How do you use props in your game? Give three examples, and discuss why you use them. What do they bring to the game? Are there any downsides to using them? For those who do convention games, are there differences between the props you use in campaigns and the props you use for con rounds?I have tried to use some props in my game, but not a lot.
I scoured the Everway decks for neat images that I could use in game, and I think I've used one of those once. I also used an image from Final Fantasy (the movie). The image of the city all lit up was how an underwater city from my world looked. Until the group put the lights out. The playes haven't seem all that impressed when I've used these, so my excitement for them has waned over time.
You know, I didn't even consider miniatures until I saw Ginger mention it. We use miniatures all the time for 3e; it's almost a necessity. Some of them are painted, some are in various states of being painted, some are still pewter, and others have a primer coat. And we also use a bag of green goblin/orcish miniatures for the "bad guys" most often. I know my friend Grant has given up on miniatures when he's playing with the family, but that is three people he's GMing for, two of them being children, so it makes more sense. Don't bog down the game with pulling out the battlemat, just use your imagination.
I want to use music, but it would be too much of a hassle, I think.
In my Amber games, I have very rarely used props. *tries to think of instance and fails*
The closest I came was when I was a player, and I had a character with multiple personalities. Most of the players could tell by my attitude, words used, body language, etc. But not all. I started using a card with "Calypso" on one side, and "Ingrid" on the other, so that those who couldn't tell would know.
[I still think my ultimate scene with that was in my original Amber game, Prime, where each NPC I was playing had a different position in the room we were gaming in. In a big group meeting, I moved from position to position (Queen Mother Deirdre was in this chair like *that*, Margarethe was standing here *just so*, Vaughn was over *here*, arms crossed, Ignatius fluttered about *there*), sometimes just to figure out if the NPC would or wouldn't make a comment.]
Back to props. I can't think of any others that I've used. I've had them used in games I've been playing in - for example, my WISH answer from last time, wherein I missed the goodies. The player handouts with news and info and tidbits. Not really "props" but they were used in game and handed out to players.
Oh, wait! Trumps! Back when I first started gaming with Ken and Ken, Ken Alves drew up trumps of all the NPCs and PCs. I still have a complete deck somewhere (he should scan them and put them in the Trump Collection project). We used them to show Ken W. which NPC/PC we were going to call, if we didn't want the others to know. That went really well, actually, and we liked having them on hand. The downsides were only in that Ken could only devote so much time to drawing them, and then color photocopying, getting them laminated and cut out. And if someone joined later, he wouldn't get a set....Ken (I believe) laminated and gave out the originals to their respective players (GM or player).