Review: D&D’s Dungeon Master’s Screen Reincarnated is what we wanted

I dig a good DM screen.

It prevents me from having to look up every little thing in my hardcover and keeps the game running more smoothly.

And I love the Dungeon Master’s Screen Reincarnated released last week by Dungeons & Dragons.

Though I rather enjoyed the first DM Screen that came out for 5e that was released in 2015, this one is way better.

Even though I wrote, “It’s all stuff I’ll use a lot during my next D&D games,” I found as I used the old version that it contained a bunch of information I wasn’t using. I didn’t need charts to create NPCs on the fly. I didn’t really use it to populate rooms in a dungeon with random stuff.

The Reincarnated screen is a lot like every other DM Screen you’ve used: Four panels of sturdy cardboard with a beautiful painting on one side and rules, charts and suggestions on the other side.

It’s also quite similar to the old screen.

The old and Reincarnated items share the same information on conditions, travel pace, encounter distance, damage by level, skills and associated abilities, cover, light and setting a DC.

But the Reincarnated version has much more information – 25 separate panels compared to the old one’s 18 – and it’s much more useful, too.

The Reincarnated screen dumps an entire panel on how to create NPCs (including names, roles, flaws, etc.) for some much better stuff.

The new screen has the rules for actions in combat, a diagram of areas of effect and explanations on how jumps, suffocating and concentration work. It also explains DCs for tracking enemies and the costs of services, food, drink and services as well as diagrams on creature sizes.

There’s also charts for object armor class and hit points as well as a chart for obscured areas to go along with cover and light.

It’s full-featured, and based on experience, I’m going to enjoy this screen much more. Why? Rules on cover, explanations of actions and object hit points are the things I am constantly looking up in my rulebooks.

I can’t wait to give it a spin on the table.

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Did you pick up the Dungeon Master’s Screen Reincarnated? Tell us what you think in the comments.