Customer Reviews

Deluxe Dungeon Master's Screen (Dungeon & Dragons Fantasy Roleplaying Accessory)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is the worst layout for a DM screen ever, in my opinion. They set it up sideways, so the screen is shorter in height and longer in width. It's 2 full 8.5" x 10.75" sheets, plus 2 8.5" x 8.25" sheets, one on each end. So, total size is about 38" wide and 8.5" high, with 3 folds. It has some different tables than you will find on the free screen that came with Dragon Magazine when 3.5 was released, but it's also missing info found on that screen. I was hoping for a 5 or 6 panel screen to really wrap around. I usually have 8.5" x 11" sheets I clip to the screen for adventure specific reference, but with this screen I cannot do that easily either. They included a D20 Modern screen setup the same way, which I have even less use for. Save your $ and make your own.

I was like, yeah, 'Deluxe Dungeon Master Screen', finally.
After I opened it, I had to laugh at my own stupidity in wasting my money on this. The free screen that was offered in a past issue of Dragon magazine was better than this.
It's a half screen with the same old character portraits from the 3.0 screen. But at least the 3.0 screen came with a nice little booklet for quickie info and a combat matrix. And it was bigger.
And the inclusion of a D20 Modern screen with this is completely un-needed. I don't play that game let alone even own the D20 Modern book.
My advice, avoid wasting your money on this one. If I could get my money back I would. Unfortunately I'm stuck with a half-screen "Deluxe" DM screen (which I will never use). The D20 Modern screen got donated to the trash can.

This is the worst screen I've ever seen for any game, it's even worse than those old Judge's Guild screens you'd have to tape together yourself.

The single biggest problem is that it's laid out wrong. Instead of the typicsl "portrait" layout (meaning the screen is 11" tall) these are "landscape" and only about 8" tall. Apparently someone forgot the part where the goal is to screen some of the information from the view of players. As one of my players (a noted peeker) pointed out, "I could see over those screens from the other end of the table".

Don't buy them. Maybe if enough people don't they'll get a clue about what deluxe would mean. I was hoping for something more like the Forgotten Realms screens or the Kenzer & Co screens for Hackmaster. This is a step backwards.

Generally my opinion is that a screen is a screen is a screen. However, this screen is actually better than most. I like the landscape, 4-panel format because it means I can see and be seen over the screen, while it still hides my map, my notepad and my dice rolls. It also has a better center of gravity since it is lower and wider, which means it almost never falls over, even when struck by a handful of dice or my marauding 18-month old. That is not a claim that most portrait-oriented screens can make.

Is the screen a black-out room and cone of silence rolled into one? Of course not. If you need the full height of the older-styled 11" screens, this one won't work for you. But really, if you are playing with people who can't keep their eyes off the occasional flash of paper behind the DM's screen, don't blame the screen; get new friends.

For my part, the most important part is that WoTC (a company I don't think much of normally) actually gave some thought to what was on the screen. The inside is well thought out, with useful charts and tables easy to hand. Easily the best part is the full listing of all actions, and whether they are free, standard, or movement equivalent, and whether they provoke an Attack of Opportunity or not. The table with hardness ratings for standard items is also useful for those spur-of-the-moment actions when the PCs want to break down a random door, chop that chest open, or split a table in two.

Normally I wouldn't bother to review a screen, but this one has such an unfairly low rating that I almost feel sorry for it. It's a good product; I use it in every session, it keeps the players' eyes off the important stuff, and it's durable enough that even after 2 years of use it's in quite good shape. If for some reason you don't have a screen already, you could do a lot worse than this one.

The tables include:

-Equipment hardness/hitpoints
-Substance hardness/hitpoints
-Break/Burst DCs
-Items affected by magical attacks
-Size and AC of objects
-Object hardness/hitpoints
-Wall stats
-Door stats
-Turning undead
-Increase/Decrease weapon damage by size
-Attack roll modifiers
-AC modifiers
-Influencing NPC attitudes
-Missing w/ a thrown weapon figure
-Climb check DCs
-Listen check DCs
-Combat Actions (AoO)
-Concentration Check DCs
-Skills list (Armor check, AoO)
-Ability modifiers
-Movement and Distance
-Hampered movement
-Armored/Encumbered speeds
-Max distance for spot checks
-Detect Magic stats
-Detect Evil stats
-Light sources and illumination

While the list is comprehensive, I was looking for some random encounter tables, oh well. The screen is short and while I didn't think that would be an issue, it is. I'm now paperclipping the D20 Modern screen (which has a few D&D relevant things on it, but not many) on top of the D&D one (they're the same size exactly).

Please, no. This is simply awful, and a huge waste of money. Sure, it has tables and so on, but you can make your own or download a free screen off the Internet and tape it together. DON'T buy this. If you really want a screen, make your own (this one isn't even big enough to hide your notes properly!) or get the FR or Eberron one. They're much better.

I've always played open as it allows better flow. But there have been times when a screen would've been great, and these screens manage to balance the gm hidey-hole, gm info, and player interaction concerns nicely. The only omissions I thought worth mentioning on the dnd screen were the jump skill and monster knowledge check tables.

I used to stack unused books up for a screen so I was excited when I found this because my makeshift screen usually falls down once per session. The package it's in is even book sized, leading me to believe, logically, that the screen is book sized in height also. However when you open it up you get two screens, each only half as tall as a book (roughly 5 inches tall). You get one screen for d20 modern and one for core D&D. But because of their miniscule size the first time I used it everyone noted that they could see what I was doing behind the "screen" before we started, even the person at the opposite end of the table! I taped one on top of the other which does make it larger but I shouldn't have to do that! This "deluxe" screen is an incredible rip-off, It's cheaper just to print out the tables you need on one side of a piece of paper, artwork on the other, and just tape it together yourself.

I've been DMing for almost 20 years. I often used old Call of Cthulhu GM screens because they were in landscape format. Traditional D&D DM screens in portrait style are too tall for a seated judge to see over, especially when using miniatures and battlemats.
Judges who prefer to stand (or who have "peeker" players) have many other options for screens. I thank Wizards for finally giving the rest of us something we can use (with some useful tables to boot).
The d20 Modern screen is of no use to me, but I chalk that up to WotC trying to cross-promote, so it doesn't bother me. It does make this review only 4 stars, however, as the added material (and presumably, cost) are unnecessary.

The charts selected for the inside of the screen are surprisingly useful; basically, they selected a lot of the things that most frequently come into play during a dungeon crawl, but that most people wouldn't bother to learn or remember. Things like various item and material hardnesses, common modifiers to AC, various types of actions and whether they provoke Attacks of Opportunity, skills, movement penaltes, light, and auras for both magic and evil/good. The creators were thoughtful enough to include the book and page number for various charts in case you need to get more info. On the downside, as other reviews mentioned it is surprisingly short for a screen, and pretty high-priced considering what you get. Yeah, yeah; you get a bonus D20 modern screen. Wow. I'd say that seven bucks would be a more reasonable price; five if it didn't come with a D20 modern screen.