Props to Paper

Post/Author/DateTimePost
#1

zombiegleemax

Oct 03, 2003 10:36:00		There are many ways to enhance a gaming session, ranging from miniatures to music. Threads come and go discussing best music to listen to at the table to cheap fixtures for indoor room fixtures and outdoor terrain. One of the few enhancers that come up on the WotC boards is discussions of props, their use and their manufacture. I feel these are some of the easiest of all game enhancers to come by and most often overlooked. There is some bad dogma associated with game props; that is that props are expensive while they also require a lot of effort and skill to produce. With this article, I hope to share with you a quick and easy prop that can enhance any gaming experience.

First, before I delve into the manufacturing and handling of this singular prop, the premise of props should be discussed. From years of experience, I can say that there is two overlooked key elements when adding a prop to the game. The first overlooked element is that the prop should be hand held and portable; the more a player handles a prop, the more likely they will remember that prop for years to come. The second element for designing effective props is that the item needs to have a multiple session lifespan; if the item is used in a single session and then discarded, it will be just as easily discarded from the memories of the players.

Having stated these elements, there are two kinds of hand held, portable props that will have a multiple session lifespan. These are small trinkets and paper objects. Trinkets could range from anything like an amulet of protection to a small bottle with a stopper to a jewel encrusted box; these items are in the slightly more time consuming category of prop making and they also have a slightly shorter lifespan. On the other hand, and the focus of this article, there are the paper props. These are easily enhanced for game play and can literally have a campaign spanning life, depending on the purpose of the paper.

When deciding to make a paper prop, the content of the paper for in-game purposes should be considered heavily. For a one-shot note, used only once in the middle of a specific adventure to inform the PCs to meet an NPC at a given location is almost a waste of prep time in preparing the paper as a game prop. For short use or one shot items, just pass a note and be done with it. However, if the PCs are going on a treasure hunt adventure or exploring a wild portion of the campaign, a detailed map could well be a campaign prop that the players use for many campaigns to come. Another paper prop with a greater lifespan is the mysterious note or contract. Both are similar in that the clues and/or progress happens through a series of adventures; with the mysterious note each new clue will be more enjoyable than the treasure for that adventure and, with the contract, it will give players a reference for what detailed information that they might normally keep asking the DM to repeat.

Having decided on the content of the paper, consideration should be given to the visualization of the paper; that is how it looks, what sort of eye candy will be made. I believe most everyone agrees that off-color paper will more than likely achieve an aged affect appropriate for a fantasy setting. There are hundreds of ways to achieve an aged coloration to the paper without going to your local art supply store and buying fancy paper. Several threads crop up on the boards that discuss the use of teas and herbs to die the paper. While this is a viable method, this is not the only means to age the paper. A very cheap method to aging paper is to cook the paper in an oven (sorry a microwave will not do for this effect). If a stove is out of the way due to hazards and one does not want to spend money, an even simpler method can be utilized. While it is raining, take the paper to be used outside and place it on a patch of dirt; this is just as, if not more, effective than cooking the paper.

Now, while the above methods both work for adding color to a paper to give it an aged looked, spending some money and dying the paper is an even better method. Tea is the most often used method for aging paper and it is very easy. Use the tea bags like normal and put the paper into the water with the tea bags. Depending on the type of tea, various degrees of coloration can be achieved. To enhance the effect, I find that boiling the water with the teabags and paper in it helps a little. However, there is another alternative to tea bags and this is my method of choice.

This last method for aging paper is not for everyone, I am sorry to say, as there are age restrictions on the product. This is tobacco, specifically pipe tobacco. Much like boiling the water with tea, this is the recommended application of using tobacco when aging paper. Pipe tobacco comes in a variety of coloration and the darker tobaccos are best for dying paper. Not only will this color the paper, but as it is drying, more of the tobacco stained water can be placed to add coloration to various areas of the paper. Also, if there are creases in the paper or indentations, the darker tobaccos will gather here offer more of a visual effect. On top of all this, not only does this paper offer a pleasing visual effect, but it has a very aromatic effect as well and, with the right tobacco, can produce a very nice aged, musty smell to the paper.

Even after coloring the paper to give it an aged effect, there are several more things that can be done to further enhance the paper prop. There is the act of crumpling the paper repeatedly; this should be done both before and after the colorization of the paper discussed above. Not only does this give the paper an interesting texture for the players but it also makes the paper feel softer whereas new paper is crisp and clean.

Some people always like to think that burning the paper is a good effect yet, I disagree completely. The first thing is that this can be dangerous, yes come cocky people will think this ridiculous and that they can just easily blow out the fire before it gets out of control, however people like myself who work with papers (art students, people with art degrees and artists that work on paper) will know that not everyone knows the quality of the paper. While some do burn slowly, others burn more rapidly and it is a natural reaction to let go of a burning object when the flame is out of control. Likewise, there are times when the fire will not be visible to the naked eye and can easily get out of control and easily ruin all the prep work done so far to the paper. Burning paper to achieve a desired affect is time consuming, requires a controlled environment and it requires practice to understand the quality of paper and its burn rate; this isn’t worth the effort to creating a simple prop for an RPG.

Aside from burning, a much more enjoyable effect is ripping the paper. This might sound lame to some readers, but it is much more enjoyable than some people realize. One thing people tend to notice is that the ripped portion looks very odd and unrealistic. This is simply cured with some water; the water used to dye the paper is very good for covering the rip marks on paper. Not only can this give the paper a tattered look, but it can really make for an interesting paper puzzle and increase the lifespan of the paper. Ripping the paper completely in half, or into smaller sections, can increase the lifespan of the paper even further. Literally, receiving a new piece to the map or puzzle can be the best portion of a treasure for the players themselves because it gives them something to do themselves with that paper.

A point should be given to putting material on the paper; that is writing on the paper itself. From experience, this is best done after the paper has been dyed but before crumbling and softening the paper begins. It can be riskily done before dying it, but that depends on ones knowledge of the ink used on the paper. Some will run and bleed when introduced to water. Likewise, doing this after softening the paper will be difficult as the friction of the pen can easily rip this paper. Another thing to consider before writing on the prop itself is to work on a draft on a new, crisp piece of paper. Achieve the look that is to be placed on the prop before actually doing it will save someone from making a mistake that could literally ruin the preparation process done before writing on the paper.

So, I hope with these simple solutions to paper props, everyone has a better understanding of using paper as a game enhancer. The next time you want to make the game session that much more memorable, consider using a cheap, inexpensive game prop with a long life span. Just remember, keep it small and make sure the content has a long lifespan in the campaign itself. Rip out a page from your notebook, color and crumple it and you’ll have a hit at your next session.