How Much Gaming Stuff Do You Need?

[pogre]

Miles and miles of mastermaze and hirst arts models - it's a big part of my enjoyment of the game!

 

[malraux]

One of the better things I and my group have started using are work order sheet covers. Basically its plastic sleeves to fit your character sheet in that then you can use dry or wet erase markers with to mark off hp, surges, etc. The work order ones are a bit more durable that most other plastic sleeves, and this way the same markers that get used to mark the map or my combat tracker get used on the character sheets.

 

[Voadam]

I voted just for the published supplements. I use modules and I like game supplements for maximum game enjoyment. I like being able to draw on a wide resource of gaming book material.

Minis and map stuff have never been needed for maximum enjoyment for me.

 

[Dragon Snack]

We used to do the 'less gear' thing (with extra dice, since you can't let other people use your dice - it drains their good rolls , and extra books, since gamers have grubby paws).

But then we had some problems with a characters position and started using counters. That way led to minis, which led to battlemats (which were quickly abandoned for tiles), which led to widgets (to use your nomenclature).

In fact, the past few years have seen me spend more money on extraneous stuff, rather than rulebooks. They usually work for more than one system and they make things run smoother. I could go back to 'less gear', but why?

 

[crazy_cat]

Need - other like minded people round the table to game with, imagination, beverages and snacks.

Desirable - loads of other stuff. You can't have too much stuff

 

[Greg K]

I chose

- DM Screen: Depending upon the game, a good screen reduces looking up common modifiers, difficulties, etc.
- Extra Dice: multiple sets reduces the time of locating the dice
- Extra Core books: reduces the time passing books. Players can look up stuff when it's not their turn. Hopefully, the book is theirs so they are familiar with the rules.
- Supplements: Good ideas, alternate rules, and new options are good for tailoring your game and feeding the imagination. And, when it comes to WOTC games, I generally find myself turning to 3pp to be very helpful.
- house rules: like rules supplements they are good for tailoring the game.

 

[Betote]

It depends mostly on what I'm DMing:

D&D 3.x / Pathfinder:
- A couple of core books.
- DM Screen
- Index cards to pass notes, make NPCs on the fly, etc.
- Battlemat (I use a laminated DDM -old- map).
- Miniatures. Lots of them.
- Dice. Almost as many as miniatures.
- Critical Hit and Fumble decks
- Published adventures, either to run as-is or to loosely use as inspiration/setting.
- Campaign notebook.

Cthulhu (Call or Trail) / Rules Cyclopedia D&D
- Index cards to pass notes.
- Sheets of paper to draw maps, props, etc.

I'm looking forward to DMing Mutants & Masterminds and Dark Heresy, but I haven't done it yet. Nevertheless, I think it'll be more similar to my "lite" gear than to my "heavy" gear.

 

[frankthedm]

- Extra character sheets. Death Happens. Frequently
- Miniatures (characters and/or monsters). I am a mini-holic
- Terrain. Love it, but I need to make more
- Extra dice (more than 1 set). I am always snagging any dice with arms reach.
- Extra pencils (or pens, or markers, possibly in multiple colors) They keep disappearing. Markers are also used when a battlemat is needed.
- Extra core books (more than 1 set).
- House rules.
- Friends I enjoy gaming with. I do not game with strangers nor people who detract from the game.
- Tape measure. Hate using grids. Pretty much needed when using terrain.
- Modules. It may be unoriginal, but I like using them.

 

[RFisher]

To paraphrase an answer I heard to the question, “Just how many guitars does one man need?”

I always need just one more bit of RPG paraphernalia.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

After 40 years of life, 28 of them spent roleplaying, I've finally mostly figured out what "gadgets" I'll actually use if I buy them. Unfortunately, given my game-geekery, roleplaying stuff is the exception. No matter how much I visualize actual play or ask myself, "Will this be useful and used," I never actually know until we try it in play.

I have dozens of different play aids that sounded incrediblly useful, that just don't work out in play for me. (That old staple, the DM screen, is one of them!) Alea tokens. The bigger SteelSqwire templates (we use the smaller ones all the time.) Condition cards. Fantasy money. And on an on, all stuff that we tried desperately to get use from, and failed.

On the other hand, I'm also surprised by how useful some stuff is. (Not totally surprised, of course, or else I wouldn't have bought the stuff.) Dr. Wizard's Elevation Indicator, for instance. We use it every damned session. Open Mind Games' magnetic initiative board, best solution for init out there, IMO. And a few others.