Props / Aging Paper

[Guest taxboy4]

Hello Boys and girls

 

I've read somewhere about a trick to age normal photocopied paper, can anyone remember how, good for those found "lost" scrolls

 

Also , I'm on my summer break and want to wow my group in the 06 year - can others please suggest easy props i can use and give to them to spice things up??

 

xx

 

Mr Big

[mvoncannon]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

I can't really help with the aging of paper. As for props,

http://www.herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16292

[Dale A. Ward]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

I've read somewhere about a trick to age normal photocopied paper' date=' can anyone remember how, good for those found "lost" scrolls[/quote']

 

The best way I've found to make regular paper look old is...

 

1) Crumple the paper into a tight ball, then open it up and smooth it out.

 

2) Make some hot tea.

 

3) Put the paper in a square casserole dish so that it's completely inside the dish.

 

4) Pour the hot tea over the paper and let it stand for a couple of minutes.

 

5) Carefully remove the paper from the tea and hang it up to dry. You may even want to iron it to remove any unnecessary wrinkles... just be sure to use a LOW heat setting!

 

On the other hand, you can go to practically any office supply store (Office Depot, Staples, etc.) and pick up a ream of certificate paper. The stuff looks like parchment and is not that expensive.

 

Happy New Year!!

[Guest taxboy4]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

Sweet - thanks!!

[Curufea]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

With some paper you may want to get rid of any glossiness from a "wax" side. I do the tea thing too (you could also use lemon juice and heat). But to wear the paper, rub some sand or dirt over it - gets rid of glossy.

 

There are some really good sites for making props for Call of Cthulhu, especially the Tomes, which are worth looking at-

 

http://www.hyperwerx.net/cthulhu/library.html

[hancock.tom]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

You may even want to iron it to remove any unnecessary wrinkles... just be sure to use a LOW heat setting!

 

While this is true for the iron, your average bic lighter can do a lot to make a paper look old and worn. Also, I recommend the lemon juice plus heat method but the tea sounds like it may be more efficient.

[Basil]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

The best way I've found to make regular paper look old is...

 

1) Crumple the paper into a tight ball, then open it up and smooth it out.

 

2) Make some hot tea.

 

3) Put the paper in a square casserole dish so that it's completely inside the dish.

 

4) Pour the hot tea over the paper and let it stand for a couple of minutes.

 

5) Carefully remove the paper from the tea and hang it up to dry. You may even want to iron it to remove any unnecessary wrinkles... just be sure to use a LOW heat setting!

According to an aquaintance, it works a little better if you put some treebark in hot water and boil that up; being more similar to the paper, the effect (he claims) is more realistic.

 

Don't forget that you can make it look old by giving it uneven staining; make it look like stuff's been spilled on it, etc. Using tea or bark-boilin's and dripping or splashing it over the paper (after the all-over stain) works nicely. So does splashing water on the paper and not drying it off well. These can be done before or after marking up the paper with the letter, maps, or whatever.

 

 

Another thing you can do is, very, very, VERY carefully use a candle to scorch the edges. A candle is better than a lighter, match, etc. because you don't have to use a hand to hold it, leaving one hand to hold the paper and the other hand to hold a glass of water to douse things if the fire gets out of hand (or two hands to hold the paper if it's a large one). BTW, this should DEFINITELY be done outdoors, well away from anything easily ignited.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

Miskatonic.net has some good stuff on it. Specifically, the article on making a Mythos Tome.

[Thia Halmades]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

I use coffee, but the effect is the same. If you're feeling particularly hard core (and don't mind wasting good coffee) you can compare the separate effects and see how that works for you. Dale's suggestion of crumpling first is a good one, especially if you roll it around a bit and soften it up. Dredging it through the dirt, scorching edges, these are all the gold standards of instant relic. Foom.

 

Other simple props include:

 

Clothes you wear, a small trinket worn by an NPC (preferably a dead one, but make sure the trinket is important to the plot, and that you don't mind losing it - anything you'd get at Claire's should suffice, or any mall stand that sells that sort of thing. Nothing flashy, mind, but something relevant to the now dead NPC that provides a clue.

 

Always pictures. Always music.

 

Your voice. For me, that's the money shot, that's what I do. Write more, think more, and let your imagination and preparation tell the story. I use props for emphasis, not to overshadow or hide any DMing skills I have. Just a thought.

 

Generally speaking, everything those guys said is dead on.

[Cancer]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

I too have used partially burned paper. In fact, if you can handle it, it's really cool to write out your document in full, then take the fire to it. If you have a spare phone book (or other dense book you don't mind completely trashing), putting the sheet in the phone book and taking your fire-source-of-choice to the closed phone book does an OK job of just charring it around the edges. If you want more than that, it takes luck and practice.

 

Doing this in your back yard next to your barbeque, with your garden hose at ready, keeps the pyromania under control.

 

If you want real special effects, after you burn it, douse it, and dry it out, keep it at your bathroom sink for a while. The next time you cut yourself shaving (or come into the bathroom with a cut of some kind, looking for a band-aid), bleed a little on your prop. Nothing like the real thing for that effect.

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

Sometimes in the movies or in books you'll see or hear an old document (usually a map) described as being written on a piece of thin leather or hide. Believe it or not, it's pretty simple to get a nice, looks-and-feels-good substitute, for practically nothing!

 

Many grocery stores still offer you the choice between paper and plastic. The next time you go shopping, get paper instead.

 

Cut out a large piece of the paper bag, preferably one without the store's name one it, and without the place where the paper overlaps and is glued together. (It may well not be possible to do both; when in doubt, avoid the glued strip.)

 

Crumple it up as best you can; flatten it out. Do it again. And again. And again. (Try doing it while watching TV or something so you don't end up bored. It'll make the time go by faster if you have something else to do.) What you're doing is breaking the fibers in this rather coarse, dense paper.

 

Eventually, what you'll have is something with practically no wrinkles, is very limp and floppy, but is thicker than the usual paper. In other words, it feels quite a bit like thin leather!

 

A couple of cautions: First, it is possible to tear the paper during this process, so I suggest you get more than one paper shopping bag; you may well need the extras. Second, when writing on it or drawing on it...many inks and types of pens (especially the 'Flair' marker-type pens) will bleed, often pretty badly. Don't be too concerned about this, because if you've ever written on scraped-thin leather using an old-fashioned nib pen & inkwell ( ) you'll know the ink there tends to feather a bit as well; you'll just have to look at the finished product and use your best judgment. (I mention this just so you know that a bit of feathering is more authentic, not less. )

[Curufea]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

And if you want authentic - offcuts at leather stores (or possibly craft stores that sell leather as well) aren't that expensive.

 

Water damage to paper usually comes immediately after fire damage to paper, BTW

 

There's also some interesting re-enactment websites out there - some go into the details on the creation of parchment (thin leather for bookmaking). Very interesting, if a bit too involved for the average person. Note - modern usage of the word parchment may confuse you on 'net searches, because stationers use it for thicker paper as well.

[Guest taxboy4]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

Cheers Guys, all very good stuff!

[Guest taxboy4]

Re: Props / Aging Paper

 

I tried the tea thing, worked well, but best not to pin on clothes line to dry

 

after a fewe rips I draped over the hotwater tank

that worked real good

my players were mucho impressed