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So I have a large roll of tickets, the kind that say admit one and have a serial number on each ticket and I was wondering what exactly I could use these for.

I have a few ides already:

Lottery.
When they make purchases at a certain shop they get tickets and the numbers go into a pot and at the end of a certain time period they might have a chance to win prizes.


Carnival.
Simple enough have a celebration at the next town they visit and they can earn tickets to get items.


Just a Prop.
Just use them for when the party needs tickets to an event.

What do you guys think? 

Props should be used sparingly in order to enhance the game and create a sense of immersion. They should be chosen carefully based on the intent and content of the adventure or game. Finding a prop first - especially a decidedly modern one - and then trying to shoehorn the game in around it is completely ass-backwards. A prop for the sake of a prop is a distraction. Do not use them.

Jun 3, 2011 -- 9:32AM, Herrozerro wrote:

Jun 3, 2011 -- 7:58AM, Boraxe wrote:

Props should be used sparingly in order to enhance the game and create a sense of immersion. They should be chosen carefully based on the intent and content of the adventure or game. Finding a prop first - especially a decidedly modern one - and then trying to shoehorn the game in around it is completely ass-backwards. A prop for the sake of a prop is a distraction. Do not use them.

I agree with you on your first sentance, and your second.  But everything afterwards i dont quite.  Tickets are not decidedly modern, quite the contrary in fact depending on the actual setting.

Tickets are not inherently modern, but mass-produced "admit one" tickets are. To me it's like using bingo chips to represent coins. It is a functional stand in but rather than enhancing the game it serves to take one out of it.

And I am not trying to "Shoehorn" them in, I am not going to force them upon the game in an unnatural way, this is why I am asking for ideas.

My point is that trying to find an adventure to fit around a prop, rather than vice versa, is the backwards way 'round. If you had an adventure that naturally called for a ticket then using a real prop would work, but even then you'd be better off making your own "olde timee" looking tickets than using the mass-produced "Admit One" tickets from a dollar store.

You asked for ideas on how to use them and in this case I think the best idea is to not use them. Sure you can find a way but I just don't think this is a good fit. Rather than improving the game I think this anachronistically modern prop would actually impair it.

All IMO, of course.

I've contemplated something similar to the 'prizes' idea, though my resources of these tickets are just a few dozen leftovers from drawer detritus. I do agree with Boraxe to the effect that any 'ticket' prop for in-game use would best serve its purpose if custom created, and so also agree that they shouldn't be used as such.

Rather than using the tickets as a real-life representation of an in-game object, make them a real-life object with an in-game value. Say you choose to reward them sparingly as rewards for fantastic roleplaying, or particularly in-character actions. (This was the gist of my original plan) One of these tickets is good for one request of a recall on a DM ruling.

For example, a character has a percent chance of mishap for a faulty teleportation, or for a scroll misfunction. You roll, consult the table, and describe the desired effect. Perhaps the character teleports into a wall close to their destination, but the player suggests that it would be more interesting to play through their character's actions having mistakenly come to a similar place, hundreds of miles away. That result was within about 10% on the table anyway, so you take their suggestion and their ticket, tearing it up and dropping the character in the middle of nowhere. Instant roleplay with a little control on the player's part.

For something a little more extreme, say a player has three tickets built up from the last five months of sessions. The player approaches you with an idea for a certain addition of the campaign. Say this player puts forth the idea that a known associate of the party might secretively be a member of some unsavory organization. Nothing specific; this player isn't asking to determine a story aspect in its fullness. They only suggest that the tension with their erstwhile ally would be cool to explore, and besides the opportunity for adventures linked to this abounds. You like the idea, and tell the player that you make no promises but will consider the idea under the condition that their involvement remains private, and tear up the tickets.

I don't think I need to throw out more on this idea, but do keep in mind that it would be entirely up to you what constitutes a fair trade for these tickets, and what one must do to earn them. This system allows the players to take a larger part in the progression of the campaign, which I feel can be an invaluable resource in an open-ended campaign; particularly if the world isn't all mapped out.
As I originally conceived this, the tickets are a reward to the players for making an effort to immerse their characters in the campaign world, and for taking an interest in the flow and story inherent to the particular campaign. The tickets then allow the players a little more reign in how immersive they can be or what they can affect. This is a method that has met with great success in my home campaign, (not the tickets, mind you, but the idea) but might not work as well in other camaigns. Something to consider though, I think.

Hope this helps, and happy gaming.