bepnewt
I recently purchased some custom dice for myself ( Steampunk dice ) and three for a friend of mine ( Starcraft II Themed - one for each race ) from Abraham over at "DiceCreator's Blog":http://dicecreator.wordpress.com/ .
I'm thinking about buying some as some sort of prize or even loot for my players. I use "Paizo's GameMaster Cards":http://paizo.com/gameMastery/itemPacks right now for the items they have, but I think some magic dice found in some loot somewhere would be a cool prop instead of just using one of the Paizo cards.
I am definitely going to mess around with his "Laser Printed Dice":http://dicecreator.wordpress.com/2010/05/20/open-source-dice-making/ to make a set. In one of our campaigns, the players ( my Gnome and a Magi ) like to play Liar's Dice so having dice as a prop that are themed with magic symbols or something would be cool.
What kinds of props do you guys use in your games?
-BEP
Comments
I like the crystals because as they pick them, they change the overall odds (decreasing the number of clear crystals as opposed to blue/red. Clear crystals can be used to grant a complete additional turn at any time during combat (even in the middle of an enemy phase... I have player/enemy phases rather than a staggered initiative. It's a hold over from my Langrisser days). Blue crystals allow the players to make a permanent improvement to their character. This is the only way that the characters ever get any stronger in my game. I don't use traditional levels. The characters gain new powers, feats, abilities, and stat bonuses via crystal picks, which I think better exemplifies the idea of a person improving gradually as he or she experiences hardships and overcomes adversity. Red crystals count as three blue crystals. Also, if someone picks three clear crystals, he or she can substitute them for one blue crystal.
You would pick four crystals. The first crystal is a clear, which changes the odds of getting a blue on your next pick in your favor, as you keep the clear crystal you just picked out of the bag for the remainder of your picks. You pick your remaining three crystals, and the odds are fairly strong that at least one of them will be a blue crystal. That means you would have three clears and a blue, and as I said, you could exchange those clears to earn an additional blue crystal. Then, you customize your character to your liking, adding new stats, feats, or even powers under the proper circumstances.
Then, you return your crystals to the bag and the next person begins to pick their crystals.
My experience system is unusual, and as such, I never really bring it up here on Obsidian Portal. I don't think I explain it as well in text as I can in person at the table. My players absolutely love it, though, because the odds are strong that they can micro-level their characters a little bit between every session, rather than waiting for that last 100 xp to come along so they can finally get the benefit of all their hard earned experience in one lump amount. I don't think traditional xp/leveling allows for gradual. organic improvements in characters. When a character considers his achievements, he or she should consider how long and hard the road was behind them, and whether they feel prepared for the road ahead and beyond the horizon. They shouldn't think "well, I'm level 6, and the encounters I am facing have been CR 9, so I should..." That takes players out of the story and puts them into the mechanics too much. I want players to believe they got that extra point of Constitution they spent a blue on because they have been physically conditioning themselves to be more resilient, or that the new power they just learned is a culmination of the recent experiences they have had.
I don't use the established powers from 4th Edition D&D in War is Hell. Everyone has to make up their own at-will, encounter, and daily powers, and they have to make sense and be personally linked to the character's physique, history, and personality. That way, as they improve, it feels more like their characters have "grown" and "matured", rather than "leveled up."
The rules-oriented people that play my game love this system. There are rules. They just aren't the ones in the book. I only even call it 4th edition because I found that system most conducive to he kinds of modifications I was looking for. I have honestly never run a game using stock rules from a book. I don't think that we're supposed to. The spirit of tabletop gaming is in being creative and using what works while modifying or outright abandoning what doesn't.
Cheers,
-Arsheesh
But, that Rules page is meant to be filled with things like this. I suppose, for you guys, I can make that my next major project. :)
Thanks, guys! I'll begin working on this right away.
Thanks for that link, Curufea. I've been reading about the newer 3D printing technologies and dice are a great product to "print".
-BEP