Dungeon Master Tip #1: Props, Props, Props

image description: a pile of pink, white, and tan dice on a blue & pink background.

Here’s the situation: you’re a Dungeon Master. You face down any trouble that dares to attack you with your wit, your pencil, your dice, and (occasionally) your tears. And you do great! Your players are invested, the game is running smoothly. Or maybe things aren’t as smooth — maybe you’re still getting into the swing of things, and it’s a little rough. Either way, a question is lingering in the back of your mind:

What can I do to add that little extra flair to my game? To add a little more immersion, to make the players just a little more invested?

An easy answer: props. Not even anything complicated — I’m not saying you need to make full-scale recreations of all of your player characters’ weapons for them to use at the table. (Though that would be really, really cool). Even a simple prop that you can make cheaply or totally for free can really add an extra dash of flavor to your games. And players, in my experience? Will lose their minds over literally anything you throw at them.

So! What makes a good prop? The short answer is: anything that you can make or buy that takes an intangible part of the game and makes it tangible. Here’s some examples of things I’ve done, planned to do, or just think are neat ideas:

Suggestion #1: Little Trinkets

Try to think of small things that exist in-game that you could make physical. Plastic gems or coins, important pieces of jewelry, a scrap of fabric with an important symbol painted or embroidered on it. Anything the player characters will find in-universe that you can hand to your players in-person.

Suggestion #2: Physical Maps

Find a map online or throw one together yourself. It doesn’t have to be complicated, either! Even just a simple town map gets players excited. You can sketch it out on paper, or you can draw it digitally and print it out. You can just put it on the table for them to see from the get-go; or you can find a reason for the characters to have it in-universe (e.g. they purchase it from a shop). Here’s a map I threw together in about 20 minutes for a session last year:

image description: a map showing a gated, circular town with different sections and buildings labelled. the map shows three residential districts, a town hall, a mayor’s house, a jail, and several buildings in a market space.

Suggestion #3: Letters & Notes

Write letters from NPCs to the players! (Or, if your players are the curious kind, write a letter from one NPC to another and see if they try to open it). Handwrite the letter on nice parchment or regular printer paper; or, if you don’t want to handwrite it, type it up and print it. If you’re typing, try out a handwritten-looking font from your word processor.

Regardless of how the letter is written, one final presentation tip: roll the letter up into a scroll and tie it with a bit of string or ribbon. Players love it!

Suggestion #4: Be Creative!

In the finale of the first “season” of the longest campaign I run, the players were faced with a blind vote. They had to vote between Option A and Option B, and the only way for Option A to win was if the vote for it was totally unanimous — five votes for A and one vote for B meant that B would win.

(That probably sounds kind of harsh; but I promise it made sense within the context of the campaign).

So! I went to my local game store and got six clear gems and six black gems from the token bin plus a small dice bag. When it was time for the vote, I pulled out the gem and gave everyone one of each color gem. A black gem was a vote for Option A, a clear gem was a vote for Option B. Everybody closed their eyes. One by one, I called on each player and had them hand me the gem for their choice. The chosen gem got put in the small dice bag; the reject got hidden elsewhere.

Then I had them open their eyes. I cleared my DM screen from the table. And, one by one, they watched as I pulled each gem out and set it on the table. They were on the literal edges of their seats. A group where most if not all of the players have ADHD, and everyone was completely still. I pulled out five black gems…

And then one clear one.

And they lost their shit.

And it was amazing.

All this to say: you know your campaign. You know your players. Look through your adventures and look for opportunities where you can put in a prop that 1) makes sense 2) is doable for you and 3) will excite your players. Other weird props I’ve had included a Pokemon doll being used as a dragon minifig and a piece of poster board with index cards on it as a prop during a trivia game show. If it works, it works!

Extra Tip: Old Paper

Want to add some extra flair to a map or letter? Try this:

1. Get some kind of brown or tan paper — paper grocery bags work great! — and cut it to the size you need.
2. Draw your map/letter/note/whatever on the surface in brown or black pen.
3. Tear up the edges of the paper to make them jagged, then tear a few holes in the paper. You can make sure to avoid the important information in the document… or you can intentionally obscure it.
4. Crumple the entire thing up! Depending on how old/worn it’s supposed to be, you can just do a few folds or you can crumple it into a ball, straighten it out, crumple it again, etc etc until it’s worn to your liking.
5. Take a lighter and very carefully hold it up to the edges — you’re not looking to set the paper on fire, just to blacken it a little! Do this over a sink or something else that you can safely drop the paper into if it catches on fire.
6. If desired: stain it with coffee, tea, dirt, wine, water, or anything else you want!

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more DM tips from someone who mostly knows what they’re doing.