Are GM Screens a must have?

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Neon

Neon

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Hey all,

So what are your thoughts on GM screens? Are they a must have or a relic from the past when adversarial DMs reigned supreme?

I am of course asking in the context of running traditional / crunchier games rather than lighter osr or story games.

My problem with many publisher screens is that they often seem to list the most basic rules which are the easiest to commit to memory. And the corner case rules they choose are not always the ones I am interested in.

Recently I have printed out the tables I'm most interested in and inserted them in the front of my notebook rather than using a screen.

What are your preferences?
 
They are neither strictly necessary nor adversarial.

If I'm playing face to face I like the good ones that have lots of useful reference material (the Mythras modular screen inserts for one), and for giving me a place to put maps or other things that might be ruined if visible to players, but I got in the habit of rolling in the open a long time ago, so it's not about trying to be secretive.
 
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I don't remember the last time I used one. It's not that they aren't handy of course, but they also aren't something I'd go out of my way to acquire. Usually when I'm running a game I have a very different set of things I want easy access too, like random generators and whatnot. That's just my process though, if people like 'em then they should use 'em.
 
I like GM screens - if nothing else screens serve to keep one of my players, who appears to own cursed dice, from landing his dice in amongst mine. I play games with more crunch and I like the screen with all the useful tables therefore less flicking through books at the table. I also sometimes print out the artwork of the creatures the PCs encounter and I can pop that, on a folded page, over the side of the GM screen - the players see what the creature looks like on their side and I can see my notes and stats on the GM side.
 
I have traditionally been a GM screen user and have often bought GM screens at the same time as core books (or prioritized bundles which included them). But then my games have previously tended towards the "hidden map, explore the grid" style of play I associate especially with D&D- but which I first learned from the HeroQuest board game, truth told. While I would never consider them "MUST" haves, I never- for instance- ran a 5e game without a screen, and even that fairly loosey-goosey system had enough I'd want to reference rules-wise that I appreciated it on the screen (or would, except the original 5e screen, which was the only one at the time I ran 5e, was only a so-so reference for the 1e-influenced megadungeon campaign I was actually running!).

Lately I've been feeling the pull towards games which would not benefit from a screen both because I'm not working from a hidden map as the base and because I am starting to realize that while I romanticize crunchy games, I am much much more comfortable running more free-wheeling and much lighter games that require a reference sheet at the very most to run.

But personally I wouldn't even try to run a game of, say, Pathfinder or Twilight 2k or even Torchbearer without a screen- I don't want to open books during play unless absolutely necessary.
 
Oh, I should add that almost every game that I currently play does not involve hidden die rolls at all, and quite a few don't involve GM die rolling at al. That kind of reduces the need for a screen (at least one that costs money anyway).
 
I tried using a GM screen back in the day, which I made by photocopying key tables from the Dungeon Master's Guide and pasting them onto a folding screen that I cut out of a corrugated-cardboard carton. Since then I have also had, and tried using, commercial ones that have come packaged with some games. I'm not a fan.

I find it easier and more convenient to refer to tables and so on that are printed on or pasted to a cheat-sheet that can be laid flat on the table, put to the side etc. But the RPG rules that I prefer don't use a lot of charts and table during play anyway: they have rules that are easily memorised.

I prefer not to have the visual barrier between the character-players and me, especially if there is a combat map or hex mat with minis or markings that everyone is referring to. I'd rather have a direct view of the players and their dice, and a direct view of and unimpeded access to a large dry-erase hex grid in the middle of the table. In my style, communication with the players is a lot more important that reference to charts and tables.

Things might be different if I ran location-based adventures that involved a detailed secret map. But I seldom do that.

This reminds me of an incident in a game of DragonQuest, long, long ago. The GM had a "map" that consisted of a sheet of paper with an "X" on it, slightly off-centre, labelled "secret camp". One of the players (it was Ralph) pointed at the X and said "We go there". The GM said "You find the remains of a hastily-abandoned secret camp".
 
I seldom use them. And for games where I really do need to keep track of a lot of stuff, I find that my laptop now acts as the GM screen.
 
Yes, useful for hiding maps (I hate it when the GM lets us catch a glimpse and we know where the edges of the world are).
Less useful for reference tables as eyes begin to fail.
 
If I was playing face to face, I would appreciate one to hide my notes and make various charts visible.

I DO use the Judges Guild RuneQuest one as a handy reference sheet while running RQ on Roll20. For Cold Iron, a double sided reference chart in a page protector is all I need.

I used to love my face to face setup where I sat in a La-Z Boy recliner, with a TV cart that had 3 short walls that made a nice backstop for the GM screen all sitting to my side (so it didn't block sight between the players and me). The TV cart top had plenty of room for books and dice, while more stuff could be on the lower shelf.
 
I haven't used GM screens in a while as most of my campaigns are online these days. But I do cobble together similar information on my screen. Sometimes I put my campaign folder on a small podium stand (a modified food tray basically) next to my chair, and this frees up the same on my desk for an actual screen

I don't think they are a must but running most games I find it helpful to have some very frequently looked up information on hand. I am not too worried about things like rolling behind a screen (I like rolling out in the open live, and online we either use dice rollers or the honor system)
 
I do usually produce cheat sheets for the system I'm running. I did both a player one and a GM one for Black Hack 2E that are posted here in resources actually.
 
I like them as cheat sheets and they can be useful to hide maps. For the times hidden die rolls may be needed you can just turn the dice tower around, unless you are old and need big dice then the screen is useful. I stand a lot when I DM and move around so the “barrier between DM and player” isn’t such a big deal.
 
I use them as a cheat sheet, if at all. Usually I go without, and just keep a couple of printed tables nearby. I can hide dice rolls behind them, if necessary, but often, it's not.
 
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With AD&D1 (before THACO) and Rolemaster, I'd argue they are indeed a must have.
Shadowrun 2/3 had a lot of useful tables that made a screen a near must.
I haven't run a game yet that I haven't found something that would be useful to have on a screen.

Screens also can be very useful if you're using miniatures, then you can have encounters set up and the players can't see. It's also very useful for hiding your copy of maps they're using. Stacks of books also work for this purpose if your system has them.

For Mythras I've found I don't really need a screen for a bunch of tables. I usually just have a page that has skill percentages broken down into the different skill levels. I do like to have a small side table where I put a screen, but that's just for notes, maps and minis.

One thing I do use with Mythras is the reference cards.

The problem with published GM screens though is...they always put the wrong stuff on it. :devil:

So if you're using a GM screen, insertable GM screens are a must. Today there's a ton of choices going from a few bucks up to custom bespoke screens made from the wood of your choice. I always just make them out of cardboard and those 3-ring binder sleeves and put them on both sides.

If I was going to buy one, I'd probably splurge a bit and get one that has magnets so you could put as many sides together as you want. Those things though are usually stupid expensive, so I always smack myself and realize I could make one of those too, then I smack myself again and remind myself of my painting Pile of Shame and go back to using the cheapo cardboard ones. :gooseshades: I'm sure Etsy has a lot that are more affordable.
 
Agemegos said:
I tried using a GM screen back in the day, which I made by photocopying key tables from the Dungeon Master's Guide and pasting them onto a folding screen that I cut out of a corrugated-cardboard carton. Since then I have also had, and tried using, commercial ones that have come packaged with some games. I'm not a fan.

I find it easier and more convenient to refer to tables and so on that are printed on or pasted to a cheat-sheet that can be laid flat on the table, put to the side etc. But the RPG rules that I prefer don't use a lot of charts and table during play anyway: they have rules that are easily memorised.

I prefer not to have the visual barrier between the character-players and me, especially if there is a combat map or hex mat with minis or markings that everyone is referring to. I'd rather have a direct view of the players and their dice, and a direct view of and unimpeded access to a large dry-erase hex grid in the middle of the table. In my style, communication with the players is a lot more important that reference to charts and tables.

Things might be different if I ran location-based adventures that involved a detailed secret map. But I seldom do that.

This reminds me of an incident in a game of DragonQuest, long, long ago. The GM had a "map" that consisted of a sheet of paper with an "X" on it, slightly off-centre, labelled "secret camp". One of the players (it was Ralph) pointed at the X and said "We go there". The GM said "You find the remains of a hastily-abandoned secret camp".
Click to expand...

Pretty much this^

I only tried to use them early on when I started playing decades ago and quickly gave up, cuz I always found them kinda clunky and disruptive, plus I used to play a lot of sandboxy theater of the mind anyways those days (often even making up maps out of my head without much written down), so didn't really need them regardless. I prefer cheat sheets, or notes in my phone these days, and to have good visibility of players and the table where the dice fall. I even find using a laptop kinda disruptive sometimes, though, they are the best for handling notes and such in my experience (partly cuz I'm used to working with a lot of digital files and prefer digital documents and such). But the monitor gets in the way of having good visibility.
 
robertsconley said:
No not a must have because
MINI BINDERS RULE!
View attachment 56533
View attachment 56535

More details in this blog post.
Including a detailed of I have in the two above.
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Laminated foldouts, cheeky. I like it.
That reminds me of the greatest published GM Screen of all time, the Hackmaster 4th Edition GM screen. 32 panels...
HackMaster DM Shield 01.jpg

...yes, I'm serious, 32 panels. I have it, and it is gloriously over the top, a perfect screen for Hackmaster 4th (which was made as an In-Universe KoDT parody due to WotC's licensing of the AD&D rules).
 
For games that involve a lot of table look-ups it’s handy to have copies of the tables without having to dig through books for them. It can also hide the GM’s maps/notes and die rolls if the GM is paranoid about the players seeing them.

I don’t really like them, though, and haven’t used one in ~20 years. I feel like the game flows better and more naturally when there isn’t a barrier between the GM and the players, especially if there’s a battle mat or other player-facing physical representation in use that will require the GM to look or reach over the screen anyway.

Even when I play games that require table lookups I print the tables onto card stock sheets, laminate them, and have them stacked or spread out in front of me, and just make an effort to keep my notes and maps and private die rolls out of the players’ eye-line as much as possible.
 
T. Foster said:
For games that involve a lot of table look-ups it’s handy to have copies of the tables without having to dig through books for them. It can also hide the GM’s maps/notes and die rolls if the GM is paranoid about the players seeing them.

I don’t really like them, though, and haven’t used one in ~20 years. I feel like the game flows better and more naturally when there isn’t a barrier between the GM and the players, especially if there’s a battle mat or other player-facing physical representation in use that will require the GM to look or reach over the screen anyway.

Even when I play games that require table lookups I print the tables onto card stock sheets, laminate them, and have them stacked or spread out in front of me, and just make an effort to keep my notes and maps and private die rolls out of the players’ eye-line as much as possible.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't like playing behind the screen even when I use one, it's off to the side.
 
I don't use them because I play online. When I play IRL I use cheat sheets so I barely need GM screens for the info they display. I don't hide my dice rolls from my players...

But I love using them. It's a bit like sitting around a fire, exchanging stories with your friends, GM screens become that fire, it give something to focus on at the table. Something to gather around.

So I just need them to be pretty and act as a springboard for the players' imagination.

2300ad_referee_sreen_700x.jpg



1462.jpg


Etc...
 
I actually prefer document holders (stands?) these days, especially one's with magnets. It let's me keep a whole raft of notes and maps out of my way and easily searchable and not see-able by the players. Thank goodness my workplace has an large and unquantified number of them lying around.
 
I don't use them, mostly because they take up tablespace I can use for other things. Plus few screens have what I personally need for the game on them.
 
I rarely experienced adversarial GMs, even back in the 80s. I certainly don't see anything adversarial in a GM screen.

I used them sometimes, depending on the situation and the game. I have one of those that lets you insert your own sheets, though, so whatever is on it is stuff I have designed and printed out that is directly relevant to the game at hand. I generally have clipboards, mini binders, and other stuff spread all around, too. I am most likely to use a screen when I am running a game with a lot of visual handouts or physical pictures that I will be pulling out along the way and I don't have much extra space around me to work with, like when I run Call of Cthulhu games at conventions.
 
CRKrueger said:
Laminated foldouts, cheeky. I like it.
That reminds me of the greatest published GM Screen of all time, the Hackmaster 4th Edition GM screen. 32 panels...


...yes, I'm serious, 32 panels. I have it, and it is gloriously over the top, a perfect screen for Hackmaster 4th (which was made as an In-Universe KoDT parody due to WotC's licensing of the AD&D rules).
Click to expand...
Yup got one of those as well
1676508159072.png
 
Back in 1979 before the DMG came out I made an AD&D screen from photocopies of the tables from White Dwarf (better layout than Dragon) taped to the back of an Avalon Hill Midway game board (it was two sections that each folded in half so would stand up as a 4 panel screen). In college I got a generic screen with cartoons on the player side and blank on the GM side. I didn’t actually tape anything on it and just used some reference sheets.
 
The only GM's screen I've ever used much is the GURPS 4e one, and I use it as a pdf on my pc when running games over comms. It's puts a number of useful tables together in a single file that otherwise I've have to go back and forth through the main rule books to find.

When playing at a physical table I've never much used them, and certainly not as a screen. When I tried I found that the screen got in the way. I used to have a side table that was lower than the main table and had a tray under the tabletop. This was where I'd put notes and maps the players didn't need to see, extra books, and so on.
 
The idea of a screen you stick in front of you is something that I've always hated. (Makes it difficult to reach the pizza).

It's also somewhat redundant anyway as I often have my laptop on the table with my notes anyway.

However, the information that is usually printed on screens can be invaluable. Having some kind of well organised handy refernce is a good thing. I'd rather print it out and put it in a plastic pocket though.
 
I actually used them more now than I did in the past. I used to always play around a table and very rarely used a screen, just had notes etc, and could lay rulebook s flat so I could reference tables etc. Now however, we typically play sitting in arm chairs/on couches and, if they’re good, I use a screen for the table etc rather than having to flick through books or use my laptop. Now I find I use screens even when I am at a table.
 
I'll be the oddball as usual. I have often played and ran games behind a GM's screen. My kids like the pictures and I like the easy access to some common tables. It's never felt adversarial to me. It seems/seemed logical that the GM would have some things they want to keep hidden from the players.
 
Boobs of Law in the loot list...
So, um, our handwriting is enough that nobody needs to hide anything. Those were "Boots of Lev." Just cheet sheets for anything else.

I actually have several little notepads, about 4x6 or such, spiral bound, that I put little keyrings with lobster claw clasps into. Then just find a pen with a cap that has a loop you can put the clasp through. Two of those (notes with tab stickys for dates & npcs with tab stickys for names), a clipboard with cheat sheets on top & maps underneath, and another clipboard with the setting monster bible (usually about 30 pages covers 99% of everything from mooks to monsters to vehicles to animals to kaiju).

Yeah, its two notebooks and two clipboards to juggle. But usually only one of each at a time and easy swaps. Pens are attached & easy to get at. And I run a couple months without cracking a book unless I need something really obscure or a special custom job vehicle or new bbeg. Most of what is done is reading notes and swapping out maps.
 
I think they're useful, especially if you blu tack your own encounter tables etc to them. I feel like they're more important as a player - I don't want to feel like I have to look away from the GM to avoid seeing the map.
 
Kobayashi said:
I don't use them because I play online. When I play IRL I use cheat sheets so I barely need GM screens for the info they display. I don't hide my dice rolls from my players...

But I love using them. It's a bit like sitting around a fire, exchanging stories with your friends, GM screens become that fire, it give something to focus on at the table. Something to gather around.

So I just need them to be pretty and act as a springboard for the players' imagination.

2300ad_referee_sreen_700x.jpg



1462.jpg


Etc...
Click to expand...
When you play online, everyone has a screen, not just the GM:grin:!
 
I also strongly prefer the smaller, landscape screens. I agree the portrait ones are a barrier to communication.
I also agree with the ideas that the art can be nice for the players and the commercial screens rarely put the right tables on them.
The Torchbearer II screen is annoying as it decreases legibility by having faux weathering on the tables to obscure them.
 
I've never felt the need for a barrier. If I need to roll dice out of visual range, that's why I have a dice box. What I have, like many of you, is a binder with the charts I need. With running mostly over Discord these days, I've got four rows of icons on my desktop linking to various key files.
 
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