Dark Sun Music time!

Lately my D&D music hobby has been to start building a Dark Sun soundtrack for when the campaign setting comes out in August! It's been pretty exciting for our group, as no one except me really knows anything about Dark Sun other than a) it's a desert setting, and b) there are thri-kreen!! I am really looking forward to bringing the harsh brutality of Athas to life for them and shocking them at how strange and foreign a land it really is.

Finding Dark Sun music has been quite the thematic change for me. Instead of the usual courageous and heroic stuff, I've been selecting dark, ominous and unsettling music, with a large dose of tribal drums, chanting and eerie melodies rounding out the mood.

I've avoided anything with triumphant horns, regal trumpets, anything like that. No fanfare here...except for the sorcerer-kings. I've been quietly putting aside some evilly majestic tunes for when they make appearances.

There is a great thread for this exact purpose on the Wizards forums:
Let's Rock this Desert - Musical Background for a DS campaign.

So far I've gone through the soundtracks for Dune, Conan, Borderlands, Quake, Prince of Persia and Gladiator, and picked out some great songs. I've also come across some unusual choices I would never have heard of if not for that forum thread, such as E.S. Posthumus and Dead Can Dance. I also found a terrific song by Sepultura called Ratamahatta which is incredibly awesome, wild and dark. It's going to be my campaign "theme song" that I plan on playing at the start of every night to tell everyone it's time to get down to business.

Besides the great but typical desert background songs, I've also decided to go with a heavy metal theme for anything related to the gladiatorial arenas (which the party will undoubtedly find themselves in, eventually.) I think it properly captures the grim and violent nature of such a place, with the crowds cheering, the brutal fights for survival, etc.

Dark Sun Theme Song

Source: Ratamahatta - Sepultura

The Arena

Source: Gravity Well - Sonic Mayhem

Monday Music: Scene Soundtracks

Recently I've started experimenting with building mini-soundtracks for scenes. My group has actually asked for more musical cues, so I've started making small groups of songs to accompany certain events as they unfold. It takes some micro-management on the DM's part but the extra impact is worth it.

(The following contains spoilers for the Shackled City campaign)

Here's an example of a scene that will occur the next time I run my campaign. In this scene, the city's merchants and businessfolk are fed up with increasing tax rates, and one merchant named Maavu is leading a vocal protest/demonstration outside City Hall. Many disgruntled and even hostile merchants show up, as well as many other civilians, and a large mob forms. One of the issues they have is that the tax money is being used to hire half-orc mercenaries to supplement the regular guard force.



Maavu's passionate speech has a huge effect on the gathered crowd, and they start cheering and encouraging him. His words are inspiring and stir up those in attendance...maybe too much. Encouragement starts turning into hostility towards the city government - perhaps Maavu's true goal all along. The next song will play once the party realizes things are starting to turn ugly, but Maavu continues orating and whipping the crowd into a frenzy.



The foreboding, ominous next song will start as a guard captain and 4 mercenaries arrive on the scene. As they make their way through the crowd they receive jeers, angry glares, and thinly-veiled threats. Upon arriving at Maavu's dais, the captain announces that Maavu is under arrest for, essentially, treason. The crowd, openly hostile towards the newcomers, is on the verge of erupting.



At that moment, members of the local thieves guild hiding in the crowd brutally ambush and murder the mercenaries in an attempt to throw things into anarchy. The last song starts at this point. The crowd starts rioting and destroying buildings, lighting things on fire, and trying to kill the guard captain. Meanwhile, a mage working for the city government in the upper level of City Hall summons some invisible air elementals to assassinate Maavu. The party has to try to disperse the crowd without killing everyone, save Maavu, save the guard captain, and deal with the air elementals. Needless to say, it's utter chaos.



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I find that having scene-specific music really livens the game session up and keeps the players interested, involved and really immersed in what's happening. It does take some time to trawl through the hundreds of mp3s you've got stored up (if you're like me) but I keep them organized by theme - creepy, caves, fighting, etc - to help streamline the process. What would really make it more efficient would be a tag system, so I could tag a single song with multiple attributes. Something for me to work on, I guess.

Monday Music: Music Parallelism

I've been thinking about music parallelism lately - using different versions of the same song for different moments (or using two different but similar sounding songs). When a familiar melody from a past important moment starts playing again, different yet still immediately recognizable, players will immediately think back to that moment, and also wonder what the musical change entails.

The dual nature of using parallel songs lets you achieve a number of different effects. You can show how something has evolved or changed, maybe due to the players' actions, maybe IN SPITE of their actions; you can have a slow/fast-paced combination to use as foreshadowing/eventual reveal; or even something that is literally parallel like a mirror universe or a "dark world" alternate reality.

Tristram Village

I recently used the Tristram Village theme in a Monday Music post, but I've since discovered a track on the Death Note (anime) soundtrack that sounds remarkable similar. You could use the second song to represent the same village, only years later, or after some significant event - showing that while things in the village have changed (like the song), at heart it's still the same place (the music sounding very similar).

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Ave Satani

This is the song that original made me want to start using parallel audio cues. The first, original version of this song would be perfect for an evil god's plane, lair, temple or whatever. Something that firmly associates the god with the song. The second song, fast-paced and rocking guitar, would be great for the inevitable epic battle with said evil god.

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Those Who Fight

One of the best sources of roleplaying music ever, the Final Fantasy series is also awesome because there are different versions of so many of its songs. Whether it be fanmade, from a movie inspired by one of the games, or even a spinoff game, there are countless FF renditions to pick from. The following songs are all version of the Final Fantasy 7 battle music "Those Who Fight." The second song is a great modernized version of the original, and the third is something completely different - a discordant yet beautiful piano version.

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One Winged Angel

Probably one of the most famous Final Fantasy songs, this one actually worked on me via parallelism - I was familiar with the original version, I heard it again in Final Fantasy spinoff game Kingdom Hearts and instantly went "Oh shit!" upon hearing it, which is EXACTLY what I believe DMs can achieve with good music selection in their campaigns. The third version is the mind-blowing version that was in the Final Fantasy 7 movie, Advent Children. Listen to the first two and picture those songs playing as the party fought a villain during Heroic and Paragon tiers - enough so that they associate the villain to the song. Then listen to the third video and picture the terror on their faces as they realize just who's back for revenge.

Monday Music: Unstoppable

One of the most vivid, dramatic campaign scenes is when the party has to take on titanic being that looms over them, massively powerful and destructive. These songs have deep bass-like qualities that convey a feeling of immense size and invincibility, an unstoppable force that everything flees from.

Shingun (Marching Army)

Source: Fullmetal Alchemist OST 3

In Labors & Dangers ~Fortitudo~

Source: Bayonetta [Xbox 360]

Bridge Battle

Source: Lair [PS3]

Mood: Power, enormous size, unstoppable, impending disaster

Summary: These songs would fit any situation where the party is faced with something that they really can't slash or magic down - maybe it's a huge, primordial being awakened from dormancy, an army of hulking warforged juggernauts bearing down on a city, or even something more mundane like a volcano eruption. They all feel very epic, and would be perfect to use as in a campaign/chapter final battle.

These songs would be perfect for:
• A gargantuan, godly creature that dwarfs the party
• A driven, mindless, merciless construct army destroying all in their path
• The end of the world, when the fate of humanity/earth/existence is at stake

Monday Music: Dark and Depths

Caves, subterranean tunnels, deep murky depths...sooner or later, every D&D party ends up delving into the dark underground. Whether it be vast caverns of aquatic horrors, or ancient ruins of long-dead civilizations, these excursions tend to be similar in spirit - tense, ominous and a little creepy.

Fortunately for the music-loving DM, there are boatloads of great "Evil Cave" songs available to use. Most are quite generic and would also work perfectly well for dungeons, prisons, ruins, etc...anything controlled or inhabited by monsters or enemies.

Kita No Daikuudou

Source: Final Fantasy: Advent Children [Movie]

Darkness

Source: ICO [PS2]

Dark Secrets

Source: The Last Remnant [Xbox 360]

Dungeon

Source: Diablo [PC]

Dead On Time

Source: Silent Hill: Homecoming [PS3]

Mood: Creepy, suspenseful, dark, gloomy, tense

Summary: This selection of songs is high on ambiance, hopefully evoking feelings of uncertainty and danger. They're all fairly generic while still maintaining a discordant, unnerving feel, which should help a DM build up dramatic suspense before all hell breaks loose. There's also lots of strange little noises which really keeps a listener on edge and wary. Personally, the echoing wind and unidentifiable noises makes me think of maze-like, unknown caves where a party would be completely lost and overwhelmed by the huge vastness they find themselves facing. And who knows what those clangs and bizarre sounds really are?

These songs would be perfect for:
• The Underdark
• Exploring an ancient, long-dead underground civilization
• Investigating something haunted; a ship, a castle, an city, etc.

Monday Music: Danger!!

Most D&D fights are against regular sized foes. Orcs, gnolls, maybe you go up against a troll or giant now and then. But sometimes the PC's have to take on a true behemoth. We're talking dragons, titans, maybe some horrible primordial. For these fights, it's nice to have suitably overwhelming music.

The Monster Hunter game series for Playstation Portable is a great source of "oh crap!!" panic music. Fast-paced and exciting, I would definitely only use them for battles against a massive foe or with an epic scale. To use them on orcs or goblins would be a waste.

Rathalos - Howling

Source: Monster Hunter OST

Monoblos - Crimson Horns

Source: Monster Hunter OST

Gypceros - Poison Mist

Source: Monster Hunter OST

Gravios - A Crack In The Earth

Source: Monster Hunter OST

Rathian - Rhythms Of The Ancient Past

Source: Monster Hunter OST

Narugakuraga

Source: Monster Hunter Portable 2 OST

Mood: Primal, panicked rush, fight for survival, relentless pursuit, rampaging beasts

Summary: If your party is against something physically massive and overpowering, these songs should work perfectly to convey the sense of power that such creatures should possess. The fast drum beats also work great for encounters in a jungle or wilderness setting, where the players are clearly out of their element...but their opponent is not.

These songs would be perfect for:
• Fighting a dragon, tarrasque, or anything else enormous that dwarfs the PC's
• A climactic battle where the party has to rush and hurry before something Terrible happens
• Any combination of Big Monsters and Out-of-Place party; T-Rex in a temperate jungle, bulettes in a rocky gorge, Kraken at sea (obviously)...anything where the monster can have their way with the hapless, uncoordinated party.

Monday Music: Banquets & Balls

Occasionally your party of rugged manly-man heroes will end up in a situation totally foreign & frightening to them - a fancy, glamorous banquet. (Or ball, masquerade, etc) It's a nice break from hack/slash killing, gives players some roleplaying time, & usually ends in comically disastrous fashion.

Even if you know the barbarian will end up brawling in the kitchen or swinging from expensive crystal chandeliers, having "scene" music helps bring life to the setting. Some players will concentrate hard on being civil and dignified, while others will be exactly the opposite and emphasize how awkward and out of place they feel. Having appropriate music will do a better job of painting the scene in players' minds than even the best spoken description, and help everyone at the table get into the proper mindset.

Blackjack

Source: Final Fantasy VI Grand Finale

Lullaby of Resembool

Source: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood OST

Tifa's Theme

Source: Final Fantasy Advent Children OST

Mood: Elegance, lighthearted, high society, nobles, luxury

Summary: Over the years, my players have attended high-class balls and banquets as bodyguards, as thieves, and as guests of honor. It's always fun when they're attending as legitimate guests, since you end up with the real-life players roleplaying their characters, who are themselves "roleplaying" as distinguished, cultured citizens.

One extra feature in these songs are how generic they are. Pleasant but unremarkable, they are meant to be subconsciously absorbed in the background while the players are busy roleplaying, concentrating on dialogue, or making sure they don't offend the Duke they're trying to impress.

These songs would be perfect for:
• Any luxurious, high-class party such as a banquet, gala, masquerade, etc.
• A play, show or opera
• Pretty much anything where the party is there as spectators or guests instead of adventurers

Monday Music: Town Themes

Something that makes me want to punch gnomes is the sound of cliche "medieval" music. You know the kind - bagpipes wailing, cheery flute ditties...music you'd associate with celtic dancing or medieval fests. (It is also used in many RPG games, and every terrible fantasy TV show/movie ever invented.)

I hate this music! Not the music itself, but what self-respecting evil DM has a happy little town deserving of a theme song like that? No, our villages are besieged by bloodthirsty goblins, situated atop ancient gnoll burial grounds, or unknowingly participating in vile rituals which will summon Yok'Thrykrr the Devourer. No, my fellow DMs, we need appropriate town music.

A few "village that is totally effed and may even be aware of this fact" themes that I have used are as follows:

Tristram Village

Source: Diablo OST (No longer available for purchase on Amazon)

Castle in the Mist

Source: ICO OST (aka ICO-Melody in the Mist) (Import only, it seems. Sadness.)
Mood: Loneliness, determination, meager resources, hardship, helplessness

Summary: These songs perfectly capture the "points of light in the Darkness" theme that Wizards is pushing so hard in 4E D&D. In fact, the games themselves follow this theme exactly as well - in Diablo you are one hero against thousands of demons in a corrupted land, and in ICO you are a boy all alone in a monstrous castle fighting...the Darkness (no, seriously!). No wonder their music fits so well.

I would guess that not many would listen to these songs and think "Wow, this sure is a nice place to live!" Instead, I hope players would grit their teeth, sharpen their blades and prepare themselves for difficult struggles ahead.

It would be perfect for:
• Any town/village where there is hardship and people who need help (aka EVERY D&D TOWN EVER)
• Castle in the Mist - an elegy (I visualize it playing while sending someone's body drifting off to sea, something like that)

Monday Music: Countdown

Countdown

Source: Needless (Anime, but couldn't find a link to purchase the soundtrack). The artist's name is e-ZUKA.

Mood: High tempo, blood pumping, aggressive, speed

Summary: One of many in my "generic battle" music folder, this song has been remarkable in my D&D group for stirring up my players and getting them very intensely focused on the fight at hand. A few have even started mock-hating the song because they unconsciously find themselves pumping their heads to the fast guitar beat. It's a great, fast-paced battle theme that would also work exceptionally well in other tabletop games for chase scenes, fights atop a speeding subway train, or anything else that screams SPEED.

It would be perfect for:
• A high-speed car chase
• A medium-level fight - not a pushover, but not epic either
• Battling atop a speeding lightning rail train in Eberron



Bonus:
This rest of the soundtrack is full of similarly styled action music, many of which I use in my D&D music library. Here are a few more of my favorites. (The thumbnails look identical, but they are in fact different songs.)

Monday Music: Ave Satani

Ave Satani

Source: The Omen soundtrack (Amazon)

Mood: Evil, pervasive, fanatical cultists, grotesque, foul ritual

Summary: Probably one of the most classically "evil" songs I can think of. Hell, the title means "Hail Satan" so you know what you're getting. Great gregorian chant singing (which always sounds biblical and ominous), mixed with a plodding, foul musical score which builds to an eerie crescendo. It's quite disturbing, especially how the singing voices continue to raise in pitch and harshness right up to the song's finish. Also, when the instruments start in at 0:32 (a bassoon, maybe?), there's just something about it that screams corrupt, bloated, obscene demon...at least to me.

It would be perfect for:
• A demonic cult performing a ritual for their loathsome master
• An evil temple or church
• A plane/realm of nightmares or madness

Bonus:
I always find music works well in parallel. I don't foresee working this song into my game, but if I did I would probably have the party encounter or be imprisoned by a cult set on summoning their demonic master. "Ave Satani" would play during the ritual, but the demon lord might still escape (maybe in partial, weakened form) and then the party would have to fight it. Or, they might have to pursue the demon back into its own realm and slay it there. Regardless, when they fought it I would switch to the following song, a more rocking version of "Ave Satani" by a group called Gregorian. This style of music isn't for everyone, but it's perfect for my group.

Monday Music: Phantom Forest

Phantom Forest

Source: Phantom Forest - Final Fantasy VI: Grande Finale (Amazon)

Mood: Solemn, mournful, mysterious, tranquil

Summary: A haunting yet regal song, full of tragedy and tranquility. The first part feels like arriving, and passing through, some otherworldly gate or door, while the rest feels sorrowful and peaceful.

It would be perfect for:
• Entering a ruined kingdom where all the people are trapped as (non-hostile) ghosts
• Floating down the River Styx, seeing images and memories of the past flicker around you
• Exploring an ancient and deserted, yet still sacred-feeling temple

Bonus:
It's from Final Fantasy VI, so huge nostalgia points right away. But even better, it's not the exact version from the game, so players who've played the game (let's be honest, who HASN'T played it) might not even recognize it right away.

Monday Music: Assault on New Avalon

Because I focus a great deal on music in my campaigns, I've decided to post a cool song or two each Monday, what kind of mood it sets, and where I intend to use it (if I've planned that far). Today's song is "Assault on New Avalon" from the World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King soundtrack.

Assault on New Avalon

Mood: Chaos, war, epic scale, overwhelming evil

Usage: This will be used near the conclusion to the entire campaign, when the party's home city is attacked by an army of demons and a gate to a terrible demigod from the Far Realm begins opening in the sky. The PCs will be dispatching a foe either underground or out of town (somewhere not directly on the city streets), and will receive an urgent magic message telling them that the city is under attack. This is the music that will play when they arrive on the scene and take in all the destruction - thundering black sky, razed buildings, streets erupting in fire and smoke...and up above, a foul, monstrous form slowly rippling into view.

DM Pressure, more music!

In a way, the internet is an awesome resource for DMs looking for inspiration and ideas. However, it's also awful because if you're like me, you see all the awesome campaigns out there and what other DMs are doing and feel totally overwhelmed! I mean, look at the stuff Gabe @ Penny Arcade is doing, and that's as a (relatively) rookie DM! Then there's people with light-pen projector tables, all sorts of awesome Dwarven Forge terrain dungeons, and of course the completely mind-blowing SurfaceScapes project.

Sure, it's self-inflicted pressure, since no one else in my group even hears of these awesome things unless I tell them. But still! I want to keep pushing the bar and surprising my players in as many ways as possible.

Some of the fancier table tricks are, unfortunately, out of the question for me and my limited finances. But as someone with a laptop, extra monitor, and devoted "gaming table" speakers, one thing I can do is use electronic props to their fullest.

I mentioned previously how essential music was in the finale to our last chapter, and I intend to continue this trend when the party ventures to a haunted village later on in the campaign. They don't know anything about the village other than its tragic, distant history, so it should be interesting when they eventually find the hooks connecting it to the central plotline.

The song is from a World of Warcraft dungeon called Karazhan, a haunted, magical tower which contained all sorts of awesome noble ghosts and weirdness, like an undead butler still serving at a banquet of cultured, elegant ghosts, a giant chess board where you had to participate as chess pieces, and an opera event where - in front of a ghostly audience - you re-enacted well-known folklore stories such as Romeo & Juliet or Red Riding Hood. (How full of great, classic fantasy RPG hooks is that??)

The way I see this happening is they'll travel to the village, expecting long-deserted ruins. But the village will be still there, bustling with people in antiquated style houses and clothing. Gloomy lights, cobblestone streets, Victorian manors...maybe a Ravenloft feel. Obviously, because it's blatantly fishy and because they're PCs, they'll be suspicious. Which is fine!



Then, as they proceed deeper into the seemingly-innocuous village, wondering what all the fuss was...maybe they find a few hidden secrets and discover the darker truth beneath the simple exterior. Or maybe there will be some old man on the road warning them not to stay past nightfall, but they do and when the sun disappears the town gets all demonic. Endless possibilities!

Using music to enhance your game

In a previous post I mentioned how I was using a very cool song from the movie Final Fantasy: Advent Children to add a ton of atmosphere and suspense to my 4E Shackled City campaign. It was a huge success, and I highly recommend using special music for special events. Here's a few more details about how it went down. (The full session recap can be found here.

The temple was well defended, and the party had been overcoming tough opposition (and were starting to really hate kuo-toas.) After emerging into a large open cavern, they started to hear a loud, rhythmic thumping noise.

This is what they heard (I clipped the first minute or so and played it on repeat.)




As they explored further, they looked into a huge, football-stadium sized chamber only to see hundreds of kuo-toas deep in trance/meditation. The sound was the sound of countless kuo-toa hearts beating in unison.

A long bridge led above the crowd into a shrine, and the effect of the suspenseful, ominous music playing while they crept across was great. I stopped the music when they entered the shrine. A few encounters and one session later, they had the dwarf in tow and were ready to start sneaking out again. They exchanged nervous looks when I put the music on again, which I took great pleasure in.

Sneaking out over the bridge was a stealth-based skill challenge, so as to not alert the dormant horde beneath them. They eventually failed, making noise and alerting the kuo-toas. However, I didn't tell them they had failed or that the kuo-toas had noticed them, I simply switched the song to the 1:40 mark and waited. When the tempo changed everyone at the tables completely lost their minds and started all yelling at once what they were doing, in a panic.

The skill challenge turned into an escape-themed one, led into a fight with a vengeful dragon back for a rematch, and finally a terrible far realm abomination blocking the way to their escape boat, all while being pursued by enraged kuo-toas out for blood. I used various escape/pursuit-themed songs to emphasize the danger, and after the beaten, tired but successful players drifted away on their boat, they all said it was one of the most intense sessions yet.

It can be tough to find that song that perfectly fits an event, and you don't want to do it too often or it'll lose its magic. But sometimes it works perfectly, and makes a cool encounter unforgettable.

Music Showcase: Beyond the Wasteland

Beyond the Wasteland  (Final Fantasy: Advent Children soundtrack)

Ever since I heard this song, I've wanted to use it in a game.  In the campaign I'm running (a 4E conversion of Dragon's "Shackled City" adventure path) I finally have the chance.

In Chapter 4: Zenith Trajectory, the party is tasked with tracking down and rescuing a dwarven warrior named Zenith Splintershield, who's been missing for a decade after a crusade into the Underdark that went wrong (surprise surprise). They learn that he's being held in a kuo-toa city/shrine deep underground.

So far, the players have fought their way in, killing many kuo-toas and fighting off a black dragon, who flew away before they could finish it off, and have approached a massive stone shrine/ziggurat with hundreds of chanting kuo-toas crowded around it. They have to sneak over a stone bridge into the shrine, defeat the totally insane Zenith, and then try to sneak away/escape.

Which, of course, isn't going to happen.  ;)



When they started approaching the temple (before they could see it) I started playing this song, clipped to the first half. It freaked them out completely, which was only driven home when they saw how many potential enemies were before them.

After fighting Zenith, I'm going to play the music again as they sneak along the bridge, trying not to alert the Kuo-Toas below (which will be a Skill Challenge based on stealth and observation).  Eventually they'll be discovered, but I won't say this fact out loud - I'll let the music at 1:47 convey the message. It should be fun, and will lead into part two of the Skill Challenge, which is based more on athletics and fending off the swarm of enraged kuo-toas.