The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Now that we have a new edition, we have to have a new Dungeon Master's Screen. Briefly, a DM screen is a multi-page cardboard panel that the DM uses to conceal his rolls and notes from the players. It also usually contains a lot of information that the creators feel would be useful during a game.

A lot of games have screens. AD&D screens traditionally have lots and lots of tables, only some of use. In addition, the sheer number of combat tables and saving throw tables made clear how complicated the system was.

This new screen is different. Many of the charts needed in old editions are gone. THACO's and to hit by level are gone. Saving Throws are gone. Morale bonuses are gone. Weapon tables are gone. The designers of the new screen have radically redone the screen, focusing instead on combat actions and skill DCs. Now that the new game has a decent skill system, the designers decided to cover that on the screen, giving examples of what DCs should be for many commonly used skills and which skills can be used untrained.

This was a great decision. For old hands, skill checks are one of the newest things in the game. Putting them right on the screen makes it much easier for DMs to make the transition. For newbies, adjudicating skills is one of the harder DM skills starting out. Having it on the screen also helps them.

Most of the rest of the screen covers combat. These combat tables are reprints of tables in the Player's Handbook. Their choice of tables is good. The combat system in third edition is not simple (though not as complicated as some other systems) and many questions can arise: What kinds of actions are possible in combat? Which actions are partial? Which actions draw Attacks of Opportunity? The screen provides tables that answer these questions.

The screen also provides a half-page of object tables. These cover things like the hardness and hit points of weapons and objects and their AC modifiers. These are useful, but I'm not sure they could not have been left off for other tables, like ability checks or diagrams of attacks of opportunity, which it seems are one of the more difficult areas of 3e for people to grasp.

Finally there are the inevitable other tables, some good and some bad. The turning undead table is presented here, which is especially good because it is one of the few things that does not really follow a simple DC system (for no good design reason that I can see). The creature size and reach table is here. This is ok if one forgets the reach rules, but that seems like something one picks up rather quickly. One interesting table is one that shows access to spells by class level. I'm not really sure why this is here, except to let DMs determine spells for NPCs on the fly. The really strange table gives the rules for light sources, which really seems like a pretty strange table to be there.

The tables themselves are very readable. The background for the table is pure white, and the headers dividing sections of the tables are a nicely visible darker color. The tables are very readable, which is a great aspect of this screen.

The physical construction of the screen has its good and bad points. First off, it is four panels, which means there is more room for information and a larger space behind the screen to put things. It is also laminated, which I think will cause it to be much less beat-up over time. The bad point is that it is somewhat flexible and light, not nearly as solid as previous DM screens. The panels facing the players has full-color art by Jeff Easley showing the iconic characters from the PHB engaged in shenanigans. The art is somewhat competent, but many of the characters seem to be posing on the cover in a fairly unrealistic fashion. In addition, the situations look faintly ridiculous and are not really evocative of great deeds. The scene with the huge spider is by far the best. We can thank our lucky stars there are no babes in chain mail bikinis, though Ember comes a little too close for comfort.

The screen also comes with an eight page booklet. All but two of these pages are exact reprints of things in the DMG or PHB. The reprinted material covers generation of towns and their inhabitants. It is great that D&D has regularized this, and this information is useful for a DM who suddenly has to generate this information. Unfortunately, I don't see much difference between paging through a booklet for this versus paging through the DMG. (I also find the system fairly ridiculous in some ways. The average 200-person village has a monk in it? Who knew they were so common?) The booklet also contains rules for grenade-like weapons, poisons, diseases, and weapon and equipment tables. This is more useful, I believe, because you want it close at hand, but it takes up way too much space on the screen, so it is best in a small booklet close at hand.

The two original pages are a combat planner and combat matrix and a blank page with a one inch grid for miniatures. The combat planner is fairly simple and probably took about two hours to make. The grid probably took thirty seconds, and is laughably easy for almost anyone to do these days with a computer.

That is really where this screen falls down. There is a fair amount of good information on the screen and it is fairly well-organized, but in buying this product, you get essentially nothing new. That's $10 for a well-organized presentation of information you already have, which is fairly disappointing. Almost all other companies include supplemental information with their screens, like new adventures or more rules or descriptions of unexplored corners of the game. Even AD&D packed an adventure in the 2e one, though _Terrible Trouble at Tragidore_ was mediocre at best. This screen would have been an excellent opportunity to give a short introductory adventure or expanded tips for DMs.

This screen feels a little rushed. I think they put a lot of effort and time into the core books and then grabbed what they could from them and slapped them on the screen. On the one hand, I think the amount of effort put into the core books is readily apparent and is to be roundly applauded. On the other hand, I wish they had put some more effort to give us a really good screen and juicy supplemental material that could stand the test of time.

The Bottom Line

Ultimately this is a decent screen and worth buying, but only just. If you are a newbie and nervous about combat and skills, I would definitely get it just for aid during play. If you have experience and feel confident about adjudicating combat and skills on the fly, try to get it for under $5 or not at all.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master Screen, 3rd Edition
Author: Dale Donovan and Kim Mohan (compilers) Category: game Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: D&D Cost: $9.95 Page count: 4 panel screen, 8 page booklet ISBN: 0-7869-1639-7 SKU: TSR 11639 Playtest Review by James Landry on 09/25/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Now that we have a new edition, we have to have a new Dungeon Master's Screen. Briefly, a DM screen is a multi-page cardboard panel that the DM uses to conceal his rolls and notes from the players. It also usually contains a lot of information that the creators feel would be useful during a game. A lot of games have screens. AD&D screens traditionally have lots and lots of tables, only some of use. In addition, the sheer number of combat tables and saving throw tables made clear how complicated the system was. This new screen is different. Many of the charts needed in old editions are gone. THACO's and to hit by level are gone. Saving Throws are gone. Morale bonuses are gone. Weapon tables are gone. The designers of the new screen have radically redone the screen, focusing instead on combat actions and skill DCs. Now that the new game has a decent skill system, the designers decided to cover that on the screen, giving examples of what DCs should be for many commonly used skills and which skills can be used untrained. This was a great decision. For old hands, skill checks are one of the newest things in the game. Putting them right on the screen makes it much easier for DMs to make the transition. For newbies, adjudicating skills is one of the harder DM skills starting out. Having it on the screen also helps them. Most of the rest of the screen covers combat. These combat tables are reprints of tables in the Player's Handbook. Their choice of tables is good. The combat system in third edition is not simple (though not as complicated as some other systems) and many questions can arise: What kinds of actions are possible in combat? Which actions are partial? Which actions draw Attacks of Opportunity? The screen provides tables that answer these questions. The screen also provides a half-page of object tables. These cover things like the hardness and hit points of weapons and objects and their AC modifiers. These are useful, but I'm not sure they could not have been left off for other tables, like ability checks or diagrams of attacks of opportunity, which it seems are one of the more difficult areas of 3e for people to grasp. Finally there are the inevitable other tables, some good and some bad. The turning undead table is presented here, which is especially good because it is one of the few things that does not really follow a simple DC system (for no good design reason that I can see). The creature size and reach table is here. This is ok if one forgets the reach rules, but that seems like something one picks up rather quickly. One interesting table is one that shows access to spells by class level. I'm not really sure why this is here, except to let DMs determine spells for NPCs on the fly. The really strange table gives the rules for light sources, which really seems like a pretty strange table to be there. The tables themselves are very readable. The background for the table is pure white, and the headers dividing sections of the tables are a nicely visible darker color. The tables are very readable, which is a great aspect of this screen. The physical construction of the screen has its good and bad points. First off, it is four panels, which means there is more room for information and a larger space behind the screen to put things. It is also laminated, which I think will cause it to be much less beat-up over time. The bad point is that it is somewhat flexible and light, not nearly as solid as previous DM screens. The panels facing the players has full-color art by Jeff Easley showing the iconic characters from the PHB engaged in shenanigans. The art is somewhat competent, but many of the characters seem to be posing on the cover in a fairly unrealistic fashion. In addition, the situations look faintly ridiculous and are not really evocative of great deeds. The scene with the huge spider is by far the best. We can thank our lucky stars there are no babes in chain mail bikinis, though Ember comes a little too close for comfort. The screen also comes with an eight page booklet. All but two of these pages are exact reprints of things in the DMG or PHB. The reprinted material covers generation of towns and their inhabitants. It is great that D&D has regularized this, and this information is useful for a DM who suddenly has to generate this information. Unfortunately, I don't see much difference between paging through a booklet for this versus paging through the DMG. (I also find the system fairly ridiculous in some ways. The average 200-person village has a monk in it? Who knew they were so common?) The booklet also contains rules for grenade-like weapons, poisons, diseases, and weapon and equipment tables. This is more useful, I believe, because you want it close at hand, but it takes up way too much space on the screen, so it is best in a small booklet close at hand. The two original pages are a combat planner and combat matrix and a blank page with a one inch grid for miniatures. The combat planner is fairly simple and probably took about two hours to make. The grid probably took thirty seconds, and is laughably easy for almost anyone to do these days with a computer. That is really where this screen falls down. There is a fair amount of good information on the screen and it is fairly well-organized, but in buying this product, you get essentially nothing new. That's $10 for a well-organized presentation of information you already have, which is fairly disappointing. Almost all other companies include supplemental information with their screens, like new adventures or more rules or descriptions of unexplored corners of the game. Even AD&D packed an adventure in the 2e one, though _Terrible Trouble at Tragidore_ was mediocre at best. This screen would have been an excellent opportunity to give a short introductory adventure or expanded tips for DMs. This screen feels a little rushed. I think they put a lot of effort and time into the core books and then grabbed what they could from them and slapped them on the screen. On the one hand, I think the amount of effort put into the core books is readily apparent and is to be roundly applauded. On the other hand, I wish they had put some more effort to give us a really good screen and juicy supplemental material that could stand the test of time. The Bottom Line Ultimately this is a decent screen and worth buying, but only just. If you are a newbie and nervous about combat and skills, I would definitely get it just for aid during play. If you have experience and feel confident about adjudicating combat and skills on the fly, try to get it for under $5 or not at all. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master Screen, 3rd Edition

The Bottom Line