D&D: New DM Screen!
Wizards has a new D&D Screen in the works. Take a look!
Spotted in the wild thanks to some of the eagle eyed viewers over at EN World, a new DM Screen from WoTC. This puts a name to the second of the four hitherto unnamed D&D Accessories (most likely). For those of you playing along at home, that makes:
- RPG Accessory #1: Release date of October 17, 2017 with a price of $24.95
- DM Screen: Release date of September 19, 2017 with a price of $19.95
- RPG Accessory #3: Release date of July 18, 2017 with a price of $14.95
- Character Sheets #4: Release date of June 20, 2017 with a price of $9.95
What those last two will be is anyone’s guess–maybe some kind of official dice set or map. It remains to be seen–but in the meantime, let’s take a look at thew new DM Screen.
As you can see it’s a 4-panel screen, with Conditions taking up the vast majority of the real estate, which I guess makes sense, since that’s something that comes up often enough in games and knowing that being poisoned gives you disadvantage on attacks and ability checks makes the Hezrou’s Stench ability a little more practical.
The cover art is the Red Dragon from Tyranny of Dragons and it is absolutely gorgeous. Just the sort of thing any DM would want on display–a high quality reminder of one of the beefiest monsters in the game.
Also included are the various actions you can take in a turn, as well as some quick item hit point/ac guidelines, sample DCs, and things you can buy. Useful information–and as you can see in the picture there, it’s easy enough to just add quick things like, “Passive Perceptions, ACs, etc.” Although I think it’d be neat to see a spot on the screen for that–just like a quick, here’s what the party’s at-a-glance information is.
But supplementing your GM screen with custom info is a time-honored tradition, going back to the days of paper-clipped on maps and treasure tables. These days I tend to keep little notes that remind me of monsters’ reactions or legendary actions, as well as useful combat rules. Like Cover (half cover adds +2 to AC and Dex, 3/4ths adds +5, and total means you can’t be targeted). And having those rules out in front is a great reminder to include things like cover in the fights.
What do you like having on *your* DM Screen?
