Messageboard Golem
First Post
By Steven Creech, Exec. Chairman d20 Magazine Rack
Sizing Up the Target
The Kingdoms of Kalamar Dungeon Master’s Shield is produced by Kenzer & Company and carries a retail price of $19.99. This four panel screen contains a considerable amount of information among its many flaps which all fold neatly into a standard book-sized screen.
First Blood
This is certainly a DM screen like none before. In a nutshell, any possible relevant table a GM could need while running a Kalamar campaign is here. Each table has the original source complete with page number cited in case it is necessary to go directly to the source. There are too many tables to list, but hitting the high points and more prominent ones reveals tables for: treasure generation, weapons, armor, ECL calculation, experience point award, attack roll modifiers, list of skills, firing patterns, attacks of opportunity, numerous skill check modifier tables, deities of Tellune (quite comprehensive), languages, and many other Kalamar specific tables.
Critical Hits
Only Kenzer would have the foresight to include a pizza matrix. Using a dry erase pen, just write in the players’ names along with a numerical rating for topping preferences and you can deduce the best pizza combination to order for your players. Gotta love it!
Critical Misses
The way the screen is designed with its many flaps and inserts makes it very difficult to keep in an upright position. I had a hard time keeping mine from folding backup or tipping backwards on me when I tried to flip a flap over to read something underneath it or turn one of the pages. The whole screen seems a bit top heavy.
Coup de Grace
As a quick reference resource, this screen is nearly unbeatable once you’ve memorized what tables are where. However, its instability makes it difficult to use as a screen unless you anchor it somehow. There is a substantial section dedicated to Kalamar, including a beautiful two panel map, but GMs who are not using that setting will still benefit from the screen. To date, this is the best GM screen I have seen because of its comprehensive nature. If you rely on a screen, this is certainly worth considering despite the instability, especially if your campaign is in Kalamar.
To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to Fast Tracks at www.d20zines.com.
Sizing Up the Target
The Kingdoms of Kalamar Dungeon Master’s Shield is produced by Kenzer & Company and carries a retail price of $19.99. This four panel screen contains a considerable amount of information among its many flaps which all fold neatly into a standard book-sized screen.
First Blood
This is certainly a DM screen like none before. In a nutshell, any possible relevant table a GM could need while running a Kalamar campaign is here. Each table has the original source complete with page number cited in case it is necessary to go directly to the source. There are too many tables to list, but hitting the high points and more prominent ones reveals tables for: treasure generation, weapons, armor, ECL calculation, experience point award, attack roll modifiers, list of skills, firing patterns, attacks of opportunity, numerous skill check modifier tables, deities of Tellune (quite comprehensive), languages, and many other Kalamar specific tables.
Critical Hits
Only Kenzer would have the foresight to include a pizza matrix. Using a dry erase pen, just write in the players’ names along with a numerical rating for topping preferences and you can deduce the best pizza combination to order for your players. Gotta love it!
Critical Misses
The way the screen is designed with its many flaps and inserts makes it very difficult to keep in an upright position. I had a hard time keeping mine from folding backup or tipping backwards on me when I tried to flip a flap over to read something underneath it or turn one of the pages. The whole screen seems a bit top heavy.
Coup de Grace
As a quick reference resource, this screen is nearly unbeatable once you’ve memorized what tables are where. However, its instability makes it difficult to use as a screen unless you anchor it somehow. There is a substantial section dedicated to Kalamar, including a beautiful two panel map, but GMs who are not using that setting will still benefit from the screen. To date, this is the best GM screen I have seen because of its comprehensive nature. If you rely on a screen, this is certainly worth considering despite the instability, especially if your campaign is in Kalamar.
To see the graded evaluation of this product, go to Fast Tracks at www.d20zines.com.
