Gaming Props - What do you use?

[Rechan]

I'm gearing up for a new game in a month or so, and I'm trying to think of some nice little props to use to improve the game. So I ask Enworld, what do YOU use?

What I'm thinking:

Dungeon Tiles (duh).
Counters and little cheap rubber/plastic toys instead of minis (I'm cheap, and I just need a place holder on the board).
Pipe cleaners of varying colors for marking.
Beads for status effects.
Note cards, for notes, but also for: status effects (to remind to roll every round or take damage), magical item stats (and encourage players to write their abilities on them).
Various props (old maps/diairies/handouts, mask in case I don't trust my face).

 

[Nlogue]

I was a HUUUUGE fan of music back in the day. I amassed a collection of over three hundred awesome soundtracks...then they got stolen. :-(

Someday, when I get some more green, I'll have to start rebuilding that collection.

Man, I used to plan whole soundtracks for my adventures...good times.

 

[Lanefan]

I use lots of things as props; some to go with the minis, others to wave around in my hands as "real" props to represent wands, scroll tubes, cards, etc. I also keep a sword behind my screen, only partly as a souvenir of GenCon '03...

If you have an inside man at your local Radio Shack, try to scoop some telescopic FM antennas from transistor radios (if such things are still used) that are otherwise going to get trashed - they are excellent to use as pointers.

Some good mini props I've found:

- Those little round plastic things on legs that come in the middle of large pizzas - very useful for putting under a mini to indicate that character (or opponent) is flying

- The little mesh bags that cheap easter eggs come in - wonderful for showing the area of effect of a web or entangle spell

- If using metal minis with small bases, pennies are handy to put under the mini to indicate invisibility or paralysis or whatever (I haven't come up with a good system for the too-large bases on the plastic minis yet)

- Circular cutouts that match your grid in 20', 30', and 40' diameters are great for showing the areas of effects of things such as darkness (assuming you're not so tied to the grid that such things have to be pixellated to 5' squares)

Lanefan

 

[CharlesRyan]

As far as minis accessories go, I've taken some Small, Medium, and Large common D&D minis and spray-painted them black. That lets me put something on the table when the heroes see something, but can't yet make out what it is.

I have a whole lot of 25mm accessories--bits of walls, tables, barrels, tree stumps, boxes, benches, and so on. It's usually a lot easier to put these bits out on the table than to draw in all those details.

I've got a pretty good collection of Dwarven Forge, but unfortunately I don't currently have a convenient way of storing it in a way that's accessible to my gaming space, so it isn't being used. I hope to correct that soon.

As for non-minis props, I usually provide a handout for any written communication the heroes receive (letters, maps, book excerpts, etc.). I also always have music, but I don't plan a soundtrack.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Just gonna list stuff from my most prop-heavy game: Promethean: The Created

-Old, torn and dirty dinner map of the South-Western States
-Music (mainly ambient, some industrial and classical as well)
-Sound effects (for various Pandorans and general environmental noises and the sound a particular Unfleshed had (it was made of toys many of which made noises))
-Old photos of bomb tests
-Another map, this time a road map
-Diaries
-Medical Journals/pictures/autopsy reports (got to love Prometheans finding info on the people whose body parts they are comprised of)
-Newspaper clippings
-Crows feathers
-Strobe light (for a particular sequence in the game)
-Various pieces of paper with writing on it
-Lots and lots of notes for me the ST

 

[Silver Moon]

Plastic toys are great.

Legos make great castles.

Poker chips works for columns.

I also use real world maps to create D&D world maps, tracing over them onto plain paper for the D&D map. Keep all rivers, lakes and oceans the same but change the orientation of the map either 90 or 180 degrees so that the area becomes far less recognizeable. Interstate Highways make great main roads, state highways make trails, I divide the current population by 100 to get the D&D world population. For community names I often just substitute the name of the county that it is in.

 

[Gilladian]

I use polymer clay to make stuff. I have a bunch of trees (either just a base and a bare trunk/few branches or a pair of tall triangles slotted together for pine trees), treasure chests, a well, an altar, doors (single and double), and a bunch of various color numbered anonymous tokens for monsters.

I need to make some large and huge tokens.

I also have tons of plastic animals, an off-brand lego knockoff set for building a castle - lots of good little props there!

I do sometimes make handouts for written messages - haven't needed to do that in a while, so it might be time...

 

[Galieo]

Before I answer, let me say that I will be yoinking several of the ideas already listed in this thread.

Props:

1. Pictures, perferably portraits, of NPCs. I definitely mix it up, not every NPC gets a portrait and not every NPC with a portrait is a reoccurring villian/ally/neutral. Keep the players guessing is my motto.

2. Again with the pictures, but this time of significant symbols. For example, Eberron is rich with images of dragonmarks, religious symbols and organization images.

3. Letter for players with appropriate symbology. Again, Eberron is rich in intrigue and a House Sivis delivered letter to one character definitely gets the other players to begin raising some eyebrows.

4. Music, definitely a mood setter. I do not think one needs gigs of music, probably two examples of the following categories will do: (1) Combat, (2) Calm, (3) Mystery, (4) Tavern/Town, and (5) Exploration. I try to have a playlist handy so I know when to cue a particular track. BTW, this helps me to think of the session as a play, with separate scenes and acts. I find this helps to manage the flow and timing.

5. Large battle map with wet erase pens, at least 4 colors: (1) Black for walls, rocks, etc. (2) Red for combat notes and fire, (3) Blue for water and other effects, (4) Green for floral, acid, etc.

6. Printed maps sized for tabletop use. Basically blown up maps, printed on a large color printer that I have photoshopped to remove the legend, traps, secret doors, etc. Not used all the time, but a very nice treat for a large encounter.

 

[NewJeffCT]

I've got a ton of painted minis, some terrain, a few buildings, about a dozen or so trees. So, I'm pretty much all set. One of the players has a whole bunch of wire templates for different area effect spells as well.

Eventually, I'd like to get some background music, but I have myself and six players, so musical tastes are probably different from person-to-person and I don't want somebody to hate something I use regularly.

To keep the game flowing smoothly, I usually come up with a list of a few dozen random names, as I'm terrible at coming up with names on the spot that are at least moderately appropriate.

I also have a chessex battlemat and several colors of wet erase markets. However, i'm debating going gridless.

 

[el-remmen]

1) Printed out sketches that resemble NPCs being introduced

2) Hand-drawn and aged maps

3) Index cards that represent magical items, special tools or spellbooks with printed text and pictures of the item

4) The square black cover of those clear plastic boxes dice sets come in to represent large creatures with a 10' x 10' face. And the clear plastic part to represent flying/levitating creatures (as you can have it sit over another mini)

5) Tact-tiles

6) Big ole pad of 1" box graph paper (like you get at Staples) for pre-drawing encounter locations

7) A dry-erase board for drawing side-views of places (terrain/environment is very important in my games) and for use with counting down initiative.

8) Plastic toys of various kinds.