I like to use miniatures for RPGs. They are handy for keeping a clear idea of where characters are, particularly in some systems. They also give something tactile for the player's to engage with. For fantasy games I have had years to build up a collection to cover most situations. However for sci-fi games, there are less options in general and they tend to be more expensive. Also, while fantasy has collapsed into a general aesthetic, sci-fi has lost of different looks (space marines, flash gordon, etc.). The issue is even further compounded for my Star Wars games. Since the look is so closely tied to licensed works, it adds to cost and availability (especially when existing options are tied to a collectible game)
So, I opted to make paper tokens. This is something I had done before, so I had supplies on hand.
-I opted to swap out all the minis from the Castle Ravenloft board game to tokens so I could keep the minis with my D&D supplies and leave the game playable, but that is another discussion
The art for the tokens was easily obtained with an internet search, though some species/class combinations are trickier than others (looking at you Female Wookie Jedi). A quick trip to photoshop, and the color printer game me nice token art on come cover stock paper. I use cover stock because it will stand up to the glue better.
To give the tokens some heft, I put them on card stock. The card stock came from a large stack of advertising cards that were piled up with the junk mail in the lobby of my building.
I use a 1 inch circle punch from the craft store (50% coupon) and cut out piles and piles of circles, as well as the printed art. A dot of glue on 3 circles, and a little wiggle, and let dry. Once dry a glue stick or small dab of glue puts the art on the token. One time I used printer paper with adhesive built in, but found it did not hold the printer ink well and led to scuffing/chipping.
Once once you get the process down, you can have a ton of tokens in no time:
Here is a sample of the final product. Not show are ship token (done in the same size ranges as characters) and the backs which carry generic faction logos to cover creatures/ships that I don't have representations for.
