DM (Dungeon Master) is a registered trademark by the rights holders of Dungeons and Dragons, that's why Game Master (GM) is used as a generic term free of the fear to get the Pinkerton's send at your door

Some other games use other terms. Like wod uses "storyteller". GM is the generic term

You sure it's a linear corelation? Maybe it's double the trauma four times the fun!

My characters almost always gain 90% of their trauma from the adventure itself.

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](https://rpggeek.com/thread/2609133/is-the-abbreviation-for-dungeon-master-dm-trade-ma) 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. Personally I use the term DM because I've mostly played D&D, so to me it's more natural than GM.

Nothing wrong with a little bit of projection every now and then. It seems some people take it too far as a coping mechanism sometimes taking it to unhinged/unsafe degrees. I consider it an ethical and moral responsibility to hide the darker aspects of my life from other people in general unless they are closely loved family or get paid to deal with such things as a career. If were just weekend night game buddies theres no reason you should know anything about my shitty life or internal suffering. Its not your responsibility and its wrong for me to try to burden you with knowledge like that. Revealing your deep traumas / "venting" to other regular people who only know you as a friend or passing aquanitence simply adds onto their psychological burden and likely makes further interaction weird or even secretly unwanted by complicating the relationship.

"DM" is not a trademarked term, because it's a pair of letters. ["Dungeon Master" is absolutely a trademarked term](https://trademarks.justia.com/742/64/dungeon-74264094.html), though, and has been since the TSR days.

But if it's not for therapy why are there two ts in ttrpg

Double the trauma, double the drama

No, I don't have a source to be honest. It is something that I only heard a few times (for example in the Wikipedia [1]) and have taken as truth. You are correct that I should have researched this better, thank you for this reminder. [1] Wikipedia contributors. (2023, November 14). Dungeon Master. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:28, June 8, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dungeon_Master&oldid=1185015796

brennan lee mulligan making a new character

Thank you for this information

"TTRPG players" includes Brennan, yes.