DM Screens...

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

I just posted on another poll and mentioned something at the end of it that made what little brain I have left start thinking....

What are your feelings on using a DM Screen during a game? I know I absolutely need one and am positively a table hog with it--I like having my DMing Fortress of Solitude.

 

[Glyfair]

I like using a Screen. However, I don't like how it separates me from the interaction with the players or how it screens part of the battlemat from me during combats.

In my ideal DMing setup (which I rarely manage) I have the DM Screen up on a side table. That way I can interact with my players without a barrier, yet still keep a "private area" to keep die rolls, maps and notes from the players eyes. Also, I have the charts I that may need reference nearby and handy. Nearby I have a white board to keep track of initiative (and let the players know who is next before it is their turn) and also to allow some illustration for the players.

My second choice is having an extra level so I can see clearly over the Screen. I usually manage that because I use a card table to extend the dining room table. It's just low enough to give that advantage.

Glyfair of Glamis

 

[Falcon]

I set up the screen on a separate card able from the gaming tables, kinda kitty-corner to it. I use a mix from the original AD&D DM Screen and cool pictures I download from the Internet. Important tables and charts are clipped to the screen segments. I then spread out all the other info on my own card table. This allows me quick and easy access to any info I need, and I still scramble for stuff.

I also roll critical, er, uhm rolls, in front of everyone anwyays. A screen helps me organize my DMming. I want to present as seamless a picture as possible to the players. The mess I create behind the screen allows me to do that.

 

[DMaple]

Space is a little limited on our gaming table, so I don't use a screen, I found the tables on them never much use and they just get between me and the action. So even if the table was bigger I wouldn't have one between myself and the players. I might have one just to hide information behind like the monsters hit points and similar stuff off to one side.

 

[nsruf]

I use the screen for hiding my notes, but hardly for reference. I believe I already looked up a table in a book more than once, only afterwards realizing that it was right in front of me on the screen

 

[Arkham]

No screen. None.

If I want things hidden, I keep it in
my binder and keep the binder closed when
I am not looking at it.

And I gave up on hiding dice.
People would feel picked on when I told them
they got double 20'd.

 

[shilsen]

I roll all my dice in the open, and usually don't need much preparatory material, so I have dispensed with a screen. Makes communication between me and the players that much easier. If I do need to keep something open that I specifically do not want my players to see, I just keep it on my lap.

 

[Tsyr]

I used to be a big proponent of the screen. Anymore, not so much. I keep most of my DMing notes on the same laptop I'm typing this on, so I don't need a screen to hide my maps and such. Same with tables... in addition to having all of the common tables in a folder called "DM Stuff" on my desktop, I have the SRD on here too.

I don't much like electronic dice rollers, but I see no need to hide my dice rolls from the players as a rule... some I do, but those I just roll on in a cardboard box I keep near me with pencils and stuff in it, so no biggy.

I actualy found the screen an annoyance... I always had to stand up to check possitions of miniatures over it, or do hand things out to the players... the slightest breeze always seemed to knock it down (althought that was easy enought to fix, I admit)...

 

[thalmin]

I like having an area to place miniatures for the nights encounters.

 

[Zappo]

I used to use the screen for the tables, and to hide rolls, but I've always found it annoying much for the same reasons Tsyr mentioned: I have to stand to see the placement of the characters and creatures on the map, and to see the players' rolls. It gets tipped easily. Anyway, now I use a laptop where I store the notes and roll the dice. I use a software to automatically calculate stuff, so I don't need the tables.

The laptop is way old (as in, 386 old) and the display is such that you can't read it unless you look at it straight from the front, which is a plus when you don't want the players sitting close to you to read it. The minus is that it's about as big as a suitcase and heavier, and that 90% of the HD is occupied by the OS, but hey I got it for free.