GM Screen Alternatives

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by guymc

...The idea of a GM screen is to put frequently used game rules and data in a place where it is easier and faster to access than consulting the book. So off the top we can eliminate things that are just as easy to look up in the book (few), and things used so infrequently that looking them up on occasion is no burden. ...

Hi Guy, everyone.
I agree, rarely needed information does not belong on the GM screen.

Originally Posted by guymc

Are there more appropriate ways to offer players and gamemasters information than putting it all on a screen? ...

The old TFT GM screen was not used much on the player side of the table. It only had weapons (and people memorized the parts of that table they cared about), and the text was so small that only people sitting adjacent to the GM could read it anyway. (I used the info on MY side of the screen a lot.)

Originally Posted by guymc

PULLOUTS: Longer tables and lists and multiple pieces that go together can be provided as separate pullout pages to be consulted by players or GM. If provided in PDF format, copies can easily be printed for everyone who wants or needs one. ...

I do this. I have printed out weapons, talents and spells. I have a book on "how to create a character" which gets pulled out when someone needs to create a new character.

Originally Posted by guymc

[3 sided] STANDUP CHARTS: This is -- as far as I know -- something I came up with myself for my own campaigns, mostly for players. ...

Neat idea. One Stand Up, could have experience costs for attributes and abilities plus the weapon / armor tables. Later ones could have all adventuring in the water, or adventuring in the snow rules. These would be more useful than the GM shield because you can write small (and thus have a useful amount of information on them), but they can be picked up and brought close to the eye when needed.

Originally Posted by guymc

CARDS: Where there are a lot of selections that might appear on a big table or list, but you are only likely to be concerned immediately with the few selections you actually have at hand, cards are a nice way to provide info. Just hand the appropriate card to the player, for him to keep as long as it is pertinent. ...

I'm less keen on cards. You would need so many. And if you have that many, the GM needs to keep them organized or they become useless. If the GM likes the idea, then some 3x5 inch index cards are infinitely flexible.

Warm regards, Rick.

[XRaysVision]

Along the menu standup and the Melee QRS linked above made me think that they could be arranged to fit on the sides of a dice rolling tower. Double duty makes for less clutter.

[David Bofinger]

If you're going to be using those pregenerated character cards then there'd be some benefit to having a card rack along the lines of this. If so, it would be a reason to go for portrait cards rather than landscape, and having a little blank space at the bottom. Contrasting colours for the party and hostiles racks might be good too. Of course this is easy to source third party.