Starfinder GM Screen [RPG]

The Starfinder GM Screen is a gorgeous, four-panel screen with a vertical orientation.  It’s made of thick layered cardboard so you don’t have to worry about it getting worn or accidentally tearing over time.  The side that faces the players has an exciting and evocative battle scene that stretches across its entire width, featuring the Iconics in desperate combat against a horde of alien robots with starship combat taking place in the background.  Artwork is subjective, of course, but I think it’s really cool and is the sort of thing that instantly sets a space fantasy tone.

Of course, the most important part of any GM screen (apart from keeping secret stuff secret!) is the information on the inside.  Good screens have the most important and frequently-referenced information a GM needs in order to save time from flipping through the rulebook, while bad screens have a random assortment of miscellaneous charts in no particular order.  The Starfinder GM Screen has clearly had a lot of thought put into it.  Each of the four panels has a different subject: Skills, Environment, Combat, and Starship Combat.

The Skills panel has the formulae and categories for identifying creatures and magic item, the DCs for disabling devices and making repairs, and the DCs for doing Diplomacy checks.  I would say most of these things are reasonably useful, though I would have liked to have the information that is used relatively rarely (like repair DCs) substituted for information that is needed in almost every session (like how the Computers skill works).

The Environment panel has a summary of how radiation works, statistics for the hardness and hit points of walls, doors and other materials, a summary of how zero gravity works, and a little bit more.  I may be a weird GM, but the part of GM screens I use the most (at least in Pathfinder) are the materials statistics, because they come up every time someone wants to bash through a door or try to sunder a weapon.  I haven’t had many situations with radiation or zero-g yet, but I imagine it’s useful information to have readily available (both are fairly complicated in Starfinder!).

The Combat panel is the one that’s going to be used the most by most groups, and it’s done really well.  There’s a list of what type of action (Standard, Move, etc.) various things are, quick summaries of the effects of various combat actions (like charging or doing total defense), and then a full list of all the conditions in the game like being flat-footed or prone.  Conditions come up all the time but there are so many of them (35!) that few people are going to memorize them all.  It’s definitely information that will save time in a session and keep combats moving quickly.

The Starship Combat panel is the one I’ve personally found the most important since the whole system is one that’s new and very different to traditional D&D or Pathfinder.  The panel lists the phases in order, has the table for what the effects of critical hits are, and has a nice graphic that shows the different shield arcs.  Having this has saved me flipping back and forth in the book a hundred times, and I consider it essential.  My only suggestion here would be that I wish there was an entire GM screen devoted to starship combat that could include summaries of what each role can do on its phase, the DCs for the various stunts and maneuvers, etc.  But within the understandable limitations of space, the information provided has been well-chosen.

I’ve used this screen in about a dozen sessions.  There are categories of information I forget are there (like the summaries of conditions) that I’ll use more once I get to know the screen better.  There are also still little bits of info that aren’t on the screen that I wish could be there (like the range increments of different weapons, or the formula for how grenades work, etc.) and some categories of information that *are* on the screen that are really unnecessary (like how much damage different sizes of falling objects do).  However, no GM screen can have everything or be perfect for every game.  On the whole, I’m very satisfied with the Starfinder GM Screen and would recommend it highly.