It's Christmas present time, and I'm low on money. Since free is cool, computers are handy, and handmade is always in style, let's mix them for Free RPG Stuff in a Neat Container.

Here's the concept: you judiciously choose from the finest of free RPG goodness out there. There are scenarios, add-ons, entire games, and my favorite-- 3D paper miniatures and buildings. I'll show you some sites for them.

But once you have the free stuff, we're not going to be tacky and just email them as presents, or stick them on a CD and say we're done. Instead, you're going to create the perfect container, a custom USB key drive. If you've ever painted a miniature, you're ready to make the coolest keydrive ever. And if you want to step up with a hot glue gun, we'll show you how to be even cooler. You'll practically melt with coolness, you'll be that hot.

Mixed metaphors aside, the result of your efforts will be a one-of-a-kind artifact for your intended target... err, recipient.

That's the plan: get free stuff, buy a cheap USB keydrive, then mod the case to make it game-geeky-wonderful.

First, Find Free Gaming Stuff

There is a ton of free, legit RPG stuff. Note the 'legit'-- nothing spoils Christmas like giving someone pirate warez that undermine the industry and open them to copyright violations. Let's show some class, okay? Here's the scoop on the real freebies.

First, you can browse downloadables superstore DriveThruRPG for 972 items in their 'free stuff only' category. These include quickstart rules, teasers, genuine adventures, and my fav free category, paper foldable minis!

Start with the foldables. These are PDFs you print, cut and fold into scenescapes. Well, not you, your intended recipient gets to have the assembly fun. A great way to spend a snowbound day, for adults and kids alike. Choose from 2-D layouts, paper miniatures and assorted 3-D figures and buildings.

You can also browse that site for free written material. Other sources include the 100+ free D&D adventures list. Many of these were created for Free RPG Day, and all are direct from the source. Most notably, Wizards of the Coast has an extensive archive of classic material for free.

For indy gaming goodness, go to 1kM1kT, or the annual Game Chef contest. Game Chef in particular is handy because you can choose proven winners, and who doesn't like to receive a winner for XMas? There's also Chris's Compendium of Free RPGs over at Homebrew.net. Between those three sites, you can find something of anyone.

Next, get a cheap USB Key Drive

Seriously, these are $5 at your local discount shop, Five&Below, or office supply store. Since you're only storing PDFs (not movies or music) and you want to go with hand-picked items, not entire libraries, a 1GB or 2GB drive has plenty of space for this purpose. If you're tempted to spend more cash to buy a larger or pricier one, remember-- you're going to just attack it with a razor blade anyway. If you have money to burn, buy some excellent non-free PDFs for the present with your extra cash.

Making it Cute

Now it's time for the customizing. If you're into miniatures painting, just take a plain-cased USB flash drive and paint it. Use enamel paint. Avoid painting the portion that actually sticks into the computer and you can't go wrong!

For some examples of painted flash drives, peek at Mimobot's 'Designer USB Flash drives'. Okay, maybe $25 isn't too much for their Hello Kitty flash drive, but $40 is way too much for ThinkGeek's Boba Fett. So let's get back to Doing It Yourself.

If you want to create a custom case of unusual shape and pedigree, there's a good tutorial on how to extract, glue, and otherwise mod a standard USB flash drive up at HouseHoldHacker, and some great walkthroughs on specific designs at Instructables.

In addition to the ideas from the Instructables link above, check out this great collection, including my favorite: the bottle opener/USB drive!

Enjoy the holidays!

Sandy
sandy at rpg.net