What doesn't everybody like about the GM's screen. I just got my GM's toolkit and don't see a bunch of problems with it. Thoughts?

jh

I actually though the screen was one of the few saving graces of the set, though i haven't had to use it yet.

To me, it's because it gets in the way. I use mine, off to the side and angled slightly, but I'd have preferred it to be a bit shorter, honestly.

My main gripe is that it wastes a lot of space with very basic information that I already know. Look how much real-estate is taken up with dice symbols. If you are running the game, you should know what the symbols mean, and even if you don't you don't need that much space to explain it.

It's appears that someone just slapped together a few tables from the core rather than actually thinking what info a GM would need.

Also, as a personal preference, I prefer landscape instead of portrait.

I agree on the short screen. Landscape would have been a much better choice.

jh

I prefer landscape screens, and I would have preferred different table selections in a few spots, but overall I'm really impressed by the GM's screen. It's got great art, it's sturdy, and it does have some helpful information on it.

Personally I got because I wanted to have something on the table that reminds to my players that they are in a warhammer setting, ie the pictures. I guess It seems I use more the outer side of the screen.

I have played 4 session having the screen in front of my, but I have never, NEVER, used the tables (mind you that I am a newbie GM). It's much easier for me to check my cheat-sheet that bend my head down to read what's on the screen. Also the fact that there is a mistake on the screen is somewhat of a psychological deterrent.

Another problem I have with screens in general is that they are between me and the dice. I have to make an extra maneuvre (heh, manoeuver get it?) to read or pick up the dice. On the other hand, without a screen, I feel naked. It seems I am used to having a divider between me and the players. I should go see a psychiatrist.

I'm usually not a fan of screens. I've bought them before, but only because they were packaged with something else. Yet I find myself using this one all the time. Mostly to organise the A/C/E tokens for the monsters and for the progress tracker on the right, but also I've found some of the tables handy, especially for the opposed check difficulties and the rally step overview (when there's a rally step I read out the options to the players to remind them). So for me this is the best GM screen I've come across.

I also find the screen to high – I want to share the table with my players, not hide behind a cardboard. Because of the height problem, I have only used it once so far when I could put it on a side table.

I also don’t find the tables particularly helpful, the cheatsheets do a much better job here. Half the hight on the most visible spot for an explanation of the dice symbols? If this would have been part of the Core set, then I could maybe have understood this. But as this was part of an “advanced” package, then they really should have skipped the super basic stuff. I am missing info on things such as healing & recovery. The tables that I have referred to most so far is the maneuver list.

Things that I really like and use are the progress tracker and the A/C/E dice pool areas at the bottom. Great idea!

I have also not used the screen during my first session because for my newbie group it was too martial. It would have been nice to have something more mysterious on there too, something about the social interactions, the enemy within, lurking fear and disease – instead of just combat… (well, ok, there are cultists on one side, but that picture is also more explicit than mysterious. But then again, I personally like the grim & cruel art that went along with Warhammer. But the more I think about it, the more I wonder why there is almost no art that displays the side of the Warhammer FRP game that really shines: social interactions!

I would have also preferred landscape format, but otherwise, I really like the screen. It's one of the most functional GM screens I've ever used. I'm glad they incorporated the progress tracker and A/C/E labels too. Really there's nothing I need in play reference-wise that isn't on the screen, so it makes the books even less important to have at the table... except for the creatures of course (but that's about to change with the Creature Vault).