Tales from the Gazebo – Gamer Gifts

Gamer Gifts
By Cape Rust

Keeping with the holiday theme, I’d like to throw a few gaming gift ideas at you. Times are tight, that is no big secret, and depending on the size of your gaming group, trying to bring a little holiday cheer to your fellow gamers can turn into an expensive proposition.

I normally write articles about my take on running games and try to give advice to Game Masters, so you shouldn’t be surprised that I will approach this article from the GMs standpoint. I feel the GM position is a leadership type position, and if you happen to be the person running the game during the holidays, then the regulation of gaming holiday activities often falls on your shoulders. If you are “on duty” during this time and any type of gift exchanges are planned, there are several economical gifts you can give that most players would love.

Dice! I have yet to run into a fellow gamer who has said, I don’t like dice, I have no use for dice and I have no room in my life for dice. Now dice prices span the full spectrum, and are made from all sorts of interesting materials. The type of dice that you give as gifts will be determined by your budget or lack thereof. On the high end there are hand carved dice made of exotic woods and dice made from precious and semi precious metals. There are even dice out there made of bone. All of these dice make wonderful gifts, but the price is high. Buying 8 sets of premium dice for everyone in your gaming group is a quick way to blow your annual gaming budget. I normally reserve gifts like that for really special occasions, like gamer weddings, or for when a member of the gaming group moves away. If you want to give the members of your group a more realistic dice gift, stick with the standard dice sets that you can buy from your FLGS. A box or tube of dice in your players favorite color or pattern shows that you care, doesn’t take up a lot of room and are always useful.

I know the dice were a no brainer, but sometimes the old standbys are old standbys for a reason. If you find that giving your gaming buddies yet another set of dice loathsome there are several other reasonably price alternatives out there. With the rise of electronic publishing, many high quality RPG products can be purchased for a really reasonable price. The biggest problem with gifting products like this is ensuring the recipient has the right device to enjoy this type of product. I store most of my RPG books on my tablet for ease of transportation, however giving a gift like this to the player who loves toting around that over-sized book bag full of books might not be the best idea.

Speaking of RPG books, a buddy of mine had a great idea. He was into Savage Worlds and decided to buy everyone in his group the $10.00 USD Savage Worlds Explorers Edition rulebook. This way everyone in his group had a copy of an inexpensive rulebook for a really cool system. Not only did he give them a thoughtful gift, he found a subtle way to get his entire gaming group into Savage Worlds.

These are just two simple gamer gift ideas that can bring joy to the holiday season. Next week I’ll discuss some unique gamer gifts that cost no money and are guaranteed to arrive on time even if you order them at the last minute! Game strong, and be safe.