Gamemaster Screen for D&D 5.5E

Lots of folks asked us if we had our own GM Screen for sale… so we designed one!

Hand-Drawn Art

We found that most non-official GM screen art is either AI-generated or just not to our taste. Cacklin Slayers’ GM Screen features a mythical underworld draped in a funky palette, hand-drawn by our very own Josha.

Familiar Design

Because we’re facilitating new GMs and people who missed out on an official 5.5E screen, we didn’t want to reinvent the wheel. As you can see in the picture, we’ve left almost every rule and table that’s on the official screen intact. OK, we did scrap some stuff that we seldom use, though, which gave us room for bigger text and a cleaner layout that’s especially friendly to fresh GMs.

A GM Screen is a cheat sheet, and cheat sheets only work well when you can find the thing you’re looking for in one quick glance. That’s why we’ve stripped the info down to essential rules and a few tables that come in handy regularly.

Check out the FAQ for a detailed comparison between the official screen and ours.

Affordable

There are beautiful, heavy wooden screens out there in all shapes and sizes, and we’re wise enough not to try and compete with the artisans making these things. Nope! We’re here to lure new GMs into the fold with a screen that they can drop into their basket without busting the bank or breaking their backs.

Compatible

Such a coincidence! Just like the official 2 mm DM Screens, our GM Screen is perfectly compatible with our Initiative Tracker system.

If you pledge one of the higher tiers, you can go for the golden combo and set up your perfect GM Kit in one go, then fine-tune your setup with the expansions in the add-on section.

Initiative Tracker

Every Dungeon Master knows the moment.

"Roll Initiative!"
"17!"
"21!"
"No wait, 23!"
"What did the ranger get again?"
"Who goes between the barbarian and the goblins?"

While the players admire their dice rolls, the DM is frantically trying to figure out who goes when. And in the meantime, the monsters still need to roll too.

Our Initiative Tracker solves that exact problem.

Thanks to the unique numbering system, every player writes their name on a banner and hangs it directly on their initiative number. No more shouting over each other. No administrative middleman for the DM. No long pause between roleplay and combat.

The moment the last die stops rolling, the complete turn order is already set.

The double-sided design ensures that both the players and the Dungeon Master can see exactly whose turn it is and who’s up next. That way, everyone knows when to start planning their action, and when there’s still time for a quick snack or a bathroom break.

Initiative Tracker Add-ons

Expand your Initiative Tracker setup with a pack of extra Banners, Combat Cubes to track conditions, Class Banners to represent PCs and NPCs with unique icons, or GM Banners to easily track different monster groups!

Grid Paper

You can expand your GM Kit further with a pad from our popular Grid Paper line! With 50 1-inch-grid pages, you can draw the exact map you have in mind. No compromises. No generic maps from the internet. Just your dungeon, your tavern, your cave, or your castle.

And because every grid is printed on sturdy 120gsm paper, you can prepare encounters well in advance. No dry-erase markers fading in your bag. No battle mats that still need cleaning a week later.

Grid Paper comes in three sizes:

Death Saves Deck

Another add-on for your GM Kit! Or is it actually a toy for your players?

Imagine: You’re lying on the ground. 0 hit points. Your friends keep fighting while you wait for your next Death Save.

Our Death Saves Deck turns that moment into a story.

Instead of simply checking off a success or a failure, you draw a card. Every card features a Death Save along with a unique roleplay prompt to help bring your final moments to life. Maybe you recall a memory from your childhood. Maybe you mutter the name of a lost loved one. Maybe you see something no one else can see.

While you fight for your life, the entire table watches something unfold. No more silent turns, and say goodbye to waiting around until someone casts a healing spell.

Just tense, memorable moments that fit a hero balancing between life and death.

Adventure Log

Keep your players engaged with the Adventure Log add-on! They’re a steal this month, so why not surprise each of your players with a copy?

For every session, you get a dedicated spread. On the left side, you track all the changing details of your character sheet: hit points, gold, spell slots, and everything else that shifts during an adventure. Your character sheet stays clean, while you can write, erase, scribble, and plan as much as you want in your Adventure Log.

On the right side, you’ll find space for notes, names, locations, and everything you don’t want to forget. Number each session, fill out the table of contents, and months later, easily flip right back to the exact moment everything went wrong.

And the best part? Does your character die? You don’t have to start from scratch. Where many journals scatter your entire character sheet across dozens of pages, the Adventure Log stays flexible. Create a new character, play a one-shot, or start a new campaign: the book remains completely usable.

Zineshots

Now that you’ve invested in the hardware, how about an adventure add-on to put your GM Kit into action?

All five Zineshots are available as PDFs and as staple-bound softcovers. Each physical one-shot comes with a double-sided A2 battlemap, as well as free resources that you can find on our website.

No endless lore. No hours of preparation. No homework. Just a complete one-shot adventure, ready to play.

Estimated Shipping Prices and Timeline

These estimates are based on current shipping rates and may vary depending on your location, and on the size and weight of your chosen reward tier. Shipping costs will be collected after the campaign through the Pledge Manager. This means shipping is not included in your pledge.

The Netherlands: €5–€10
European Union: €10–€15
Rest of World: €15–€25

If everything goes according to plan, our timeline looks like this:

November 2026: We’ll place the order for our GM Screens.
December 2026: The finished GM Screens arrive at our doorstep.
January 2027: The Pledge Manager opens, and we’ll start collecting shipping payments and shipping your rewards.

Everybody Wins

With discounts of roughly 20% off our regular retail prices (and even more for Early Birds), there’s no better time to stock up on our products while helping us bring our GM Screen to life!

Meet the Team

We're two dorky friends from Rotterdam! Together, we design tools, accessories, and adventures to make your game nights smoother, faster, and more fun. When we're not running our own home campaigns or playing on the actual-play podcast Geen Woorden Maar Draken, we're organizing RPG fairs, and giving workshops on topics like adventure writing, DIY battle mapping, and prepping sessions.

Marco Meulenberg discovered D&D during the COVID pandemic. Ever since, he’s been known to say philosophical gems like, “If I could go back in time to relive my life, there’s only one thing I’d do differently: I wish I’d started playing D&D sooner.”

Josha Stribos has been sketching monster-filled mazes since he could hold a pen. When he found out that there were actual adults out there who had created rules for this kind of thing, D&D quickly became a lifelong obsession.