I’m a forever DM, as a favor to all DMs out there, please don’t use DND for therapy. We’re not therapists, we’re storytellers. We’re just as likely to make things worse.
Ttrpg’s can definitely be used by therapists (e.g.see
https://gametogrow.org/ ) but people in general should not underestimate the skill and training professional therapists bring to the table. Just playing an rpg is not therapy.
I’m a forever GM too, and I made this meme referring to a player in my groups. She’s an amazing player and I include her as often as possible. The point of the meme was not really to highlight that people use TTRPGs as a therapy replacement, though I definitely know that some might try that and I agree with you that it’s not a good idea.
I’ve never played a TTRPG, but I noticed that the first person said DM and you said GM. Are they interchangeable? Or is DM specifically only for D&D because of dungeon? Is there bad blood between people who say GM vs DM? Is it like crips and bloods?
The phrase “Dungeon Master” is a registered trademark[1] by the rights holders of Dungeons and Dragons. DM is the abbreviation of that, and most likely safe to use.
Game Master (GM) is used as a generic (and game agnostic) term.
Edit:
I have (twice) edited this now after additional information from others (thank you Kichae for the link to the Dungeon Master trademark) was posted on this thread.
I don’t think DM is a trademark, but if you have other information feel free to provide it. Looking through older discussion forums on this topic, the only semi-definitive answer I’ve found is in this 2021 thread where somebody referred to a now-defunct US gov’t trademark search link, where they said they found a lot of "DM"s registered but none related to D&D. I’m inclined to believe it was a working link at that time and they weren’t just making shit up.
Personally I use the term DM because I’ve mostly played D&D, so to me it’s more natural.
I’m a forever DM, as a favor to all DMs out there, please don’t use DND for therapy. We’re not therapists, we’re storytellers. We’re just as likely to make things worse.
Ttrpg’s can definitely be used by therapists (e.g.see https://gametogrow.org/ ) but people in general should not underestimate the skill and training professional therapists bring to the table. Just playing an rpg is not therapy.
I’m a forever GM too, and I made this meme referring to a player in my groups. She’s an amazing player and I include her as often as possible. The point of the meme was not really to highlight that people use TTRPGs as a therapy replacement, though I definitely know that some might try that and I agree with you that it’s not a good idea.
I’ve never played a TTRPG, but I noticed that the first person said DM and you said GM. Are they interchangeable? Or is DM specifically only for D&D because of dungeon? Is there bad blood between people who say GM vs DM? Is it like crips and bloods?
Generally yes. DM and GM are interchangeable, with the small caveat that the term Dungeon Master is owned by Wizards.
Source
The phrase “Dungeon Master” is a registered trademark[1] by the rights holders of Dungeons and Dragons. DM is the abbreviation of that, and most likely safe to use. Game Master (GM) is used as a generic (and game agnostic) term.
[1] https://trademarks.justia.com/742/64/dungeon-74264094.html
Edit: I have (twice) edited this now after additional information from others (thank you Kichae for the link to the Dungeon Master trademark) was posted on this thread.
Some other games use other terms. Like wod uses “storyteller”.
GM is the generic term
I don’t think DM is a trademark, but if you have other information feel free to provide it. Looking through older discussion forums on this topic, the only semi-definitive answer I’ve found is in this 2021 thread where somebody referred to a now-defunct US gov’t trademark search link, where they said they found a lot of "DM"s registered but none related to D&D. I’m inclined to believe it was a working link at that time and they weren’t just making shit up.
Personally I use the term DM because I’ve mostly played D&D, so to me it’s more natural.
“DM” is not a trademarked term, because it’s a pair of letters. “Dungeon Master” is absolutely a trademarked term, though, and has been since the TSR days.
Thank you for this information, I have added it to my original comment.