"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain": The Advanced D&D Dungeon Masters Screen and old miniatures
Just received this in the mail: the 1981 2nd printing of the Advanced D&D Dungeon Masters Screen. Pretty jazzed.....lets take a closer look...
Nobody in my group of gamers back in the 1980's had a DMs screen...not sure how we missed out on these beauties, but we did. After reading David M. Ewalt's "Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and the People who Play It" I had a mental picture of Gary Gygax in his basement....running a game...secluded so the players couldn't see him...and wondered why our DMs were so open to the players...but hey, we were kids, and weren't that sophisticated.
Onto the DMs Screen...
1st illustration by Erol Otus....a Knight with a spear about to meet his end at the business end of a Green Dragon....pretty cool stuff. Has the newer TSR "The Game Wizards" logo....1979, 1981 copyright. "These screens are useful for shielding maps and other game materials from the players..." excellent for a DM who wanted to maintain the "element of surprise".
The 2nd illustration on screen#1 is the familiar "Thieves & Idol" from the Players Handbook by the genius of David A. Trampier. I really would love to have that original work on a t shirt....WOC really need to work with the estates of some of those original D&D artist...an untapped goldmine awaits 'em.
And the charts from screen #1
Psionics....now if you were the type of DM & players that included them in your campaign this would be great. Us? We rarely used Psionics....tried them out, didn't make much sense to us. Why would a random Fighter type have some incredible Super Mind power?!? Didn't seem necessary to us. Just stick to the sword, Conan, and make with the slicing & Dicing.
Players were treated to the 2 cool illustrations...and charts for the levels & experience for various classes: Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users and Clerics.
Now on to screen #2.....and what might be my single favorite work of the late great DAT!
Honestly...this is the reason I bought this old Dms screen....this is just sheer brilliance! The Red Dragon, The adventurers finding the "magical" sword, The Knight fighting the Lizardman, The Knight & damsel...undead spirits & graveyard...worth the price of admission right there friends & neighbors!
And the charts...
Attack Matrix for all the different classes...Saving throw tables, Armor class descrips, Matrix for a Cleric vs the various Undead...just the things that a DM is going to use the most! Well done TSR!
Over the Moon with having picked up this DMs screen....and didn't pay an arm & a leg for it either! Patience pays off with 'ol Ebay!
and for an added bonus with today's blog....a pic of some old 1980's miniatures I found packed away in an old chest recently....
It pays to be a hoarder sometimes! And for added fun...who can picked out the 2 books in the background??? :D
Until we meet again True Believers....EXCELSIOR!
That's The Art of Frazetta on the right, I believe. Used to have that.
ReplyDeleteGood eye! The cover is a work of Frank Frazetta....but its a different book altogether! Published in 1977!
ReplyDeleteThe DM's screen was vital for our gaming group. I have the first printing of the screen. My cover looks oddly vacant in comparison to yours in that there is no image (yours shows the Erol Otus picture). It was vital for our gaming because at that time the DM's guide had not been released yet. The screen contains tables that really are required for playing AD&D 1e. I used it regularly up until last year regardless of system--I would just clip sheets of paper with references to whatever system I am using at the time. I finally retired it last year when I replaced it with a tri-fold menu cover that I can just slip sheets of paper into.
ReplyDeleteNice! I agree with you...the charts & tables on the DM screen would have come in handy and made things easier for our DMs! Tramp's art sold me on it!
ReplyDelete