The Dungeon Master’s Screen for the Dragonlance setting has some good and some bad characteristics to it. It’s a three page double-sided panel. The screen is laid out in standard landscape format as opposed to the new method that Monte used for his alternative d20 rules and that Wizards followed with their 3.5 screen.
The front side or player side, features new art by the master, Larry Elmore himself. It’s a great picture with one of his traditional females of power commanding a dragon forward while other dragons fly on in the background.
The interior has some useful material for players and GMs. The first page includes a moon tracking chart, as well as time references for days, months and even hours. The second page has something I always want in a GM screen, the experience point awards table. Not only that, it includes material for noncombat awards, mission goals, and roleplaying awards. Throw in a coinage of Ansalon section and a treasure values per encounter and we’ve got some genuinely useful material. The third page is more standard including movement and speed status for good old flying creatures including charts for maneuverability class including normal and chase scale as well as what DCs are needed for takeoff and the number and type of dice for collision damage. Useful, but $14.99 worth of utility? Probably not.
That’s why there’s a 32-page stapled book along with the screen. It starts off with the credits and then starts right into numerous non-player characters. It’s an interesting idea and provided that the GM is pressed for time, is a great time saver. It includes background information in addition to game stats. This includes heroes like typical knights of the crown, sword and rose, as well as stock NPCs like traveling healers and gnomish questors. Need a quick mercenary? Look for the sword-for-hire.
Needs information on how core monsters fit into the Dragonlance setting? A nice section breaks down the details in quick chunks with references to fiction and role playing supplements to fill in the gaps. Sections include beats, aberrations, undead, and outsiders.
Another useful section is Krynnish Weapons. Not a huge section but useful enough with bear claws and weighted longswords for those looking for something a bit different. Another tool is the dragon non-player characters. I know one of the reasons I love the Dragonomicon is that it has stats for dragons of every age and color and I can always use more dragon stats. Here we get Darkling, an ancient black dragon as well as Glisten, a young brass.
For Dragonlance GMs, the book is a great timesaver and the fact that it has the experience award charts in addition toe Kryn specifics is a great aid.
