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.
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.
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