Help I think I've started an arms race with myself.

[HyperionPDX]

So sometimes its great to have some disposable income, and what better thing to spend it on than gaming?

Last October in honor of the spookiest month of the year my gaming group decided to set aside the Iron Gods AP for a month and dedicate each October to playing through Carrion Crown. And since I had the last week of October off I decided to get a little crazy and build this:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/501447739739569178/

Which is my take on Harrowstone's haunted dungeon. It went over huge, you can't really tell from this picture, but that big black shape in the background is a crockpot full of dry ice.

However, since that time to commemorate big sessions like wrapping up Iron Gods:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/501447739742528076/

Or saying goodbye to one of our own as she prepared to deliver her second baby:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/501447739740194192/

I find myself wracking my brain on how to top myself, and end up looking up the cost of fog machines on Amazon. But I'm running out of ideas, which is where you all come in. Is there anything you guys and gals have ever done to add a little pazzazz to a game session?

[GM Rednal]

Have you tried adding sound to your game yet? I haven't actually tried it because my gaming is mainly online, but I've heard good things about Syrinscape.

[HyperionPDX]

I did add Syrinscape and it is very cool. I can't wait to run an adventure path that has a dedicated soundscape, Hell's Rebels will be my first.

[Threeshades]

I don't have money. At least not after buying the books and simplest table supplies (PF pawns and flip mats) so I try to go 0 budget with how i increase immersion.

For one, since I don't have money for syrinscape, I started creating playlists from game and movie soundtracks as well as royalty free music from the web to fit 5 different moods you generally encounter in a game like PF or DnD:
-Combat (fast and intense)
-Town (peaceful and low-key or cheerful; I might actually split this list up into a more celebratory for larger towns and the peaceful ones for small villages)
-Wilderness (sweeping and epic)
Dungeon (dark and sinister)
-Sacred (I actually just scraped this together from a few tracks with church chorals; just in case I ever have a scene where the players may personally encounter a deity)

For my upcoming campaign I've also taken a few pages out of the books of other GMs I watch online. If anyone here is familiar with Critical Role, I mean things like "How do you want to do this?" and the way the GM actually mimics the motions (and sounds) of not only his NPCs but nonhumanoid creatures. I happen to be fairly decent at imitating creature noises so I imagine that'll work well.

I really need to get that campaign on the road.

[Deadalready]

I'm of the mindset that the how the players interact with the game is most important.

Personally I'm planning an encounter where my players are fighting the BBEG on a frozen river, where their battle starts tearing the ice apart. So the players end up standing on ice cubes inside a glass tray and as the ice melts it causes them to drift in random directions. So my players (who are mostly melee/dex dumped) will have to paddle their ice cube towards the BBEG before they can attack!

Another thing I love to do is build my puzzles that have to be solved with real world ingenuity. Finding torn notes piece by piece, that players have to piece together to read, codes to break, hidden text and so on.

While this may not be universally true, my greatest respect lies in GMs who are able to run games without using battle maps, pictures, figurines and physical tools. There are GMs who run games with only their words, voice acting and improvisation.

For myself my biggest "ah ha!" came from listening to how Matt Mercer describes situations in his campaigns and voices his characters 30min video > youtube.com/watch?v=yLEMb_RIZ3o

Another big revelation has been awesome encounter design, this channel has some really sweet ideas on intriguing puzzles> youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJlxgWpsI4afqC8UOWFz9p6EkI-1sO-Zi

Syrinscape seems pretty awesome too.

I must admit your setup looks amazing.