John Cooper
Explorer
Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen
EBERRON DELUXE DUNGEON MASTER'S SCREEN
Developed and assembled by Christopher Perkins
Wizards of the Coast product number 950060000
$14.95
This is the first time I've ever tried to review a Dungeon Master's Screen, and naturally I'm going to have to rate it a bit differently than I do RPG books and PDFs. However, I received the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen as part of a shipment of free review products from Wizards, so by Jove I'm going to review it.
Obvious, the main feature is the DM screen itself. Like all other DM screens I've ever seen, this one has artwork on the side that faces the players and important DM information on the back, to make the DM's life a little easier during the course of play.
The artwork is a Wayne Reynolds piece, and a very nice one at that. The antagonists this time are a bunch of human clerics (members of the Order of the Emerald Claw by the looks of the insignia on their tunics) and an undead spellcaster of some sort. The adventuring party they're battling consists of what appears to be a dinosaur-riding female halfling archer in face paint, a female human warrior, and a male shifter barbarian. Detail is very good (as has been the case with all Wayne Reynolds Eberron cover art that I've seen thus far), especially when it comes to armor and clothing. My only complaint with the piece is that one of the Emerald Claw archers on the right-hand side has his head and shoulders cropped off; placement might have been a bit better thought out as far as that goes.
The foldout DM's screen is laid out in "landscape" format (as opposed to "portrait"); that is, each roughly page-sized section of the screen is placed sideways to the next "page" - the screen measures approximately 8.5" tall by 38" wide. With this lower layout, it will be easier for the DM to look over the screen at the battlemat, figurines, and the players, but I wonder if it might not be a bit too easy for the players to look over the screen to the DM's notes as well.
The DM's side of the screen is filled with the charts and tables that designer Chris Perkins figures will be of the most help to an Eberron DM. Specifically, we have the following:
Unfortunately, I caught a couple of errors in the information, only one of which is significant: the list of dragonmarks left out one of the 12! Missing is the Mark of Healing, from House Jurasco, Race: Halfling, Influence: Healers Guild. As dragonmarks play a significant role in an Eberron game, I'm surprised nobody caught that before production! To a much lesser effect, there are also three times in the chart titles that "DCs" was spelled in all capital letters ("DCS"), which makes it look like a three-letter acronym rather than the plural of a two-letter acronym. I'm sure it won't cause anyone to scratch their head in puzzlement over what was meant, but it's slightly irritating nonetheless.
Finally, in addition to the DM screen itself, the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen comes with a foldout, full-color map of the continent of Khorvaire, which, being the location of the Last War that features so prominently in Eberron's history, is where the majority of Eberron campaigns will probably be starting out. The map is nicely done, and measuring roughly 20" by 32" with a scale of one inch = 150 miles, the thing covers a stretch of land and water some 3,000 miles north-south by 4,800 miles east-west. Besides all the normal things you'd expect to see on a continental map (cities, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, etc.), this also has the lightning rail routes and the House Orien trade routes. My only concerns are that some of the boundaries between nations are difficult to make out (a different color might have helped), and the paper the map is printed on seems a bit on the thin side, so take care when you're handling it. However, bundling a map of Khorvaire with the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen was a brilliant marketing scheme, as those interested in either of the two no doubt makes up a larger target audience than those interested in just one or the other. Plus, as far as I'm concerned, I didn't expect to see a foldout map of Khorvaire packaged with my DM's screen, so it comes across as "free extra goodies" to me.
One final thing I wanted to point out: the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen and Khorvaire map come packaged with a wraparound cardboard "cover" that features artwork mostly based on the illustration that graces the DM's screen, but the main figure on the front of the packaging is from a completely different piece of art altogether. Weird, huh?
I give Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen a rating of "4 (Good)."
EBERRON DELUXE DUNGEON MASTER'S SCREEN
Developed and assembled by Christopher Perkins
Wizards of the Coast product number 950060000
$14.95
This is the first time I've ever tried to review a Dungeon Master's Screen, and naturally I'm going to have to rate it a bit differently than I do RPG books and PDFs. However, I received the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen as part of a shipment of free review products from Wizards, so by Jove I'm going to review it.
Obvious, the main feature is the DM screen itself. Like all other DM screens I've ever seen, this one has artwork on the side that faces the players and important DM information on the back, to make the DM's life a little easier during the course of play.
The artwork is a Wayne Reynolds piece, and a very nice one at that. The antagonists this time are a bunch of human clerics (members of the Order of the Emerald Claw by the looks of the insignia on their tunics) and an undead spellcaster of some sort. The adventuring party they're battling consists of what appears to be a dinosaur-riding female halfling archer in face paint, a female human warrior, and a male shifter barbarian. Detail is very good (as has been the case with all Wayne Reynolds Eberron cover art that I've seen thus far), especially when it comes to armor and clothing. My only complaint with the piece is that one of the Emerald Claw archers on the right-hand side has his head and shoulders cropped off; placement might have been a bit better thought out as far as that goes.
The foldout DM's screen is laid out in "landscape" format (as opposed to "portrait"); that is, each roughly page-sized section of the screen is placed sideways to the next "page" - the screen measures approximately 8.5" tall by 38" wide. With this lower layout, it will be easier for the DM to look over the screen at the battlemat, figurines, and the players, but I wonder if it might not be a bit too easy for the players to look over the screen to the DM's notes as well.
The DM's side of the screen is filled with the charts and tables that designer Chris Perkins figures will be of the most help to an Eberron DM. Specifically, we have the following:
- Common Armor, Weapon, and Shield Hardness and Hit Points
- DCs to Break or Burst Items
- Items Affected by Magical Attacks
- Size and Armor Class of Objects
- Object Hardness and Hit Points
- Walls
- Doors
- Turning Undead
- Dragonmarks
- Attack Roll Modifiers
- Armor Class Modifiers
- Influencing NPC Attitudes
- Missing With a Thrown Weapon (2 diagrams)
- Climb Check DCs
- Listen Check DCs
- Actions
- Concentration Check DCs
- Skills
- Months of the Year
- Days of the Week
- Movement and Distance
- Hampered Movement
- Armored/Encumbered Speeds
- Maximum Distance for Spot Checks
- Detect Magic
- Detect Evil
- Light Sources and Illumination
Unfortunately, I caught a couple of errors in the information, only one of which is significant: the list of dragonmarks left out one of the 12! Missing is the Mark of Healing, from House Jurasco, Race: Halfling, Influence: Healers Guild. As dragonmarks play a significant role in an Eberron game, I'm surprised nobody caught that before production! To a much lesser effect, there are also three times in the chart titles that "DCs" was spelled in all capital letters ("DCS"), which makes it look like a three-letter acronym rather than the plural of a two-letter acronym. I'm sure it won't cause anyone to scratch their head in puzzlement over what was meant, but it's slightly irritating nonetheless.
Finally, in addition to the DM screen itself, the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen comes with a foldout, full-color map of the continent of Khorvaire, which, being the location of the Last War that features so prominently in Eberron's history, is where the majority of Eberron campaigns will probably be starting out. The map is nicely done, and measuring roughly 20" by 32" with a scale of one inch = 150 miles, the thing covers a stretch of land and water some 3,000 miles north-south by 4,800 miles east-west. Besides all the normal things you'd expect to see on a continental map (cities, forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, etc.), this also has the lightning rail routes and the House Orien trade routes. My only concerns are that some of the boundaries between nations are difficult to make out (a different color might have helped), and the paper the map is printed on seems a bit on the thin side, so take care when you're handling it. However, bundling a map of Khorvaire with the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen was a brilliant marketing scheme, as those interested in either of the two no doubt makes up a larger target audience than those interested in just one or the other. Plus, as far as I'm concerned, I didn't expect to see a foldout map of Khorvaire packaged with my DM's screen, so it comes across as "free extra goodies" to me.
One final thing I wanted to point out: the Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen and Khorvaire map come packaged with a wraparound cardboard "cover" that features artwork mostly based on the illustration that graces the DM's screen, but the main figure on the front of the packaging is from a completely different piece of art altogether. Weird, huh?
I give Eberron Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen a rating of "4 (Good)."
