Why would a DM be involved in a Pathfinder game though?

The Pathfinder video games are directly from the Pathfinder tabletop game, which is basically a different copyright of D&D. They would need a DM. I'm not sure what else you could be thinking.

They're called GMs in Pathfinder

Dungeon Master is a DnD term, and trademarked by WotC.

Because most people are not so anal retentive as to give a damn about Hasbros trademarks.

You might want to explain the joke, I thought you were just an arse before reading the replies

It's only permanent if the target critically fails. Which puts all of the wording into question.

Eh, it's part anal retention, part joke, part not wanting to give WotC the brand recognition.

Sensory Deprivation Wizard

what's the spell called i need it

Pathfinder is very different mechanically to dnd. It's like saying settlers of catan is a different copyright of carcassonne.

Pathfinder is very different mechanically to dnd

Is it though?

Depends on which edition of DnD, frankly. Pathfinder 1e and 2e are quite mechanically different, as many DnD editions are to each other.

Pathfinder is closer to D&D than most other TTRPGs (not counting direct D&D derivatives)

blindness/deafness is a 1e spell which is permanent no matter what

Breaking Hasbro IP is chaotic good though

I'd rather not give them the recognition, and Pathfinder ditched alignment anyway.

It is actually a good strategy to dilute the term Dungeon Master into a general phrase, because that means Hasbro can't enforce their copyright. For instance, Aspirin is a brand name, but it's such a generic term that anyone in the US can call their product Aspirin without risk.

True, but anyone who thinks it's a drag and drop replacement is in for a headache

We'll have to agree to disagree! I prefer using the game's defined term, or Game Master for general usage.

I need to read up on Pathfinder 2e.

I know the "joke" was that 1e was basically D&D 3.75... which was a bit too powergamey for my tastes, so I never even looked at 2e...