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GMScreen

Online notes and tables for Gamemasters

Features

  • All the Screens You Need

    GMScreen supports multiple screens, which you can switch out at will.

    Have a weekly Shadowrun game? Add a screen for it. Running a D&D one-shot? Add a screen for it (and remove it when it's over, if you want).

    You could even get more granular – Add a screen for each session and you'll be able to quickly reference the grappling (or explosion) rules when you need to.

  • Dice

    When editing an item, use roll(dice, flags). Here's what that all means:

    • dice is, of course, any dice and bonuses you need. Some examples:
      • roll(1d20+5)
      • roll(4d6)
      • roll(1d8+1d6)
    • flags let you modify how the dice work. It's any combination of the following:

      • v – show the results of every die rolled, as well as the total. Will output something like 25 (20) or 16 (5, 2, 3, 6)
      • t{number} – this will base the total on a "threshold" number. It will count the number of dice that came up with a result of {number} or better.

        roll(5d6, t5) might output 3 if the dice came up 4, 5, 3, 6, 5

    Once a die has been rolled, you'll only see the output when you try to edit that item again.

  • Hotkeys

    Quick-and-easy hotkeys mean you can add new screens and windows with a couple keystrokes.

    Hotkeys are active any time there's not an input window showing, and any time you're not typing in a text input

    • Press s to create a new screen
    • Press w to create a new window
    • Press Esc to close any input window
  • Persistent Data

    All your screens, windows, and data will be saved across sessions. This is browser-specific, though. If you switch to a different computer, or a different browser, you won't see the same screens.

  • Themes

    Change the look and feel of GMScreen on a per-screen basis. Want a different feel for your D&D game, your World of Darkness game, and your Shadowrun game? Go for it.

Item Types

  • Tables

    • Add and delete columns and rows
    • Sort by any column
    • "Mark" any row
    • Use for initiative order, character information, combat modifiers, equipment lists, and more
  • Lists

    • Ordered or Unordered
    • Add and delete items
    • Move items
    • "Mark" any item
    • Use for plot points, important notes, steps in "the plan", and more

Why make this app?

A lot of times, when I'm running a game, I have a computer there for notes and record-keeping anyway. This is a custom-made tool to help out with that.

In addition, it takes care of some of the tedious parts of GMing that I've come across. In particular, keeping track of initiative and combat order has always been a pain. But with the editable, sortable tables in GMScreen, it's simple.

What is a GM screen?

A GM screen (or DM screen) is a piece of cardboard used by pencil-and-paper game­masters (or dungeon masters, or storytellers, or what-have-you) to hide information from players. Usually, a GM screen also has system-specific tables and charts on one side.

Browser Support

This is experimental code. It has not been heavily tested, and some features may not work correctly in all browsers.

Here are the browsers I've done some testing in:

  • Chrome (latest stable)
  • Firefox 12
  • Internet Explorer 9
  • Opera (some things don't work right)
  • Safari

Attribution

GMScreen was created with the help of: