This thread is slightly Inpired from the Narrator screen discussion. Another use for the Narrator screen is for hidden roles. We have been doing this since back when we were playing d20. Usually the narrator will make a role for a character so the character does not know if they did good or bad. Several of the players in our group (the controll freeks ;-P) did not like the idea of the DM rolling dice for us behing the screen so we made a DM screen ( out of 1/8 aluminum plate) with a door in it for players to thow the dice through. The dice land in a nice lexan box for the DM to see. This allows the players to role the dice without seeing the results.
Weather you use an over engineer DM screen like ours or just let the Narrator role for the characters do you guys use hidden roles. It is never mentioned in LotR core book, but many other systems use them. A good example would be when the characters are making a observe skill check. If they role out in the open then they know if the observed well or not. If their role is hidden then the narrator can see the results and if it is good give them useful information and if they role bad they can be miss informed or just not see anything and the player doesn't know if the info is good or bad. It makes role playing the character easier. If the player roles bad and knows it then he will not trust the Narrator's information or do something to compesate for the bad role. But if the role hidded and then the narrator give them info then it is easier for the player to have his character take the info at face value.
What do you guys think?
mcb