Wednesday, August 22, 2018

RPG a Day: What music enhances your game?


Day 22: What music enhances your game?

I’ve always been a firm believer that a good musical playlist can take your session to the next level by providing a sense of atmosphere and establishing a tone. I don’t ever want the music to be distracting, rather it should wrap around the players and give them a sense of wonder without them ever thinking about it.

I’ve spent a lot of time crafting a playlist comprised of instrumental music from the best composers in tv and film, with a few of the classical greats thrown in for good measure. So far the playlist is over ten hours, but I’m always adding more. Of course I put in some of the great fantasy soundtracks on the playlist; “Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” How to Train Your Dragon” and the like, but anything that I find moving or inspiring makes its way onto the playlist. My personal favorite composers Michael Giacchino and Hans Zimmer are well represented. Take a listen here, and feel free to follow and use if for your own sessions if you find it to your liking;


Of course just making the playlist is only part of it, making sure the right song is playing at the right moment is equally important. Having “Hedwig’s Theme” playing during an intense battle would lessen the tension I like to have my phone connected via Bluetooth to a speaker so I can change a song as the situation calls for it. I had a lot of fun playing the score from “Pirates of the Caribbean” during a session on the high seas, and one of my absolute favorite things is to play the theme from stranger things as we set up and I give a recap of the previous week.

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