Treasure Tables is on hiatus as of December 13th, 2007 -- after two years of daily posts, I needed a break. If you're looking for GMing material, I have two recommendations: the hundreds of posts in TT's archives, and my new project, the multi-author GMing blog Gnome Stew. Happy GMing! -- Martin

Props for Everyone!

Sun. September 10, 2006 

Random GMing idea #276: Ask each of your players to bring a game-related prop to the next session.

The prop could be anything that enhances the game for the whole group — a plastic sword, a hand-drawn map of the team’s HQ, a bag of plastic Pieces of Eight, a mix CD of background music, etc.

You’d have to mention upfront that it doesn’t need to be a complex prop, and I’d recommend awarding bonus XP or offering some other in-game incentive. Plus, of course, bringing a prop or two yourself! But if it worked, wouldn’t this be neat?

More posts about: GMing Ideas, Props and Ambience

Comments

4 Responses to “Props for Everyone!”

  1. ScottM on September 11th, 2006 8:17 am

    Hmm, while I’m not sold on the value of most props, this does relieve the GM of the obligation to provide all the props, which is a huge relief. Especially if you’re thinking of playing with lots of props. It might be worth a shot…

  2. Martin on September 11th, 2006 6:03 pm

    At worst, it sounds like you’d get no props from the players. ;)

  3. Impulse on September 15th, 2006 9:16 pm

    A player in my group who was playing an escaped convict wore an eyepatch and a hook hand to each session, as his character lacked both a hand and an eye. Worked really well to keep him in character, although he did tend to brandish the hook around a bit much. ;)

  4. Martin on September 15th, 2006 11:26 pm

    I like the sound of that, Impulse. I hadn’t thought of player-provided props as a way to encourage staying in character, but that makes sense.