Author: T.L. Barnes

I am a prop making Dungeon Master. Receiving physical elements of a game helps me really get into character when I am a player. One of my favorite characters I played was Fae’li Moonbow, a moon elf multiclassed as an arcane trickster rogue and a cleric trickery domain. With her noble background, she carried with her a few letters of recommendation (some genuine, some she forged). I kept copies of these letters on hand to hand over to the dungeon master to help persuade NPCs. In addition to that, Fae’li had a sketchbook and frequently drew things. I kept a little sketchbook near me to draw funny things as we came across them. That’s my love for prop use in a nutshell.

When I hand over props to my players, it’s pure joy to see the excitement on their faces. Remote play has been interesting, in that I didn’t stop crafting props, but instead photographed the props I made. I didn’t get to see their faces light up though.

Pictured here are the summoning letters that were made to be hand delivered for each character.

Making “potions”

In episode 4 of Son of a Bard, A’lyx receives some medicine to help dull his sensitivity. As a DM, I thought it would be neat to craft representation of these 3 inch vials for Bryan to carry.

To start this project, I got an index card and sketched out the shape of vials, then drew over the outline with black permanent marker. I then took two “purple” markers (Mr. Sketch scented markers, for those that must know) and filled in the liquid for the potion.

I drizzled some clear Elmer’s glue and purple glitter on top of that. I used excess cork board trimming to smooth the glue and glitter so it spread out in consistency. I let this glue dry overnight.

I used some leftover cork board I acquired when crafting drink coasters to make the stoppers for the vials. I shaped these larger then they ended up being, but it’s always better to have access and trim down to the size you want than to have it be too small.

If you were to use thicker paper or a different style medium to color your potion (say crayon or pencil) you won’t get bleeding like I did. I used some Wite-Out to cover this bleeding that occurred, and as you see, it does cover it decently. Ultimately, I ended up using a glue stick to adhere a trimmed index card to the back of the vial. On this blank space, I inscribed the information about the potion so that Bryan can quickly refer to it if he chooses to take a dose.

I cut the vials out from the paper, then used my hot glue gun on its lower heat setting to glue the cork to the top of the vial. I trimmed the cork so it wasn’t as lengthy and that’s how to make little prop potions for your players! You can even do different bottle designs for other potion types. It’s definitely more immersive than a card or sticky note with the information or stopping the game to describe the mechanics of the potion.

Recommendations

• When crafting props that may be important for the plot, like an item with a password concealed on it, just make two. That way if a player misplaces a prop, you have a backup you can pull out so the game can go on.
  • I someday hope to have a permanent game space, where my players will have their own storage cubby to keep their important props in a safe place.
• For most of the crafts I create for the table, I only need to use the low temperature setting on my dual-temp hot glue gun. Always double check the heat setting on your glue gun, especially if you have other people use your tools. I learned the hard way, crafting a cardboard boat that my usual low setting had shifted to high after someone borrowed it. Burns.

More crafting to come

I plan on sharing more crafting projects and videos with you as I make them. Let me know if there is something in particular you want to see built, and I will do my best to share that with you.