RPG a Day 2018: 19. Music that enhances your game

RPG a Day 2018

19. Music that enhances your game.

I mentioned music as a source of inspiration along with other artforms yesterday, notably lyrics more than tunes in the case of the Episodes Based On Song Titles posts - really a way of getting a list of short evocative phrases to take ideas from, with or without connections to the music or lyrics.

I hardly ever use music at the table, as I’m often running games in public and I’m too quiet already.

I will sometimes play one theme track, that’s about it. I may mention specific tracks, perhaps link to them in emails, so players can listen as and when they choose. Even when not playing in public I tend not to do more.

If I have time I’ll edit together a title sequence or teaser trailer cut to the theme tune. When I do they’re usually pretty short, both for ease of finding material and editing together and for playing them in-session without taking up much time.

More often I use music as inspiration or play it to myself when I’m preparing a game. My playlist for one game will be pretty different to that for another - soundtracks for Star Wars or Star Trek, punky uptempo and a few sad ballads for Buffy, thunderously gloomy for Vampire: The Masquerade and more wistful for Vampire: The Requiem...

(The soundtrack for The Watch House was only mostly Britpop.)

Scores that aren’t from anything I know well can help here, as they evoke a mood rather than a specific moment. Video games produce a lot - Excerpt From The Ecstasy from Destiny would make a great Star Trek theme. Likewise, there are companies dedicated to making trailer music - the 2009 Star Trek trailer featured one. And listening to the same composers can help too - the John Williams score for the 1979 Dracula provides a perfect Star Wars villain theme... called To Scarborough.