Look, as you may already know, I’m an old-school Tabletop Roleplaying guy. Been in the hobby in some form or another since the late 1970’s, “Forever DM”, I have over 300 TTRPGs in my collection, more dice than I can count, and so on. In short, I have all the gear, including a custom-built, carved wooden gamemaster’s screen.
One can get by with only a minimal amount of TTRPG gear… Only a single set of dice, maybe a book or two for whatever game you are playing, and if you are the gamemaster, a GM Screen to shield your notes, dice rolls, and other machinations from the Players.
But is it necessary? Specifically, is the screen really necessary? The books are only really necessary if you are the GM (and that’s debatable), same with the dice, but the GM Screen itself is the most optional of them all. A lot of GMs, myself included in recent years, don’t hide their rolls from the players. Notes can be hidden simply by flipping them upside down on the table, or keeping them in a binder. So what is the true use of a GM Screen anymore?
Now I will say that my screen has magnetic features that make it easy to put notes up on the interior panels, and a groove etched in the top for placing cards in, making it easy to track initiative and so forth. My brother does much the same with his screen, when it comes to initiative, as it helps both the GM and the players keep track. In my opinion, those features alone make my GM Screen worthwhile to use at the table, but there are plenty of other ways to keep handy notes at hand and track initiative without the use of a GM Screen, so again… Do most people need these things anymore?
For most GMs, especially those new to the position, I would say no, they don’t really need a screen. Sure, it can make keeping track of notes and whatnot easy, as well as building some mystery for the Players, as they won’t know what’s going on back on the GM’s side of said screen. But is that enough to warrant the expense?
In my opinion, the best reasons to buy a GM Screen anymore are:
- The Cool Factor. Many GM screens have great art from the game they are made for on the Player side, which helps keep said players in the right mindset for said game. In my case, the massive custom wooden screen I have is gorgeous, and the woodcuts of Mighty Cthulhu on the exterior panels are amazing! Very cool!
- Information. For professional screens made specifically for the game you are playing, they usually include a bevy of great charts and other information about the game on the inside panels, keeping the GM from having to search for such info in the books to a minimum. Also for generic screens, the GM can put up whatever they like on the Player-facing side, being art or information helpful to said players.
Now with that said, there are downsides to GM screens, as well. Not everyone can afford them, and even if they can, you can just as easily make one yourself with an old binder. It may not look as cool, nor have as many panels as some (just use a couple of binders, then), but you can set it up however you like, too.
Speaking of cost, my custom GM Screen cost me a cool $300 when I had it made, and likely costs much more now. That is a wee bit out of most GMs price range, and to be fair, other than the woodcut Cthulhu imagery on the outside, it absolutely wasn’t worth the price.
But it was worth it to me, and I had money to burn back then, so…
Anyway, in a group session (should I ever run one again, as I am still sans an in-person group), I will be using my GM Screen. It has handy features, looks amazing, and for dice rolls I will use my equally-amazing dice tower on the player’s side of the table, so they can all see what I’m rolling. Or, better yet, I’ll be running a game where all of the dice rolls are made by the players (most PbtA games, “Dead of Night”, and so forth), so that won’t even be necessary. But that is all mostly to justify buying said GM Screen, and to show it off to friends, especially if we’re playing a Cosmic Horror TTRPG (“Call of Cthulhu”, “Tremulus”, “Kult”, etc).
In the end, I don’t really think people need to use a GM Screen anymore, not unless they really feel strongly about it. Obviously, every group and table is different, and your mileage may vary, but it really seems like an unnecessary expense anymore. I’d think that having a small tablet or laptop would be more handy for most GMs. They could keep their notes on it, use a digital version of the game book(s) for easy and quick referrals, and if they really need to, use it to shield their dice rolls from the players’ view.
But hey, that’s just my opinion. You do you, Boo.
