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Dumpshock Forums _ Shadowrun _ SR4 GM Screen

Posted by: StealthBanana Feb 17 2007, 07:00 AM

Question: Is the SR4 GM screen worth getting?

Posted by: Thanee Feb 17 2007, 07:05 AM

Depends.

Bye
Thanee

Posted by: Pyritefoolsgold Feb 17 2007, 07:08 AM

Answer: It doesn't look bad, from what I was able to find, http://www.hillcity-comics.com/role_play/shadowrun/fan26002.htm
and apparently it comes with some supplemental material.

I suppose if you have a 20 to blow, and you like GM screens, you might not regret it.

Posted by: Deva Feb 17 2007, 07:57 AM

It's pretty. What more you want from it?

Posted by: knasser Feb 17 2007, 08:29 AM

Yes. I have it and I actually bought it as the PDF! I think the best thing is the accompanying booklet of contact archetypes and adventure ideas, along with a handy SR3 to SR4 conversion guide (handy if you need it, anyway).

As a screen, yes - it's fine. Has useful information in front of you. Nothing you couldn't do with an hour in a word processor and some pritt-stick, but it's nice. Up to you really, but it's cheap and the supplementary booklet has seen use with me. So it's a yes over here.

Posted by: BookWyrm Feb 17 2007, 05:09 PM

Yes, but I purchased the non-PDF version.

Posted by: Crakkerjakk Feb 19 2007, 09:44 AM

Honestly, I'm a somewhat new GM. I don't have extensive experience with SR 4th edition, so I picked it up, and so far it's my fave SR4 product so far. It has a bunch of barebones contacts and mish types(with examples) as a supplement, plus tables covering:

Combat sequence
Spellcasting sequence
Vis modifiers
Movement rates
Perception test mods
Skills and linked attributes table
Random Matrix alert table
Concealability Table
Weapon Range table
Melee Modifiers
Ranged Modifiers
Defense Modifiers
Scatter Diagrams
Social Test Opposed Check tables
Signal Rating Tables
Melee weapon tables

The Supplement has a few more tables regarding barrier ratings and a few other things that you can put on the table behind the screen and roll dice on(I always prefer rolling dice on a slightly soft surface, they don't scatter as much.)

The only error I could find is on the social opposed test table, instead of Con+ Charisma, it says Constitution + Charisma, which I can only assume is a spellcheck error or something.

The info on the screen itself is all stuff thats found in the book. But this is true of all GM screens. The supplement that comes with it I definitely like. Having all the tables and modifiers consolidated in front of you is definitely nice, unless you're just so l33t that you have all that shit memorized.

All in all, it's only $20 and it's extremely convenient. I'd definitely pick it up.

Posted by: desverendi Feb 19 2007, 06:46 PM

Yes, it's very nice. I bought the hard copy and use it every time I play, even if I'm not running. The booklet that comes with it also has two more pages of charts and tables and a good assortment of pre-gen contacts.

Posted by: Ophis Feb 19 2007, 07:19 PM

I have the hard copy and have found the run seeds that the booklet includes are very good and I've had some fun adapting and using them in my games.

Posted by: fool Feb 19 2007, 09:26 PM

de[pends
the booklet is ok, but not great if you have older sr stuff like sprawl sites or MJLBB.
The screen itself is great for more of a newbie, and somewhat useful for a quickreference guide for more experienced gm's, but it's woefully incomlete. There's also some stuff on there that I never use. If you're the type of gm who l=plans everything down to the last detail it's definitely not for you if you're the type that does everything on the fly it's definitely not for you, ifyou're inbetween, you'l probably liek it.

Posted by: mintcar Feb 21 2007, 03:20 PM

GM screens are not very useful, really.

I got it as a PDF, printed several copies of the tables and put them in folders to hand out to everyone. Then I put in copies of other pages that you might need, like the list of combat actions and the page with social modifiers. In the future it will be very easy to put in tables from upcomming expansions too.

This is way more versitile and useful in my opinion. I always end up not ever consulting GM screens because they contain too little information or simply the wrong information. You will want something that collects the information you personally need the most.