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Player costuming, props etc in "table top" games.
- Thread starter Wolf1066
- Start date
Here's a blog article I worte on props I've made for gaming. Covers a fair bit of stuff for fantasy and modern.
As for actually dressing up....
I've worn a my genuine aussie hat for my vampire PC who was from down under and seeking sanctuary in LA for a WoD campaign.
I don't mind wearing an item to "represent" my PC, but I'd feel a bit weird, especially in a medieval campaign.
I've used my Raven puppet made by these guys: Folkmanis Puppets: Home
as my familiar for my Gnome Conjurer in a 3.5E campaign. That was fun since Ravens can talk.
I dress up for RenFair all the time, but I wouldn't do it for gaming, unless everybody else was. Plus, barring a costume party, I'd feel awkward having to go to somebody's house in costume, so wouldn't do that to my friends.
One year, for my friend who loves zombies, we did a zombie birthday party.
We all dressed up as zombies, and attacked him when he came to the door. It actually did freak him out a bit. Then I ran my DnD session, which also had a zombie theme. After all that, we went to Rocky Horror Picture Show, still dressed as zombies.
As for actually dressing up....
I've worn a my genuine aussie hat for my vampire PC who was from down under and seeking sanctuary in LA for a WoD campaign.
I don't mind wearing an item to "represent" my PC, but I'd feel a bit weird, especially in a medieval campaign.
I've used my Raven puppet made by these guys: Folkmanis Puppets: Home
as my familiar for my Gnome Conjurer in a 3.5E campaign. That was fun since Ravens can talk.
I dress up for RenFair all the time, but I wouldn't do it for gaming, unless everybody else was. Plus, barring a costume party, I'd feel awkward having to go to somebody's house in costume, so wouldn't do that to my friends.
One year, for my friend who loves zombies, we did a zombie birthday party.
We all dressed up as zombies, and attacked him when he came to the door. It actually did freak him out a bit. Then I ran my DnD session, which also had a zombie theme. After all that, we went to Rocky Horror Picture Show, still dressed as zombies.
MortonStromgal
First Post
Normally no, but Call of Cthuhlu seams to get more dress up than any other RPG I have run. Heck even I break out a Fedora.
Aberzanzorax
Hero
I'm a props, yes, costumes, no kinda guy.
I want to have special tokens representing player "atrological signs", cook a drow dinner, and have a "good and evil" coin for my priest of Tyche.
For clothing, the closest we get are gamer shirts like "+20 shirt of smiting".
I want to have special tokens representing player "atrological signs", cook a drow dinner, and have a "good and evil" coin for my priest of Tyche.
For clothing, the closest we get are gamer shirts like "+20 shirt of smiting".
I use props a lot, but not costumes, really; although we made an exception for about ten years or so (before, during, and after college) for the yearly game session on the Friday closest to Hallowe'en (when we did a 'dress as your character' game ... I guess it helped that the guys tended to play male characters and the girls tended to play female characters).
Regards,
Darrell
Regards,
Darrell
a long time ago, I read a review for CoC Live, and the reviewer admitted his impression of LARPing was walking around in the park with a bath robe and a whiffle bat.
Thus, he was impressed with the idea of a larp, where to "dress up" mostly meant wearing normal clothes.
Frankly, I can handle the occasional jacket, hat, jewellery, just one or two items per player - e.g. the player who'll be wearing a ring that has significance to the character, a player wearing a particular hat as his/her character does - but if the players fronted up dressed up fully in character it would weird me out...
And that's just characters whose mode of dress is not too far from contemporary clothing (Jeans or Tactical pants, T-shirt, army surplus jacket, combat boots - all pretty "normal" unless you start adding the shoulder or hip holster...) if they fronted up in a bathrobe and wiffle hat - or even tunic and trews - and looking like refugees from Middle Earth or an SCA event, I'd be even more worried.
Props are fine by me so long as they don't distract the players from gaming. If they spent more time mucking about with their pocket knife, iPaq, iPod (iAnything) or whatever than playing the game, I'd be rather tetchy - as, I suspect, would the other players who just want to get on with their goals.
As GM, I like to limit the props I use to occasions when they encounter something that is supposed to have impact or be more memorable/realistic than just being told. And costuming up is not practical or feasible, given the number of roles I play in a given session.
So, I don't break out the iPaq every time I say a person is reaching for their "Portable Office" - though I did show it to the players when explaining that a Portable Office looks somewhat like one but combines mobile video phone and portable computer.
If it were important in game to convey that they were being recorded in a more visceral way than just saying "the police chief is noting down everything you say", I might pull out the iPaq, take out the stylus and say - in character - "do go on..." I could just as easily pull a dictaphone from my pocket, plonk it in front of the players and say, "so, start from the beginning..."
Rest assured, the players would remember that scene...
Likewise sound effects and music - the game's not scored like a movie where we have a soundtrack for battles, another for quiet evenings, and one for in the street, but I do have some playlists in styles suitable for some of the clubs/pubs in the area and when they wander into one of them, I turn on the music. Worked a treat for getting at least one of the players into "hang out at the boozer" mode...
And that's just characters whose mode of dress is not too far from contemporary clothing (Jeans or Tactical pants, T-shirt, army surplus jacket, combat boots - all pretty "normal" unless you start adding the shoulder or hip holster...) if they fronted up in a bathrobe and wiffle hat - or even tunic and trews - and looking like refugees from Middle Earth or an SCA event, I'd be even more worried.
Props are fine by me so long as they don't distract the players from gaming. If they spent more time mucking about with their pocket knife, iPaq, iPod (iAnything) or whatever than playing the game, I'd be rather tetchy - as, I suspect, would the other players who just want to get on with their goals.
As GM, I like to limit the props I use to occasions when they encounter something that is supposed to have impact or be more memorable/realistic than just being told. And costuming up is not practical or feasible, given the number of roles I play in a given session.
So, I don't break out the iPaq every time I say a person is reaching for their "Portable Office" - though I did show it to the players when explaining that a Portable Office looks somewhat like one but combines mobile video phone and portable computer.
If it were important in game to convey that they were being recorded in a more visceral way than just saying "the police chief is noting down everything you say", I might pull out the iPaq, take out the stylus and say - in character - "do go on..." I could just as easily pull a dictaphone from my pocket, plonk it in front of the players and say, "so, start from the beginning..."
Rest assured, the players would remember that scene...
Likewise sound effects and music - the game's not scored like a movie where we have a soundtrack for battles, another for quiet evenings, and one for in the street, but I do have some playlists in styles suitable for some of the clubs/pubs in the area and when they wander into one of them, I turn on the music. Worked a treat for getting at least one of the players into "hang out at the boozer" mode...
awesomeocalypse
First Post
Dressing up would wierd me out, and I wouldn't enjoy playing at a table where people came in costume.
Partially this is because my groups have always retained a fair degree of ironic detachment, with lots of jokes and meta commentary going on at the table while we play. Nobody really gets into character to the extent of always acting in character like some sort of method actor. If we're not actively engaged in social rp, we're all out of character. I think if someone insisted on staying in character throughout an entire session it would throw us all for a loop.
The other reason, of course, is that it seems hella nerdy. While I realize that may seem hypocritical, my belief is that everyone has a threshold for geekiness which they are able to enjoy, past which self-consciousness and embarassment set in. For myself, that threshhold does not extend to wearing costumes (other things that are too geeky even for a geek like me include devoting serious time to learning fictional languages like Elvish or Na'vi, anything involving Furries, or unironically wearing shirts with wolves or dragons on them). I'm aware that these are arbitrary lines, and as someone who posts on a message board for D&D I don't exactly have room to criticize. Nevertheless, as irrational as it may be, I cannot bring myself to cross my personal geekiness threshhold.
Partially this is because my groups have always retained a fair degree of ironic detachment, with lots of jokes and meta commentary going on at the table while we play. Nobody really gets into character to the extent of always acting in character like some sort of method actor. If we're not actively engaged in social rp, we're all out of character. I think if someone insisted on staying in character throughout an entire session it would throw us all for a loop.
The other reason, of course, is that it seems hella nerdy. While I realize that may seem hypocritical, my belief is that everyone has a threshold for geekiness which they are able to enjoy, past which self-consciousness and embarassment set in. For myself, that threshhold does not extend to wearing costumes (other things that are too geeky even for a geek like me include devoting serious time to learning fictional languages like Elvish or Na'vi, anything involving Furries, or unironically wearing shirts with wolves or dragons on them). I'm aware that these are arbitrary lines, and as someone who posts on a message board for D&D I don't exactly have room to criticize. Nevertheless, as irrational as it may be, I cannot bring myself to cross my personal geekiness threshhold.
nedjer
Adventurer
A couple of players had a word with me about costumes after our Hawaiian murder mystery game. They didn't mind the hula skirts, the garlands of flowers or the coconut bikini bras. They even joined in with the canoe paddling when I put the Hawaii 5-0 theme on.
Seems it was the Horrible Science Exploding Volcano kit on the table sending sparks showering over the skirts that threw them. If anyone knows a supplier of fireproof hula skirts wise me up.
Seems it was the Horrible Science Exploding Volcano kit on the table sending sparks showering over the skirts that threw them. If anyone knows a supplier of fireproof hula skirts wise me up.
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