Vinyl Albums & CD Cases as GM Screens

Plus Greasers & Ghouls Kickstarter and Wings of Steel video debut

On a recent episode of my Appendix LP podcast, Michael Curtis and I talked about his use of the album Yessongs as a judge’s screen. He credited the Ken and Robin Talk about Stuff podcast with the concept, in which Peter Frampton’s Frampton Comes Alive album was used.

I’m a bit surprised by the Frampton choice. My version of the album folds out to two panels, but they are oriented vertically. Seems like it would be strange for the players to look at Peter on his side when the album is opened up as a GM screen:

The Yessongs album, however, is perfect for this purpose. It has classic Roger Dean artwork covering four full panels:

In a similar vein, Professor Dungeon Master from DungeonCraft has a fun crafting video where he uses CD cases to make a miniature GM screen:

I roll all dice in the open when I run games, so I don’t use a GM screen often. But I like the idea of the mini-screen, which I could use to hide some index cards or my phone when I want to play a song or sound effect. If I were to do this, I think I would just pick a couple of CDs with thematically appropriate album covers rather than printing out and cutting new inserts:

And now some games are providing turnkey solutions. The recent Cthulhu Dreamt Kickstarter includes a vinyl soundtrack option in which the inside of the album cover has tables and other relevant information for running the game. No crafting or defacing album covers necessary!

Lastly, if you are a very clandestine GM who likes to roll hidden dice and keep other secrets from your players, I recommend you go all out with something like the following:

Greasers & Ghouls RPG Kickstarter

There appears to be a music and RPG connection in the Greasers & Ghouls Kickstarter that launched this week. Written by Josh Palmer, with layout and publishing by Eric Bloat, the game allows you to play “as normal high school teens battling B-movie monsters in their small town at the birth of rock n' roll.”

Check out the cool art by Christopher Torres in this work-in-progress sample page:

I backed the Kickstarter and am looking forward to checking out the full game when it is released.

Wings of Steel

I’ve been enjoying the Gates of Twilight album from the band Wings of Steel recently. Their music features very strong vocals and guitar in a style that reminds me a bit of Crimson Glory. Plus, the album cover has a fantasy vibe:

They will be premiering a new video for their song “Garden of Eden” on Youtube this Friday. You can click the notification bell at the video link if you want to be notified when it debuts.