Gaming props
I've been seeing posts online from folks sharing things they've done in games, and I thought I'd share some things I've done in way of creating gaming props, in case it gives anyone ideas of their own to use in their sessions and to solicit some additional ideas.
I've done a lot of paper-based stuff, aged, damaged, etc. One of my favorites was an ancient prophecy about a magical item, with more recent notes on it from a mage researching it. It was a collection of clues as to how to activate it, and it worked very well. All of the text was created in Word using free, hand-written fonts (which is true for all my text-based props), with the necessary clues in addition to a few campaign references. I folded about a quarter inch in on each edge, counter-folded it, and kept doing it until the paper was weakened enough to tear, giving the edge an aged, worn look. I then rolled it up tightly and beat the edges of the roll to smash them, creating all kinds of fold and wear marks. I put some water in a bowl and soaked each edge of the roll for a little while, giving an interesting stain along both sides. I used a variety of liquids to stain it, including balsamic vinegar, teas, coffee (I brought home from work - we don't drink it), and fruit juices. I took some dirt from one of the house plants and rubbed it on the paper in a few places. I even baked it (at very low temperatures!) to give it a fragile and brittle feel. Then I crushed it into a ball, smashed it, rolled it around, put it in my back pocket for a few days, flattened it out, re-rolled it, bent it, and just generally beat the heck out of it. It was really a lot of fun making this one!
This one was mostly interesting because it took so many tries to get it right. It was supposed to have been written by a mage just as he was struck from behind, splattering it with his blood. It took a while to get the right mix of paints and balsamic vinegar to get a good color (and it still wasn't really the color I wanted), and then it took even longer to use a paint brush and splatter it appropriately.
There was a published adventure that mentioned some burned pages with a few words that were still legible. Instead of just telling the players what they found, I showed them. I created the document electronically and wrote in the filler between the phrases. I used a lighter to burn away the sections they shouldn't see. I carefully put the lighter under it in a few areas to add to the image. (The pencil notes in the image are actually a player's.)
These props were interesting, and produced a completely different result then I expected. The characters were confronted with a challenge they had to puzzle out that involved these clay tiles with items embedded in them. (The phone and pen are in the picture to provide scale.) Turns out that the way to solve the situation was to just break the tiles they needed (the key and the lock) and then use them. (There was a riddle involved, etc.) But a funny thing happens when you hand someone the actual item involved in a puzzle. The players did think of breaking them, but they didn't want to! Some couldn't imagine I'd created something just to have it destroyed, while others were afraid of that option as it was a one-way ticket. In the end, one of the players was trying to see if he could just pop an item out and accidentally broke the tile. It was hilarious...
I used a little, plastic form (from a local hobby story) and plaster of Paris (AKA gypsum plaster) to create the tiles, themselves. The items were mostly pre-formed, wooden objects from the local hobby store, but the key and lock I had to create, myself. They started as pine sheets, and I used a Dremel to cut the shape I needed after sketching it on the surface. All the objects were painted with acrylic hobby paint.
The gold shield was the first one I did, and as you can see I didn't get a flat surface with it. After that, I figured out how to gently shake the mold to settle the plaster more uniformly.
This was something I'd thought of many years ago. There's a published adventure that has a spherical room, with a series of archway entries at the equator. (No spoilers, in case someone is going to use the adventure.) I've run this adventure twice in the past (or to be precise, I'd used aspects of this adventure - the original is actually pretty bad, but I've made significant use of the general concept), and each time this room caused issues: understanding the shape of it, where the characters were, and where other things were within the room. I decided to use this adventure again with a new group, but this time I came up with a way to visually show them what their characters were experiencing. (The figures are included to give you an idea of scale.)
One of the NPCs in the room had slippers of spider climbing, and I realized after we played it out that I should have used fun tack (that blue, tacky stuff for holding things to walls) to keep the character on the edge of the hemisphere, but I'll save that for next time...
This took a lot of tries to work out how to do it. I ended up using a foam hemisphere with the appropriate diameter and some modeling clay. I lined the dome's surface with plastic wrap (which ended up a bad idea - I don't suggest it) and built the room's shape over that. Once I had the shape, I turned it over and squashed the bottom so it would sit flat. Pulling the foam out ended up being a nightmare, and but I was able to save it after a bit of work. I then measured the locations for the archway entries and built the platforms. I can think of a lot of things I wish I'd done, like level off the entry platforms (either with sanding or pushing something flat against it before it had dried), but in the end it worked really well.
Please share some things you've done in the past - I'd love to learn some new prop techniques!
I've done a lot of paper-based stuff, aged, damaged, etc. One of my favorites was an ancient prophecy about a magical item, with more recent notes on it from a mage researching it. It was a collection of clues as to how to activate it, and it worked very well. All of the text was created in Word using free, hand-written fonts (which is true for all my text-based props), with the necessary clues in addition to a few campaign references. I folded about a quarter inch in on each edge, counter-folded it, and kept doing it until the paper was weakened enough to tear, giving the edge an aged, worn look. I then rolled it up tightly and beat the edges of the roll to smash them, creating all kinds of fold and wear marks. I put some water in a bowl and soaked each edge of the roll for a little while, giving an interesting stain along both sides. I used a variety of liquids to stain it, including balsamic vinegar, teas, coffee (I brought home from work - we don't drink it), and fruit juices. I took some dirt from one of the house plants and rubbed it on the paper in a few places. I even baked it (at very low temperatures!) to give it a fragile and brittle feel. Then I crushed it into a ball, smashed it, rolled it around, put it in my back pocket for a few days, flattened it out, re-rolled it, bent it, and just generally beat the heck out of it. It was really a lot of fun making this one!
This one was mostly interesting because it took so many tries to get it right. It was supposed to have been written by a mage just as he was struck from behind, splattering it with his blood. It took a while to get the right mix of paints and balsamic vinegar to get a good color (and it still wasn't really the color I wanted), and then it took even longer to use a paint brush and splatter it appropriately.
There was a published adventure that mentioned some burned pages with a few words that were still legible. Instead of just telling the players what they found, I showed them. I created the document electronically and wrote in the filler between the phrases. I used a lighter to burn away the sections they shouldn't see. I carefully put the lighter under it in a few areas to add to the image. (The pencil notes in the image are actually a player's.)
These props were interesting, and produced a completely different result then I expected. The characters were confronted with a challenge they had to puzzle out that involved these clay tiles with items embedded in them. (The phone and pen are in the picture to provide scale.) Turns out that the way to solve the situation was to just break the tiles they needed (the key and the lock) and then use them. (There was a riddle involved, etc.) But a funny thing happens when you hand someone the actual item involved in a puzzle. The players did think of breaking them, but they didn't want to! Some couldn't imagine I'd created something just to have it destroyed, while others were afraid of that option as it was a one-way ticket. In the end, one of the players was trying to see if he could just pop an item out and accidentally broke the tile. It was hilarious...
I used a little, plastic form (from a local hobby story) and plaster of Paris (AKA gypsum plaster) to create the tiles, themselves. The items were mostly pre-formed, wooden objects from the local hobby store, but the key and lock I had to create, myself. They started as pine sheets, and I used a Dremel to cut the shape I needed after sketching it on the surface. All the objects were painted with acrylic hobby paint.
The gold shield was the first one I did, and as you can see I didn't get a flat surface with it. After that, I figured out how to gently shake the mold to settle the plaster more uniformly.
This was something I'd thought of many years ago. There's a published adventure that has a spherical room, with a series of archway entries at the equator. (No spoilers, in case someone is going to use the adventure.) I've run this adventure twice in the past (or to be precise, I'd used aspects of this adventure - the original is actually pretty bad, but I've made significant use of the general concept), and each time this room caused issues: understanding the shape of it, where the characters were, and where other things were within the room. I decided to use this adventure again with a new group, but this time I came up with a way to visually show them what their characters were experiencing. (The figures are included to give you an idea of scale.)
One of the NPCs in the room had slippers of spider climbing, and I realized after we played it out that I should have used fun tack (that blue, tacky stuff for holding things to walls) to keep the character on the edge of the hemisphere, but I'll save that for next time...
This took a lot of tries to work out how to do it. I ended up using a foam hemisphere with the appropriate diameter and some modeling clay. I lined the dome's surface with plastic wrap (which ended up a bad idea - I don't suggest it) and built the room's shape over that. Once I had the shape, I turned it over and squashed the bottom so it would sit flat. Pulling the foam out ended up being a nightmare, and but I was able to save it after a bit of work. I then measured the locations for the archway entries and built the platforms. I can think of a lot of things I wish I'd done, like level off the entry platforms (either with sanding or pushing something flat against it before it had dried), but in the end it worked really well.
Please share some things you've done in the past - I'd love to learn some new prop techniques!