Props

[kafka47]

My legacy as an enthuasist for Call of Cthulhu means that I use extensive Visual Props (images gathered from the Internet and modules) and Audio props (sound effects & mood music). I have experimented like most Refs with minis.

However, I am interested what other props have people brought to the gaming table.

 

[far-trader]

I once made a plywood gaming table that featured a painted plaster scale model of the volcanic island the adventure was set on. It was made like a map, complete with a "here there be dragons" sea-serpent swimming by in the blue sea playing surface.



The top was reversible to a flat table for regular use. It got a lot of use but I eventually destroyed the island and reused the plywood in another project.

In the middle of a game the island was attacked by a giant spider (an actual big spider crawled across the table and was iirc attacked successfully by a miniature figure). At the scale of the island the spider would have been ginormous, probably 100 feet long, with 20 foot fangs.

 

[far-trader]

I also like "pocket lint" props. Stuff like currency, identity papers, and such.

 

[Ran]

I also like "pocket lint" props. Stuff like currency, identity papers, and such.

Yah, our old Battle Tech games ended up with Battlemasters being represented by Polly Pocket toys, etc.


On topic though, it depends on the medium. But I generally like making notes, or in the case of Traveller, front page news paper articles. It lets them know what has been happening in the world at large and colors in the local flair.

And music, always... Classical symphonic stuff typically but it depends on the feel for the situation.
I used to use more modern rock stuff to great effect in my groups old "World of Darkness" days.

 

[leo knight]

Not Traveller, but in a long running Runequest campaign, my players had become infamous outlaws. I made up a mock "Wanted, Dead or Alive" poster for them. I set my short lived Buffy game in my hometown of Baltimore, and brought all sorts of real world stuff to the table. Cemetaries used to hand out maps to guide mourners to graves. I had to deliver flowers to Western Cemetary, and had a copy of the map, with particular graves marked on it. A few players got a little freaked at that.:devil:

edit; Ooh, music! For the RQ campaign, I made mix tapes. When the players joined a gypsy caravan, I made a tape of gypsy music. Ditto for a river trip ("The Moldau" by Smettana), and a sea trip (my players vetoed sea chanteys!)

 

[Andrew Boulton]

In the middle of a game the island was attacked by a giant spider (an actual big spider crawled across the table and was iirc attacked successfully by a miniature figure). At the scale of the island the spider would have been ginormous, probably 100 feet long, with 20 foot fangs.

Before computer simulators became good/cheap enough, the British Army trained new tank drivers using a 1/300th scale model of a German town (basically the worlds most amazing wargames table). The drivers would control a tiny camera suspended from the ceiling, giving them the view they would see if they were actually driving around. It had to be kept very clean, of course, because it really freaked people out when they drove round a corner and came face to face with a 20 foot tall spider...

 

[tim_manley]

I never did this for Traveller, but when D&D 3E first came out I ran a campaign based on the Mordheim wargame. We had weekly sessions and I'd write a "newspaper" using all sorts of images found from warhammer and such. The paper would talk about the different warbands and nobles and traders, etc. The players actually got excited when they saw a story written about their party... they felt like they "had arrived".

 

[Darkhstarr]

My old D&D group used grapes as placesetters for orcs & other monsters. The philosophy was: 'You killed it, you eat it.'

 

[far-trader]

My old D&D group used grapes as placesetters for orcs & other monsters. The philosophy was: 'You killed it, you eat it.'

We used to do that in boardgames as kids, with candy

 

[Hemdian]

My legacy as an enthuasist for Call of Cthulhu means that I use extensive Visual Props (images gathered from the Internet and modules) and Audio props (sound effects & mood music). I have experimented like most Refs with minis.

However, I am interested what other props have people brought to the gaming table.

Over the years I have experimented with many different things. Those that worked include:

• Character Sheets as props - When a character is in mortal danger the player must hand it over before any critical rolls. If death results the character sheet is torn in half, otherwise it is returned to the player undamaged. Its surpriseing how often a player will reconsider an action when asked to hand over their character sheet. (Dead characters are often ceremonialy burned at the end of a session while playing Amazing Grace from Star Trek 2 on the HiFi.)
  
  
• Equipment sheets - Done up in DGP format one per item. Equipment sheets in the PCs folder represents items they own, equipment sheets out of the folder with the character sheet represents items they have on them. If they have multiple items they get multiple sheets (eg. if a PC has 2 revolvers then they get 2 revolver sheets). If one character gives another character an item then the players hand the relevent equipment sheet over. In addition to all the useful information recorded on the equipment sheet (including customisations) this avoids so many arguments and misunderstandings.
  
  
• Sound FX - Background or ambient sounds culled from various SFX CDs and tapes, and played originally on a portable system built with 4 walkmans and a mixer, now using the software equivalent. Background music, in general, can be distracting (except see next point) and trying to do event sounds can lead you to play DJ instead of Referee.
  
  
• Theme music - A recognised (and brief) opening track can end social chit-chat and focus people on play. And without a closing track the end of a session can seem a bit abrupt.
  
  
• Story tapes - I guess you'd call them that. For example, when the PCs discovered a derelict spacecraft and played the Captain's log ... Preveously I'd got some friends not in the group to recite the log into a tape recorder. I then added sound FX as required to make the final recording. And this is what the PCs subsequently heard in the gaming session.