What props and special effects do you use while running games?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I'm a big user of sound effects and music, both live and in the games I run on Discord. I've bought a bunch of Michael Ghelfi's work on Bandcamp (better returns to artists than other music stores), but his work is also available on YouTube.

Although I've yet to run Curse of Strahd, and it doesn't seem likely to happen in the foreseeable future, I picked up a Tarokka deck to use in conjunction with Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and have been toying with picking up a spirit board on Etsy for the same purpose. And by the time the Book of Many Things comes out, I will have a Deck of Many Things from there as well. (I suspect the WotC deck will have a definite created-by-a-committee feel that isn't what I want from my dangerous artifacts.)

And now I'm toying with D&D scented candles, for things like dungeons and taverns. (Eat your heart out, Yankee Candle.)

I've found props and special effects add a lot to my games -- my daughter specifically reminded me to fire up the sound effects when I ran her through a solo game recently -- but they are an extra level of something to fiddle with.

Does anyone else do this? What stuff has worked best for you?

(Note: None of these are affiliate links, because come on.)

 

[payn]

Im big on ambient music. To me it sets the mood and jump starts the imagination as much as maps and visuals.

 

[Professor Murder]

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Love this site.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Well, beyond things like cast or carved architectural minis, etc., I’m most likely to use music. Sometimes, it’s just music the group likes, sometimes it’s stuff from genre fiction TV shows & movies.

OCCASIONALLY, I’ll actually use music to represent in-game events. My best ever use was when I used the theme to The Hunted (by Kodo) to signal the beginnings of the party actually being hunted. It was interesting to see the players react as if they were actually in jeopardy, even the ones who were not usually immersive gamers.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

OCCASIONALLY, I’ll actually use music to represent in-game events. My best ever use was when I used the theme to The Hunted (by Kodo) to signal the beginnings of the party actually being hunted. It was interesting to see the players react as if they were actually in jeopardy, even the ones who were not usually immersive gamers.

That tune would definitely do it.

 

[Tutara]

Notes, parchment, sealed letters, propaganda fliers, a tourist brochure… mostly paper items. I also rigged up a persistent bounty board for a campaign once. I used music on roll 20 but less so in real life.

I’d recommend avoiding ambient candles - authentic smells of the era might sound immersive, but in practice it’s pretty bogging. I can definitively tell you that ‘Star Wars Trash Compactor’ as a scent is a bad time.

 

[aramis erak]

Does anyone else do this? What stuff has worked best for you?

I seldom user music; even then, it's usually the players and I singing together when I do. Explanation spoilered, as it may be a distraction from the topic...

Spoiler: not quite on topic

I absolutely avoid any and all atmospheric music - it interferes with my ability to understand players. (I can still hear 20 kHz buzz, but cannot make out conversation of tenors and altos (90-200 Hz) at 60-65 dB against a typical 35-45 dB background music.)
I don't like players needing to go above 65 dB, preferring 55-60 dB.

And I absolutely cannot abide "ASMR" noises. A whispered commercial literally enrages me - there's one Youtube keeps feeding... I IMMEDIATELY hit the back button, as it's just shy of pain sensation

.

So what does work for me? I have used trek and star wars sound boards. My players have, with my blessings, used ST:TOS ornament communicators and tricorders as props. I have, on a few occasions, cut out paper ones, but that's decades ago. I'd use foam core these days. And some small magnets and sewing pins.

I've done entire fonts for making counters for star wars and star trek ships. I'm considering redoing them as color OTF fonts...

I have, for one Trek campaign, where the captain was an NPC, done the captains logs using a TTS routine.

I used Sketchup to "film" a crawl text for a star wars one-shot.

I wrote a theme for an Edge of the Empire campaign. Youtube took it down... more than 8 years after I uploaded it. (Man, has it really been that long? Uhh... Yup.) They took it down last month. (It's the only one missing of the 6 I've made.) And they didn't say why. My players both appreciated and despised it.

I've used 3d walkthroughs in Traveller, done in Sketchup. I even used the model to show a player why his character couldn't shoot a particular NPC.

I used Playmobil knights to set the tone for a particular Pendragon group... after a few sessions, my daughter got to play with them instead. (Playmobil has some cool knights!)

 

[ThrorII]

I am currently running a Wild West game using "Wild West Cinema". I use:
1. Ambient music
2. Ambient sounds (wagons, town sounds, horses, trains, etc).
3. I print out a 1-page "newspaper" for the Wild West Town each session that acts as a game recap, plot hook, and NPC knowledge.

 

[delericho]

I used to make heavy use of ambient music, but this hasn't been a feature for the past several years.

I very occasionally make use of handouts, but these are pretty uncommon.

 

[Yora]

Sometimes I have handout maps that the PCs would have. Everything else is a distraction.