Those of you who have played tabletop RPGs like Vampire: the Masquerade, D&D, or GURPS know what a GameMaster (or DungeonMaster) is. For you newcomers who've never experienced the thrill of sitting around for eight hours while your character sat in a "charmed" state and ran around the map slaughtering the rest of your party members, allow me to explain.

A GameMaster, in the purest sense, is the person who builds the scenarios, monsters, non-player characters, world, and mechanics that their players must grapple with. Now, for those who have the money or friends with money, there are shortcuts. Nearly every GameMaster uses an already-established gaming system (though they may mod it to their own tastes). Some GameMasters build their own world using popsicle sticks and bits of twine, and some use a well-known world like Faerun or the Rifts universe to set their campaign in.

Though other MMORPGs have GameMasters, their use of the term can be a bit misleading for those of us who come from the land of natural 20s and tiny pewter dudes. When was the last time a GameMaster in your favorite MMORPG walked you through a dungeon and popped a secret door full of angry black dragons open on the heads of your party?

Yeaaaah. I didn't think so.

GameMasters in Simutronics products are divided into two categories: the kind you meet most often in MMORPGs, and the kind you don't. Yes, our stellar army of customer service GameMasters handles customer issues and deal with bugs and exploits and all that gosh-golly-darn fun stuff. They do it with a wink and a smile, and I hear every time a bell rings one of them gets their wings. They're the bestest people on the planet, especially at a SimuCon, at 2 AM, when you really really really need a diet coke and the bar is closed.