Most DMs treat their screen as a place to hide. Our WyrmCodex DM Screen invites you to think differently — not as a wall to hide behind, but as a command center you deploy with intention. Here are five techniques to get the most from it at the table.
| 01 | Make the opening a moment |
| Don't unfold the screen while people are still finding seats. Wait until the table is quiet, then open it panel by panel. The dragon emerging is its own scene — let it land. |
| 02 | Use it to pace the session |
| The screen can signal tone without a single word. Fold it partially inward when the party is in a safe space. Bring it to full span when stakes rise. Players feel the shift even when they can't name it. |
| 03 | Keep your notes minimal and tactile |
| Index cards propped against the inner face work better than digital notes for this screen. Quick to swap per session, nothing permanent, and the physical act of setting them up sharpens your own preparation. |
| 04 |
Let the roll do its work
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| Rolling in the tower and pausing before you speak is one of the oldest techniques in DMing. The WyrmCodex earns that pause — the surface and the silence behind it carry a weight that a cardboard screen simply doesn't. |
| 05 | Close the session the same way you opened it |
| When the scene ends, fold the screen slowly. Pair it with the journal — write one line about what happened while players are still at the table. The ritual of closing matters as much as the ritual of opening. |
None of these techniques are complicated. What they share is intentionality — treating the screen not as furniture but as part of the performance. The WyrmCodex was designed to reward exactly that. The more deliberately you use it, the more the table responds.
The dragon on the front is not decoration. It is a reminder — to your players and to yourself — that the world on the other side of that screen is worth taking seriously.