And welcome to Day 19 of #RPGaDay . A simple one: "What Music Enhances My Game?"
I don't use music in my games.
Oh, I've tried. But leaving Carmen Burina on constant, almost forgotten repeat during a campaign finale, produces derision from the players rather than enhancing the experience.
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And leaving Jelly Roll Morton playing in the background of Dead Man Stomp was more a distraction.
And as much as I wanted specific selections of Darkest of the Hillside Thickets for my Cthulhu game, it added nothing.
For a con session, I've seen an Indiana Jones or Lord of the Rings soudtrack add to the flow of the game, but in regular play it sometimes becomes insufferable far earlier than it would sync with game flow.
I don't use music in my games.
Oh, I've tried. But leaving Carmen Burina on constant, almost forgotten repeat during a campaign finale, produces derision from the players rather than enhancing the experience.
And leaving Jelly Roll Morton playing in the background of Dead Man Stomp was more a distraction.
And as much as I wanted specific selections of Darkest of the Hillside Thickets for my Cthulhu game, it added nothing.
For a con session, I've seen an Indiana Jones or Lord of the Rings soudtrack add to the flow of the game, but in regular play it sometimes becomes insufferable far earlier than it would sync with game flow.
I've often THOUGHT it would be cool to have music on during a game - I thought about curating a mix of 80s music to play while running Tales from the Loop, or have tried playing The heavy metal soundtrack or a bit of Bolt Thrower during 40K RPG games, etc. I tried playing a compilation of "creepy" songs during a special Hallowe'en game. I've almost always found music being played during a game to be more distracting than anything...
ReplyDeleteI do listen to a lot of music while preparing for or even while doing other things during the weeks before running a game - I DID listen to a lot of 80s music over the couple months I was running the Tales from the Loop campaign and it did bring back a lot of memories of my primary school years and was a great source of inspiration - in getting a feel for the setting... I've been playing a lot of Heavy Metal before running 40K games to get in the mood for running a game in the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium.
Darkest of the Hillside Thickets may not be so hot for RPG, but it is great to sing along to while painting minis!
ReplyDeleteFor CoC RPG or any other time, I would recommend music by Musica Cthulhiana. Much more subtle, but extremely disturbing. It is also great to listen to if you are out late at night walking your dog, very creepy and highly recommended. ML