The most commonly used thing on my screen are a list of every condition/status effect, what cover does, rules for prone and climbing and jumping, a table of random NPC traits, a table of assorted smells and sounds for ambiance
One of the few things chat GPT is good at is being a DM screen. You can type in what your player is trying to do and it typically generates the relevant rules/conditions related to player actions, which speeds up sessions.
you don’t have to flip through books to determine if land stride interacts with spike growth or if a player can use animal messenger on a polymorphed foe.
[Here](https://youtu.be/oqSYljRYDEM?si=AIYqBsfee7MvpK0x) is a good video about how a lawyer got in trouble from using it. It actually just made up its own references when he asked for them.
My own anecdotal evidence is that, on multiple occasions, it gave me faulty information that luckily one of my players caught. Like what type of armor plate armor was and stuff like that.
Are you using the right GPT? Try use Dungeon Guide or D&D assistant & Dungeon master. They both are just trained to look for keywords in your prompt and copy paste the relevant rulings from the SRD5.1. You can’t just type questions in chatGPT like google.
Here is an example prompt I just tried.
if my players try to hide in a heavily obscured area, do enemies automatically fail if they cannot see though it?
In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, being in a heavily obscured area, like dense fog or thick smoke, affects visibility significantly. According to the rules, a heavily obscured area effectively blinds creatures within it, making it impossible to see anything in that area. Here's how this plays out mechanically:
1. \*\*Vision and Light Levels\*\*: Heavily obscured areas count as being blinded when trying to see something in or through that area.
2. \*\*Blinded Condition\*\*: According to the condition effects in the Player's Handbook, a blinded creature can't see and automatically fails any ability check that requires sight.
3. \*\*Attack Rolls\*\*: Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage. This is because the creature can't see.
Therefore, if characters hide in a heavily obscured area, enemies would indeed have extreme difficulty locating them purely by sight. They would need to rely on other senses or abilities, such as hearing (using a Wisdom (Perception) check to listen for noises) or special senses like blindsight or tremorsense, if available.
I am not! I didn't even know that it was a thing even. But thanks, I'll check it out!
However, chat-GPT can still lie, so probably don't trust it 100% 🫡
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I used flat easels. I have 2 screens of 3 panels each.
[https://www.amazon.com/CONDA-Canvas-Panels-Artist-Quality/dp/B01LYEFB61](https://www.amazon.com/CONDA-Canvas-Panels-Artist-Quality/dp/B01LYEFB61)
I joined them with duct tape, and glued screen protectors to the panels so I can swap stuff in and out, which I do A LOT.
When I DM for kids and teens, I invite them to give me artwork they find (of their own or found online) and I'll rotate those on the player side as well
On the player's side, I have the world map and some other misc. helpful player items.
Note: I've DM'd a long time, so I have a lot of stuff memorized, allowing me to tweak my DM screen around my current session.
On my side, I have the following:
* Spreadsheet of player stats (all on 1 page)
* Prices & other economic information for the player's current area
* Players' unusual magic items attributes (I home-brew almost all magic items)
* THIS SESSION's NPC info. Recommend for others: Weapons & Damage Info
* THIS SESSION's village info. Recommend for others: Combat Info & Status effects
* Campaign milestone tracker
I run almost exclusively sandbox campaigns, so I use a single sentence bullet points to track what they've done so I know what sessions they've pursued. I'll have NPC's with a + or - next to their name so if they return I can roleplay the NPC effectively. Two plusses or two minuses means extra good or bad, respectfully.
* 9/6 Arrived Fairport. Ran two missions for guards. Defended. Mayor ++, Guard ++, Innkeeper +, Blacksmith - (haggling)
* 9/13 Fairport Swamps. Cleared.
* 9/20 Fairport Cairns. Cleared. Found Sextant.
* 9/27 Fairport Docks > Farhaven. Pirate attack and escape. Captain ++, Pirate Razillo --, Arrived Farhaven
My campaigns often run a year or two, so having that shorthand really helps when it's 9 months later and they return to a location.
I don't use a DM screen, I feel like it creates too much separation between me and the players.
I do like to keep a few 4x6 photo prints on stands though, usually of a particular NPC they're talking to.
Definitely on the same boat. I want to sit *with* them, not at them. And you know, reaching for the snacks, pointing something on a sheet, lending dice/pencils/an eraser/what have you.
No dig for those who do need/want to though
Everything I need for the gane is on my laptop behind the DM screen. My dm screen has pictures of my players heads photocopied onto silky bodies. Models, shrek, octopuses etc.
Conditions - Good for combat so I can figure out what's the difference between Paralyzed and Stunned again. Bonus points for including the Surprised condition.
Health Potions - My party uses a lot of healing potions so it's nice to have a list handy to see how much each of them heals
Cover rules - again, super useful mid combat
Ability Checks - What abilities exist in the game and what ability score they're tied to. Helps with calling for ability checks, especially if I don't really know what ability to use. Just seeing a list of all the Wisdom based checks helps out a lot. I actually don't have this on my DM screen but I need it almost every session.
Basic costs - inn meals, room costs, lifestyle costs, good for the roleplay segments.
Languages - your base languages, what script they use and who mostly use the language
And if I could, I'd add a segment for obscure or homebrew/often questioned rules. Things like when does the Sentinel's attack, that triggers when a creature attacks someone within 5 feet of you, trigger. Can Elves get a long rest with 4 hours or do they need the standard 8. How does See Invisibility interact with Invisibility, etc.
Never played a physical game, but were I to do so, I'd just bring my laptop/tablet and look up the info I need off the internet. There are some good websites that have all the WotC published content available for this purpose. That said, I need to make sure I have reminders for monsters that have automatic abilities that run at the top or bottom of their turns. I was running a boss last session that had a regeneration ability that was rolled at the start of it's turn... I forgot to roll it on it's last turn... and the next turn the player killed it, but not by enough damage that it would have been killed even if Regen was rolled. Thankfully, my VTT will allow me to put enemies that are in the GM layer on the Init turn order but they won't be seen by my players.. Moving forward, if I have any automatic rolls on the turn start, I'll just put a copy of the monster in the GM layer, and have the names of the abilities I need to roll. Give them the same init as the monster and put them above the monster in the order and problem solved.
I just use my laptop.
I roll everything in front of the players.
The only thing I need to hide is the story/plot paths I have and my screen already does that.
"ROLL FOR CONCENTRATION!" in big bold letters across the top. It's the one thing I forget most often.
Basic PC stats (passive Perception, max HP, AC.)
Then whatever else is on the generic DM screen that I have.
Conditions, typical DCs (15 = "moderate" and so on), vision and light rules, improvised damage/object HP, and travel rules. When they become necessary, I'll also have wild magic tables, foraging rules, and environmental stuff like random death effects.
I also have party passives (insight, perception, investigation), AC, and a list of which skills each PC is best and worst at, along with what languages everybody speaks. Plus everybody's hard limits and content warnings (e.g. no descriptions of vomiting ever, and check in before there's any harm to non-sapient animals).
I have NPC cards, rollable tables for flavor descriptions, and lists of secrets and clues sort of "loose" behind the screen, and some NPC name generators—actually just lists of birds—on my laptop with my notes.
I use tables I often have to reference, such as NPC disposition, a name bank for a few cultures, the improvised damage table, object AC/HP, and some baseline monster stats by CR.
But frankly, you should include only the things you find yourself forgetting or otherwise frequently needing. Having *more* information than that, such as by fielding good sounding ideas from redditors, may do more to distract you from the *actually* necessary info than it does to help you.
To that point, run a few games with a blank screen and fill it as you go. Treat it like a cork board- infinitely mutable.
As the DM, you need to have quick reference on rules, plots, and other things you need to refer to on a regular basis.
If you have full knowledge of the world (like I like to do), then you won't need a list of NPCs and their personalities. If you have full knowledge of rules, you don't need a conditions guide, or the DCs of usual stuff.
I only have the following things on my table (the DM gets their own table in our home)
- Laptop with the Player's MAX HP, AC, Passive Perception, Passive Stealth. It doubles as a screen, to roll behind. Another Tab has Telegram open in case of private messages to the players. In an emergency, I have a spell list open in the third tab in case I forget about spell effects (but I usually can remember them)
- Maps (world, town, dungeon) annotated with all of the stuff (compared to the blank one that the players receive).
- Index Cards with the loot they might be getting that session already filled out.
- Dice
- Figurines
- Initiative Tower
- Booze & Food
If you struggle with preparation, you can have some things on hand to remind you of them. But to be a good DM, you must prepare yourself, your world, and your plot. Nothing sucks to a player quite like the DM frantically shifting papers around because god forbid you asked them what school of magic the suspicious looking thing is.
I printed out a free one I found via google when I first started out. Since then I’ve learned what I would put on it myself but I’m bad with formatting so I can’t make it as organized, properly spaced, nice looking, etc. But the parts that I actually reference are a list of all the skill checks, a chart that has all weapons and their pertinent info, a list of the exhaustion levels and what happens on each, falling damage calculation, traveling speeds, list of conditions, tavern prices cheat sheet, money conversion chart, monster sizes chart. I’m probably forgetting 1 or 2 but that’s the gist of it
I usually buy my DM screens. However, the stuff that gets used the most are the random encounter tables, comdition/exhaution rules, and underwater combat rules.
Quick reference combat guide Passive perceptions of the party Reminder to tell wild magic sorcerous to roll a D20 after casting a leveled spell
The most commonly used thing on my screen are a list of every condition/status effect, what cover does, rules for prone and climbing and jumping, a table of random NPC traits, a table of assorted smells and sounds for ambiance
One of the few things chat GPT is good at is being a DM screen. You can type in what your player is trying to do and it typically generates the relevant rules/conditions related to player actions, which speeds up sessions. you don’t have to flip through books to determine if land stride interacts with spike growth or if a player can use animal messenger on a polymorphed foe.
It's worth remembering that chatgpt is NOTORIOUS for getting things wrong or straight up making stuff up. I don't recommend it for this.
Source? Every time I use it, it even cites relevant sage advice articles. You just have to ask it to do so
[Here](https://youtu.be/oqSYljRYDEM?si=AIYqBsfee7MvpK0x) is a good video about how a lawyer got in trouble from using it. It actually just made up its own references when he asked for them. My own anecdotal evidence is that, on multiple occasions, it gave me faulty information that luckily one of my players caught. Like what type of armor plate armor was and stuff like that.
Are you using the right GPT? Try use Dungeon Guide or D&D assistant & Dungeon master. They both are just trained to look for keywords in your prompt and copy paste the relevant rulings from the SRD5.1. You can’t just type questions in chatGPT like google. Here is an example prompt I just tried. if my players try to hide in a heavily obscured area, do enemies automatically fail if they cannot see though it? In Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, being in a heavily obscured area, like dense fog or thick smoke, affects visibility significantly. According to the rules, a heavily obscured area effectively blinds creatures within it, making it impossible to see anything in that area. Here's how this plays out mechanically: 1. \*\*Vision and Light Levels\*\*: Heavily obscured areas count as being blinded when trying to see something in or through that area. 2. \*\*Blinded Condition\*\*: According to the condition effects in the Player's Handbook, a blinded creature can't see and automatically fails any ability check that requires sight. 3. \*\*Attack Rolls\*\*: Attack rolls against the creature have advantage, and the creature's attack rolls have disadvantage. This is because the creature can't see. Therefore, if characters hide in a heavily obscured area, enemies would indeed have extreme difficulty locating them purely by sight. They would need to rely on other senses or abilities, such as hearing (using a Wisdom (Perception) check to listen for noises) or special senses like blindsight or tremorsense, if available.
I am not! I didn't even know that it was a thing even. But thanks, I'll check it out! However, chat-GPT can still lie, so probably don't trust it 100% 🫡
Thanks for the advice! Appreciate it
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A list of unused NPC names comes in handy and gives better results than when I try to come up with names on the fly.
I used flat easels. I have 2 screens of 3 panels each. [https://www.amazon.com/CONDA-Canvas-Panels-Artist-Quality/dp/B01LYEFB61](https://www.amazon.com/CONDA-Canvas-Panels-Artist-Quality/dp/B01LYEFB61) I joined them with duct tape, and glued screen protectors to the panels so I can swap stuff in and out, which I do A LOT. When I DM for kids and teens, I invite them to give me artwork they find (of their own or found online) and I'll rotate those on the player side as well On the player's side, I have the world map and some other misc. helpful player items. Note: I've DM'd a long time, so I have a lot of stuff memorized, allowing me to tweak my DM screen around my current session. On my side, I have the following: * Spreadsheet of player stats (all on 1 page) * Prices & other economic information for the player's current area * Players' unusual magic items attributes (I home-brew almost all magic items) * THIS SESSION's NPC info. Recommend for others: Weapons & Damage Info * THIS SESSION's village info. Recommend for others: Combat Info & Status effects * Campaign milestone tracker
What do you mean by campaign milestone tracker?
I run almost exclusively sandbox campaigns, so I use a single sentence bullet points to track what they've done so I know what sessions they've pursued. I'll have NPC's with a + or - next to their name so if they return I can roleplay the NPC effectively. Two plusses or two minuses means extra good or bad, respectfully. * 9/6 Arrived Fairport. Ran two missions for guards. Defended. Mayor ++, Guard ++, Innkeeper +, Blacksmith - (haggling) * 9/13 Fairport Swamps. Cleared. * 9/20 Fairport Cairns. Cleared. Found Sextant. * 9/27 Fairport Docks > Farhaven. Pirate attack and escape. Captain ++, Pirate Razillo --, Arrived Farhaven My campaigns often run a year or two, so having that shorthand really helps when it's 9 months later and they return to a location.
I don't use a DM screen, I feel like it creates too much separation between me and the players. I do like to keep a few 4x6 photo prints on stands though, usually of a particular NPC they're talking to.
Definitely on the same boat. I want to sit *with* them, not at them. And you know, reaching for the snacks, pointing something on a sheet, lending dice/pencils/an eraser/what have you. No dig for those who do need/want to though
Everything I need for the gane is on my laptop behind the DM screen. My dm screen has pictures of my players heads photocopied onto silky bodies. Models, shrek, octopuses etc.
Conditions - Good for combat so I can figure out what's the difference between Paralyzed and Stunned again. Bonus points for including the Surprised condition. Health Potions - My party uses a lot of healing potions so it's nice to have a list handy to see how much each of them heals Cover rules - again, super useful mid combat Ability Checks - What abilities exist in the game and what ability score they're tied to. Helps with calling for ability checks, especially if I don't really know what ability to use. Just seeing a list of all the Wisdom based checks helps out a lot. I actually don't have this on my DM screen but I need it almost every session. Basic costs - inn meals, room costs, lifestyle costs, good for the roleplay segments. Languages - your base languages, what script they use and who mostly use the language And if I could, I'd add a segment for obscure or homebrew/often questioned rules. Things like when does the Sentinel's attack, that triggers when a creature attacks someone within 5 feet of you, trigger. Can Elves get a long rest with 4 hours or do they need the standard 8. How does See Invisibility interact with Invisibility, etc.
Never played a physical game, but were I to do so, I'd just bring my laptop/tablet and look up the info I need off the internet. There are some good websites that have all the WotC published content available for this purpose. That said, I need to make sure I have reminders for monsters that have automatic abilities that run at the top or bottom of their turns. I was running a boss last session that had a regeneration ability that was rolled at the start of it's turn... I forgot to roll it on it's last turn... and the next turn the player killed it, but not by enough damage that it would have been killed even if Regen was rolled. Thankfully, my VTT will allow me to put enemies that are in the GM layer on the Init turn order but they won't be seen by my players.. Moving forward, if I have any automatic rolls on the turn start, I'll just put a copy of the monster in the GM layer, and have the names of the abilities I need to roll. Give them the same init as the monster and put them above the monster in the order and problem solved.
It depends. I’ve got a WIP screen that I embedded two panels with metal bars, so I can stick magnets on them.
Bold of you to assume i use a screen.
I just use my laptop. I roll everything in front of the players. The only thing I need to hide is the story/plot paths I have and my screen already does that.
"ROLL FOR CONCENTRATION!" in big bold letters across the top. It's the one thing I forget most often. Basic PC stats (passive Perception, max HP, AC.) Then whatever else is on the generic DM screen that I have.
Conditions, typical DCs (15 = "moderate" and so on), vision and light rules, improvised damage/object HP, and travel rules. When they become necessary, I'll also have wild magic tables, foraging rules, and environmental stuff like random death effects. I also have party passives (insight, perception, investigation), AC, and a list of which skills each PC is best and worst at, along with what languages everybody speaks. Plus everybody's hard limits and content warnings (e.g. no descriptions of vomiting ever, and check in before there's any harm to non-sapient animals). I have NPC cards, rollable tables for flavor descriptions, and lists of secrets and clues sort of "loose" behind the screen, and some NPC name generators—actually just lists of birds—on my laptop with my notes.
I use tables I often have to reference, such as NPC disposition, a name bank for a few cultures, the improvised damage table, object AC/HP, and some baseline monster stats by CR. But frankly, you should include only the things you find yourself forgetting or otherwise frequently needing. Having *more* information than that, such as by fielding good sounding ideas from redditors, may do more to distract you from the *actually* necessary info than it does to help you. To that point, run a few games with a blank screen and fill it as you go. Treat it like a cork board- infinitely mutable.
As the DM, you need to have quick reference on rules, plots, and other things you need to refer to on a regular basis. If you have full knowledge of the world (like I like to do), then you won't need a list of NPCs and their personalities. If you have full knowledge of rules, you don't need a conditions guide, or the DCs of usual stuff. I only have the following things on my table (the DM gets their own table in our home) - Laptop with the Player's MAX HP, AC, Passive Perception, Passive Stealth. It doubles as a screen, to roll behind. Another Tab has Telegram open in case of private messages to the players. In an emergency, I have a spell list open in the third tab in case I forget about spell effects (but I usually can remember them) - Maps (world, town, dungeon) annotated with all of the stuff (compared to the blank one that the players receive). - Index Cards with the loot they might be getting that session already filled out. - Dice - Figurines - Initiative Tower - Booze & Food If you struggle with preparation, you can have some things on hand to remind you of them. But to be a good DM, you must prepare yourself, your world, and your plot. Nothing sucks to a player quite like the DM frantically shifting papers around because god forbid you asked them what school of magic the suspicious looking thing is.
I printed out a free one I found via google when I first started out. Since then I’ve learned what I would put on it myself but I’m bad with formatting so I can’t make it as organized, properly spaced, nice looking, etc. But the parts that I actually reference are a list of all the skill checks, a chart that has all weapons and their pertinent info, a list of the exhaustion levels and what happens on each, falling damage calculation, traveling speeds, list of conditions, tavern prices cheat sheet, money conversion chart, monster sizes chart. I’m probably forgetting 1 or 2 but that’s the gist of it
Sticky note with the most important things to happen so i dont forget to include them into a session
I usually buy my DM screens. However, the stuff that gets used the most are the random encounter tables, comdition/exhaution rules, and underwater combat rules.
Hehe nada don't use one.