Liar's Dice

I love using props in game; so last night I added a hands on game in the game. The Player’s Handbook offers proficiency with a gamer’s set for some of the backgrounds but I’ve never found instructions for how to play the D&D in game games that it lists. I didn’t want to use chess or have the PC’s play poker with the playing cards because I was afraid that using such everyday games would pull the players back into reality instead of enriching the role-playing. I decided to have the PC’s play Liars Dice in the tavern. Some of you may have seen Liars Dice before; it was featured in the Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man’s Chest. I think this was very successful because it was something different and it fits in perfectly at the port city tavern.

Room Markers and Tabletop

I got tired of my players using post-it notes on the table to mark the dimensions of rooms. My solution was to use stone spray paint on Duplo blocks to make D&D wall markers for our table. As a side note our playing table is upcycled from a coffee table I hated. I took the top off and wood burned in a grid. The squares are 1.5” by 1.5”, perfect for minis.

Dice Tray

So it was one fall that we started playing D&D and Omar keep complaining because the table we were using at the time was padded and he couldn’t hear the dice roll. Now I agree, it’s nice to hear the dice roll but it doesn’t ruin the game for me when someone uses a dice roller or when the table is padded. It was ruining the game for Omar which, because we had to hear about it on every dice roll, was ruining the game for the rest of us. I let them use a decorative autumn tray I had to roll their dice, with the stated expectation that Omar would come up with a permanent tray. That never happened and my decorative tray got ruined. So just yesterday I finally broke down and repainted my tray to make it an official dice-rolling tray. Why we still need it when they can roll on the new wooden table I don’t know but here it is and this is how I made it.

I started by repainting the tray black. Then I printed off the design on regular printer paper and cut it out. I applied a coat of mod podge to the back of the paper and placed it on the tray. Then I let that dry before applying a coat of mod podge over the top. Just a tip: when you print your design let it dry for a bit so the ink doesn’t smear when you do your top coat of mod podge.

Inspiration Tokens

I was inspired by another DM to make these. They are Inspiration tokens made from wood slices embellished by a wood burning tool. Now I have something physical to hand my players when they earn inspiration. I like having props that make the game more tangible.

DIY Potion Bottles

These are super simple to make.

I used the jars from an old spice rack. Wash them out really good and fill them with water. Add a few drops of food coloring and stir with a chopstick. Keep adding water and stirring until you have the shade you desire, then cap with the bottle toppers or use a cork.

Making Your Own Parchment Paper

I like using props when I DM and one of my staples is making maps and notes for the players that look like old parchment. Here's how I do it.

When making notes I use my computer to print them out in a font that I feel suits the tone, theme, and purpose of the quest. If you need to find some interesting fonts check out dafont.com for some great ones.

Maps I tend to hand draw on printer paper.

Either way, once you have your note or map you'll want to make the edges less perfect. There are two options that I use. First, you could just carefully tear down each edge of the paper. The second is to burn the edges with a lighter. *Be very careful when doing this both for safety and not to burn away a part of the map or note.

Now to make it look and feel more like parchment. Brew a batch of tea and let it cool to room temp. Once cooled I pour it into a glass baking dish that will fit the paper. Submerge your paper in the tea. Ideally, you want to let it soak over night and I don't recommend putting more than three pieces of paper in. If you don't have over night or just don't have the patience a couple of hours will get you a light version of the effect.

After it's soaked I carefully pull the paper out of the tea and set it on a crumpled up bath towel and use a blow dryer on it until the page is completely dry.

Viola, you've got parchment!