D&D 5E What's really useful on a DM screen?

[Umbran]

On the outside - art. None of my players ever use it for a reference, and never have in my experience.

Yeah - the print on a GM screen is never large enough to be useful to someone sitting 3'+ away from the screen. Don't bother.

 

[J-H]

I got one of the "customize your own" ones for my birthday a few months ago. I printed some templates off but still need to make my own custom sheets.
-Conditions
-Skills and what ability they are for, including what knowledge checks for what monster types
-Travel times converted from ft/rd to ft/min and miles/hr
-Death saving throw rules

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I always make my own and haven't bought a screen since 1E days.

What info do you put in your homemade screens?

 

[el-remmen]

What info do you put in your homemade screens?

Well it was different at different times and for different editions of course - for example we used to use critical hit and fumble tables, so those were on there. My current one has conditions, exhaustion levels, scroll mishaps, base DCs for skill checks based on difficulty, my homemade random encounter rules, a space to clip the PCs' passive perception scores, what different kinds of healing potions gets you back - and a big spot where I can clip a map or other info specific to an adventure I am running. The player facing side has a list of all the possible actions, speed & movement rules, and our hero point house rules.

I also cut a wedge out of the center to allow me to roll dice in front of everyone using a dice tower I keep in front of the screen (see this thread).

 

[BookTenTiger]

The things I'm always looking up (or making up) mid-game:

• Conditions
• Ability Check DCs
• List of Skills
• Concealment, Cover, and Light Sources

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I prefer to have some place to write the characters AC, Passive skills, abilities/save and max HP/HD. This remove the need to ask again and again ''Does X hits you?''

• A list of condition + exhaustion + cover is a good idea.
• Same for weather and high altitude.
• Instead of slideable thingy for iniative, I'd prefer a Light/Darkness slide were everyone can see the current light level of the place they stand. This allow to remember to apply the good penalty for perception and Darkvision.
• maybe a list of price for common items and services.

 

[Malmuria]

I prefer cheat sheets to screens, but either way, I want them to include anything rules-wise I might need to reference during a game, because I don't want to open up the rulebook. Procedures of play are also really helpful, for games that have them (i.e. where you repeat a series of steps, like in a dungeon crawl). Finally, tools for improvisation, like a list of names, are very helpful.

Some screens/cheat sheets that I like:

OSE screen (the reference booklet is similarly very helpful)
The Black Hack
The beautiful Ultraviolet Grasslands screen (specific to that game/supplement)
The reference sheets for Blades in the Dark

 

[guachi]

I wish a DM screen would be landscape rather than portrait. As to actual content I don't really have any good ideas.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Conditions are by far the most important things to be listed on a DM screen at our table.

A distant second are jumping and cover rules.

Ability check DCs are unnecessary, IMO. 10 = easy, 15 = medium, 20 = hard. The game goes fine with a DM remembering that rubric, IME.

 

[HomegrownHydra]

Travel speeds and rules would be helpful.