Judge's Shield
Judge's Shield is a gamemaster's screen created by Judges Guild in 1977 for the fantasy role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons", the first such screen to be published. Contents. "Judge's Shield" is a gamemaster's screen that was designed for use with TSR's new role-playing game "Dungeons & Dragons". It was designed to be placed between the gamemaster and the players in order to preserve the secrecy of the gamemaster's information as well as hiding any dice rolls made by the gamemaster. "Judge's Shield" was the first gamemaster's screen to be  sold commercially. Publication history. "Judge's Shield" was published by Judges Guild in 1977 as three cardstock sheets. The three pieces of 8.5" x 11" cardstock were designed to be taped together to form a three-panel screen, the two outer pieces in a vertical (portrait) orientation, and the middle piece in a horizontal (landscape) orientation. This design allowed the gamemaster to peer over the lower middle section more easily. The "Judge's Shield" had tables on both sides of the screen, with information relevant to the players on their side, and information for the gamemaster on the other side . Information included "Attack matrices with minus armor classes, saving throws, weapons' strikes & damages, weapon priority, phantasmal forces, encounters, experience points & levels, monster compendium of statistics." The "Judge's Shield" proved to be a popular item, and less than a year after it was introduced, it had become the second best-selling product for Judges Guild. Judges Guild began its publication of original materials with a subscription format, and the "Judges Shield" (1977) was the first original item that they produced outside of their subscription system — following their reprints of the "City State" and "Ready Ref". In 1979, Judges Guild also  produced a gamemaster screen for Game Designers' Workshop's science fiction role-playing game "Traveller", and followed this with a version for "RuneQuest" in 1980. Reception. Don Turnbull reviewed "The Judge's Shield" for "White Dwarf" #3. Turnbull commented: "These panels contain virtually all the information needed for DM and players during a game, and moreover are much more durable than the Ready Ref Sheets. Unless you have made up your own, an essential for any serious DM." References.