DM Screen

>>51801366
Approximately four kilograms of cow manure.

Players Passive Perception and HP, who does and doesn't have Darkvision, NPC guides, six major gods, and six major political players,

>>51801366
Nothing.

>>51801366
I usually keep tabs on everyone's AC, passive scores, and ammo counts.

>>51801366
I ominously throw dice that serves no real purpose and mutter "Hm, interesting..." just to scare my players.

A laptop and usually either a mug of beer or a small row of shots of straight vodka.

File: 1486095407096.png (184KB, 350x352px) Image search: [Google]

184KB, 350x352px

>>51801366
tennis balls to throw at players who make extremely stupid decisions

>>51801366
Dice, rule reference book, campaign book, notecards, pencils, eraser, phone.

>>51801366

>using a screen

Why do you want us to fail at RPG, OP?

>>51801366
Keyboard, one computer screen for me, another screen that shows what the players see in ANOTHER screen pointed at them. Then an rpg screen to hide my fumbled dice rolls. Also have notebook, rulebook, figurines of potential enemies. It's actually quite impressive, but takes a long while to set up since I use my computer.

>>51807394
Reminder that Gygax rolled all the dice for his group while completely hidden behind a full-body screen.

>>51802247
>I ominously throw dice that serves no real purpose and mutter "Hm, interesting..." just to scare my players.

I think this is fucking retarded, personally. I mean, I don't begrudge a DM who does that, and I appreciate the effort to maintain the atmosphere of tension, but anything that makes the players nervous but not the characters just annoys me. It's like, suddenly your characters feel nervous for literally no reason? Nah.

Lull them into a false sense of security then assrape them. Also, roll hide/move silently ahead of time if you can. Or just do straight comparison of passive perception versus passive stealth.

What you're doing isn't bad, btw, I just don't like it personally.

>>51808302
Hard time require hard measures, especially if my players are usually a bunch of metagaming cunts. I try to crack down on their unsavory habits as often as I can. Hence, the ominous dice throwing.

>>51808302
There's nothing wrong with a little sly dice-rolling, smiling, and saying "Everything's FI~NE" in a worried sing-song voice to fuck with your players.

Especially when one of them has a fiend that is slowly possessing them and another has a council of ancestor spirits that she communes with for guidance who argue over whether or not to tell her what they see coming.

>>51801366
lies

>>51808120
Reminder that Gygax didn't fudge dice and only hid so that he could force the attention on the dungeon as opposed to the "social" aspects of the game.

File: 20170208_212815.jpg (652KB, 2048x1152px) Image search: [Google]

652KB, 2048x1152px

>>51801366
Laptop to run the roll20 screen and additional reference material, dice, a coin I'll flip if I'm feeling inspired, all my players passive scores, monster manual and dm guide with tabs/notes on pages, and a sketchpad I'll draw on when I'm letting them consult books, each other, or just letting them role play a bit at length.

Our setup has them on the couch using a coffee table screen/computer, and tv, while I sit nearby with like 3 fold up tv trays and a comfy computer chair. It's pretty damn comfy.

>>51808302
For me, the purpose of rolling purposeless rolls behind the screen is to make sure the players can't prepare for rolls with a purpose.

For example, I roll perception behind the GM screen for certain events, so if I just rolled when I needed the roll, and they missed their perception and I said nothing, the players could go "Oh shit, he rolled the dice, better take out my sword and look for traps," but when I roll constantly they can't really do that. Sometimes I also vocalize something, but usually I just roll silently, even if the result is interesting.

As an additional measure, I pre-roll some rolls at the start of each session so I can have a roll result without rolling dice.

That way I ensure that the players have no meaningful way to relate my dice rolls to any in-game events.

As for the thread, I keep a laptop screen, some counters, paper and pens (red, green, blue, black, pencil), my campaign notes (including a map) and a list of NPC names because my players want to know the name of every single thing they meet. I also keep a list of the players ordered by their turn order and any additional rules I need to reference that aren't on the GM screen.

File: Custom GURPS Screen 1.jpg (4MB, 5312x2988px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 5312x2988px

Here's my GM screen.

3 more pics to come. I know it's probably something nobody is interested in, but I'm doing it anyway.

File: Custom GURPS screen 2.jpg (4MB, 5312x2988px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 5312x2988px

>>51814765

File: Custom GURPS screen 3.jpg (4MB, 5312x2988px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 5312x2988px

>>51814774

>>51801366
Beer and dice.

>>51814765
I feel like the GURPS GM Screen having 8 pages is a bit of an overkill. Also it doesn't include everything I would need for most of my campaigns and has things I almost never use.

I always wanted to make my own, but I never find the time to do it.

File: Custom GURPS screen 4.jpg (4MB, 2988x5312px) Image search: [Google]

4MB, 2988x5312px

>>51814796

>>51814802
Guy who posted the screen here; it is overkill. I only ever reference one, maybe two panels during actual play most of the time and often not even that. It's handy for my players to reference or gawk at sometimes, but generally it's just there to hide info and certain dice rolls.

I've thought about customizing the info on the screen too, but running GURPS I so rarely need to reference the books anyway that I have never really felt the "push" to go ahead and build custom reference stuff.

>>51801366
A laptop with Google docs for my campaign notes, Sumatra PDF with the rulebooks open in tabs, and index cards or other gaming aides I'm using for the campaign.

The GM screen itself has custom pages of whatever I reference regularly, more pages than panels, in a few different thought out arrangements so I can switch back and forth.

The front side has fancy images assembled in Photoshop and relevant to the campaign in question.

Sometimes I attach stuff for the PCs on the screen, but I haven't ironed out the best way to do that yet.

It's made of conjoined 3 ring binders.

>>51807394
Of course there are spergs who are against using screens. Fucking brilliant

>>51808302
Slit your throat.

>>51814264
Reminder that nowadays things Gygax did are outdated and surpassed by doing things in a better way, for example: fudging dice

>>51815579
Dice fudging is the hallmark of a shit GM.

Once your players realize they can't trust you to GM the game properly, all tension is lost, all previous successes are invalidated, and the players lose a great deal of interest in the campaign. They showed up to roleplay and play a game, not for you to dictate to them the results of their actions based on whether or not you want them to succeed.

If you're not doing anything wrong, tell your players in advance that you have been lying about the dice rolls as you feel like. If you truly haven't been doing them a disservice (BS) they won't be upset.

Roll where they can see it.

>>51815713
In advance, or after the fact**

>>51815713
Dice fudging is the hallmark of inappropriate system choice.

>>51815765
Inappropriate system choice is another failing of a shit GM. You've not refuted my point.

>>51815713
>Dice fudging is the hallmark of a shit GM.
Getting caught dice fudging is the hallmark of a shit GM.

>Roll where they can see it.
Only combat and contest rolls are appropriate for rolling in the open.

>>51815792
I had no intention of refuting your point.
You just failed to mention a crucial aspect of the issue.

>>51815819
If you can't actually run a decent campaign, and you need to ruin it by lying to the players to force the outcomes you want, you've denied them the campaign they showed up for, and this is a bait and switch.

>>51815819
The only time it's surprise to not roll in the open is when they should have no idea if they've succeeded or failed, until later, such as failing to spot the enemies sneaking up on them, or failing to spot a trap up ahead.

>>51815823
Some people fudge dice in every system. It's not always a matter of having chosen the wrong game. Some people just like lying to their friends and letting them think they are playing a specific game rather than Steve's storytime.

>>51815898
>It's not always a matter of having chosen the wrong game.
But if you choose the wrong game, you need to fudge dice to try and salvage it.

>>51808302
>anything that makes the players nervous but not the characters just annoys me
Well, I mean, if you're adventuring in a dungeon, on a road where you know bandits have been known to strike or another risky area, your characters should already be feeling nervous or at least cautious.

>>51815922
Or, better suggestion, play the game you've chosen/houserule if you can easily make it work/choose a different game and start a new campaign.

If you're fudging dice, either your failing at GMing and don't know how to fix it, or you're deliberately wasting everyone's time and ruining the game for your players.

If you can't make a system work for the campaign you've chosen, just tell your players this isn't working and talk to them honestly like adults about the options.

>>51815948
Sure, that would be the sensible solution.
But it requires a degree of information and introspection that seems to be regrettably uncommon in our hobby.

>>51814765
>>51814807
>>51801366

What are these things that have a foiled inside so you can stick a4 paper inside? I've never saw them before. Where can I buy this?

>>51803040
You play some hardcore shit, is that one for each player? You die in the game, you die in real life.

>>51817479
>This is not a normal game
>It's a shadow game!

>>51817548
*shadow game with whisky

Apart from the classic stuff (maps, campaign notes...), I always have my laptop to deal with music (and sometimes in-game sounds (playing mostly cthulhu and the like, so a tortured scream out of nowhere, or a strong and slow heartbeat is always good)), and displaying some pdf. My tablet, to also display a pdf (most of the time the most important one), and sometimes show pictures to my players. It's also the one I give if they need to check things in really specific books. Finally, I keep a set of small paper pieces where I can write quickly something to give to a specific player.

I don't understand why if you say you fudge dice once in a while (say once every 3 sessions or something) people assume that you constantly fudge rolls. I don't see anything wrong with the occasional dice fudge. I think that, no matter how good your system is, it'll happen occasionally. I can only assume that the people that accuse others of constant fudging have been burned by a GM that does constantly fudge. I've never seen it happen though. Only fudge I've seen is the kind that happens once in a while.

Y'all explain yourselves. In what situation have you seen a GM constantly fudge rolls?

>>51806459
I would prefer the tennis ball to the d4 that was thrown at me one time. Damn thing got me smack in the middle of my forehead

>>51817993
That's hilarious, but I'm having a hard time imagining it actually happening. Are you sure it wasn't a caltrop or something? I don't think a plastic die would really be able to go that fast.

>>51814264
>A DM only rolls the dice because of the noise they make.

I tend to draw porn of my favorite Guilty Gear character, Dizzy.

>>51817597
Is there any other shadow game?

File: goats.jpg (70KB, 640x434px) Image search: [Google]

70KB, 640x434px

>>51815543
m8 I don't need one m8 come on m8 why you h8 m8

>>51820973
ur ded

>>51815713
Yeah well
You're a lesbian

File: DMScreenAFMBE.pdf (1B, 486x500px)

1B, 486x500px

>>51801366

>>51823112
That's what I thought. You've got nothing.

I DM online so I have the relevant notes, communication client, interactive map simulators, and stat pages all in different tabs.

>>51815713
You sound like a butthurt scrublord who's angry because he didn't get his way somewhere down the line and blamed the DM for fudging.

Here's a fun fact; fudging the dice isn't the only time a DM fudges something. If you make something up on the spot, you're fudging.

Fudging is part of the game, and if you have a problem with that, well, you're autistic, and rely on "authenticity" as a crutch because of how unimaginative you are.

I'm a DM that nearly every player I've ever had has loved, and I guarantee you, Gygax fudged at least once in his life. Even if you're under the assumption that he didn't, that doesn't make him a good DM either, since a lot of his adventures were cliché (even for their time), formulaic, and directly pitted the DM against the players, which nowadays is a very big "no no".

It all depends on execution however you play or DM. In a lot of ways, Gygax secured fudge-rolls by inserting DMPC's directly into the party so he could directly control certain outcomes better, which is no better than just fudging something.

>>51824782
Never said Gygax was a good GM. His adventures are kindof shit, which hints at him being a bad GM. I simply said that fudging dice rolls was bad GMing.

>>51814354
Three TVs?

>>51817287
"The World's Greatest Screen" for portrait. "Savage Worlds Customizeable GM Screen" for landscape.