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Wizards RPG Team Review: Dungeon Master’s Screen Reincarnated (On Location!)

Most, not all, DMs choose to use a Dungeon Master’s Screen to keep their notes and obvious cheating (for the betterment of the game) hidden from prying eyes. Keeping the screen artsy, stylish, and useful on both sides is paramount. Let’s see how WotC’s new DM Scren Reincarnated holds up!

Packaging

Packaging is just as expected. Nothing crazy, just a simple sleeve with the screen art on it. Tasteful, direct. No problems here.

Outer Art

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Luckily, they chose to make a continuous photo this time! I’m not a huge fan of the three-phase screens sold by Gale Force Nine. Having one single landscape photo let’s the eye travel smoothly.

The warm colored screen works well with the black and silver accents, making the screen glow without being one-note. Thankfully they chose to ditch the overly busy Orange-Yellow screen they previously released.

The dragon is FAR Superior to the original in my opinion. It’s menacing and violent looking. The dragon has adequate size comparison by the human clutched in it’s fore-claw. The city underneath being on fire also draws the eye westward to the last panel.

Pure, clean sky. I love the contrast the first and last panel have: one with a dragon’s wing barely visible, herolding death. The last panel showing no sign of the dragon’s presence – gone as quickly as it came. Fantastic job. 

Inner Panels

On the DM’s side, we see a rework of the info panels.

These shots are left intentionally awkward to protect WotC’s intellectual property.

An old favorite returns in two panels – the conditions. Always handy to have, the art is a nice touch. They also look far cleaner on this mountainside background! While the conditions take up a lot of real estate, they are very important to player and DMs alike. The art is also smaller and very appropriate to each condition. I enjoy it as the centerpiece of the screen.

Right of the conditions, we have some new additions. Nothing important is lost in the transition, only moved. We still get:

  • Setting difficulty
  • Cover
  • Obscure areas
  • Light
  • Skills and Abilities

But we also squeeze in:

  1. Tracking DCs
  2. Object Hitpoints
  3. Object AC
  4. Services (coaches, hirelings, etc)
  5. Food and Lodgings

In the transition we lose the Tarrasque image, which was cool, for a more useful size chart. To make room for our new charts, we no longer have access to the totally not pointless “Something Happens!” Chart (3. A metor shoots across the sky!) And the very much mostly useless “Quick Finds” chart (6. Letter).

I will not weep for our loss.

The far left side is COMPLETELY different, however. A total rework.

Our NPC Generation Charts are now gone, and replaced with a robust “Actions in Combat” chart, Long/High Jump, Suffocation, Concentration, and “things you can do” note.

I feel it’s a net gain, mechanically speaking. Though I did use the Name chart from time to time.

Overall

In the end, this is a great step in the right direction for a non-campaign specific DM screen. All the info on here is useful and none of the charts overlap. The art is insanely good on both sides.

I feel safe recommending this screen to basically anyone!
Buy the screen here, on Amazon, or at your local gaming shop today.

I don’t always advocate rolling, but when I do… be sure you have to Drop the Die.
Review by JB Little, Follow me on twitter for more “useful” information.

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