2e DM Screen

My hunt for a good 2e DM screen has been somewhat unsatisfying. There’s the official screen which does the job, but the layout and arrangement of the tables leaves something to be desired (a criticism I extend to the books, generally). There are some fan creations online, but there’s always something about them that doesn’t quite meet my needs.

My 2e Primer’s Quick Reference has served me for many games, but it contains much information that I don’t immediately need during play, while also missing some tables that I’d like quick access to. Really, what I’d love is a DM screen that has the Primer’s information, but laid out in a condensed format, with related tables arranged near each other.

So I made one.

 

Actually, I made two: One in landscape orientation and another in portrait.

I tried to keep everything to four panels, but good lord this edition is lousy with tables. Instead, it’s five panels, but the final panel is completely monster-based and can be considered an optional loose reference sheet.

It’s been helpful in the handful of sessions in which I’ve used it, but I can’t call it battle-tested. If you find it of use in your games, or if you see errors to be corrected or additions to be made, please let me know!

2e DM Screen – Landscape

2e DM Screen – Portrait

Note: I’ve also updated the 2e Primer with additional corrections and amendments. Nothing major, just thought you should know I constantly update it to reflect any new information I find that helps illuminate the darker recesses of this edition.

[I've made some edits to the document based on feedback. Morale and surprise modifiers have been cleaned up. The Common Equipment table has been axed in favor of Turn Undead. I'll keep a version number on the document from here on, and will update based on feedback. Thanks Lord Torath and Downingman.]

The 2e Primer

If you’re here to just grab the file, it’s here.

If you’d like to understand why I made the thing, keep reading.

While this edition is better organized than the earlier games, it’s still a mess. Sometimes rules get tables, sometimes rules are buried in paragraphs, and some rules were forgotten completely, only to surface years later in an accessory book, or else are spread over multiple chapters and never reference one another.

Learning this system can be exhausting, as you can never be sure what you missed or if you’re even playing correctly. That’s not unique to this edition, even 5e has its moments of ‘oh look at this rule they tucked away,’ but in 2e it’s ever present. I was learning the system in order to teach it to a group of players whose experience with D&D goes back no further than 3.5, and I knew I would be their only lifeline to understanding its mercurial nature.

I searched the internet for a good quick guide, an overview, a cheat sheet, anything that could give me a roadmap, but there really wasn’t much out there. So I did what I usually do when learning any overly complicated and occasionally contradictory collection of information: I took notes.

Those notes eventually coalesced into a guide, and within a couple months of writing and play, I had something I found useful. I thought others might, too. I downloaded Scribus edited the thing into something readable, and now it’s The 2e Primer. If you see errors or places where improvement can be made, please share them. I’d like for this document to be the tool I couldn’t find when I was searching for help; anything you can offer toward that end would be appreciated.