So What's In The New DM Screen?

The new deluxe D&D 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Screen released today in preferred retail outlets (it releases on Jan 20th everywhere else). Games Plus in Illinois is one of those outlets, and the store owner thalmin reports on the contents of the screen.

First Panel

• NPC Characteristics (d20)
• NPC Ideals (d20)
• NPC Bonds (d10)
• NPC Flaws (d12)
• Name Generator (d20) Beginning Middle End syllables

Second Panel and almost half of third panel is Conditions with Exhaustion

Third Panel

• Setting a DC
• Cover
• Obscured Areas
• Light (Candle, Torch etc. area and duration)
• Skills and Associated Abilities

Fourth Panel

• Travel Pace
• Encounter Distance by Terrain, Audible Distance, and Visibility Outdoors
• Damage By Level and Severity
• Something Happens! (d20)
• Quick Finds (d12)

For more D&D 5E release schedules click here. For photos of the DM screen, click here. Let us know what you think of the screen by rating it.

 

[DracoSuave]

At first I was like... where's the combat stuff?

Then I was like... oh yeah, 5th edition doesn't have a huge chest of combat stuff you'd need a screen for. Ad and Disad isn't screen-worthy.

Then I was like... actually... that's kinda cool stuff to have for winging it and telling stories.

I'm looking forward to it now.

 

[Grainger]

Yeah, 5e doesn't have tables (except for levelling up), and there's not really that much you need on a screen. A summary of conditions is handy, travel speeds... Living expenses might be - it's something we always seem to look up between adventures. Outside of that, help with improvising encounters is probably the most useful thing they can include (although it probably won't fit the flavour of my own campaign).

 

[aramis erak]

Yeah, 5e doesn't have tables (except for levelling up), and there's not really that much you need on a screen. A summary of conditions is handy, travel speeds... Living expenses might be - it's something we always seem to look up between adventures. Outside of that, help with improvising encounters is probably the most useful thing they can include (although it probably won't fit the flavour of my own campaign).

Funny... I came up with 8+ pages of tables... and have referenced all of them in play or prep.

 

[Grainger]

Funny... I came up with 8+ pages of tables... and have referenced all of them in play or prep.

With all due respect, it sounds like you're overcomplicating what should be a gloriously streamlined system. But... go on then, what tables did you devise? Do you mean rules, or game-world tables (weather, NPCs...).

Edit - ah, prep is different. I can see how you might use them there (the DMG is full of them).

 

[Grainger]

Little-known DM screen fact, by the way... The DM screen was invented in 1975 by Gary Gygax, as a prop similar to rock stars' sunglasses. When he wasn't DMing, he could freely walk around Lake Geneva without being mobbed by screaming fans, because they didn't recognise him without the DM screen.

 

[aramis erak]

With all due respect, it sounds like you're overcomplicating what should be a gloriously streamlined system. But... go on then, what tables did you devise? Do you mean rules, or game-world tables (weather, NPCs...).

Edit - ah, prep is different. I can see how you might use them there (the DMG is full of them).

The DMG only added 2 pages of regular use... plus 3 of treasure tables.
Page 1: Weapons, armor, and poisons are 1 page. Includes prices.
Page 2: Shoppy store list is 1 page (at 8pt). No weapons nor armor...
page 3: standard check types and procedure, DC's, Inspiration, Skills by attribute, Jumping, Carrying capacity/encumbrance, Movement penalties by type, Marching distance, Rest/Recovery, Exhaustion levels, Falling, Suffocating, Deprivation, Food/water needs by size, Travel Roles, Foraging, Tracking, Vision, Encounter distance,
Page 4: Surprise, Initiative, Turn process (outline), Actions list with notes, Massive Damage optional rule, General attack rolls, Melee Attack, Missile Attack, Grappling attack, Shove attack, Cover table, Death (Death saves, instant death),Reach, Conditions.
Page 5: Encounter Budgets (+ PC XP Table), CR Stats, Spell Scroll Data, Lifestyles, Spell Services in towns, Languages, Weather, Downtime actions (annotated for AL allowed or not), Something Happens, Quick Finds
Page 6: AL tiers and GM XP, Lifestyle by background, Factions summary, Faction rank requirements and titles, Attribute rolling, attribute standard array, attribute point build, Gods of the FR, Multiclassing tables, Heights and Weights, Alignments grid (annotated for AL play)
Page 7: Attitude and reactions, Object AC/HP, Mobs, Minis base sizes in grid squres or hexes, Narrative quick area of effect, Attunement, Traps summary, Madness x3, Morale, Lingering injuries, Strongholds, Making Magic Items, Spell standard effects.
Page 8: Monster building tables (2/3 of a page), Class Proficiency Option. (Just removed poison and put it on page 1.
Page 9-11: Treasure Tables.

I routinely find myself referencing pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in play. I sometimes need page 6 in play, for the gods. I have a player who is multiclassing. Having it handy is useful when checking for proficiencies.

I basically don't need to crack the book unless a fine point or a spell is referenced... because I also have another 10 pages with summaries of the races, classes, and feats. As I find Crawford rulings, I adjust my short versions to conform.

 

[Beleriphon]

I was really hoping for weather as well.

What are 7, 9-12 on Quick finds?

7. A strange star appears in the sky.
9. A tremor shakes the ground.
10. Someone experiences deja vu,
11. Someone gets angry.
12. Someone glimpses the future.

 

[thalmin]

7. A strange star appears in the sky.
9. A tremor shakes the ground.
10. Someone experiences deja vu,
11. Someone gets angry.
12. Someone glimpses the future.

Wrong chart.
For Quick Finds:
7. Magic herbs
9. Monster parts
10. Secret message
11.Signet or insignia
12. Tome

 

[Sylvain Pronovost]

Dm Screen and what's not on it.

The DMG only added 2 pages of regular use... plus 3 of treasure tables.
Page 1: Weapons, armor, and poisons are 1 page. Includes prices.
Page 2: Shoppy store list is 1 page (at 8pt). No weapons nor armor...
page 3: standard check types and procedure, DC's, Inspiration, Skills by attribute, Jumping, Carrying capacity/encumbrance, Movement penalties by type, Marching distance, Rest/Recovery, Exhaustion levels, Falling, Suffocating, Deprivation, Food/water needs by size, Travel Roles, Foraging, Tracking, Vision, Encounter distance,
Page 4: Surprise, Initiative, Turn process (outline), Actions list with notes, Massive Damage optional rule, General attack rolls, Melee Attack, Missile Attack, Grappling attack, Shove attack, Cover table, Death (Death saves, instant death),Reach, Conditions.
Page 5: Encounter Budgets (+ PC XP Table), CR Stats, Spell Scroll Data, Lifestyles, Spell Services in towns, Languages, Weather, Downtime actions (annotated for AL allowed or not), Something Happens, Quick Finds
Page 6: AL tiers and GM XP, Lifestyle by background, Factions summary, Faction rank requirements and titles, Attribute rolling, attribute standard array, attribute point build, Gods of the FR, Multiclassing tables, Heights and Weights, Alignments grid (annotated for AL play)
Page 7: Attitude and reactions, Object AC/HP, Mobs, Minis base sizes in grid squres or hexes, Narrative quick area of effect, Attunement, Traps summary, Madness x3, Morale, Lingering injuries, Strongholds, Making Magic Items, Spell standard effects.
Page 8: Monster building tables (2/3 of a page), Class Proficiency Option. (Just removed poison and put it on page 1.
Page 9-11: Treasure Tables.

I routinely find myself referencing pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in play. I sometimes need page 6 in play, for the gods. I have a player who is multiclassing. Having it handy is useful when checking for proficiencies.

I basically don't need to crack the book unless a fine point or a spell is referenced... because I also have another 10 pages with summaries of the races, classes, and feats. As I find Crawford rulings, I adjust my short versions to conform.

Hello Aramis, would you mind sharing your content with us? Seems like a neat way of representing useful information not available in the current DM Screen. I purchased the screen yesterday, and I like it. Just wish I had more info handy instead of popping up the book every time we need information about weapons and goods, for example.

Thank you sir.

 

[Grainger]

The DMG only added 2 pages of regular use... plus 3 of treasure tables.
Page 1: Weapons, armor, and poisons are 1 page. Includes prices.
Page 2: Shoppy store list is 1 page (at 8pt). No weapons nor armor...
page 3: standard check types and procedure, DC's, Inspiration, Skills by attribute, Jumping, Carrying capacity/encumbrance, Movement penalties by type, Marching distance, Rest/Recovery, Exhaustion levels, Falling, Suffocating, Deprivation, Food/water needs by size, Travel Roles, Foraging, Tracking, Vision, Encounter distance,
Page 4: Surprise, Initiative, Turn process (outline), Actions list with notes, Massive Damage optional rule, General attack rolls, Melee Attack, Missile Attack, Grappling attack, Shove attack, Cover table, Death (Death saves, instant death),Reach, Conditions.
Page 5: Encounter Budgets (+ PC XP Table), CR Stats, Spell Scroll Data, Lifestyles, Spell Services in towns, Languages, Weather, Downtime actions (annotated for AL allowed or not), Something Happens, Quick Finds
Page 6: AL tiers and GM XP, Lifestyle by background, Factions summary, Faction rank requirements and titles, Attribute rolling, attribute standard array, attribute point build, Gods of the FR, Multiclassing tables, Heights and Weights, Alignments grid (annotated for AL play)
Page 7: Attitude and reactions, Object AC/HP, Mobs, Minis base sizes in grid squres or hexes, Narrative quick area of effect, Attunement, Traps summary, Madness x3, Morale, Lingering injuries, Strongholds, Making Magic Items, Spell standard effects.
Page 8: Monster building tables (2/3 of a page), Class Proficiency Option. (Just removed poison and put it on page 1.
Page 9-11: Treasure Tables.

I routinely find myself referencing pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 in play. I sometimes need page 6 in play, for the gods. I have a player who is multiclassing. Having it handy is useful when checking for proficiencies.

I basically don't need to crack the book unless a fine point or a spell is referenced... because I also have another 10 pages with summaries of the races, classes, and feats. As I find Crawford rulings, I adjust my short versions to conform.

Thanks for the info. I suppose it depends on your campaign, but I'd only use item information about once every three or four sessions (when the PCs are "between adventures"), so that wouldn't suit my campaign (when the PCs go shopping we just use the PHBs and Starter Set booklets we have).

I prefer minimal - paring down the screen content to what would be useful during play. The quantity of information on the screen is inversely proportional to the likelihood of me actually using it during play; in other words, I just wouldn't look at the screen at all if it had too much info on it. As such, I'd certainly leave out the combat/turn order, since that's so simple in 5e anyway, and I don't really need treasure tables or other prep material on a screen (I don't use my screen to prep adventures).

I'd certainly stick by my comment that 5e doesn't necessitate any tables in play (I don't even class a shopping list - prices etc. as a "table", and it's so rarely used in my campaign that I'd never need it on a screen). But fair enough, if a screen with prep information and lots of other stuff is useful to you.