Need a GM Screen?, Look no further! Options

[Veggiesama]

I'm probably violating some sort of copyright restriction, but seeing as how I don't care, I figure I'd help everybody else out until a real GM screen comes out:

http://www.myfilestash.com/userfiles/veggi.../cheatsheet.pdf

I'm trying to keep each page relatively themed through colors and information mentioned.

The cheat sheet isn't done yet, since I haven't even started on vehicles, drones, or the Matrix. I'm just trying to make a set of quick combat tables and flow-charts so dredging through the book for information doesn't take too much time.

I need some suggestions for other stuff to put in, especially for the Matrix. Too much of the Matrix seemed vague to me, so maybe just a few parts in particular.

I probably won't copy down what every action does (though info about what rolls you need for Quick Draw, First Aid, etc. would be nice). I'm thinking about just copying that sheet out from the back of the book where it shows EVERY action known to man, along with page numbers.

Also keep an eye out for typos or mistakes. Hope you like.

Stuff to do:
- Vehicles
- Probably astral/magic things I forgot
- Perception tests
- Social, build/repair, and other "Using Skills" info
- Matrix!
- Probably will avoid gear and weapon stats because it'd just be too huge

[NightRain]

404 error

[Nkari]

Works fine for me.. and indeed nice to have things.. =)

[Dogsoup]

[Veggiesama]

I dunno what to say. myFileStash has been extremely unreliable lately, so just check back later. If you like it, save a copy for yourself.

[Dogsoup]

Got it to work now; Looks very nice and exhaustive at a first glance but I think I'd preferred the entries to all be in the thinner/smaller font used when the text was too big for the box. It would have been purrfect with only the headers, and conditions on the left side of the tables, bolded.

Thanks for file.

[Veggiesama]

Dogsoup, I'm not sure what you're asking. Is there any part where the words are extended out of the box? I don't see any.

[Dogsoup]

No, they're fine as far as I've seen: My concern was that I'd rater see the text in the "effect" (modifiers etc.) boxes distinguished a little more from the "condition" (attacker running etc.) boxes: I liked the effect boxes more when their text wasn't bolded.

[Feonyx]

Should this be sticky? Is there a better one?

I found this really helpful...

[Veggiesama]

Thanks for the interest. :P

I'm keeping the GM Screen a little more up to date in the Community Projects forum:
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?showforum=3

Downside is it doesn't get as much publicity, but the upside is it's been staying on the front page for a lot longer.

[blakkie]

In some ways it would have be cool if Adam had stickied that SR4 Projects thread of his (which i noticed you haven't put your stuff in) at the top of this forum. However i kinda get why it's there and not here.

There is a good amount of detail in those sheets of yours, though i wouldn't really call it a GM screen. More of a Rules Summary, the later being....useful. ;) I've never really found an publisher printed RPG GM Screen i liked.

P.S. Those are some funked out colours. But besides each page leaving a distinctly different visual impression, is there a pattern or reasoning to the specific colour/hue/tone usage?

[Veggiesama]

Blue-gray: general info, physical world, skills
Light blue: specifically dealing with ranged combat (kinda cheated with called shots though, since that's both ranged+melee)
Dark blue: used for "darker" ranged weapons (hah!), namely explosives and grenades
Orange: specifically dealing with melee, also ramming
Magenta: usually magic, but also sensors (weird yes, partly to diversify colors on those pages, partly because sensors reminded me of ESP and Assensing)
Purple: alternative magic table
Green: matrix combat, rigging [drones], dodging (also weird, but it fit the category of "speed")
Yellow: physical world "obstacles", including barriers and visibility; also used for Matrix alerts and agents (again, non-living "obstacles" :P)
Turquoise: rigging [vehicles] and vehicular information
Dark turqoise: chase combat


Later on, there's a damage page where the color combos are just scrapped in an attempt to tie damage to colors (ex. red is fire, blue is cold, etc.).

And yes, the above forums colors don't match up either (as if adding to the confusion), but it's the closest I could do.

EDIT: fixed a few colors for the latest version

[Veggiesama]

About the Matrix section, having a little bit of problems deciding how I could organize that.

So far I've skipped all of the flavor/summary stuff at the beginning of the chapter, and I've written up tables for Matrix Attributes, Pan Modes, and Device Ratings. The Signal rating table seems like a good one to add, but it's lengthy. Then I'll probably add info for Authorized Access, probably a small chart that shows stuff about passcodes and account privileges. That about should cover a page, I think.

I'll skip the Matrix Perception part (already in my over-reaching "Perception" page). Accessing multiple nodes should probably be placed in the Matrix Attributes table on the previous page (System x 2, afterall). Now we get into Matrix actions, and this is where it bugs me.

I don't really like how all the Matrix actions are spread out across the chapter with the program listing towards the end. I think I'll dedicate a page (or maybe two) on programs and how they're used, so you'll need a passing knowledge in what they all do to reference the table (ex. You find the Exploit table, then you look at your options for how to break in to a system, rather than looking for breaking in and finding an "exploit test").

Then I'll ignore the flavor text about Virtual Reality, skip the Cybercombat stuff (already mentioned in the first page, sans dumpshock which I'll have to find a place for), then skip the Technomancer/sprite stuff (I've been ignoring character generation info), and then possibly do something about drones. Probably not though, since it's such a short section.

Sorry this got so long. It was kind of a brainstorm for later. After this, I'd probably have to learn about how conjuring works (probably would do sprite then too, ugh), but I'm almost done. Yay!

Bad part is this whole "quick guide" is turning out to be a mini-book in itself, which has quite the opposite effect of what I wanted. Regardless, I think it's good if the GM has a full copy while the players have copies with their own material snipped out of the print bundle.

[mintcar]

It´s very well done in the sense that everything seems to be covered, and the pages look very good especially at a glance (there´s a small issue of the text cluttering when viewed close up, I think). However this is one of those things that you need to be doing for your self to really get the full benefit from it. In doing it you learn the rules better, and when you organize something yourself, you know were you put it :). I did it for SR3, but I´ve just not had the energy to do it for SR4 yet. Perhaps I will get used to your summary, and you will have saved me a lot of work.

Thanks Veggie :)

[Veggiesama]

Added three pages worth of HACKING!! I gave up and decided it'd be easier to just follow the standards of the book, rather than go program-by-program. There's a strange sort of twisted logic in it that makes sense when you digest it in full.

Anyway, let's let this topic die. Post here if you have any comments on the GM Screen (plus the download link is at the bottom of post):
http://forums.dumpshock.com/index.php?show...=0&#entry324860