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I'm working on a 3-page landscape Pathfinder Beta GM reference doc for insertion to the Savage Worlds screen.
Right now here's what I'm planning to include:
* Skill base DCs and standard modifiers (excepting Craft, Knowledge, & Profession -- this is the bulk of the info)
* Attack Roll Modifiers
* Defense Modifiers
* XP Chart
* CMB stuff
Any other suggestions? Once I've got something I'm more or less satisfied with I'll put it up (somewhere) for free download.
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I'm working on a 3-page landscape Pathfinder Beta GM reference doc for insertion to the Savage Worlds screen.
Right now here's what I'm planning to include:
* Skill base DCs and standard modifiers (excepting Craft, Knowledge, & Profession -- this is the bulk of the info)
* Attack Roll Modifiers
* Defense Modifiers
* XP Chart
* CMB stuffAny other suggestions? Once I've got something I'm more or less satisfied with I'll put it up (somewhere) for free download.
Hey! I've already started on this ... if you email me at checkyboy (at) gmail (dot) com I'll email you what I have so far ...
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This sounds great, my Pathfinder GM has put together a screen using good old fashioned paper and glue and put it in hit Savage Worlds GM screen.
* XP Chart
Is this necessary on a screen? It only seems to be something referred to ever so often rather than a number of times per session. Could the space be used for something else?
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XP Chart ... Is this necessary on a screen? It only seems to be something referred to ever so often rather than a number of times per session. Could the space be used for something else?
Actually, yes ... I find it easier to keep a simple chart on my screen for tabulation at the end of the night ... anything you need at least once a session is valuable for a DM screen, I think ... :)
Other things I include
- table of what gets broken when you roll a 1 on your save
- Hardness / hit points / break DCs of items
- Skill tables for skills used often
- Light sources and spotting distances by terrain
- Weapon and Armor charts
Once I have them done I can ask Lillith to put them up on dmtools.org ...
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This sounds great, my Pathfinder GM has put together a screen using good old fashioned paper and glue and put it in hit Savage Worlds GM screen.
* XP Chart
Is this necessary on a screen? It only seems to be something referred to ever so often rather than a number of times per session. Could the space be used for something else?
I reward XP after each encounter, not at the end of the night, but having the XP table on the screen is not high-priority.
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Thanks guys for this thread! This is exactly what I was looking for. I am actually writing my post with the hopte that Paizo reads such threads when planning the Pathfinder DM Screen next year, once the rules are finalized.
There are several categories of information that are needed on a DM screen.
Category A: too hard to remember, too tedious to look up
A glossary which lists all the conditions that can affect PCs and NPCs (dazed, prone, ...) and gives the mechanic definition. The "Dungeon Crawl Classics" DM screen by Goodman Games sets a brilliant precedent for this, as it pays particular attention to the layout and font size (something I return to later). 4th Edition D&D DM screen does this as well.
Category B: Stuff to aid me in making up things on the fly.
B1 It's no accident that the 4th edition DM screen replicates the very table of DCs and average damage output from the section "actions the rules do not cover" in the 4E DMG. By universal agreement, that's the single best thing about the 4E DM Screen. Given that skills now scale and progress at a less chaotic rate in Pathfinder than they did in 3.5, it would be possible to come up with such a table and include it in the DM screen (check 4th edition DMG, page 42). Having it means you do not have to do these tables for each skill individually. Which means you get rid of lots of the clutter on the 3.5 DM Screen Paizo did in Dragon Magazine.
B2 Equally useful: Table 12-6 from the Pathfinder Beta Ruleset, page 294. It's the nearest analogue Pathfinder has to the 4E table I just mentioned, and it deserves to be on the screen just as much. I already use it all the time propped open at the table during my sessions - say, an NPC you never statted out gets hit by a bottle and retaliates by throwing a chair - it's that good for running stuff on the fly (the proverbial pub fight the DM never planned included). One important change: replace the numbers in "High Average Damage" and "Low Average Damage" by die rolls. To do that, consult the Pathfinder Beta Ruleset, page 297, Table 12-10 - but take bell curve distribution into consideration. (Sidenote: If you haven't heard about bell curve distribution in D&D, consult Gary's 1E AD&D DMG. It's very important for you as a DM to understand this when making up die calls on the fly, as in "should I ask the player to roll 1d12 or 2d6?".)
B3 If I roll on encounter tables which include 3.5 monsters (Tome of Horrors, early Pathfinder monsters), I want to run the monster I rolled out of the book. So I need to convert it on the fly.
Converting 3.5 Monsters on the FlyStep 1: Reduce CR by 1
Step 2: CMB = Grapple modifier + size modifier:
o Colossal -8
o Gargantuan -8
o Huge -6
o Large -3
o Medium +0
o Small +3
o Tiny +6
o Diminutive +8
o Fine +8
o Has Improved Grapple? -2
Category C: World Specific Stuff
That's what I learned from the Eberron DM Screen Chris Perkins designed: DM screens are 95% generic. World-specific stuff should be in the module or your DM notes, as much as possible. All you need for a quick glance at the screen is "Days of the Week" and "Months of the Year". It's literally the only world-specific info Chris put on the Eberron Screen, and it's a brilliant insight what a DM needs at the table: small-scale flavour that provides that extra bit to make the players feel they really are in Golarion. So insert the info from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, page 238.
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To be honest, I have mentioned all that I ever need from a Pathfinder DM screen. Everything else I am happy to look up. I only mentioned stuff I do look up using extant DM screens. In fact, I replicated the stuff I keep propped open while playing, this being (again)
* Table 12-6 from the Beta Ruleset
* Page 238 from the Campaign Setting (photocopied)
* Combat Conditions (using the Goodman Screen)
* Paizo's 3.5 DM Screen from Dragon Magazine - as I said, try to simplify it, I find it much harder to read than all the other resources I mentioned. Which means: reduce the amount of information on the screen, and go for a larger font.
My two tips for further contributions in this thread:
1. Don't mention stuff unless you are coming from actual DM experience. I can't imagine anyone ever used an XP chart on the table.
2. Try to think of extant products, and try to tell Paizo how to build and improve on those to make the best screen ever. I mentioned a couple of products which, I think, really excel. Try to think of more.
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My two tips for further contributions in this thread:
1. Don't mention stuff unless you are coming from actual DM experience. I can't imagine anyone ever used an XP chart on the table.
2. Try to think of extant products, and try to tell Paizo how to build and improve on those to make the best screen ever. I mentioned a couple of products which, I think, really excel. Try to think of more.
As I said, I actually did use it. If people don't find it as useful as me, that's okay, but my post was 'from actual DM experience'. The 3.5 XP chart that cross-referenced level to CR was quite the annoyance at the end of an evening...
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As I said, I actually did use it. If people don't find it as useful as me, that's okay, but my post was 'from actual DM experience'. The 3.5 XP chart that cross-referenced level to CR was quite the annoyance at the end of an evening...
Ok, but that may be because
1. the 3.5 chart is much more complicated than the Beta chart2. the 3.5 chart is not in the same book you already got on your table, meaning the PHB. Again, this will change in the Beta.
So, I think calculating a session's worth of XP, which takes up at least 5+ minutes downtime from the DM away from the players, is one of those tasks where it's completely ok for the DM to take his time and flip through a book. I use a DM screen to speed up player-DM communication, and calculating XP just isn't one of those tasks.
You are right, though. I also hated carrying the DMG to sessions just for the odd bit of information. I enjoy the Beta (softcover!!) for that reason: a single, light book which contains all I need, as player or DM.
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I reward XP after each encounter, not at the end of the night, but having the XP table on the screen is not high-priority.
Ah, I think I misunderstood what was meant by XP chart, I thought it was the chart that shows how much XP is needed to reach each level at the Fast, Medium and Slow progression rates (i.e. Table 4–1: Character Advancement and Level-Dependent Bonuses) however I now think you mean Table 12–3: Experience Point Awards. In which case, yes that could be useful on the screen.
Converting 3.5 Monsters on the Fly
Step 1: Reduce CR by 1
I don't want to threadjack, but where does this CR reduction come from?
I don't want to threadjack, but where does this CR reduction come from?Converting 3.5 Monsters on the Fly
Step 1: Reduce CR by 1
It's someone's heuristic for handling the fact that Pathfinder characters are a bit tougher than 3.5 PCs on average.
Ah thanks. Hm.
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Update!
My first draft of the GM screen inserts is done. I need to fix some typos, mess with the margins/columns and shuffle some things around, but I used it in my game Sunday night and it was quite handy. Here's what I have so far:
Combat Actions
Attack Modifiers
Defense Modifiers
Skill Task DC & Condition Modifiers
XP Awards
I still want to squeeze in the list of statuses (Shaken, Exhausted, Dazzled, Defenestrated, etc) (okay I made up that last one) and their game effects, something might get bumped to make room. I'm going to see if I can compress the Size Modifiers into a single table, otherwise they might fall out.
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Update!
v1.0 of the screen is done. I'm looking for a good place to upload it for distribution.
I was not able to squeeze in the list of status conditions (it was too long) but I added some items like light source ranges and two weapon penalties instead.
Email me at de_labarre AT yahoo DOT com if you want the PDF mailed to you.