Ok players hear me out, I want to be a cool dad.
I'm tasked with giving a party of teenagers something cool for their ttrpg fantasy game.

What's something that the whole party can use/enjoy, something else that's not food, dice and personal miniatures?
Cup holders? Is there are some fidgety stuff you like to do as player while waiting out?
What's something that you as a player would like to have as an extra, on the table?
Something with good reusability, something you use a lot, may also not be something for you as a player but rather for the whole party as characters? Maybe a pet mini for the party?
Post me what YOU would like anon

Tl;dr: Gave the DM a battlemat, I'm looking for something to give to the players that's not food, dice and miniatures. Have a 3d printer and crafting skills.

A pack mule miniature

weed and beers

>>95845611 (OP)
I made myself a laser cut life counter and it has been pretty nifty, at least more than constantly writing hp every time I get hit or heal.
The only problem is that it's 2 digits instead of 3, although that's not too bad since we mostly play in low levels.
Plus it's good as fidget toy lol (when I know my hp is full).
So, yeah, 3d printed counters, or other type of trackers.

>>95845611 (OP)
Serious answer:
Spell effect duration or HP trackers
There's some that are 3d printable iirc (some usable for MTG or customizeable, check this vid, it's about MTG but some are RPG-usable with or without some modification)
You could also make a custom whiteboard with movable magnetic strips for like, initiative tracking. The cool part would be some kind of custom frame.

If it's a large group, a cool thing could be devices which light up with a nice big button, so they can slap the button when others are discussing something and they want to input but not interrupt. The DM can see the light and acknowledge it in turn.

Token-bases to stack minis on to denote effects. Make them nesting and magnetic so that they're more easily stackable.

Templates for spell areas

Case/Cabinet to keep in the game area that holds the party's characters minis on display when not in use.

>>95845811
Forgot to link vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQNxkBwd1N4

>>95845772
3 digit counters are overrated, you did fine with 2, fuck high levels

>>95845861
You're salty that you don't get to play in high level games and it shows LOL

>>95845875
s-shut up

>>95845811
Seconding HP trackers
>You could also make a custom whiteboard with movable magnetic strips for like, initiative tracking
That's a good idea, but it's also more for like a DM than players
Players don't give a shit about tracking initiative, in any of the games i've ever played

If you are willing to waste a ton of plastic, can holders

>>95845611 (OP)
If you got any bennies, meta currencies, fate points etc. that actually change hands during the game, they might enjoy having those in physical form, like magical coins or whatever.

>>95845611 (OP)
A thematic table lamp. Pen & Paper games only really need pen and paper. Give 'em things that set a scene. I've got a nice himalayan salt crystal lamp for Dark Sun. A Warp Core lamp for Star Trek. Just those two, but putting them on the table helps set a scene and light is a bonus when you've got paper and pencils. Everything else is too specific to be "cool." Sure: trackers are a decent idea, but not very much fun. "Wow multi colored rings. Thrilling." Set pieces are also nice if they use a lotta minis, but are so contextual to a specific game that they won't come out much. A lamp or other table decoration helps set a theme every single time. Unless they've got a home base, like a specific inn you could make, or for my Spelljammer game I've got one of the wooden laser-cut models of a Damsel Fly spelljammer as a set piece that is made for minis.

>>95845611 (OP)
Depending on how they play, character sheets with their PC portrait on it, scanned so they can just make new ones when they level up.
Atmospheric lighting or a music stand/soundboard
Or if they use miniatures, treasure tokens. No one really thinks about treasure tokens, but you can use em whenever and everybody likes looking at the piles of treasures, gems, chests, statues, and magical shit they get and it works as a handy tracker for hauling stuff out/encumbrance

>>95845611 (OP)
To be completely real the only things I need as a player are dice and a notepad

>>95849120
In that case, the solution is good notebooks. Most people have no idea just how much paper matters, if they've only used the kinda total garbage that we had back in school.

>>95849120
Yeah but that's barebones
You are at the pit of the fun, the more you have doesn't subtract, it can only add
You don't "need" hp trackers and physical inspiration tokens, but if you have it, you toss it around, why not

>>95849518
Pocket size, of big? Striped, squares or blank? Hardcover or soft? Rippable pages, or hard binded? Art on the cover or not? Fat lots of pages, or slim 20-25 pages?

>>95850816
Sorry, I meant good actual paper. You can find good paper that meets any of those criteria. Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Midori. Actual, high quality paper. Personally I love the ruled clairefontaine triomphe A5 . The kind that, when you run your hand across it, feels like the softest thing you've ever touched.

>>95845611 (OP)

What game systems do they play?

>>95851113
Probably dnd or pathfinder

>>95853708
how can you be "cool" playing dnd wtf

>>95845611 (OP)
>What's something that the whole party can use/enjoy, something else that's not food, dice and personal miniatures?

>>95855097
Lol

Give them each a bottle of Crown Royal. You know, for the dice bag they come with.

>>95855131
>>95855270
doing drugs is not cool

>>95855406
Nerd.

>>95856110
smoking is so last century ugh

>>95845611 (OP)
Themed dice tower or tray. Must be perfectly functional on the inside (proper surface/obstacles, felt-lined etc.) but the outside can be anything from stone tower to steampunky boiler to post-scarcity dice rematerializer.

>>95858275
Felted dice rolling in dungeons and dragons has been a disgrace since critical role and other e-celebs started to play the game
What's wrong with the clickety clack of dice on a table
Fucking kids this days

>>95858485
Fuck off, I've been using a felt-lined dice tower long before "youtubers" were a thing.

>>95858485
>What's wrong with the clickety clack of dice on a table
It gets to you after a while especially if your hungover

>>95858780
>if your hungover
Skill issue.

>>95858649
>>95858780
>gamblers and alcoholics prefer felted trays
Shocker

New character sheets

No hear me out

Proper parchment sheets, traced by hand with deep red non-smudgeable ink. India rubber erasers, not the shitty stuff you get for a bob at the grocery store, but the ones that smell and feel like they actually come from India. Type 2b pencils, with silver caps, maybe in the shape of dragons. I'm going a bit nuts with this, it'd cost a pretty penny. But quality stuff is quality stuff. And you only really get to appreciate it if you're not filthy stinking rich. Ironic.

>>95845611 (OP)
>What's something that you as a player would like to have as an extra, on the table?
Readable cheat sheets are always in short supply, but that's not something you can gift

>>95845729
/thread

how about a dice tower? there are many options to 3d print and paint based on your game's genre

>>95859769
>Readable cheat sheets
what's that?

Something cool is to have a bigger d20 for special rolls

>>95861238
they look cool, but they're just trash desu.
cumbersome to use and to transport.
Not worth it.

>>95845611 (OP)
I know you are asking for DIY objects, but the coolest thing my d&d groups ever got from the parents when we were teenagers was the use of a room with table, chairs and as few interruptions as possible. Often a basement or something where we could game late into the evening without bothering anyone or fear of being disturbed in just the wrong moment when our awkward teenage selves were getting into RPing. So if you want to give the most significant gaming gift possible, provide a safe, nice and available gaming space.
For what you really asked for, make a pen holder that fits a couple of pencils and erasers, if they use a mat add markers, etc. Just a permanent, communal way to organize stationary for the group, and also buy the needed stationary, so they won't have to argue over pencils.

>>95869229
great tips