Monday, August 26, 2024

#RPGaDAY2024 - DAY TWENTY-SIX: Superb Screen


Day Twenty-Six of #RPGaDAY2024 - don't worry, there are not many days left! Today's prompt is about superb screens...

I haven't used a screen for many years - mostly because I haven't GM'd for many years. I do remember the sudden realisation and revelation that screens were no longer 3-panel portrait, but 3-panel landscape, and that just blew me away. All of the information you need on a sturdy screen (like those produced by Modiphius or Cubicle 7) in a format you can easily see over, while still protecting your notes. Brilliant.

However, when it comes to superb screens, the winner has to be the one our DM (and current DM for our D&D game) used back in the 1980s. Made from two panels of what must have been 3ft x 3ft chipboard, the screen towered over the table and completely obscured any of the notes and maps that he wanted to keep secret. When he wanted to check on rolls, he'd have to stand up or lean around the screen to see what was going on. It was so sturdy, and so secretive, that one of our players (I think it was 'Crud' - not his real name) hacked away at part of the screen to try to see through it, using a propelling pencil. Over many months, he eventually broke through, like the Shawshank Redemption, only to discover the following session that the hole had been filled by a mass of Araldite epoxy resin that set in a mass of weird Giger-esque forms. The screen was completely impractical as a way to communicate with the players, but perfect for keeping secrets, and will always be firmly fixed in my mind.


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