What tools should you have on your DM Screen?
My first 2e DM Screen was just a set of tables that I found useful, organized so that I could fit as much on the screen as possible. But after a decade of this static tool, I'm finally [updating it](https://regalgoblins.com/dmscreen.html) and it's brought up a bunch of questions about the purpose and organization of the screen. [Note: This screen is not yet finished]
There is an official 2e screen, but we live in a digital age, so we can do so much more. I'm adding a ton of information, navigation buttons, little calculators to quickly sum up modifiers, buttons to determine chances automatically, etc. So without further ado, here are the things I find most useful to have on hand!
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Overview: In TTRPGs, there are the rules we know by hear, the rules we have to look up, and the rules we've forgotten exist and so wouldn't even bother to look for. A DM screen is a great place to store that 2nd class - things you don't know by heart and have to look up. It's also a great spot to put workflows that you mostly know, but blank on from time to time (see Encounters below).
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Combat: There are a lot of rules for combat, and ideally it all happens very quickly, so you don't want to break up the flow by having to open a book. Your DM screen should have all the combat stuff you'll need to make sure things run smoothly: Adjustments to hit and AC, saving throws, cover rules, morale modifiers, poison tables, etc.
There can be a lot of modifiers to morale and initiative situations, so I've added check boxes next to each one that you can quickly click through with the total modifiers being summed at the bottom.
Basic Stat Tables: I'm always having to look up stat tables for some reason. I never think I'll need them after character creation, and I'm always wrong. 2e stat tables are big, there's a lot of info in there, and so they're real cumbersome to add to a physical screen - but I do love the idea of not having to open books and dig around for this stuff.
Character ability progression: Wizard levels up, how many spells do they get at this level? How much XP do they need for the next level? Where's their next THAC0 adjustment? This stuff comes up all the time during level up, or when you're suspicious a player has made some errors.
Encounter Workflow: One thing I've always been bad about, but would love to correct, is the default 2e encounter flow. If you actually read the DMG (who does that?), it lays out a pretty clear path for encounters: Is there an encounter today? When is it? What is it? Roll for surprise. Determine starting distance. Roll for encounter reaction if applicable. But this is 6 steps, and each step has its own table (or two), and that makes this a annoyingly long process without having to keep your DMG open and flip through pages. I mean, who has memorized the "Encounter Distance" table? psh, just make it all up - or make a nice little section on your DM screen that has everything lined up at a glance. If you have the space, fitting your encounter tables on your screen would be great! Maybe you have a default screen that gets encounter tables added to it for each campaign - presuming you have few or small tables.
Environmental Rules: What's the light radius of a hooded lantern? How fast do people climb? How far can you see on a moonless night? What are the overland travel rules and how easy is it to get lost?
Actions: This is an area that I always think I know by heart, but when I actually go about and look up the rules, I'm often surprised to see how wrong I am. For some reason, I keep forgetting in 2e that you can only move half your speed and still make a melee attack. I've added an actions section to my screen that does a quick recap of common and uncommon actions.
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Putting this all together in one place, with easy navigation, is going to solve all my problems. I'm sure I'll never miss a rule again. Right?
...right?