Music in RPG Sessions

Music is powerful,

as I'm sure you are well aware. Music can invoke an immense range of emotions, the chaos of a fight, the thrill of a chase scene, the dread of the monster around the corner. I personally draw on inspiration from film and video games when creating my RPG playlists for sessions. Playing music can really set the mood and ever since I have started DMing, I have always had some form of audio to support my verbal descriptions of scenes.

I attest my education and personal experiences for providing me with the point of view that everyone learns new information in different ways. As a result, when running the game, I will try and touch on a multitude of styles throughout a session. Incorporating music to set the mood and tone, providing evocative visuals when my words falter, 

and writing out "boxed text" to verbally describe when players encounter new areas, are just some of the ways I can spark player imagination during a session. In the heat of the moment, I've found music to be exceptionally effective in this purpose.

The following are just some examples of music that I have used while running the game:

• Anything by Justin Bell (Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny)
• Disasterpeace's music from Hyper Light Drifter for the weird, strange, and magical
• Many of Jeremy Soule's works from the Elder Scrolls series.
• Most recently, even some oldies from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks.
• My most frequently used playlist for most scenarios.

Programs and Resources

When I began, Youtube was my greatest friend. Its free, you can make your own playlists, and there is a lot of content to utilise. The problem with the YouTube app is that it must remain open and undisturbed in order to function (still...) and as a result, it completely occupies the functions of one electronic device at the table at all times. This is an issue when rules need to be looked up or information needs to be crosschecked on my typed up notes in a session and the music cuts out.

After upgrading to a Samsung Galaxy S7 a couple of years ago, I transferred my music library from the dreadful itunes into Google Play Music and subsequently subscribed to the service. Google Play music runs in the background like any other player and I was still able to make custom playlists. Though, I couldn't always find what I wanted. Being able to download music to be available is a nice touch, sometimes wifi can still be spotty and unreliable.I still rely on it from time to time.

Currently, I use Spotify primarily because I have a free subscription for a few more months and it is significantly more popular that Google Play Music. The greatest boon however is that you will often find playlists that have been created by other users that are well put together and are even doctored to fit certain moods and types of combats (shoutout to Brian Davis). A strangely useful feature is being able to control what is being played from connected devices. I can control the overall playlist from my tablet, but if I need to quickly skip to the next track I can do so from my phone. It comes in handy more often than I like to admit.

In closing...

Use music in your games if possible. Even just playing it in the background throughout can really add to the feel of the game and immerse you and your players. If you don't some players like myself might show up with a bluetooth speaker and offer to DJ for you.

Roll well,

Mack