RPG Music

I love music.

Lucky for me then that what feels like a limitless archive touching on every genre is readily available through any of the numerous streaming services (both free and for pay) that are out there. I do not hesitate to take advantage of that access. Not a day goes by where I don’t listen to music of some kind for at least a couple hours, whether while working, during my commute, or just to unwind at home. (As I'm editing this, I'm listening to Funkadelic.) In many ways, music is the backdrop of my life. So, it should be no surprise that I can’t resist playing background music while I’m running a roleplaying game.

I don't do this just for my own amusement. When handled correctly, music in an RPG can enrich the events that unfold at the table, conjuring a feeling of dread when entering an unexplored lair, quickening the heart during a combat sequence, or lifting the spirit for an honored celebration. When mishandled, music can be a distraction, pulling players out of their imagination and distracting away from the game. In this post I present some ideas for using music (mostly soundtracks) effectively in your tabletop RPG.

A quick note about me. I’m not a musician. I never learned to play an instrument. I never studied musical theory. I just like listening to music. I therefore guarantee this post will avoid terms and concepts that are common sense to anyone with an ounce of musical training. It will also likely misuse any terms that might happen to sneak their way into the writing. The goal of this post isn’t to teach GMs about musical theory. It’s to help GMs select music for their games. So, if the misuse of musical terms sends you into fitful convulsions, you should probably stop reading now and mosey on over to a different nook of the interwebs. 

Uses for Music

In my mind there are two general uses for music in role-playing games: establishing an atmosphere and highlighting an event.

Atmospheric music establishes a mood that is appropriate for the location and/or backdrop of a scene or entire session. An obvious example of this is “Concerning Hobbits” (Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore, 2001) which is perfect for use if the characters are exploring a bucolic halfling village. You might also turn to “The Masked Ball” (Much Ado About Nothing, Patrick Doyle, 1993) for jaunty music at a festival, “Akta” (The Fifth Element, Eric Serra, 1997), for a borderland marketplace, or “The Assignment/Lost Years” (Logan’s Run, Jerry Goldsmith, 1976) for the strange passageways of a wizard’s tower.

Event highlights pop into the game, interrupting the atmospheric music to punch up the emotions of the moment, and then they end. I most often use event highlights to introduce a new story elements, such as a location or an NPC. For example, you might use “Tapir Hunt” (Apocalypto, James Horner, 2006) to kick off a high-speed chase through an unexplored wilderness or “Storm is Coming” (Mad Max: Fury Road, Tom Holkenborg, 2015) to drag the player characters into desperate combat against a dragon in its lair.

Tips for Selecting Music

When you are considering music for you’re game there are a few dos and don’ts to keep in mind. What follows are some pointers that I’ve found useful.

Consistency

Any track you select for background music should have a consistent theme and mood, as well as have a level volume.

Theme is the overall concept the track is communicating. Mood is the overall feeling it’s evoking. When selecting either atmospheric music or event music, you want to make sure the entire track has a consistent theme and mood. Do not select tracks that change either of these over their play time. This is particularly problematic for overtures, preludes, montages, and similar music found in soundtracks. For example, “Dracula” (Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Wojciech Kilar, 1993) opens with a menacing string crescendo, crashes into haunting vocals, transforms to angry, and quite frightening, strings, and concludes with sullen doom all while Dracula's backstory unfolds on the screen. Such a track, while perfectly wonderful for that movie, would be no good for your game because of the variety of themes and moods it conveys. It would be very strange to have the music you selected to introduce that lich who has been taunting the players for several sessions to suddenly switch from a pulse-pounding beat to a romantic melody. So, stick to tracks with consistent theme and mood as much as possible. 

Volume quite literally speaks to how loud the music is. Many pieces of music from soundtracks will bounce back and forth between being very loud and very quiet to match the action that is unfolding on the screen. “The Only Way Out of This” (Chappie, Hans Zimmer, 2015) is one example of this. Avoid these tracks no matter how good they might be, especially for atmospheric music. Their changes in volume will only distract players. During the quiet parts they will forget the music is playing and during the loud parts they will be startled out of the game. 

Appropriateness

Background music should reflect the setting, the mood, and possibly the events that will unfold in your game. What exactly this means really depends on you, your players, and your game. After all, music, just as with other artistic efforts, can mean different things to different people. I’ve used “The Mine Car Chase” (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, John Williams, 1984) for a fight scene with an air elemental, the main titles from Alien (Jerry Goldsmith, 1979) for a journey through the feywild, “2500 Tons of Awesome” (Pacific Rim, Ramin Djawadi, 2013) for a fight with a hill giant, “Shrewd Thespians” (The Brothers Grimm, Dario Marianelli, 2009) for an aggressive renegotiation with a puckish imp, “I Never Woke Up in Handcuffs Before” (Sherlock Holmes, Hans Zimmer, 2009) for an alcohol-fueled, good-natured, pub brawl, “Tiger Battle” (Fury, Steven Price, 2014) for the final confrontation with a drider, “Meryton Townhall” (Pride and Prejudice, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, 2005) for a holiday celebration in a gnome burrow, and “Winged Beast” (9, Danny Elfman, 2009) for a dreadful encounter with a wyvern.

Along these lines, some music, either by design or by accident, is so intertwined with an historical event, social movement, or cultural identity that it is difficult to separate the two. For example, “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” (Buck Privates, Don Raye and Hughie Prince, 1941) cannot be heard without calling to mind World War II. The prelude to The Day the Earth Stood Still (Bernard Herrmann, 1951) is the quintessential embodiment of 1950’s science-fiction soundtrack scores. “Imhotep” (The Mummy, Jerry Goldsmith, 1999) was written to evoke the grandeur and magic of ancient Egypt while "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Ennio Morricone, 1966) is just about as American Old West as a piece of music can get. There is nothing wrong with any of these tracks. I quite like the entire soundtrack to The Day the Earth Stood Still. You just need to be aware of the larger social/cultural associations they have and decide whether you want to evoke those associations in your game. I for one think it would be super cool to use those 50s sci-if scores in a D&D campaign. Doing so would certainly set a unique mood. 

Another quick note about me. I once played this musical gem at the start of every session for a story arc that took place in a halfling village. This should not surprise anyone who knows me. And for my players who indulged me with as little wailing and gnashing of teeth as was humanly possible, I thank you.

Familiarity

Some soundtrack music is immediately recognizable, such as the “Imperial March” from Star Wars, the “Raiders March” from the Indiana Jones series, the main titles from Star Trek, and the Hogwarts theme from Harry Potter. All of these are amazing pieces of music but just about everyone knows them and just about anyone who knows them will likely hum along to them. This can, and does, interrupt your game so avoid these if possible. This applies to both atmospheric and event music.

Looping

Atmospheric music should be an enhancement to your gaming experience that doesn’t draw attention to itself. One trick for keeping such music in the background is to find tracks that can be looped (played on repeat) without experiencing an abrupt change between its ending and its beginning. For example, the main titles to Jaws (John Williams, 1975), “Crowd Control” (The Mummy, Jerry Goldsmith, 1999), and “Stranger Things” (Stranger Things, Michael Stein, 2016) all loop fairly well. This is less important with event-driven music as you will generally only play the track once.

Playlists

When trolling for useful music from soundtracks, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find a single album that you can play front to back throughout an entire scene let alone an entire session. For example, Pirates of the Caribbean (Klaus Badelt, 2003) includes action, horror, and romantic tracks. It would be an awkward moment for everyone if the background music began to evoke a feeling of horror during a romantic scene. Even the soundtrack to Conan: The Barbarian (Basil Poledouris, 1982) can’t really be played from start to finish because of the consistency and appropriateness tips I discussed above.

Your best bet, then, is to create playlists composed of the most appropriate music you can find for your purposes. For example, I have a playlist for inns/taverns and a playlist for when the characters are sailing. I have also created one-off playlists, such as the playlist I put together for when the characters were traveling the Fire plane.

What’s wonderful about playlists is that many music services let you not only create playlists but also share them. This is great news for a busy GM. You might be able to find a playlist that someone else has already put together that you can use in a pinch!

Genre Albums

I’ve really only been discussing movie and TV soundtracks so far. There’s a whole other category of “soundtrack” out there. These are musical collections wrapped around and designed to evoke a specific theme. They usually come with names like Medieval Music, Greek Moods, Latin Rhythms, or Celtic Dreams. There are tons of these out there. (Just do a search to see what I mean.) It’s only a matter of finding one that works for you. One of my favorites is Old Time Bawdy Sea Shanties (Oscar Brand, 1958) which I play when the characters are living up the sailing life. The tunes are a bit naughty, but my players don’t seem to mind.

RPG Background Tracks

RPG background tracks are another kind of audio tool that is worth mentioning. These tracks generally are not music but rather sound effects specifically designed to be played during an RPG session, such as the chatter in a pub, echoing sounds in a cave, or winds whipping through haunted trees. These specialized tracks are great for a few reasons. First, each has a theme, such as “spooky graveyard,” “lost at sea,” or “medieval inn.” This makes it easy to find just the right audio accompaniment you might need, especially since most sites provide a preview. Second, the volume tends to stay even; there are typically few loud peaks or soft lows. Third, most are designed to seamlessly loop, so you can play one track through an entire evening and you’ll never notice when it begins or ends. DriveThru RPG  and other sites have hundreds of these tracks. I use them all the time. They do, however, cost money (usually around one dollar each) but in my mind they’re worth the price.

Branch Out

When selecting background music, don’t limit yourself to the fantasy genre. Branch out. Thor: Ragnarok did this with superb skill by using “Immigrant Song” (Led Zeppelin, 1970) during its epic boss battle. Also making an aural appearance was a track from Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Leslie Bricusse, 1971). These are pretty daring moves for a superhero movie about the God of Thunder and the end of the universe. And let’s not forget the Fallout game series that relies on music from the 40s and 50s to help solidify its retro ambiance.

Of course, if you think rock & roll and heavy metal are not appropriate for your Dungeons and Dragons campaign, well that’s fine too (though Black Sabbath, Blind Guardian, Camel, Led Zeppelin, Rush, and Styx might all disagree with you). There are other ways to branch out musically. For example, the dreamy electronic vibe of Aeon Flux (Graeme Revell, 2005) is perfectly suited for a roguish adventure full of stealthing, sneak attacking, and lock picking. The eerie, sci-fi sounds of Forbidden Planet (Bebe Barron and Louis Barron, 1956) can be used to fill weird, magical places, such as a sorcerer’s tower or a mysterious cavern in the Underdark. The strangely energetic steampunk tracks of Sherlock Holmes (Hans Zimmer, 2009) cry out for a good gnome workshop while the far less frenetic music from Pride and Prejudice (Jean-Yves Thibaudet, 2005) longs for a more civilized setting. There’s also the soundtracks for Jumanji (Henry Jackman, 2017), Fallout 4 (Inon Zur, 2015), Stranger Things (Michael Stein, 2016), Westworld, (Ramin Djawadi, 2018), Call of Duty: WWII (Wilbert Roget, II, 2017), Pacific Rim (Ramin Djawadi, 2013), Mass Effect Andromeda (John Paesano, 2017), Logan’s Run (Jerry Goldsmith, 1976), Seven Samurai (Fumio Hayasaka, 1954), and more. My point is that many of these soundtracks might not appear appropriate at first glance, but they all have gems worth plundering. Try new music. Try new genres. Chances are you will not only find music that works for your game but also music that you’ll love to listen to on your own.

Conclusion

In this post I’ve provided a few of my thoughts on using music in your Dungeons and Dragons games. I admittedly focused primarily on TV and movie soundtracks with a sprinkling of game soundtracks. That is the sort of music that works best for gaming and seems readily available. As I mentioned earlier, there are a host of other kinds of music that might also be perfect for you. From a practical standpoint, when using music make sure that the tracks you select are thematically consistent, remain at a fairly level volume, and are appropriate for the mood you want to establish and the feelings you want to evoke. It also helps if they easily loop. Other than that, have fun. Role-playing games are games after all.

Gadget: The Flying Music Box

Ellimae Mosslobe has devoted her life to bringing the gift of sound to anyone willing (and in some cases, unwilling) to listen. Her Bouncing Boom Barrel is a battlefield darling that is highly prized by desperate armies the world over. No fishing fleet down and out on luck sets sail without her Sinking Sound Sack on board every vessel. The Flying Music Box, her latest addition to that long line of successes, is a party favor absolutely guaranteed to liven up any social shindig that is dead on arrival.

The Flying Music Box consists of two main components: the launching mechanism and the Music Box flight unit. The launching mechanism is a civilian version of the artillery piece used by the Bouncing Boom Barrel. This prettier, but somehow more menacing, iteration fires the music box flight unit straight up into the air to a range of 840/2520 feet. (No ranged attack roll is needed.) Just as the flight unit reaches its maximum height, a silk sail deploys to slow its descent. This is when the music box begins to play. 


The music box plays for 1 minute. The flight unit channels the music from the music box into an amplification horn, increasing the volume so that it can be heard up to 1250 away. The mechanism that plays the music uses standard music-box cylinders which can be purchased from just about any gnome burrow with an interest in the musical arts or at tinker shops in most major cities. After it lands, the music box tends to stay mostly intact, but the flight unit fairs far worse. 

The following is the stat block for this gadget, using the rules in my Epic Gnomish Inventing supplement available on the DM's Guild (link below).

My Playlists

I've compiled several playlists for my games over the last couple of years. I present those playlists organized by adventure. You can visit my Session Index page to read the session summaries too.

Generic One-shot Music

I use this for one-shot games, especially impromptu games where I use my Random Plot Generator to create an adventure in a pinch. I’ve also used these when I run public games.

Mood  -   Adventure   -   Combat

Generic Campaign Music

I use these for my Skyfell campaign either when between story arcs or when I haven’t created a story-specific list. These were design to evoke specific aspects of the campaign.

Skyfell

I’ve recently started trying to develop playlists that include vocals. This was my first attempt to capture a sense of Skyfell through song.

Mood

Open Skies 

I use these when my players are sailing the open skies and run into a random encounter. It works in a pinch when I don't have the time to plan out music for a specific arc.

Adventure   -   Combat

The Clockwork Files

I had assembled these for my shorted-lived The Clockwork Files campaign. They could also potentially be used for adventures in Mechanus.

Mood - Adventure - Combat

Lost in the Feywild

As of this writing, I’m still developing these playlists for the second book in my Skyfell campaign. These are targeting the Feywild and meant to evoke a general sense of what lies in store for the player characters as they wander the Feywild.

Mood - Combat

Locales

I've also created playlists for various locales in the campaign settings. Most of the locales are on Doraku. I won't list all of them here. If you go to Spotify and look at my profile, you should be able to see the public playlists. I've also put links to the appropriate playlists in the geography posts.

Story-specific Music

These were designed for specific story arcs in my campaign. You can read the session summaries for each of these stories.

The Piruna Run

This was the first arc of the campaign. It involved an island in the Piruna Fields, undead creatures, an abandoned feral gnome burrow, orcs, and an evil rock gnome. The mood was crucial here in establishing a feeling of loneliness and awaiting horrors.

Adventure
The Cursed Guardian : Mood   -   Combat
Moss Creek : Mood   -   Combat

Discombobulated

This was a brief adventure where I introduced the idea of gremlins into the game. The music I chose was heavy on manic rhythm accompanied by fiddles. It's sort of steampunky. (If you've seen the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Junior, you'll know exactly what I was going for.)

Mood   -   Adventure   -   Combat

Stranger Things

This was the music I put together for the adventure that came in the Stranger Things box set. it, understandably, has an 80s synth vibe.

Mood   -   Adventure   -   Combat

Clockworks of Carnage

This arc is all about clockwork fighting in a WWE style of performance and combat, on a giant airship citadel that goes from continent to continent. I went heavy on the instrumental funk music here because it catches the vibe for the airship and its crew/performers. Plus, I just love funk music.

Mood   -   Adventure   -   Combat

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Also, check out my DMsGuild offerings:

• Epic Gnomish Inventing
  Rules supplement for creating gadgets.
• Gnome Concept Packages 1
  Collection of gnome-related backgrounds, feats, magic items, and more.
• Great House Servants
  Collection of backgrounds centered on the servants of a great house.
• Mildew's Revenge
  A first-level adventure.
• Random Plot Generator
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• The WhatNot Shop’s Absurd Accoutrements
  A collection of unusual magical items.
• The WhatNot Shop's Bracing Beverages
  A collection of strange potions.
• The WhatNot Shop's Common Curiosities and Trivial Trinkets
  A collection of common magic items and trinkets.
• The WhatNot Shop's Dastardly Doodads and Orc Oddities
  A collection of orc-themed common magic items and trinkets.