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Days or weeks (or, in a worst case scenario, minutes) before a game session, the GM decides on the plot of the adventure which the players are to face.
Choosing a monster that will be tough but not deadly for the current power level of the characters played by the gamers in her group, she decides that the heroes are going to rescue a young prince kidnapped by an ogre. She makes a map of the ogre's lair, makes notes about the ogre's game statistics, and decides whether there are any other challenges (such as terrain or weather) that the party must face. She creates a memorable NPC, the prince's hideous and hysterical nanny.
On game day, the players gather around a table at the GM's house. The GM reminds the players of the game's setting and picks up the story where they left off, with the characters travelling on the road after their last adventure. She describes the woebegone nanny's appearance as she runs up to the PCs on the road and begs them to help save the prince.
As she knows that the PCs consider themselves to be good and noble heroes, the GM can expect them to agree to aid her. Since the trail will be cold before they can return the nanny to town, they must bring her along as they try to follow the tracks of the ogre. The GM asks them to use dice to test whether they succeed at using their tracking skill.
The GM also uses whatever acting abilities she possesses to "act out" the character of the nanny, wailing and fearful and clumsy, making sure that the heroes don't get the advantage of surprise. This also leads the PCs to interact with the NPC, "acting out" their own parts as they try to convince her to be quiet. This helps to create a deeper role-playing experience, where the player, instead of saying, "My character tells her to be quiet." or even "I tell her to be quiet." is led into role-playing with the GM:
In a straightfoward adventure, the tracks lead to an abandoned watchtower, and the fighters in the party engage in combat with the waiting ogre -- again decided by dice-rolling supervised by the GM. A good GM will ensure that this part of the game is kept quick and lively, with decisive rulings, fast-paced game turns, and energetic descriptions of the ogre's actions and the results of the players' decisions.
Meanwhile, the nimble burglar in the party climbs up the back of the tower, frees the prince from his ropes, and lowers him to the ground -- again, the GM determines how difficult these actions are and requires dice-based skill checks of some kind.
If she wanted a less straightforward plot, the GM might decide that there was no prince -- that the nanny was merely a human or shapechanged accomplice of the ogre, sent to lure unwary adventurers off the road so they could be robbed, killed, and eaten. In this case, the GM would be challenging the ability of the players to see through subterfuge and solve puzzles.
Either way, if the GM has chosen the level of difficulty well, the characters will have a good test of their abilities and wits. They will take a few injuries and be unsure of success, but with some good planning, teamwork, and bravery, will most likely overcome whatever obstacle the GM has placed in their path.
At the end of the session, the GM sometimes offers rewards: the characters may discover the ogre's treasure hoard in the tower. Based on how well they completed the adventure, the GM may give the players various types of " points", which vary in meaning depending on the game system. Often, they can be used to improve the character before the next adventure, preparing them to face even tougher foes.
A gamemaster's duties in an online game are unlike those of a traditional gamemaster in a tabletop role-playing game. A gamemaster in such a game acts less like a traditional gamemaster than an administrator in an online community. A GM in such a game is either an experienced volunteer player or an employee who enforces the game rules, banishing spammers, player killers and cheaters. For their task they use special characters with special abilities like teleporting to players, summoning items and browsing the player logs to help them in their moderating tasks. Gamemasters in MUDs are often called "wizards". Gamemasters in MMORPGs are usually employees of the game's host or developers of the game themselves.
Note that a few games, notably Neverwinter Nights and , are computer game adaptations that are played online with one player acting as a traditional gamemaster.
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