| Halfway to a Homemade DM Screen |
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| Maps |
| Written by Lee Barber |
| Saturday, 08 August 2009 16:29 |
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While out on a home improvement shopping trip, I spied a sturdy binder for wallpaper samples in the trash. After a quick conversation with store personnel, I took the discontinued book home and gutted all the pages - soon it would be reborn as a game screen! The "panoramic" dimensions would require notes inside to be clipped horizontally, but that wasn't so bad. In order to hide the vendor cover elements, I used a combination of paint and glued clippings (suitable for old skool Fantasy). Long ago, my copy of Jim Fitzpatrick's THE BOOK OF CONQUESTS had fallen apart, but I salvaged many of the art pages. Given that two illustrations fit perfectly on the screen panel, I adhered a pair of characters that I liked. Even though the screen itself is plenty sturdy, the decorations can't be thin magazine or copier paper. Only card stock art will survive abuse and sudden expose to soda pop. Hence, the classic module artwork on the back panel is cut from originals I happen to have multiple copies of. The Drow picture is from a PC-CDROM sleeve for Hordes of the Underdark.
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To hide the book spine, I used strips of text stamped out on my old DYMO label gun (opening text from a CONAN story). Maybe I should put some more popular quotes on the front? I'm also thinking of ways to attach gaming supplies, like pens and a dice box, on the inside. To complete this project, here is a supply list: 1) wallcovering book that has a simple cover, dimensions/folds that help it stand like a screen. 2) Artwork on heavy stock, like calendars and module folders. 3) X-Acto knife, metal ruler, and a can of 3M Spray Adhesive "77". |





Also, I have a container like the clear plastic box on the right. I bought an Acrobot, and it fit in something like that.