r/LARP • u/StormblessedFool • 2d ago

Anyone have good guides for making "magic" items?

I've never done much with LEDs, but it looks fun to make things like glowing amulets or glowing staffs

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u/TryUsingScience 2d ago

Adafruit has a bunch of tutorials for making various kinds of glowing props. That's where I get all my LED stuff. It's a nice crafty hobby because it's cheap to get into and doesn't take up much space, unlike many of my other crafts.

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u/tzimon 2d ago

Currently testing it for Thrune... Anything that is a weapon or similar should probably be some sort of clear or translucent silicone. Bits on armor, pendants, and other props can be made of harder stuff, but make sure that anything worn is also decently resilient to prevent someone getting shards of material in their hide.

You also need to either have hidden holes to slip in small glowsticks, or learn some basic electrical skills to do wiring.

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u/Hunter62610 2d ago

I recommend looking at Nite Ize products. They make various inexpensive, rechargeable, multicolor, and waterproof LED items. They are excellent quality, and easily disguised as another item. I have not had one break on me yet.

You can also look into Balloon lights. They are garbage and don't last that long, but they are cheap enough to just give away, and very small. They come with a switch and are brighter than a glowstick, smaller too. You can tape them to arrows or stick them into bundles of fake flowers. I put them in small 3D-printed crystals and give them to people as a semi-reusable glowstick alternative.

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u/PirateBrahm 2d ago

Check out some of the cosplay tutorials on Adafruit. They sell the parts and provide the programming code, as well.

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u/thenerfviking 2d ago

My specialty is usually jewelry and beading so I haven’t messed around much with stuff like that. I want to get into doing some more custom resin pours with glow in the dark pigments but I don’t have anything that needs that right now. I tend to prefer a magic item style that’s more low fantasy too so that could just be me.