Summary

  • New D&D DM screens will cater to laptop s, placing core info where it remains visible
  • Previous screens didn't make allowances for laptop usage, causing awkward trade-offs during play.
  • Changes to DM screens are part of broader D&D overhaul, refreshing the game in 2024 and 2025.

conditions and combat options. Finding the perfect way to lay out that information can be tricky, especially when considering that other tools that the DM is using could be blocking some of it.

As announced at Gen Con 2024, new DnD DM screens will organize the information with laptop use in mind. It's common for DMs to keep a laptop behind the DM screen to use digital D&D Beyond tools or note-taking applications, but even a trim laptop ends up blocking a lot of useful references. The new screens place core information where it will still be visible with a laptop set up behind the screen, addressing a common DM frustration.

Astarion from Baldur's Gate 3 in front of a landscape from DND VTT Project Sigil.
Related
"BG3 Lives On" D&D Reveals New Way To Play As Your Favorite BG3 Characters For Free

Dungeons & Dragons is adding a new official way to incorporate Baldur's Gate 3 characters into a campaign, along with other features from the RPG.

Laptop-Friendly DM Screens Are A Big D&D Improvement

Previous Layouts Didn't Make Many Allowances

A D&D table playing the game with an image of their characters interacting as well.

Although previous DM screens for DnD 5e made some helpful choices regarding what information to include, they definitely didn't always do so with laptops in mind. References like Conditions and setting DCs were centered in a way that the average laptop setup would likely block, meaning a DM might need to do a lot of awkward shifting around to keep things rolling smoothly. There are always plenty of third-party alternatives as well (and the option of building custom DM screens), but official DnD screens are often the easiest to acquire and the most likely to be in any DM's toolkit.

There's still no way to make a true one-size-fits-all DM screen, as every dungeon master ultimately has different preferences for what information needs to be most conveniently at hand. Campaigns that run entirely online rather than at in-person game tables will still probably turn elsewhere for handy reference solutions if desktop setups are in play. Even so, this feels like a smart step forward to make screens more useful for the average DM.

Images from Vecna Eve of Ruin, Curse of Shrahd, and Rime of the Frostmaiden
Related
Every D&D 5e Campaign Book, Ranked

Dungeons & Dragons has released a wide variety of campaign books over the course of fifth edition, and some definitely stand out more than others.

6

Changes to DM screens are just one part of a sweeping set of changes to DnD in 2024 and 2025, also including reworked core rulebooks, character sheets, and more. It's the biggest refresh the game has received since the 2014 introduction of fifth edition, and although 5e has held up well in a lot of core regards, many changes do feel a bit overdue. Overhauled DM screens might not be as essential or revolutionary as tweaks to classes and abilities, but they're a nice part of the new Dungeons & Dragons revamp.

Dungeons and Dragons Game Poster
Dungeons and Dragons
Franchise
Dungeons & Dragons
Original Release Date
1974

Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the '70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.

Publisher
TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
Designer
E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson