The DM's Screen

[Sieobahn]

I usually run published modules, so I don't have much in the way of notes to hide. But I find it really useful to clip maps to with a large springloaded "bulldog" clip.
For the players it keeps the map up in clear sight, and I can easily grab it to update it. Plus the screen is wide enough to display several maps at once.
And of course I use it to hold the current DM map so it is very difficult for the players to sneak a peak when they stand up from the table.

It is also essential to hide dice rolls from the players. I try to avoid fudging dice rolls, but do it on occasion to avoid killing off a character.

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

The DM screen we used for the Masters and Minions tournament at Dex Con 7 was two Funkadelic double albums. On the inside, we clipped the DM maps, printouts of the statistics for the new monsters, essential stats for the premade PCs, and art handouts that were "on deck".

On the outside was a summary of the characters (e.g. Urga, gnome barbarian) with the name of the player written in (since when I play in tournaments I always have a hard time keeping this straight), the goals for the tournament round, and the art handouts they'd already seen.

Plus, of course, the album covers themselves are chock full of cartoons that are, well, funkadelic. I like to check 'em out and let my imagination wander while the party's figuring out what to do next, and they drew a lot of people over to our table to ask "What are these for?!" Some of them might have been disappointed that we weren't running the Mothership RPG, though...

The screen is visible in the edge of this picture.

This was kind of a special circumstance, though -- in my regular campaign I'm rarely so precisely prepared for what's going to happen, or have so many illustrations ready to show the players. For "home games" I use one double album just as a place to clip maps and notes and hide dice rolls, plus a laptop connected to the hyperlinked SRD, with which I can usually beat a player armed with the PHB by a good five seconds of lookup time!

 

[sellars]

The DM screen we used for the Masters and Minions tournament at Dex Con 7 was two Funkadelic double albums.

That's a FUNKY DMs screen

 

[Davelozzi]

Like others, I mostly use my DM's screen to hide notes and secret rolls. I know the core rulebooks so well that it's generally easier to look up something in the book than figure out where the relevant chart on the screen is. Frankly, I can't recall whether or not it was like this when I played earlier editions.

 

[diaglo]

don't forget the reference sheets from the Original Collector's Edition white boxed set.


if you just want to hide your notes... the best screen i've seen/own is the 4ed Hackmaster one.

i'm currently hiding my notes with the d02 deluxe screen. it has both the d02 modern and fantasy rules. i don't use any of them. just the flashy pictures and multiple sides.

 

[Garnfellow]

With the rise of the "Compleat Statblock" in D&D 3E, I feel that to a large extent the DM's screen has been reduced in usefulness.

I've noticed the same thing myself. Back when 3e first came out my thoughtful players bought me a nice new DM screen. And I don't think I've ever used it for anything other than hiding my notes.

I had thought that the main reason for this disuse was due to the poor design of the screen itself -- weird table selections, bad layout, etc. It always seemed easier to reach for my books to find, say, the critical threat range of a glaive than to scour that danged screen.

The Forgotten Realms, Kalamar, and 3.5 screens are said to be far better than that poor 3.0 one. And I had even considered making one of my own, custom designed for my campaign. But in the end, I concluded that everything I needed to run an encounter should be in the statblock -- making even the best screen superfluous. The really wacky rules stuff that needs to be referenced in the middle of a melee is usually so obscure one would never think to put it on a screen anyway.

 

[DragonLancer]

the dm screen for me is to hide my notes and fake dice rolls

Same here, and if it has charts/tables/notes that are useful to me thats a bonus.

I use the Scarred Lands screen, because it has what I want on a DM screen.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

i don't use any of them. just the flashy pictures and multiple sides.

Well, you still need the screen to hide all the coin flipping that's required in the d02 system, lots of flipping yes indeed...

 

[Henry]

Back in the day before screens were four-paneled, I used to stick two together to make a four-paneled screen. Now, just one does the trick.

As for using the screen, I still have one to hide dice, notes, and minis behind. I rarely used the DM screen for reference even in the 1E and 2E days - I had most of them memorized. When I did, it was house rules that I had pasted on the inside of the screen. I even used to use fumbles and weapon breakages. Now, with as many rules to cover as I do, I don't use such things any more. The rules are sufficient, and what I don't have memorized, I have the formula memorized, so I can derive something in literally one or two seconds.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I really like the customizeable landscape-oriented GM screen from Pinnacle (seen here).

I found an on-line DM screen, re-formatted the columns to print landscape, and stuck them on my side of the screen. Then I printed out some artwork for the outside. If I'm running a table at a con, I put in a sheet with the event name so everyone knows they're at the right table.

And since it's landscape-oriented, it's lower than most screens and allows the GM to see the battlemat fairly easily.

Thalmin sells them at Games Plus, too, if you're ever in the area.