Using Props in Your Game

Props are an excellent way to add some flavor to your game, in fact, there are few better ways to bring players into your story than to give them something tangible to interact with. The kinds of props that can be used are only limited by your imagination. Gaming props work well on a couple different levels. The first is that they work wonders for bringing your players into the game more. Another benefit is that they keep the players focused on something so they don't become distracted from the game (a bugbear all GMs must deal with). There are some pretty basic but really useful ones for making a GM's life easier and I'm all about making my job easier (some of them should likely be considered tools in lieu of props, but they work well enough for this article); I'll discuss those first.

The first prop for your gaming group that should at least be nodded to is one that many gaming groups already use: miniatures. There's not really a whole lot to say about these as they are pretty much standard these days. Some people paint them, buy new ones for every new character, etc; but, in reality, they are simply placeholders for where your character is on a battlemat or whatnot. They are pretty handy and I would recommend using them if the gaming system you using facilitates such things. However, don't get carried away and let them dominate your game or anything, but other than that...

So, as for props that you can actually bring into the game, the first move I would suggest is music. A great music soundtrack can do wonders for the ambiance you are trying to set. A great one that I have come to use frequently is Midnight Syndicate. Most of their stuff is absolutely fantastic for horror, grittier and more intense games; however, they also did the official soundtrack for Dungeons and Dragons--which I didn't realize even existed until I started using them for my game...and still am not certain why it exists--and this CD is pretty good for a fantasy based game. I'm not trying to make this into an advertisement for a particular band and there is enough music out there that I'm certain a dedicated GM can find something that fits with the game they are running. The reason music is so perfect for RPGs is because it instantly sets the mood. After the first session or two with a particular kind of soundtrack playing in the background you'll find your players fall right into play once you start the music up--just make certain that you don't start it up until after everyone is already seated and ready to play. For one of my own games, I used some of the creepier tracks from Midnight Syndicate during a borderline horror game I was running and it was marvelous when something on the soundtrack fell in line with what was going on in the game...marvelous, I say! Just keep the music low--background noise only--you wouldn't want to have it loud enough to disrupt play.

Whiteboards. I cannot express how much these little things help out the GM. I was only able to use one for a while and only recently; however, they are fantastic for sketching out the layout of an area, show what's going on in battle quickly or just toss up some notes. In fact, I just acquired a large one recently just for this reason. They are very convenient and can save a GM a lot of time over the course of a gaming session. You can even throw up some notes prior to your players arriving so you don't have to keep repeating the NPCs that will come up throughout the adventure and whatnot.

What about other kinds of props besides those that make a game master's life just a bit easier? This is a little bit of a trickier topic as there is no real limit to what kinds of props you can use in your game. So, I'll give some examples that I've used in the past and, perhaps, it will serve to spur your own imagination.

Letters or notes or old manuscripts are almost a staple in role playing games, in fact, they are almost a standard as far as props go as well. The group receives a letter from the wizard in the town or they find an ancient scroll inside of some dark tomb. Whatever the case may be, I'd be willing to bet that you are going to bring in some kind of paper with writing on it in your game. It's a pretty basic prop in that it is frequently used but there is a reason for that. Handing your players a actual piece of paper in lieu of simply telling them about what it says works wonders for player imagination. They'll likely spend quite a bit of time pouring over the letter given to them looking for hidden meaning or secrets within the message--even better if you actually put some in there. Don't just type out something on your computer and expect your players to jump all over it, put some work in it. It's easy to do. Write your message using some kind of strange or elegant style--it's better to use a thicker pen like a Sharpie or something. Crumple up the piece of paper over and over, rub some damp teabags on it to stiffen the paper and make it look aged. You can burn the edges (careful!) or just tear them to make it appear old as well but be careful not to damage the writing. I've tied ribbons around them, wrapped them around dowels to make scrolls or whatever you need to to make them look more authentic...I put some BBQ sauce on a letter one time to represent the appearance of blood. The more work you put into them the better and more your players will be drawn to look at it over and over throughout the gaming session.

NPC prop-based mannerisms. I've used coins a couple of times now in different games and whenever that particular NPC showed up I would never say a word to the players, I'd simply start flipping a coin or rolling it over my knuckles or whatnot. I've also used hardbound books (I used one with frayed bindings and such) with scholars and such--even to the extent of nearly ignoring the characters behind the book as the NPC was doing. Things like this can add some depth to your NPCs. It's pretty great with recurring NPCs; it was fun to see my players' reactions when one of them finally realized that their GM was nonchalantly flipping a coin (meaning an NPC they weren't overly fond of was there).

For puzzles, traps and such it is pretty sweet to use a visual or even three dimensional figure of them for the players. I've done several of these. One of them was a puzzle lock (they were given some clues earlier what the combo may be) with three circles of different sizes that they had to turn properly. The one I spent the most time with but was very much worth it was a puzzle the players had to figure out. I made three cubes out of cardboard with each numbered from 1-3. Each side of the cubes had a 4x4 grid on it with some squares colored in. The numbers on the cubes represented how a floating cube in front of the party was changing. The colored squares were basically moving around the cubes and they had to figure that out. It was great having the entire party puzzle over these three small cardboard cubes for quite some time before figuring it out.

All in all, I really try to have a prop or two every session whenever I have the time to make a few before game time. I think they are great and work to deepen my games. Anything can work as a prop so think about the NPCs you are introducing or the mood you are going for and make a couple for your next game.

A note about a prop (or tool) that I don't use and don't allow in my games: computers. I hates them. Well, only during game play. I've seen nothing beneficial come from having a laptop at the gaming table. I know that there are numerous applications and programs out there that supposedly help a GM out while running a game, however, in my experience any benefit gained by such applications is far overshadowed by the distraction a computer serves as. People were GMing long before these nifty programs and it worked just fine then.