RPG Visual Aids: Paper

Paper, thinnest and lightest material known to hobbyists. It’s also cheap and widely available to many. I imagine that many of you would have at least have access to a computer, the Internet and a printer (either your own or there’s printing shop/facility nearby). Maybe even drawing instruments, digital e.g. MS Paint or physical e.g. colored pencils. Paper-crafted characters and terrain features can be just as good-looking as plastic and metal visual aids.

As Spongebob demonstrated, paper is a versatile medium.

DRAWING YOUR OWN STUFF! The most basic thing you can do yourself (Hence, DIY) is to draw your own character. If you are a good artist and already have confidence in drawing your own character, that’s great. However, if you aren’t, don’t get discouraged. Plenty of games, even video games, would have what some people may describe as bad graphics and art. However, I would argue it’s just stylized art. Take “Kingdom of Loathing” for example. It’s a pretty simple browser-based RPG with stick figure drawings but it uses that stick drawing style and just ran with it. The style reinforces the theme of the RPG and it works great. This can work for you as well. At whatever level of drawing you are, just go with it and use it to reinforce the theme of the RPG.

Stunning designs indeed!

DOWNLOADING STUFF FROM THE INTERNET! Okay, so maybe you are still not confident in your ability to draw and you want better-looking stuff. Of course! There are free pictures on the Internet! Why not, right?

Well, as long as you don’t sell them and use it only for your personal use. Also, make sure to give credit to the actual artist. That said, there are actual people selling drawings online specifically for making paper standee RPG characters. For example, this fellow here on Patreon. Bigger players such as Fat Dragon Games sells paper terrain and models via their website. If you go to DriveThruRPG, you will find a platform for almost anything RPG and downloadable which includes products from Fat Dragon Games and other manufacturers. Take a look at their “Maps & Play Aids” section for maps, terrain, and character models both in 2D and 3D.

A sample from Map Pack 1 by 8radgames.

Looks great and all you have to do is just print it out.

Okay, so you drew or printed your character. Yay! So how do I make it stand? Because you know, paper is not known to be able to stand. Professional manufacturers for game peripherals such as Litko make bases with paper slots so you can just slot in your drawing onto it and your drawn paper character shall stand! Additionally, Fantasy Flight Games also sells plastic stands for the same purpose. However, easier to access and cheaper alternative are those foldback clips you can purchase from your local stationary store. Yeah, it would obstruct most of the art but again, it stands! Alternatively, you can fold the paper to make a stand from the paper itself. Basically, you are making a paper stand; one third will be a picture of your character while the other parts of the paper will be folded to form the stand.

Basically, this. Trust me; there's a terrifying pictures of Later Sarmatian army units in front of those paper standees. If you're wondering, we were playing De Bellis Antiquitatis.

What about the map you say? Terrain feature, buildings, rooms, dungeons, and all that. Same thing as characters. You draw them or you download stuff from the Internet. However, the issue is a little bit different as you would need to decide what medium to draw or print on as well as whether you prefer 2D or 3D. Generally, 2D is much simpler and easier to make, especially when you are dealing with just the X and Y axis. As long as everybody is on the same level, it’s fine. Some clarification and declaration would be needed sometimes if you are on top of a tree or box or even under the table, for example. Using 3D map and terrain, everything is clear instantly because you can see it visually. Drawback for 3D? Maybe it’s more expensive.

That said, I'm biased towards 3D.

Hopefully, this would get you, especially if you are a newbie, into getting some nifty visual aids for your RPG. It just takes a bit of time, effort and resources to get it all ready. Trust me; it’s worth it.

A Case for Visual Aids in RPGs

As the title says, I like to play RPG with terrain and miniatures. However, I want to point out that I do not look down upon theater of the mind or cheap DIY RPG visual aids. I'm just saying that RPGs look a lot more visually exciting with things representing players, monsters, NPCs and the terrain around them. As a species who rely heavily on their sight, "it's better if you see it for yourself" is an apt phrase in a lot of situations.

That looks pretty, right?

Alright, I get it; some people can't afford to buy or the skill to build and paint nice miniatures and great terrain. I get it. There's always the theater of the mind for most if not all people. Yes, good; imagination is good. However, sometimes, people interpret your words differently because you know, different people, different experiences and all that. Visual aids are not just "I got awesome stuff and you don't". It's not about that.

Something something blind people something something elephant.

A part of having visual aids is clarity. You can easily know what's a red box instantly because you see a red box with your eyes. If someone were to describe a red box to a blind man, it would be very difficult. Also, no offense to blind people. I will probably discuss this some other time i.e. how people with disabilities play RPGs. Going back to the issue at hand i.e. clarity, it just makes things clear and for everyone to see. You know where the approximate location of the enemy, you know how far away you are, you know whether you are behind cover, etc.. Everything is clear and you don't have to waste time explaining where everything is.

Yep, it's wood.

Okay, let's say you agree; yes, having visual aids is a "must-have" to have but you can't afford any of the fancy, good looking stuff. You don't have to buy a Rolls Royce if you need to commute to work. Just get something within your means. Tokens! Paper standees! Cheap plastics toys you got randomly from somewhere you can't remember! I saw the other day, on Reddit, someone who drew his own character and made a paper standee. Of course, I gave him the red arrow for it. The paper standee had more character and personal investment than my [online] store-bought miniature. If you can't draw, just download and print a picture of a character from the internet to make a standee out of it. There is reasonably priced papercraft for just about anything that you can download from the Internet. You just need to look and take the time and effort to put it together. I will probably do an article later specifically discussing what, where and how to put together various types of visual aids; paper, plastic, metal, etc..

Business people talking about business in a meeting.

This is what an RPG table without visual aids look like.

But let's say you don't agree; fine, that's your prerogative. That's your stance on the matter. However, I still would like to persuade you. Imagine yourself not being into RPGs and you are at a convention. Now, imagine seeing a table with some people sitting around and just talking about this adventure they are having inside their heads and describing the scene and action. Well yeah, they can obviously see it but you don't. You are not privy to their unseen world. However, you see another table with people also playing an RPG but this time, it has all these wonderful terrain and miniatures. You know what’s going on because it’s all there for you to see and observe. And yes, I’m advocating RPGs to be a spectacle for people to see and be interested in. This leads to an argument for visual aids; it helps in recruiting new players and get more people into the hobby.

Players discussing strategies to defend a village!

This is what an RPG table looks like with visual aids!

I understand that some people would prefer their RPG sessions to be private and not be made a spectacle for other people. Sure, go ahead; it’s your session. However, I’m always in the opinion that people should open their sessions to newbies and newcomers to the hobby. It helps to community to grow and replace the slowly dwindling number of players who are lost for a myriad of reasons e.g. work, marriage, life, etc.. There’s always a need for fresh blood for a community and I feel just keeping to ourselves in our little group in our little cave isolated from the public will not help the community as a whole. Allowing your sessions to be publicly seen in game shops and social media with terrain and miniatures for people to look at and become intrigued will help inform the masses that there are RPG things happening and they know where to look and ask about.

I know it's a prop for some Fortnite Battle Royale thing but as you can see, the props they use certainly does draw people's attention. Same can be done for tabletop RPGs!

Okay, so I made 2 arguments so far for supporting and having visual aids. The other is quite very personal and for the individual. The one other argument I want is that it’s just awesome to have them. Yes, it’s the materialistic capitalism in me talking but having stuff is quite nice. Having miniatures and terrain is a nice thing to have. Having paper standees and cardboard houses is awesome. They look great. They provide a physical representation for your imagination and you can play with them. Toys are meant to be played with.

Sweet, sweet material possessions.

So those are my arguments. It’s not just so for some of us to have cool stuff but also it helps the hobby grow. It lets people see into the made-up world players could see through the eyes of their minds. A glimpse into their private theater of the mind. It gets people interested and intrigued. It gets people looking into the hobby and eventually, get into it. That’s how I think we can grow the hobby; by having nice things to see and using them as advertisements for the hobby.