WISH: Props
I don't use a whole lot of props in my games but sometimes the right picture or right piece of music comes along and I use it.

Pictures are worth a thousand words. It's true. To that end, I've started collecting pictures to use in roleplaying games. I've been buying artbooks; mostly gaming and fantasy art. I've been ripping pictures out of magazines that catch my eye including several illustrations from ads in Previews, a catalog of upcoming comic book releases. I've got a few folders with scraps of magazines and doodles of my own.

I've also started looking for illustrations to use in The Dreaming City website which I have been lazily avoiding working on lately.

As for music, sometimes there is a peice that reflects exactly the mood I want in a scene. In "The Shattered Crystal" Devrim was the caretaker of a castle that was haunted. When the ghost first manifested itself, I wanted to reflect the feeling of stepping back in to another time. I picked out a Jazz song that sounded like it was from the 1920's and played it in the background. "You hear music coming from one of the rooms."

I'm guilty of buying dice themed to a character. For Jubei, the immortal Samurai I play in Champions, I bought three six sided dice that have Japanese numerals on them. They are pretty cool. I use them only when I play Jubei (which hasn't happened in a while). I also have bought dice in colors that have fit a character or setting.

As a GM, I tried playing a horror game by candlelight once. It didn't work. Gamers often need light to see the books or character sheets. Candles might work better in a game like Amber.

For my next campaign, I am coming up with maps. Normally these aren't that important. Players can picture the maps in their head, but for this game I want to make sure that the neighborhood the game is set in is defined and that players know how many blocks away things are. I will also map out the interiors of several of the main locations.

I used to have a wooden Kendo sword. I think it may have got lost in the one of the moves over the years. It was great for handing to a player and asking what stance their character is taking.