Sometimes your game needs a little extra push, something to make the immersion into the setting just a little more vivid. One of the best ways to do that is with props of one form or another. When you think about it, this entire website is devoted to props: Miniatures and battle maps help to bring encounters to life by giving everyone a tangible representation of the characters, vehicles, and locations involved. So, in the first of a series of articles on gaming props, let’s take a look at logos and insignia.

Personally, I enjoy using is “in-universe” documents such as military orders, senate proclamations, bounty postings, newsfeeds, memos, and just about anything that might be on a datapad. They make for great handouts, and it gives the players something tangible that provides a conceptual anchor for that week’s adventure. Although it doesn’t take too much work to come up with the document itself, the difference between “random thing written in Word” and “awesome piece of coolness” is having appropriate graphics and logos that make it look like it belongs in the game world.

To that end, I want to show you to an invaluable resource I came across a while back on Wookieepedia: Gallery of insignia, logos, and symbols. (There are also separate articles on Imperial rank insignia and Rebel rank insignia.) Go check out the awesome.

BTW, you do use Wookieepedia to prep for your games, right? It’s a great way to get an overview on any given topic, and it’s the best way I’ve ever found to find a solid bibliography for doing background research. I use it not only in my games but also when editing, developing, or writing for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game product line. There is no single source that does more to help me do the job, and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

This started off as me and some of my gaming buddies quoting easily misinterpreted one-liners from the various Star Wars movies, and the next thing you know I had cooked up a randomized table ready to be taped to your GM screen. Get the t-shirt from my shop at CafePress and wear it to your next game!

And here’s a close-up of the table:

Go take a look! (Also available on dark t-shirt, women’s dark t-shirt, and women’s dark v-neck.)

Today is GM’s Day, a new holiday dedicated to Gamemasters of all stripes as thanks for their dedication and hard work in bringing a campaign to life. It is also the anniversary of the passing of the first Gamemaster, E. Gary Gygax. (We miss you, Gary!)

Give some thought to how you might say thanks to those who sit behind the screen and ask us to roll for initiative. You’d be surprised how far a kind word can go, so make your GM’s day a happy one!