Hrm, I don't GM, but I have written adventures and I tend to fall into the Feng Shui (the RPG) design philosophy, where incidental combats I tend not to worry about, but story combats, combats that move the story/adventure along I tend to sweat over and try to have interesting environments/props for the players.

For a Shadowrun adventure I did a while back, the climatic scene was a fight in the Awakened Animal zoo with high level animal spirit. I ended up listing a dozen animals and the various tactics that they could use to mess with the players.

And for the Serenity adventure I just finished, I think that I have a pretty fun environment for the climatic combat, but I don't think I can talk about it. For people who play the game, all I can say is start beefing up your Zero-G skill...

then there was the D&D campaign where the DM thought he was the next Weis and/or Hickman

This is what you get for living in Utah.

Speaking of Hickman, I think my model is the original Ravenloft. Basically you got a (really cool) map and stat blocks for monsters. It lived or died based on what the DM and players brought to the table. If the DM really role-played Strahd, you could have some really interesting (occasionally nightmarish) fights.

In boardgame news, I just heard the best review of a game I've heard all week: We played El Grande at lunch (it comes with a black dildo as a playing piece, leading to a house rule involving positioning that piece and saying "They call me El Grande!" But that's not the point).

EG is a victory points game, so at each scoring round you tally up the points for each region. "Seville gives four to red and two to yellow. Valencia gives 9 to blue and three to yellow." etc.

One player said, "This game is Eurovision."

This is what you get for living in Utah.

True, true . . .

re: Ravenloft, we were running Ravenloft II though no one knew it but me, the DM, and the entire table gave a lovely shriek when their courteous host said, "Oh, I am sorry, let me introduce myself, I am Strahd." (this being the same group that took him out in Ravenloft I with a natural 20 on the Hold Person and a natural 1 on the save, grr . . .)

Good times.

A "Eurovision Hero" video game would be fucking awesome.

So I was at this awesome wedding this weekend, and I talked to a woman named Jane about The Wire.

It turns out that was Jane McGonigal, who appears to be quite famous in the ARG world.

Speaking of Hickman, I think my model is the original Ravenloft. Basically you got a (really cool) map and stat blocks for monsters. It lived or died based on what the DM and players brought to the table. If the DM really role-played Strahd, you could have some really interesting (occasionally nightmarish) fights.

Ah yes, Ravenloft. Good times, good times. I ran a few friends through the evil combined version of Ravenloft I & II a long time ago and the players' first encounter with Strahd was while they were holed up in the house of the woman the Count was after. There was a knock at the door, and player A answered it. The figure asked if he could come in, and the player said "sure". As one, all the other players turned and looked dumbstruck at player A who was like "What? We can totally take him in here! He's got nowhere to go!". Turns out Player A had never heard the folklore about vampires not being able to enter residences until they're invited. Yeah, he got call some choice names, all of them deserved.

They all survived that encounter - barely - but they didn't survive the adventure.

And then they made Ravenloft a different dimension, and it just became sad. So much more fun when it was a place you could get to in the "real" world, someplace you could stumble upon if you took the wrong turn on the road, all unawares . . .

Turns out Player A had never heard the folklore about vampires not being able to enter residences until they're invited.

Wait, what? How? Everyone knows that!

Turns out Player A had never heard the folklore about vampires not being able to enter residences until they're invited.

Did he fail his dumbass check or something?

huh. Doesn't that go all the way back to Bram Stoker?