Props

[GlassJaw]

Mostly maps, notes, and minis. I use Tact-Tiles most of the time but I also prepare more detailed or larger battlemats ahead of time using the wet erase mats.

I'm hoping to transition to an electronic format (i.e. laptop) soon and when I do, I'll have a lot more pictures to show the group (and music!).

The GM of my Shadowrun group runs everything from his iBook and he uses that to show us the floorplans. I also bought some real fold-out maps of Seattle.

My D&D group will be starting a pirate campaign soon (run by CarlZog) so I bought some packs of the WizKids Pirates of the Spanish Main card game. The little ships are awesome! I figure we'll use those if we have some ship to ship battles.

 

[Rafael Ceurdepyr]

Ahhh, props! I LOVE props! They turn up more often in modern era games that I play/run, but I'm always looking for an opportunity to use a prop.

As a player, I found a necklace that resembled the magical necklace my character owned and so I would sometimes wear that to the game.

In our long-running Leviathan campaign, in one of the first episodes, Raef was given a rat-skull necklace by an NPC (gave him a +1 vs poison or something, I forget exactly). I made a necklace using an old choker I had with a slice of a conch shell on it that resembled a rat skull, added a feather and charm to make it fetish-like, and wear that nearly every session. Raef gave a pin to Ari (whom he's been in love with for ages; didn't tell her it's a Raelsport fashion item signifying an engagement), so I made one out of Sculpey, put it in a fancy box.

In another campaign, Zachary corresponded with Ting Mei outside of the game about their long estrangement, so naturally I wrote the letters. Using a fountain pen.

I can't begin to tell you how many props I've made for Call of Cthulhu games. I think my first prop was back in about 1980 or so when I ran the 1st edition of Masks of Nyarlathotep in the box set. Made an aluminum foil covered cardboard ibis-headed dagger as a prop for an auction, freaking out a newbie player (girlfriend of a long-time player). We sat around in the living room and acted out the auction, because it seemed like a natural way to do an auction, to introduce the game. Afterward the newbie asked her boyfriend, "Do you guys really believe in all this?" Needless to say she didn't come back.

I won't even get into dressing up for the part. I'm frequently accused of being a closet LARP-er. It's okay with me. For me, props just add fun to the game and help me get into character better.

 

[shilsen]

I also publish the front page of the local newspaper, The Sharn Inquisitive, on a regular basis. The page contains two main stories and some short blurbs that are the little "Also in this issue..." sorts of things. The actions of the PC's have been mentioned in both areas and they really like the fact that there's a sense of the PC's actions having an impact on the game world.

If anybody wants a copy I can attach it in this thread.

I'd definitely like to see it.

Besides printing out letters and such (with appropriate fonts), I've done old documents (soaking in coffee or tea is great for that parchment effect), handed someone an envelope with small notes with descriptions inside it (to represent a chest someone opened & its contents), printed out a front-page article of the Korranberg Chronicle that my PCs appeared in, etc.

 

[Rel]

I'd definitely like to see it.

Besides printing out letters and such (with appropriate fonts), I've done old documents (soaking in coffee or tea is great for that parchment effect), handed someone an envelope with small notes with descriptions inside it (to represent a chest someone opened & its contents), printed out a front-page article of the Korranberg Chronicle that my PCs appeared in, etc.

I'll go ahead and attach all three issues that I've done so far. You may note that I've mixed in some of the Sharn Inquisitive stories from the WotC site. They're too long to fit in the space I've got so I usually chop them down to something that will fit in there.

Hmm, it isn't letting me attach the first one because I've already attached it in this thread in post #20. You can find that one there if you want to collect them all.

 

[Wombat]

I have created semi-regular newssheets for our major city. Some NPCs write letters to the PCs. There are general handouts, sketch maps, etc.

And about once a session there is battle map -- we try to keep that to a minimum

 

[Janx]

Let's see I've done:

minis with 3d settings (dungeons, hilltops, houses)
flat color layout of the PC's ship + pirate ship, in scale to minis (1.5"=5' scale, 130' ship)

I've used wooden and Pirates of the Spanish Main ships for combat

I've done crime-scene drawings for a murder mystery adventure (ala Jack the Ripper)

I've done newspapers (ongoing, 3 issues in, each is 2 pages long or so)

I've done certificates for Officer Promotion

I've done letters to PCs

If I did a modern game, I would definitely write some web-page stuff to create fake computer systems for the PCs to login into and research. But then, I'm a code monkey, so that stuff's easy.

I just bought a raven puppet, and I plan to use it as my character's familiar in the next game I get to play in. I have a gnome conjurer, with a raven familiar.

On this same topic, I looked up the TrueDungeon site, and their backstory. Apparently it derived from an event called JeffCon, where the DM, named Jeff made a lot of use of physical props, and eventually led to him having a prop-packed session once a year called JeffCon. He did things like made the actual staff the PC's found, and hid a secret compartment in the bottom of it. So the prop was interactive.

Janx

 

[Stormborn]

I won't even get into dressing up for the part. I'm frequently accused of being a closet LARP-er. It's okay with me. For me, props just add fun to the game and help me get into character better.

Oh yes, its all about the LARP with her.

Of course she sets a standard that the rest of us have to live up too. The most i have ever done was make a sheet of paper with cabalistic symbols on it that I then folded into a paper oragami cup, and then folded several other times to add confusion, for a Paper Grail in our Unknown Armies game.

But NEVER as much as she does. No could do that.

Thats what I get for gaming with an Art Major.

 

[R-Hero]

Lets see...

A short handled sledge hammer.

Dice bag of arcade tokens.

Many handwritten notes representing, scrolls, official letters, written instructions to enemy lackies. (Many soaked in tea, burned, stained with red ink or buried in the yard for a day or two) Most notes were duplicated with jibberish if no one in the party read that particular language it was originally written in.

Old books

Fake gemstones

Miniatures = lead, plastic, pewter, cardboard and Leggos

Home made dice, (for a home made Dwarven Drinking game. Actually the hammer was also used in the game as well)

If these don't make me a true geek....try this.
26 images taken of the 'net and printed on a white cardboard shirt box.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Yes, I made a 'Deck of many Things' :\