Music in fantasy RPGs

Here, my bad. Meant to respond to you as well. Using music like that works very well. For the most part you never want to go with anything too overpowering or distracting. This usually means lyrical songs are off the table, but once in a while you will find a situation where it works great. Occasionally, it's good to assign one specific track to one specific person/monster/group too. Feels great when you get your whole group to collectively go "Aw fuck" just because they've heard the first three seconds of a song.

I can imagine. What program do you use?
I actually prefer not planning out too much of the campaign and relying on improvisation, so I'm looking for a way to quickly select a track whenever I feel like it without having to be bothered by it until the next encounter.

I just have a folder open that I've organized like so. When I need a certain track it's a quick click away. No fancy program or anything.

Handy. I'll look into it, thanks bruh.

It would be nice to have a "tabletop mood music" Playlist with sub groups for village/town/city music, battle encounters, monologues and such. I have a hard time juggling improv and appropriate music, as it usually ends up with me sitting there scouring youtube while the table proceeds to derail itself ooc.

Someone would make a killing selling that. I know I'd pay for it. Closest we've got is: ( tabletopaudio.com/ ), which is pretty hit or miss with their tracks.

For Battletech it kind of depends on what type of game is being run at the time.

I've tried to ask my players what kind of music they'd like to listen to, but they haven't brought or suggested anything. I could just fire up youtube or something but, let's be honest, firing up youtube is a surefire way to derail anything, especially if there's booze involved.

I don't know. I think that while I hold it close to my heart, the Mechwarrior 2 soundtrack sounds a bit too dated for the modern ear of someone who didn't play it in it's hayday, and the guy who's been modernizing it is doing a great job, but it feels best reserved for missions involving the clans. I feel the Front Mission 4/5 sound track would do a really good job. I still enjoy Dragonforce, Hibria, Hammerfall, Striker, Majesty and other power metal, but I feel like it's just too fast-paced for RPGs and wargames, which tend to be more strategic and turn based. I tend to like old 80s AoR, as I feel like it meshes really well with the big hair and leather jackets of the earliest sourcebooks. Retrowave also feels really at home with that sort of setting, as well.

>Strategic and turn based
No edit feature. Read as "Tactical and turn based" Strategic is a much grander scale than anything I've ever done.

I have this problem a lot, as I am definely a musical person, so I use video game music and other generic tracks. Finding strong ambience is important as well. Unfortunately I lack the audio equipment to be like, set up, but you know.

Absolutely, it's crazy it doesn't exist yet.

My Spelljammer campaign is based on Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards. It's going pretty well.

Are you literally 12? Not hating on metal, I've listened to it for the better part of my high-school years, but it works terribly as a backdrop for roleplaying.

No.

I tried it out a few times as DM and it sort of worked, but I always forgot to change the track so it was often disjointed. Getting the right volume was almost impossible: too quiet when everyone is talking or too loud when people are thinking. And, as a player, it's incredibly distracting. Sound effects are worst:
> "My character draws his sword and says 'You-'".
> "Wait... ... ... oh where is it... ah ... "
"You make me sick. My character says that. To the captain."

>Sound effects
Yeah that sounds horrible, why would anyone think that's a good idea?

People who played more video games than they read books as children. People who don't see and hear the sword being drawn when a person states that is what is happening.

>people with no imagination.

Not music, per se, but I sometimes use mynoise.net for ambience. Not always, though. I've found that music can be quite distracting, honestly. Not only in the way that people may listen to it rather than the GM, but also in a way that some people might actually request songs (Which is absolutely not what I want).

youtube.com/watch?v=6i9qsiZj2Ck

Keep looking through this magician of sound.

Metal isn't how background music works, you goddamn animals.

Your best resources are soundtracks, which employ a mixture of music designed to provide moods without being intrusive to the media.

On top of that, with mixing software, you can go a little nuts with ambient noise and ambient music combinations.
Though, in a lot of cases, if you don't create or find suitable, loopable tracks, the music can be more effort managing and distracting than it could be worth.

>party's been going through this castle for three sessions
>nothing but zombies and shit
>we have no idea where the hell the necromancer is
>we can't even remember why we were running around in this castle in the first place
>my barbarian just wants to continue and murder shit
>bard stops and pauses for a minute
>"Guys let's go outside."
>"Why? We can't just leave we need to stop who's do-"
>"Just trust me."
>bard starts to leave
>whole party is perplexed
>GM has a smirk
>worryingintensifies.gif
>we get outside the castle
>"I pull out my harp and cast firestorm on the castle."
>bard rolls nat20 as the DM starts playing Through the Fire and Flames
>party's hyped as fuck
>barbarian in the moment grabs drums from the bard to help him out
>nat20 on performance check
>Elf Warlock tries playing the lute
>nat20 on performance check
>Dragonborn paladin takes out his flying javelin and starts singing as he's breathing fire
>nat20
>the entire town comes to edge as they see fire raining hell on this castle while we're just rocking out
>tfw we didn't complete the dungeon to do a concert
>tfw we killed an zombie army and a necromancer through the power of metal
>tfw my character's aunt was apparently hostage in that castle and she only lived long enough to cry in agony to the party
>tfw it was totally worth it
This was probably one of the best sessions I've DM'd or played in.

>Metal isn't how background music works
pic related
>Your best resources are soundtracks, which employ a mixture of music designed to provide moods without being intrusive to the media.
Yes.

It only works when it fits, like in your pic related, you nerd. I wouldn't use power metal in my tabletop campaign unless it was comedically cheesy.

>nerd
>used as a swear word
>on Veeky Forums

Not the best choice in retrospect but you're too cute to be called a faggot

>baby tier gaming.

So play Baby Metal then.

Well, see, unless everyone was yelling at the table, I doubt the table would enjoy this.
Low-volume metal is just a waste of its intended purpose.
It can be funny/dramatic in the opening minute of a boss fight but you have to drop volume eventually for gameplay to continue.

>This was probably one of the best sessions I've DM'd or played in.
>4 nat20's in a row at the exact right moment.
Sad to hear your best session was entirely made up.

If you have iOS (which i dont anymore, there was an app called DM DJ, and it was great. Change music levels, change ambient noise levels, intensity, daytime/nighttime, import your own tracks. it was like 99cents, dunno now.

Here's the site, just googled it. Don't know if its been worked on in a while. definitely worth it, only downside was you couldn't lock your screen or it would shut off :/

Oh sweet, looks like they have it for android now as well.

>we rocked a castle into oblivion
>rolling nothing but 20s
>bard is able to cast firestorm

This surely happened.

My last game of Vampire I was cute and would open each session with a piece from late 19th/early 20th russian or french composers.

For D&D I've actually borrowed tracks from NWN2 and Brytenwalda which are less music and more just ambiance.

Depending on the brand of metal, it can be good in battle or action sequences. And if you find the vocals distracting, you can always use instrumentals or stuff with the vocals removed, like this (which stands up surprisingly well without them):

youtube.com/watch?v=1l64BVoAJHg&list=PL9BCFE52456A72AB4&index=4

Just downloaded, this is a really neat app.

>your campaigns aren't all comedically cheesy
dis nigga

Man you could've padded that story a little better.

>Vampire
>not having the Underworld and VTMB OSTs on loop

I make it a point to play Spybreak at least once per Demon: The Descent campaign.

youtube.com/watch?v=iCBL33NKvPA

>VMTB
Yes, maybe
>Underworld
Just no. If I was going to put modern stuff it would be a goth club play list with a bit of industrial thrown in.

Not the Underworld OST, my bad. The Underworld Original Score.

How about some Agent Provocateur? youtube.com/watch?v=FOc253BHlf0
Not exactly representative of the score as a whole (the rest is Paul Haslinger, not AP), but still pretty good.

Thanks for the tip user, looks neat

I have a BUNCH of game soundtracks collected through years of buying on Humble Bundle and GOG. Many of them are good general ambience soundtracks (personal favorite being Inon Zur's Fallout), as well as great electronic and fantasy-style music.

I've been collecting Video game soundtracks to use with games for a long while. It's amazing how you can link nostalgia and the feel from one form of media to another with music.

My friend does this. Whenever we hear youtube.com/watch?v=raxEmANPTVc all of us collectively know we're fucked.

>dragonforce
>hammerfall
Come on user, you knew there were going to be ravenous metal-loving autists in this thread, and you come with that weak ass shit? At least bring some Blind Guardian or Racer X.

youtube.com/watch?v=CNnhhejBkW8

I use Tabletop Audio and Syrinscape a lot. Being able to mix up the sound sets is pretty cool, now that the Creator program is in beta.

I had sounds of two dragons fighting in a thunderstorm with Dragonforce playing as the music. Was pretty awesome for the PCs fighting both sets of minions on the ground.

I like it when certain characters have a theme based on their character and setting.

For example:
>shinybright weeb hero
youtube.com/watch?v=oNA4EZd78CI

>scheming edgelord in a classical setting
youtube.com/watch?v=DUmq1cpcglQ

>gnarled space warlord who pilots a fancy mech suit
youtube.com/watch?v=rkmEZa4cJ7Q

>whimsical spooky necromancer
youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM

>that one guy who is very concentrated in combat but couldn't give a fuck about anything else
youtube.com/watch?v=GlAa1A967FQ

>troubled lawful neutral space traveler who has to team up with idiots to fight a giant enemy
youtube.com/watch?v=VO2iP1s0Rxc

>At the mouth of the BBEG's lair
youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

>BBEG that's also a sentient roboship
youtube.com/watch?v=NKTpWi5itOM

>Dragonforce

So how many pairs of fingerless gloves do you own?

Jesus fuck what a guitarist

For fantasy and WH40k RPG's, I tend to do classical music; I like soundtracks, and I'll mix them in with the real classical music, but often soundtrack songs are pretty short and only have a couple really great moments.

I'll choose songs when something dramatic happens, putting on something like Dies Irae or Wagner to really gear stuff up for dramatic encounters and letting it largely fall where it lies otherwise.

Harpsichord is best grill, so there's a lot of that playing most of the time, which may not really be appropriate for fantasy adventuring, but my players can deal with it.

Fucking bard/10, yo.

I don't even enjoy it as a player, it just distracts me too much.

Needs to be more metal.

youtube.com/watch?v=k5SpXvRbJPc

Some of the Dark Souls musics are really good for some boss battle.

>he doesn't have a pair for every day of the week