Hello ,

I was wondering if anyone uses Role playing aides ? such as pictures on your laptop , background sounds on your computer , or props .

Several. In addition to the tokens, standups etc in the game I use:

Syrinscape - For music/sound effects, I have hooked up my iPad to my stereo via bluetooth so I can control the sound from the iPad.

Campaign Coins - As money, much more fun to hand out "real" money to the players instead of just having them write how much they own. It makes loot more fun.

Face cards - Paizo has made several sets of "face cards", which are essentially cards with an image of a character and space for the players to make notes on the back of the cards. Makes it easier for the players to remember who's who and be able to jot down some facts they know about the NPC and gives the NPC a face.

Combat Pad - Paizo has a magnetic combat pad to track initiative and combat rounds, with space to make notes. Have just received it and have not had time to use it, but it feels like a good idea.

Handouts - I often make handouts for letters/maps. Often I print the letters the characters are about to receive and dip them in cold coffee and let them dry to give them a brown-isch hue instead, and then I seal them with wax.

Pictures - Sometimes I show pictures of the places they visit on the iPad, or maps over the empire to give them a sense of where they are.

I actually do not use anything but an iPad. I write my adventure plans and notes in a mail and mail it to myself. Then I just reference my mail on my iPad during gaming while I have a paper pad for any quick notes I need. I find that too many accessories just distract me from actually running the game. Things like syrinscape easily makes me concentrate on finding the right sounds to activate instead of focusing on coming up with cool developments to the adventure.

They look cool on paper, but they never seem to really pay off during play.

It depends on the system. With WFRP I mainly use music.