart from others. They seek to be cheery, silly, and won’t take the game or themselves too seriously. They are there to connect and have some fun with the players, rather than be the control-head for the game. They usually feel like another player, rather than removed, and thus their stories tend to be like the Free-Spirit or Improviser GM, where they will develop chaotic ideas with the players. They run the risk of spending more time being goofy than being a helpful GM, or leaving the more serious players to feel like the session(s) or campaign was a waste of time. They are the perfect GM for those players “just wanting to have fu-unnn!” (especially if they’re an Immerser Chaos Gremlin!) Also, if you’re looking to play that really out-there, crazy character idea you’ve had sitting in your back pocket, this is the GM to run it with, as they’ll be down for the chaos! (or if you just wanna blow stuff up)

The Immerser

The Immerser strives to make not just the PCs involved, but to make the players happy and enjoying themselves. They usually will be extremely descriptive, with thorough NPCs, and an expansive world full of sounds, sights, smells, as well as deliciously juicy stories. This is where the Immerser can translate to nearly any of the other GM styles, as this style can be done as free form or structured as makes sense for the GM. If the game is in-person, they tend to spoil players with anything from snacks to homemade props. If the game is online, they tend to spoil players with detailed notes, helpful handouts, and a consistent schedule. They are absolutely determined to ensure every single session is a blast, and they will try to balance the game (depending on their GM style mix). However, all this time and effort runs the risk of the Immerser GM getting burnout quickly. It is important to find time for yourself, and to not have your talents be taken advantage of. These GMs run the risk of feeling unable to correct some players, just wanting to make everyone happy, even at the risk of being used like a doormat. The perfect player for the Immerser GM depends highly on any GM style mix, and looking to ensure you want a roleplay, heavily-involved game over the quick one two.

The Homebrewer

The Homebrewer is similar to that of the Creator, in that they will establish their own content, relying on their creative abilities to provide an outstanding world with new fun creatures, mechanics, and stories never seen before. They are perfect for players similar to that of the Warlord, as they can please older players with new, refreshing content, or the min-maxers of the games who want to try out that character that deals three-digits worth of damage, healing, or helpful support every turn, round, or session. Those wanting to play their wildest fantasy of a character can usually get homebrewed options from the GM. However, the Homebrewer can mix with most of the GM styles, as they could be still an Adherent, but to their own content, and might not want any other content allowed, or could be a Free-Spirit, letting any option be an option, at the risk of making the game too unbalanced, chaotic, or inconsistent.

---

Just remember, every GM is unique, as we are all individuals with unique identities. No one can be entirely boxed in by style labels, but it's still good to have an idea of where you land to avoid Crit Crab moments, just purely due to interest conflicts between players and yourself.

What's your GM style mix based on this list? Share down below.

Think this could be useful for your own party or community? Make sure to share with them and help get everyone on the same page! And if you're not confrontational but have some concerns about how your GM is running the game, you can always share to make them *subtly* aware of their own risks and negative traits.