Custom GMs Screen
Scott Free — Fri, 2008-12-19 16:38
So I was bored at work yesterday, and I sit in a room full of supplies and tools. So I made a custom GMs screen out of wood. I painted the inside white, the outside a nice flat black, and secured it all with huge brass hinges.
It even plugs in because it has built in hidden mood lighting.
I'm the coolest nerd (at least for today).
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Niiiiiice. It doesn't even compare, but have two DM screens taped together. Try it, it's like living in a castle of Skill DC tables and Treasure charts, plus player's can't know if weither perusing the Monster Manual for
fearsome foes or checking out the DMG for loot . Another thing I do is I have a few squares of felt laid down where I roll my dice. I can roll up all the wandering monsters I like without that telltale rattle.
There's a discussion on the benefits of the DM screen on the latest Fear the Boot episode, which might be useful.
Scott, what information are you planning on putting on that screen?
I'm actually not planning on putting any information in it at all. I have all the charts and tables and stuff (the little bit that I actually use during play) in a binder. I've always preferred that for some reason. I realized when making it that I don't actually ever reference the information on any of the GM screens that I've used in the past.
So, I'm just leaving the inside white. Right now it has a double coat of Killz primer on it to make it nice and white; I'm going to laquer the whole thing (including the brass hinges) with a flat matte spray on laquer next week though. Then I can write on it with dry erase markers. Still, I probably won't ever actually use that feature. My enter playing surface is dry-erase compatible (shattered glasds counter tops and glass coffee tables for the win!) so it might be moot.
I'll probably just end up putting random things up on the inside with that blue sticky stuff. Since the outside os black, and the inside is white, my side lights up really nicely in the dark, and it shines through the glass surface it's sitting on quite well. It's really moody.
I'm actually using it in play for the first time today, so I'll take some pictures and post a link tomorrow.
Maybe your player want/need some stuff on the external side?
They'll have to suffer. They have a binder as well (in fact, they each have one that is tailored specifically to their character). LOL.
Really, I try to make the gaming environment as "gameless" as possible. I find that charts and numbers and math wrecks the feel. The screen is quite decorative...I should have taken those pictures I said I would. Ha!