Three Ways to use Music in your Game
by Mike Shea on 26 April 2010
When writing the script for his films, Quinten Tarrantino likes to sit in his music room spinning 78s of his favorite yet forgotten tunes to get his mind wandering.
"I am always looking for some cool song that I could use as a big set piece. I'll finish work and I'll go into my record room and I'll put on some song, and literally, I can see it on the screen." Tarrantino says.
Like a great soundtrack to an action movie, music can have a big impact on our D&D games. Today we're going to look at three ways to use music to make our D&D games better.
Music for Storybuilding
Writers have long known that the actual act of story building often occurs far away from the keyboard. Our imaginations are always working, stealing little bits and pieces from every aspect of our lives. Sometimes we need a bit of a catalyst, though. Something to make the creative flow run a little smoother. Music serves this purpose very well. The music doesn't always need to make sense. I wrote an entire fantasy novel around the music of Elliott Smith and Nouvelle Vauge, putting it together scene by scene during my daily commute.
Music lets our mind wander. It sets us free to explore our imaginations without requiring our attention to actually directly listen. It drowns out the interruptions we might otherwise take in. Like Tarrantino, take the time to just sit and spin your favorite tunes while letting your mind wander
The Eclectic Musical Soundtrack
A lot of DMs use period music or classical video game music to set the background for their games. This is a great use for music and helps build a great backdrop for their story. This isn't the only way, however. Like Tarrantino's use of Cat People in the middle of Inglourious Basterds, the music doesn't always have to make sense. Does Madonna's Hung Up seem to fit the them of your Kurosawa-style Seven Samurai campaign? Use it and don't look back!
I find that a good mix of classical and instrumental music mixed with some 70s, 80s, 90s, and modern pop tunes keeps the tempo and pace of my game moving along well. In my current D&D mix, I have a mix of Rolling Stones, 80s one-hit wonders, Midnight Syndicate instrumental music, game soundtracks from Halo, Diablo 2, and Mass Effect, and, Gods help me, even a little taste of Lady Gaga. Find your own ideal mix of tunes to work in the backdrop of your campaign.
Music works best when its transparent in your game. Don't make it too loud and keep the speakers directed AWAY from your gaming group. Ambiance is the key. I keep a pair of amplified speakers on the floor of our dining room where we play, muffled by our chairs, our bodies, and the bottom of the table. It keeps the focus where it should be, on the game itself.
PC Theme Song Mechanics
I first heard about this idea from Greg Bilsland's house rules. Essentially there is no reason you can't have music actually directly effect your game. In Bilsland's example, characters gain a free action point usable on their next turn any time their character's theme song comes up. I've modified this slightly into the following power:
Encounter PowerSong of Power
Your heart surges as your theme music comes into play, filling you with an unstoppable power.
Action Point, triggered when this PC's theme song comes up
Gain one action point which can only be used during this character's next turn. This action point gains any benefits any action point would receive. In addition, any attack roll made using this action point gains an increase in critical hit threat range by 1. For example, if a character's attack would normally crit on 19 and 20, on this attack it crits on 18, 19, or 20.
This sort of effect adds exactly the sort of cinematic scene we can imagine in a good action flick. The theme song comes on, our hero in the spotlight pushes everyone out of the way, and in a slow motion leap, cuts deep into the villainous mastermind with a wide-bladed axe.
The key to success is to add these theme songs to a good-sized playlist that is long but not too long. While I'm still tweaking it, a four to 7 hour play list (about 100 songs) will give one to two theme songs per game. You will want this play list long enough so a theme song comes up once or twice a game, although you can adjust to taste.
The exact song a player chooses can have as wide a range as you can imagine. One paladin might choose O Fortuna while a Warlord might choose Yackety Sax.
Music can have a big impact on your game. Whether you use it to help you generate ideas for your story, use it as a backdrop for the game itself, or actually use it as a mechanic in your game, spend some time considering how music can help your own game.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider using these links to purchase Corvus Corax's Viator, the Midnight Syndicate's Dungeons and Dragons soundtrack, or Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack. All excellent musical tracks to fill in your D&D game playlists. You can also use this link to purchase anything from Amazon. You can also visit Troll and Toad, an official Sly Flourish sponsor for any of your gaming supply needs.
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