Fellow DM's: do you use music to help you write campaign plots? If so...

Fellow DM's: do you use music to help you write campaign plots? If so, do you find certain music makes you write better for certain systems? Pic related: it's the band I listen to while writing ideas for my World of Darkness campaigns.

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I use my usual mostly classic music list without any voices that I always use to concentrate and study. After years of doing so, it really flips a switch to serious mode in my brain

Well, I'm listening to Pink Floyd right now and going over ideas for tomorrow night's conclusion to our latest Pathfinder campaign.

It's perfect for it. I'm very relaxed. So I can review the events of this evening, and finalize what I need to.

The most I'll do is pull things like character names and descriptions of places from songs (ideally not super well-known ones so my players don't realize what I'm doing). I find that it's hard for me to simultaneously listen to music and do something that requires thought.

IV > II > V > III > I

My mix is an insane mix of celtic music, classical, and epic themes from anime, movies, and video games.
Nothing with words I understand.
With occasional exceptions for Enya, Sinead O'Connor, and Brigid Biden.

Best I ever heard was some radio played Grateful Dead jam I could never find again in a dozen years.
I imagined a whole, massive spaceship scenario to that. It was perfect.

I pretty much listen exclusively to dungeon synth, black metal and powermetal when thinking about campaigns.

Power metal has the range of moods that I need.
Might be basic af, but Rhapsody & Blind Guardian especially hit the spot while I brainstorm. After which, I switch off all music to force myself to actually concentrate on writing.

Dragonland, Twilight Force, Dream Evil, VanCanto, Gloryhammer, Ancient Bards, Angra, HammerFall, Sabaton, Iron Maiden, Iron Savior, Lordi, Magnum, Powerwolf, and Turisas are my go-to's

A-Tier: V

B-Tier: IV, III

C-Tier: Color Spectrum, Migrant

D-Tier: I

Shit-Tier: II (Seriously, I can barely name a single song off of it)

I mean, III is probably my favorite but I'm also someone with shit taste. Mustard Gas and The Tank are still some of my favorite tracks.

Fuck I love The Dear Hunter.
I like listening to f#aA infinity by GY!BE

There is no way in hell that sounds as rad as that looks.
Give me a bit of a description to whet my appitite? Where do I start? I'm always looking for more prog rock, especially since I have a dearth of it. So far I like the Mars Volta (Amputechture & Deloused) and Yes (Fragile & Close to the Edge). I would have more King Crimson but I don't know where to begin and the Court is like 2 good tracks and 3 fife/pan flute rock-out snoozers. I'd like to go deeper, can snyone show me some holes?

I would find music really distracting as a player or DM, as I have difficultly separating human voices from background noise, but I'm doing an Unknown Armies campaign and I see there's several playlists of that on YouTube, so I might give that a listen to for inspiration. Maybe go deep into Nurse with Wound or something

>II that low
>Migrant anywhere but shit-tier

I've got a feeling this would be a stellar cyberpunk setting.

youtube.com/watch?v=G3ZJHiylLIQ

for unknown armies try this on for size.

I'll give it a fuller listen but it seem too hard of rocking for the atmosphere I'm thinking.
But thanks user

no problem, I tend to lean towards the harder side of stuff it does settle down a little after the first half though.

Yeah, I've been listening to nothing but Italo Disco from the time I get home until I go to sleep for the past couple weeks.

>There is no way in hell that sounds as rad as that looks.
It does. Acts is the story of a boy growing up in the turn of the century, who fights in the great war and almost loses his soul to the sin and darkness of the world. It's a long, rambling story spread out over five disks, but it's highly worth a listen (even act II)

My DM always plays fucking bayonetta, Twilight Princess, and dark souls music cuz hes SO FUCKING COOL I GET IT

But how does it sound?
They could be describing the coolest story ever but if it just sounds like the Rolling Stones I'm not interested.

For WoD, especially Changeling, I tend to listen to Birthday Massacre and Stolen Babies to get my creative juices flowing.

I went full Jojo a long time ago. Enemies names are references to bands/albums/songs. Their builds are theme'd after the same.


Last enemy I features in pathfinder was build by a friend of mine. It was called 「D R I V E M Y C A R 」. It was an impossible bloodline sorcerer named Pete driving a construct car using the Driver rules and his chicken familiar Ringo.

How do I edit posts? :^)
I scrubbed through it a bit and it goes pretty wide in what it sounds like so I'll have to give it a proper listen to see if it all comes together.

If you like The Mars Volta, Vhisseu-era Thrice, or Coheed and Cambria, you'll probably like these guys. Their lead writer was part of early Receiving End of Sirens before he was asked to leave.

was listening to pic related while worldbuilding and made a whole deity based around it

I first heard of C&C from Welcome Home in that 9 trailer but didn't like the rest of them. I think I'm due for a re-listen though, would probably like them a lot now. I really like the acid jazz/jazz parts of The Mars Volta. Should listen more of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

So this still stays somewhat unkemp/tg/rognards and not /mu/tants:

I don't know how much can it works as music for a specific campaign, but nothing puts me in the mood for the real nerd shit rpgs like Heather Alexander. I have Midsummer, but what are other good albums/ acts?

also Nightwish does the same but sometimes Tuomas lyrics make me cringe.

This is such a weird concept to me; I find I can't engage creative parts of my brain while listening to music. Then again, I very rarely listen to music anyway, so maybe it is something you get used to.

It's the opposite for me. I find it hard to focus without noise/music.

Eh, I can get why C&C might clash with you if all you heard was Welcome Home. Some of their stuff verges into Rush territory, but I grew up listening to that, so I guess I'm kind of inoculated.

Unfortunately, can't give real good advice on Celtic stuff. I will recommend Boards of Canada if you're running anything weird-fiction-y set in the late 60's-mid 70's (especially if it's set near Canada). Also, Darkest of the Hillside Thickets is a good nerdshit act in general, if you like the garage sound.

Ah, I should have clarifyied. I loved Welcome Home, but the high pitched saccherine "emo" vocals didn't jive with me then. Now I think it's a good balance to the main guitar chords, which is why I think I'll listen to them again.

I've seen Darkest of the Hillside Thickets come up other places, so I'll see what they're all about.


For the thread, if it's not fantasy and a more american southwest/midwest flavor, maybe even more south Sorry I'm an east coasty later Earth is wonderful ambience, or even just general work music. So is their eariler stuff, but just for work. Tends to drown everything out. although nowadays it feels like there's compression on E2 or something, it could get lower frequency