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Dungeon Master's Screen (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition)

Dungeon Master's Screen (Dungeons & Dragons, 3rd Edition)

List Price: $9.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Very well designed - not essential, but nice
Review: Ah, the DM's screen... many people see them as a waste of time, because all of the information is printed in the rulebooks. Why bother with more of same-old, when you can just look it up?

Most of the more experienced DMs out there, however, know that a good DM screen is invaluable. Not only can you hide your maps and adventure notes from the player, you can also run the game more smoothly. Instead of spending time flipping frantically through pages, you can instead tell a story! It's that kind of detail that separates a good, efficient DM from a great one.

So, the question is, is this screen up to the task? Actually, yes. It's quite large, being 4 full panels wide, and allowing you plenty of space. With a little manipulation, you can probably even set up a computer to one side without distracting the players.

And the tables themselves? Extensive, but not over-worked. The most-used portions of this screen will likely be Combat, Attack Mods, etc.

A few of the more esoteric entries include resolution of skills (Breaking, Climbing, Escaping, Listening, Searching, etc.). Although these are highly situational, it's easy to see how these events could come up unexpectedly, as players make their own decisions and try devious routes of play. I think the table choices here are intuitive, and excellent.

The booklet that comes with a DM screen is usually a mini-adventure. This time around, it's a nice layout featuring combat sheets, encounter generation, and graph paper for map grids. Very dry, but probably much more valuable in the long run than a one-shot scenario.

The artwork on the screen is actually important as well... it's something your players will be staring at for hours on end, so I would say the art is very good, but not detailed enough to inspire endless player inspection. (One piece of advice I can give, however - if you have pictures of monsters, locations, etc., just prop them against the outside of your screen while the encounter continues. This does wonders. ;)

If all you're after is something to hide your notes, lore, die rolls, and devious machinations from your players, you don't need this. (Personally, I prefer the artwork on the 1980 DM's screen, whose tables are of course woefully inadequate.) But if you wand a tool that will put all of the most-needed information at your fingertips, helping you run the game with ease, while you focus on things that are more engaging (like roleplaying and storytelling), you need this!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 3rd Edition DMG Screen a Must
Review: As a long time D&D player and DM (22 years), I awaited the release of the third edition rules with some trepidation. My fears were allayed after receiving the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide and the DMG screen. This edition of the DMG screen is 4 panels wide (a big improvement over previous 2 or 3 panel screens) with all of it's information on the DM side. The player facing side is nicely done art and does a good job "setting the mood". The information included on the DM side is: Balance, Bluff, Breaking/Bursting, Climb, Concentration, Device, Escape, Listen, Open, and Search DCs. There are examples for Opposed Checks and Door DCs. There are tables for Substance/Object Hardness and Hit Points. Tables for Combat Actions, Attack Modifiers, Partial Actions, Cover, Concealment, Miscellaneous Actions, Creature Size, and Turning round out this highly useful item. There is a small booklet included with the screen that includes a sample miniature grid, a combat planner, and some quick town generation rules. The booklet also includes examples of converting circular/cone effects to a square grid, Disease and Poison info and complete weapon information. The cost of the DMG screen is so low compared with it's usefulness that this item is a must have.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: 3rd Edition DMG Screen a Must
Review: As a long time D&D player and DM (22 years), I awaited the release of the third edition rules with some trepidation. My fears were allayed after receiving the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide and the DMG screen. This edition of the DMG screen is 4 panels wide (a big improvement over previous 2 or 3 panel screens) with all of it's information on the DM side. The player facing side is nicely done art and does a good job "setting the mood". The information included on the DM side is: Balance, Bluff, Breaking/Bursting, Climb, Concentration, Device, Escape, Listen, Open, and Search DCs. There are examples for Opposed Checks and Door DCs. There are tables for Substance/Object Hardness and Hit Points. Tables for Combat Actions, Attack Modifiers, Partial Actions, Cover, Concealment, Miscellaneous Actions, Creature Size, and Turning round out this highly useful item. There is a small booklet included with the screen that includes a sample miniature grid, a combat planner, and some quick town generation rules. The booklet also includes examples of converting circular/cone effects to a square grid, Disease and Poison info and complete weapon information. The cost of the DMG screen is so low compared with it's usefulness that this item is a must have.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: This item is overpriced for what it gives
Review: As stated before, this item is overpriced for what it gives, the idea of a 2nd edition screen was nice, for the complex of the rules, but, in 3rd edition this is of no use, I rarely refer to the tables in the screen, for me, it's an accesory to hide dice rolls, and show the players a nice art.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition Dungeon Master's Screen
Review: As with most 3e works this again is done with quality and excellence. Good Artwork to keep your players busy and quick, easy to charts to aid the gamemaster and keep the game moving. It truly is a neccessary tool for a DM.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Everything a screen should be
Review: Before I bought this, I thought to myself that I needed to photocopy about 4 pages from the Players Handbook to use for reference during a game. Just before I did this, I bought the screen, and was pleasantly surprized to see the tables from those 4 pages on the inside of the screen. Additionally it has tables that seem like helpful additions to the ones I had mentally picked for myself.

The cover art on the player's side of the screen is incredible as well.

Finally, the 8 page booklet that comes with the screen is a nice change from previous editions. Instead of an average cliche ridden adventure, this book has additional DM resources that will be helpful during a game. Things like poison and dissease tables, and a combat chart to be copied and used to keep details straight.

Overall, this does everything a good screen should do. (Aside from the obvious of keeping players from seeing your adventure notes.)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Keep your notes and rolls secret
Review: Excellent screens for the new D&D, a must for any Dungeon Master to keep your notes and rolls secret.

It's a 4 panel screen, lots of useful tables on the DM's side and art on the players's side. The tables have a white background that makes them easier to read, and the screen itself is folded in a way that the center is pointing away so it doesn't eat up your space.

It's built with a not so thick cardboard, but it holds itself upright with no problem. I wish it were a little thicker but it's not a problem as it is, just a matter of taste.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Really neat, but...
Review: First of all i'd like to say that the new DM screen is great. It has got all the tables you want and so on. BUT, why buy this screen when you can make one yourself without problem? To be honest, i don't know. If you've got much money to spend, you'll probably wanna buy it because of the cool design, but that's all.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not very useful.
Review: Had it out for one game, but ending up putting it away as I never refered to it. Would have to nice to have XP charts, ability bonus, Quick NPC stat charts, etc.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Has potential
Review: I bought this screen and found it useful for a couple of things: It does act as a literal screen, offering the DM some privacy. That's important so the players can be surprised. It does have some decent art on the outside. The fantasy art kind of helps the players be in the "D&D mood" nicely. But I'll tell you something, Easley could made those pictures 100 times better. He is a phenominal artist; those pictures are not up to his potential. One amusing thing is all the characters on the DMs screen are from the core books. Tordek, Ember, etc. So if you grew to like those characters as I did, they are there in action.

The charts inside are decent. I wound up making my own charts on my computer, and paper-clipping them on the inside of the screen. Basically I played about five games with my players, noted what information I was constantly searching for, and made my own info sheets. What was the barbarians new hit and damage with a two-handed weapon when he rages again? You get the idea. That setup has worked really well.

If you want a DM's screen this one is good, but I suggest tailoring it for your specific needs. Another plus is WotC didn't go crazy on the price of this item, unlike some of the class books which go for [price] each! This product could have gotten 4 or 5 stars if it were physically sturdier, laminated, had Easley's best art, and if were made to hold whatever info you want, by using clips, or whatever.


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