I thought it would be an interesting idea to share some of my less conventional RPG tools, perhaps as a way of saving money.
1) LEGO (or even better, off-brand) building miniatures.
In particular, I like Feleph (Amazon Store - not affiliate link) (https://www.amazon.com/stores/Feleph/page/58760E64-8B3F-4901-8DE0-107533A477A9?ref_=ast_bln) for modern weapons and accessories, medieval weapons and accessories, and their treasure chest set.
2) Architectural building block set
My preference is FAO Schwarz's Wooden Castle Building Block Set (Amazon Store - not affiliate link) (https://www.amazon.com/FAO-Schwarz-Building-Toddlers-Princesses/dp/B076VWH798/ref=sr_1_11?crid=1WQ3KAOJRNYXF&keywords=architectural%2Bblocks&qid=1644186844&sprefix=architectural%2Bblocks%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-11&th=1). I can easily roll up villages and small towns with just a few d6's and some creativity. Roll 6d6 out on a table surface and where each die lands, use a number of blocks equal to the number on the die to build a building.
More coming.... taking a bit of an inventory.
3) A fantasy art playing card deck (or two or three)
I'm using FlonzGift Fantasy Art Poker Deck (Ken Kelly) (https://www.amazon.com/FlonzGift-FANSTASY-Different-Magazine-FG-651-074/dp/B095LW131C/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=FlonzGift&qid=1644187929&sr=8-10) at the moment, but Boris Valejo and Frank Frazetta are also available.
4) Metal coins (also useful in other fantasy board games)
I like the Metal Pirate Coins available from the Beverly Oaks Store. They are about the size of a quarter but have some weight to them and are a little irregular in shape. This so far has been the least expensive metal coin option as I can usually get a 100 of them for about $20.00.
I purchased some cheap rings at Target to hand out as treasure.
When I played as a kid we made our miniatures out of pipe cleaners and pom-poms (the little fabric ball ones, not like the ones cheerleaders use). It actually had some value. My friend's barbarian figure when loaded down with all of the weapons the character actually had, was impossible to strand up. We decided that the PC had to divest enough weapons that the figure could stand up, with the logic that the character probably couldn't stand with that many large weapons either.
I'm also a fan of glass beads for minis, but I've met enough folks that do the same that it's probably not all that weird.
In that same group my players also had the veggie-chip oracle. The chips had 8 or so different shapes, which they assigned meanings like yes, no, let, right, etc. If they didn't know what to do in a situation, they pulled a chip and followed its instructions.
Little round retractable badge holders. Allows you to accurately extend out from a 5 foot square an exact distance
Chocolate coins covered in gold foil. Each one represented 100gp. I'd hand them out with treasure and then watch to see how many were uneaten by the end of the game - uneaten ones were added to the final treasure count. I have not done that in a while though, because they have become both more expensive and harder to find.
My HP RPN calculator 32SII has been in use in various games (but mainly Rolemaster, which often needs calculations) from the mid-90s.
Various Hotwheels cars for a Gamma World session on wheels.
Twist-Tie 25mm minis I make. Got some stands for them too. Just need more colours of ties. Essentially minaturized versions of wire sculptures I made for a school art project many a decade ago. Those were about a foot tall. Used it as a iron golem mini.
I have a jar full of 1000 pennies to show players how much 1000 cp might look. And a asprin bottle full of 100 nickels to show sp as well.
I used an old Dougram model as a giant battlemech for a Battletech session way back at GenCon. Wryly appropriate as Dougram comprised some of the mechs that were used for Battletech originally.
And more.
The most ambitious and sadly lost now was recreating to scale Keep on the Borderland in Minecraft.
When running OD&D in the past, I have used pre-printed pages of random d6 results. Folded in with my other notes, it allows for me to 'roll' without anyone being aware.
Quote from: Trond on February 09, 2022, 05:19:34 PM
My HP RPN calculator 32SII has been in use in various games (but mainly Rolemaster, which often needs calculations) from the mid-90s.
Had one of those until I found the 48GX which is pure perfection.