So, my players and I have recently started a campaign, and to speed up the process of combat, I've mostly done away with the battlemat and we have most combat take place in the theatre of the mind. (I do still break out the mat on occasions, mostly where the specifics of the terrain are important to the fight.) And me and my players both seem to like playing this way. It's led to us role playing more throughout combat, and getting through combat (which used to take hours) much faster.
However, not having a mini for your character is something that I miss. I felt that it added more flavor to the game. So, my question is, what sort of props do/would you use if you wanted to bring some of that flavor back into the game?
So far I've had a series of gemstone that represented various elements for a puzzle (really just a bunch of cool rocks bought from an apothecary near my house), and a library card for my sorcerer (who was a librarian before becoming an adventurer). I also at one point considered bringing my guinea pig to the table for a bit to play the roll of a "dire, half-fiendish guinea pig". This ended up not happening for fear that she would either pee on the table or start eating dice.
Pretty soon you guys will be crossing your arms saying your invisible or something.
All kidding aside, we uave worn crowns and helms and eye patches, including bringing to the table actual maces and and swords and stuff, but that got old quick.
I've toyed with the idea that real life "cat hazards" actually manifest in-universe. I suppose that's a sort of prop?
Also, ambience sound effects or even music when appropriate can really help the atmosphere of a scene, particularly if you have good narration skills.
Player handouts are always a great way to reinforce critical plot points or clues for later. They can also be puzzles in themselves, containing useful information buried in miscellaneous drivel.
Physical maps you can use a ruler to measure the distance of overland travel help solve questions like "how far did we move today" or "is that city within range of a Teleport spell?"
A tactical battle grid is, in my opinion, essential to the core concept of the Pathfinder game, as without it you have no idea whether there's proper line of sight, concealment, cover, attacks of opportunity, flanking, terrain hazards, range of spells, and so forth.
Music is a background element that really helps with player immersion and breaking the ice, when you're with a group together playing at the same table. A good playlist of suitably epic background music for combats can get everyone pumped up.
An array of snack foods is an essential prop featured at the best tables. Especially if it contains a few cold beers.
we were using minis long before we used a battle map. There's just something awesome about having a figure painted up exactly like you're own character sitting there on the table or lined up in a 'marching order' to make a game more fun.
For combat, if you want to keep it 'theatre of the mind' but have the minis present and show the initiative, make a large board with space for each of the player minis on one side, and then put their initiative number next to it.
That way everyone knows where they are at in the initiative while still bringing a little bit of that 'mini' feel.
I've also discovered after playing online that printing pictures of things players encounter and holding it up kills about half the 'could you repeat that' questions when describing something.
It also allows me to be 'silly' at some points.
For combat, if you want to keep it 'theatre of the mind' but have the minis present and show the initiative, make a large board with space for each of the player minis on one side, and then put their initiative number next to it.
That way everyone knows where they are at in the initiative while still bringing a little bit of that 'mini' feel.
You can also use the minis to show who is fighting who, even without a map. This is especially useful if you have uneven numbers in a combat, and thus need to keep track of who is and isn't currently engaged in melee, and which character(s) are being ganged up on.
For another example, in the PFS scenario I played in last night, we had to fight two guardian monsters while moving objects within a puzzle room. The GM asked if we could do it "theater of the mind" style rather than draw out the tactical map, which would have needlessly complicated the puzzle component of the encounter. We agreed, so after he wrote out the list of object positions, we just put our minis beside the locations where we were manipulating pieces and/or fighting each round.
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Little stuffed animals or figurines are great for familiars and animal companions. I've found it helps people remember they exist (especially familiars, since they aren't in combat as much).
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Update: All great suggestions, and since posting I have added in a stuffed animal for my sorceresses' familiar (a raven named, of all things, Rayvon) a business card for my rogue that owns a trap emporium, and in the next session our samurai is going to find a magical sword that can turn into a pen (for the purpose of hiding it in weapon free areas) and he will be receiving a nifty looking calligraphy pen to be his sword.
Also, anytime one of my PC's gets a letter, they now get a physical letter (cardstock and envelopes are pretty cheap) which I seal with wax from a melted candle, and press with a 'seal' (something I carved into the end of a wooden dowl I had lying around). So now everyone gets excited when they get a letter, because they get an actual letter.
Occasionally giving treasure that is a prop can be cool.
I remember once a GM found a narrow IR tube from something at a surplus store. Suddenly it became a (rather fragile) wand with the command word "Infrared!". Yes, the word was printed on the 'wand'.
I've frequently used index cards for items given as treasure, but if you are more artistic than I am you could make cards with individual artwork.
I like having pictures of NPCs, although that isn't always practical.
We once had a social event where we (the players) brought in the food for the event that the players were having.
I have used stuffed animals and/or puppets for familiars and animal companions.
Ed Bourelle of SkeletonKey Games has done some incredible prop scrolls as a Kickstarter campaign. The one for level one scrolls is over, but the one for level two are starting soon. The photos are cool and don't remotely do them justice. The weathering is both sides and some of the backs have bits of art as well. As we blew the project out of the water with support and got to vote for additional spells, one of the things we focused on were scrolls that would be more "generic" and so usable for multiple spells - for instance, Summon Monster I could be used for almost any summon creature spell. I highly recommend these.
Go to:Spell Scroll Kickstarter