Games Quarterly Magazine
The second issue of Games Quarterly Magazine has been released. I wrote two articles for this issue, "Start a Game Night" and "Teaching Games." The entire content of the magazine is available for free download; PDFs can be grabbed from the current issue page of the GQM website. I would be remiss if I did not also point out that you can also just subscribe to the magazine.
One of my articles for the next issue will be about common tools or items that are not game-related per se, but which can come in exceptionally handy when gaming (or storing games, or preparing to game...). Laser pointers, for example, are of great use in checking line-of-sight in miniatures games. I want to present a bunch of really great, really original ideas, so I put the question to you, denizens of jefftidballdotcomland: What general-use, non-gaming tools or items do you use in a creative way when gaming?
Comments
A hammer.
(Does wielding it physically against my opponent comport with your definition of "use when gaming"? Also, is aggravated assault considered a "creative way"? If you answer in the affirmative to both of the above, then hammer is my answer. If no to one or both, then my next choice is a Superconducting Super Collider (SSC).
Whiteboards! Used for maps, for current HP totals, for EXP totals, for battles, for knocking silly people over the head with (or should I say, knocking people silly with it?)...
Other then white boards, makeup cases make wonderful storage tools for gaming accessories. Miniatures, dice, game pieces...they all fit so well in makeup cases! :p
Beer. And a Cthulhu fetish. (This might be obvious, but you never know...)
I'm not sure if the little decorative stones that we use for crunchies count.
I was in a game once where we used Oreos to represent opponents on the battlemat, and whenever you damaged one you got to take a bite out of it.
Hey wait a minute.. I recognize that picture in the Start a Game Night article! I had completely forgotten about that, cool! :)
What about those rum bags that were ubiquitous for dice storage for a while? Or the common "figure on top of white pizza box thing" to designate someone who is flying? Combat cards are hardly creative, but so very useful. Also, childrens toys sometimes make great models. I've been looking for the little plastic animals pack for a while, since decent animal figures are pretty rare, and druids need a lot of them...
Hmm, I'll let you know if I think of anything else.
-Tonia