So I’m dming for a group of friends and I use to dm a lot in the younger days but I never had a Dm screen to use. Now that I have borrowed the dm screen reincarnated I’ve had a chance to do so but find it difficult to use while I dm as I cannot easily change the movements of the enemy miniatures nor see the board easily, additionally keeping notes and figurines behind it seems limited. Is this just a matter of chair height or am I missing something?
i apologize of this seems inane but do many of you just not use a dm screen? I know I could probably just put it on a side table but that seems to defeat the whole purpose as well.
I'm pretty short, so if I use a regular DM screen I feel like I have to stand to see over it, even if my chair is at maximum height! So, for my own use, I cut my DM screen in half, so that it's split in the middle. So I have two sides to my left, two sides to the right (both concealing my notes), and then the middle is open so I can see the tabletop as well. Might be worth a try, for you!
A DM screen is entirely optional. For me, it's a chance to have some mini's ready to go without telegraphing to the party that hey, there's a troll down there, or to have some privacy for DM versions of maps or cursed items or whatnot. A lot of people use them to hide rolls, but thats not my bag. I don't fudge, so that aspect isn't a big deal. I also stick player profiles on my side of it, with notes about backstory, plot developments and key abilities on it for my own reference. I'm tall enough to be able to stand and rach over it to do stuff on the battle maps, so it works for me.
Echoing MajorPuddles, I've used a screen and never looked at the information printed on them. I use a screen simply to keep some things private from the players. I DM in TotM, so don't use minis, but would imagine there's a lot of standing if you do use minis. Of course...could always put the players in charge of moving minis
I play with a notebook that has all the details of the scenarios written on it, so a DM screen is really just to hide that. I wish I could do without it though.
If you don't have anything to hide, you should feel free to remove it, especially during combat. Rolling in public also assures your players that dice won't be fudged one way or the other. It does give some info they shouldn't have access to (like the bonus to hit of the creature, of the dice rolled for damage), but that's a minor loss.
So I’m dming for a group of friends and I use to dm a lot in the younger days but I never had a Dm screen to use. Now that I have borrowed the dm screen reincarnated I’ve had a chance to do so but find it difficult to use while I dm as I cannot easily change the movements of the enemy miniatures nor see the board easily, additionally keeping notes and figurines behind it seems limited. Is this just a matter of chair height or am I missing something?
i apologize of this seems inane but do many of you just not use a dm screen? I know I could probably just put it on a side table but that seems to defeat the whole purpose as well.
I'm pretty short, so if I use a regular DM screen I feel like I have to stand to see over it, even if my chair is at maximum height! So, for my own use, I cut my DM screen in half, so that it's split in the middle. So I have two sides to my left, two sides to the right (both concealing my notes), and then the middle is open so I can see the tabletop as well. Might be worth a try, for you!
A DM screen is entirely optional. For me, it's a chance to have some mini's ready to go without telegraphing to the party that hey, there's a troll down there, or to have some privacy for DM versions of maps or cursed items or whatnot. A lot of people use them to hide rolls, but thats not my bag. I don't fudge, so that aspect isn't a big deal. I also stick player profiles on my side of it, with notes about backstory, plot developments and key abilities on it for my own reference. I'm tall enough to be able to stand and rach over it to do stuff on the battle maps, so it works for me.
I don’t use one at all. I mainly use D&D Beyond for my reference and other than that I do everything out in the open.
Professional computer geek
Echoing MajorPuddles, I've used a screen and never looked at the information printed on them. I use a screen simply to keep some things private from the players. I DM in TotM, so don't use minis, but would imagine there's a lot of standing if you do use minis. Of course...could always put the players in charge of moving minis
I play with a notebook that has all the details of the scenarios written on it, so a DM screen is really just to hide that. I wish I could do without it though.
If you don't have anything to hide, you should feel free to remove it, especially during combat. Rolling in public also assures your players that dice won't be fudged one way or the other. It does give some info they shouldn't have access to (like the bonus to hit of the creature, of the dice rolled for damage), but that's a minor loss.
Click to learn to put cool-looking tooltips in your messages!