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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Psion" data-source="post: 2010906" data-attributes="member: 172">Modern GM ScreenThe Modern GM screen is, as the name implies, a reference screen and player-ignorance facilitation device in the classic tradition for the D20 Modern RPG, and includes a reprint of The Game Mechanics' online adventure Come for the Reaping. The material is produced by the Game Mechanics (with Rich Redman attributed as the author of the adventure) and published under the Green Ronin banner.The screen itself is a four section screen; the adventure, blank character sheets and cards, and legal info comes in a coverless 32-page booklet shrinkwrapped with the screen. The package comes at a price of $14.95 US.The ScreenThe screen, as mentioned, has four letter-sized sections on reasonably thick cardstock. (Note that I said "reasonably thick", not "insanely thick" like screens that were made 20 years ago that some people seem to insist various companies continue to make at exorbitant cost.)The "player side" of the screen is all art, a single large illustration by James Ryman. The art depicts a number of modern characters you might find in a d20 Modern characters engaged in a titanic battle with buildings and military vehicles in the background. Characters include macho tank topped paramilitary types, a man in black with an exotic pistol, a demon or ogre looking being, some ninja, a pimp, a drow with sunglasses, a black-costumed sniper, and a pair of knife wielding goths.The inside of the screen is all game text and diagrams (no OGL, as they stuffed that in the module booklet.) The content of the interior includes:- A list of skills with key ability score, untrained status, and the number of actions it takes.- Purchase DCs by dollar value.- Sample opposed checks.- "The right tool for the job" (required item for a variety of skills)- Combat actions and whether they allow an attack of opportunity, listed by type of action it takes.- Condensed grapple rules.- Cover and concealment tables.- Typical attack roll modifiers.- Typical defense modifiers.- Size modifiers. It doesn't say what the modifiers are for. In fact, these are the size modifiers for defense, which are different for the size modifiers for hiding and grappling, which you are more likely to need while in the middle of a game, as defense modifiers are usually pre-tabulated into defense.- Size and defense of sample objects.- Light sources.- Sample object hardness and HP.- Driver options in vehicle combat.- Vehicle speeds and associated modifiers.- Collision damage (multiple tables)- Vehicle sizes (could have been combined with the earlier size defense modifier table).- Chase firing arcs.Other than analyzing the tables for issues (as I have done above), I usually try to consider what tables (if any) that were left out that could have been used on the table. The only ones that occur to me are the already mentioned size modifiers, the requisition modifiers, and possibly some of the skill DC tables. The tables had enough white space it seems that they could have been more condensed and included more material.The AdventureI think most people are out for the GM screen, but it is worth saying a few words about the adventure. Notice: Some spoilers follow.Come for the Reaping is a horror-themed adventure written for 4-6 1st level d20 modern characters.The booklet is printed with somewhat large type, using a sans serif body text font (usually a poor choice for anything you might be reading extensively.)The interior is sparsely illustrated, but the cartography of the mansion in which the adventure occurs is very nicely mapped, with cartography by Christopher west.The adventure is actually a fairly simple concept. The action occurs in an old mansion occupied by a research facility. Researchers have summoned a fiend called a reaper that ended up breaking loose and slaying the researchers. It just so happens reapers have the ability to raise dead and even control some of them.The plot hooks are pretty sketchy and leave a lot to the GM's imagination, but the long of the short of the adventure is that they must go to the mansion, confront the zombies, and find out that the reaper is animating and controlling them.It is mentioned in this book that the PCs may be overborne by the zombie encounters and suggests that PCs use obstacles to facilitate gunfire. This suggests that the adventure was written with armed PCs in mind, something that would have been nice to spell up front.Despite the simplicity of the adventure itself, there is a lot of detail on the mansion, so this is definitely the sort of map and key you use with different adventures.The booklet also includes character sheets and character cards (for the GM's purposes to track initiative and other factors), with blank copies (suitable for photocpying) and copies for pregenerated PCs.ConclusionThe screen is decent. I could see a few tables they could have afforded to add (and room to do it), but most important tables are available. Four panels is more than sufficient for most purposes.The adventure itself seems a little basic However, the map and map details are nicely done and the mansion should make a nice generic backdrop in and of itself.Overall Grade: B-Alan D. Kohler</blockquote>

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