That’s the reason why a lot of game masters use background music when running roleplaying games. Alas it’s often not so easy to find fitting music for your game. Often you have to rely on movie and game soundtracks, but they are not as perfectly suited as one might hope. What some GMs end up doing is creating elaborate playlists for their games with background music, music for combat scenes, music for chase scenes etc.

Things would be much easier if there were soundtracks especially created for the game or campaign you’re currently running. Luckily there are a few of those. A shining example is the “Eternal Lies Suite”. James Semple and his team have created 27 tracks perfectly suited for the upcoming Eternal Lies campaign or any ToC campaign for that matter.

The German band Erdenstern has created the soundtrack for “Mountains of Madness”, a Call of Cthulhu campaign, “Die Chronik Aventuriens”, a soundtrack for “Das Schwarze Auge”, and the soundtrack for the German steam-fantasy game “Elyrion”. They are also known for their more generic “Into the …” soundtracks which have been composed with roleplaying games in mind.

So there are already a few soundtracks created for certain roleplaying games but it’s still the exception and not the rule. In this day and age some publishers experiment which the transmedia approach, telling stories across multiple platforms and formats. So why not add soundtracks to the mix that are not only composed with the regular listener in mind, but that also takes the needs of roleplayers into account?

In my opinion it would be awesome if every new roleplaying game would come with a soundtrack of its own. There are of course various reasons why this will never work. Not every publisher can afford to pay a composer, musicians etc. for such a project. But wouldn’t it great if at least the larger publishers would put some thought into this?

P.S.: I actually know of one game that did it the other way around. The upcoming steampunk RPG Airship Pirates is actually based on the music and lyrics of the band Abney Park.

Related posts:

1. Instant soundtrack for your Cthulhu campaign
2. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack
3. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums

1. Tomb of the Overfiend
   Weird West is definitely one of coolest old-school games ever conceived. It’s extremely rules-light, but contains a lot of weird west goodness. Recently Stuart Robertson, creator of that fine game, released a free one-page adventure based on an excellent map by Matt Jackson. And even if you’re not into Weird West you can easily use it for other old-school games as well.
2. Ashen Stars Theme Music
   James Semple who has done several soundtracks for Gumshoe games in the past, has composed a theme music for Robin D. Laws latest game, Ashen Stars. I really hope this is the first sign of a full Ashen Stars soundtrack to come. You can listen to the rather short theme tune here.
3. Barbarians of the Future
   You probably might already have heard about Barbarians of Lemuria, Simon Washbourne’s Sword & Sorcery RPG. While I haven’t tried the game yet, it’s among the games I have to give a try at least once. Some people actually call it one of the best RPGs of the genre. Obviously the system used in BoL can also be easily be used in other genres. There’s Jabberwocky Productions’ post-apocalyptic setting-expansion Barbarians of the Aftermath for example.
   A while back rpg.net forum member Maxwell Luther created a free PDF supplement for BoA that allows players and the GM to experience adventures in the grim-dark future of the Warhammer 40,000 universe (with the serial numbers filed off). If you are interested in both BoA and the WH40K universe, you should definitely give it a look. You can download the 42-paged PDF here.
4. Expedition RPG
   Fellow RPG blogger Dennis N. Santana has recently released an early playtest edition of his Expedition RPG. I haven’t had time to give it a closer look, but according to Shaun Welch’s playtest reports (part one & part two), he and his players not only had fun with the fast character creation system that allows truly unique character concepts, but also very much enjoyed the combat rules. From what I’ve seen Expedition contains a lot of interesting ideas that set the game apart from the majority of fantasy games. If you’re looking for something new, why don’t you give it a try. It’s free and obviously pretty polished for a game still in its alpha stage.

Related posts:

1. Weird West Roleplaying Game
2. “You are all travelling in a Stagecoach…” Weird West pre-gens
3. History of West End Games

I am also a big fan of the GUMSHOE system. Robin D. Laws is one of my favorite game designers and in my opinion GUMSHOE is the perfect system for investigative campaigns of all kinds. So when I read that James Semple had created music for both Trail of Cthulhu and Esoterrorists I had to buy it immediately. Both Dissonance for Esoterrorists and Four Shadows for Trail are great soundtracks albeit a bit short.

But James Semple, his team (Marie-Anne Fischer, Mike Torr, and Yaiza Varona) and Pelgrane Press didn’t stop there. Recently they released the Eternal Lies Suite as soundtrack for the Eternal Lies campaign for Trail of Cthulhu. I haven’t had the chance to look at said campaign but I had to buy the soundtrack as soon as it became available at the Pelgrane Press online shop.

The soundtrack consists of 27 tracks of orchestrated music. Some of the tracks feature additional sound samples like wind, breathing, etc. but this never distracts from the beautiful music. I own a couple of soundtracks by Midnight Syndicate where the samples actually are quite distracting especially when used as background music. But this is not the case here.

The majority of the tracks are orchestral pieces like you would expect from a horror movie soundtrack. Especially the longer pieces work great as background music for any horror roleplaying game. The last few tracks on the soundtrack are obviously meant for special situations like chases, dangerous situations, and are aptly named "Run!”, “Danger”, “Tension” etc. But I think you could still use those in the background as well.

The soundtrack is available as download as well as on CD and is highly recommended not only for Trail but for any period horror game. According to the official product description the soundtrack was created in a way that you can loop it unobtrusively and the action tracks can be shuffled randomly but still blend seamlessly. I have to admit I haven’t tried that yet, but I will surely do so when I run my next horror game.

You can listen to a sample of the soundtrack here:
Download audio file (01%20Main%20Title%20Mastered%2024%20bit.mp3)

You can buy the Eternal Lies Suite as download or CD at the Pelgrane Press Store which sets you back $14.95 or $18.95 respectively. Alternatively the download version is available at DriveThruRPG as well.

Related posts:

1. Review: Into the Grey
2. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
3. Roleplaying music: “Dead Space”

In his series, specifically Part 8 he talks about this and touches upon the elevator speech, or elevator pitch, call it what you may. And I think this is particularly appropriate, the idea is to communicate the “value proposition”, in layman’s terms, why this campaign is right for you! Having worked in sales I can understand the value of this type of communication. Precise, succinct, to the point, and there is something to be said for getting your point across in a distilled form. It forces you to take a hard look at the campaign and reduce it to its salient features.

Of course, being creative types who have (probably) worked on this campaign for hours upon hours, you want to share every exciting detail with the players. My advice, be patient, there will be time for this. If you indulge my digression here for a moment, patience is also a valuable skill for a Game Master. In our modern “instant gratification” culture we want all the excitement and we want it right now, but if you pace yourself, set up plots and introduce information little by little not only will you have the satisfaction when it all comes together down the line, but you will keep your players engrossed and interested, coming back to your game for more.

But back to the task at hand, how do we apply this to the campaign primer. Ok let me recapitulate from the last post and give some structure to this:

1. Be concise! – Don’t drown players in information. If you must prepare hand-outs try the one page idea. Limit yourself to one single page handout per session. I normally try to prepare a slightly larger introduction to a campaign, a mix of history, rumors and set up for the first couple of sessions, and try to pace myself handing out information in small manageable chunks. This is a relatively new technique for me, and I have not used it all the time, but I believe it works. Normally the one page handouts have no illustration or fancy fonts, the idea is to share the most important information and get it out of the way.

2. A picture is worth a thousand words – I have said it in other posts and I think it bears repeating. We are visual creatures and when you can show an image of a place or an NPC the players grasp the idea quicker. My biggest problem is when I write and create and then spend hours scourging books and the internet looking for the image to represent just what I have in mind. You know an easy solution for this? Find the image first! We may not have the budget for art departments or to hire big name artists, but we can burrow their art and use it. I am not advocating piracy, or using any art for profit without paying the artist. All I am saying is to use it privately for your game to show exactly what you have in mind.

I remember a friend who, in the olden days before the internet was everywhere (well almost) would cut images from magazines, newspapers, textbooks and glue them on a composition notebook. He then would write the names of his campaign’s NPCs under each picture. No information, no stats write up, just the name and the picture. He would pass it around and we would spend hours looking at the NPCs. Likewise I would use the collectible cards sets of famous artists printed in the early 90’s, and the old AD&D trading cards, to represent NPCs, places or events. I would put them in trading card pages and then label each according to what it was. At a point the collection became quiet large. I still have the scanned images of all those cards.

3. It’s all in the presentation – I am well aware that the mere mention of Power Point may send shivers down the spines of some of our readers. If you have been victim to endless presentations with slides filled with text that the presenter, professor, salesman, whoever it may be, just reads in monotone, I understand your trepidation. But Power Point can be a powerful tool. It has become so prevalent that almost everybody will know what Power Point is. Don’t want to spend money on the program? There are options like Open Office you may explore.

My advice, use Power Point to illustrate what you are talking about. Select an appropriate and evocative background, set up a format and use lots of images. Remember point 2 on this list. I usually write a title, place various images and write small captions under them. I have used them to present NPCs, pahtheons, even illustrate adventures like I said in the previous post.  We live in a multimedia world; engage all your player’s senses!

4. “The dungeons are alive with the sound of slaying!” (with respect to Miss Andrews) – One of our readers, symatt, wrote a comment on the previous Campaign Primer post about using audio files to tell some of the stories of your game, having others speak different voices. I like the idea, but don’t have the equipment to produce the audio drama playing my in head. I simply may not have done proper research, but I like the idea. Another use of audio can be the campaign soundtrack. Michael has written some excellent posts about music for games before, and while for many years I was reluctant to use music in my games, now I am a convert and play music on my games to set the mood.

But on this instance I am not talking about music FOR the game, but music BEFORE the game, the Campaign Soundtrack idea! In our day and age it’s easy to burn a CD with a playlist; share existing playlists from your music devices, or create online collections. I have NOT done this yet but I plan to prepare one for when we retake our Pathfinder swashbuckling campaign. Simply put its collection of music appropriate for the setting, taken from movie and game soundtracks, some ambient sounds, classical music and music of specific cultures. Using the music of certain real world cultures to illustrate the music of a region or a culture in your game gives your players another mental short cut to associate with specific details from your campaign.

Let’s say that in the campaign soundtrack you identify, for example, a track of Russian folk music (like this one) as the typical music of a region in your campaign. When your players visit that place during the game, you can play that track and the players will associate what they heard in the soundtrack with what’s happening in the game and you’ll have reinforced another detail that makes your game come alive. Avoid music that is commonly known to your players unless you want to create a sense of familiarity.

Use specific pieces from existing soundtracks for NPCs or events, referring to them as the King’s March or the Dirge for the Battle of the Haunted Pass in the campaign soundtrack. Then when PCs visit the King’s court or travel to Haunted Pass you can play the music for added effect. I avoid well known soundtracks, like Conan or Lord of the Rings, they may be fine to set the mood during the game, but if they are too well known they will never be YOUR campaign’s music. Explore distant cultures and languages that sound foreign and exotic. For example, in my campaign the elven language sounds like Quechua. To illustrate what is sounds like I played Yma Sumac to my players. You can hear some of her music here. It may not sound like your idea of what elven sounds like and that is exactly the point! And of course there is this video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ker24VSMImo

And this brings me to my last point…

5. “Video killed the GM star!” – I remember a client back when I worked at my FLGS who used to tell me stories about the games he would run (people telling gaming stories in stores, ludicrous I know!) and how he would show clips of movies for events and NPCs. The BBEG of his campaign was the “Lord of Darkness” from the movie Legend (Tim Curry as the BBEG, there is an idea). While I’m reluctant to just lift random clips from famous movies, as some are just too well know to gamers, I have used animations for alien landscapes, or clips from games to illustrate locations. This is perhaps the idea I have used the least, but it can be ideal for certain genres, like sci-fi, or if you play games based on movies or TV series this can be a powerful tool.

When we began playing our Pathfinder swashbuckling campaign I got together with my players to watch Treasure Island. Sadly I could not get the original Disney movie, so we watched Simbad movies instead. It might not have been exactly about the campaign, but it set the tone, they served as a primer to the type of game we would play.

Those are just five points you can take into account when you create your campaign primer. And I haven’t talked about tools such as Wikis, Blogs, I feel like there is a lot more ground to cover. I may just need to revisit this topic again.

Remember it doesn’t have to be all in paper, we can so do much more! I hope some of this may be of use to you. Please share your ideas of what you do for your game’s campaign primer, how you introduce your campaigns to your players. I’d sure like to know…

Related posts:

1. Campaign Primer Ideas! Part 1
2. Instant soundtrack for your Cthulhu campaign
3. World Building Part 8 – Kicking Off Your Homebrew Setting Campaign

The three German musicians Andreas Petersen, Eva-Maria Irek and Per Dittmann are currently working on their next album which will be called “Into The White”. Here’s what the official site tells us about Erdenstern’s upcoming CD:

Announced for summer, 2010

“Into The White” leads you far up north, through the austere lands of the tundra to the endless range of eternal ice. Amidst the cold and solitude, you meet the inhabitants of this hostile environment – proud warriors, simple fishermen, surreal figures and wild beasts. You will witness the intense and forbidding beauty of the scenery. You will explore mighty glacial caves, cross snow-covered plains, seek shelter from avalanches and blizzards. Lit by the magical northern lights, your expedition comes to a close.

And here’s a sample of what “Into The White” will have to offer. Enjoy!

Download audio file (Erdenstern_IntoTheWhite-Medley.mp3)

Related posts:

1. Music for the adventure in your mind
2. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack
3. Another Space 1889 in the works!

Roleplaying music
I usually use orchestral movie or video game soundtracks or music especially created for roleplaying games in my gaming sessions. Sometimes I use the music I later want to use in the game session while preparation to get me into the right mood. Especially when I am planning a horror game, creepy music is playing all day.

If you want to learn more about my preferences when it comes to music in gaming, please check out some of my other posts on that topic as well:

• Instant soundtrack for your Cthulhu campaign
• Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums
• Horror Improved!
• Music for the adventure in your mind

Rock music
In some occasions I have used rock music during game sessions. I remember that I often used rock music while running Shadowrun and I used metal music in some D&D combats.  Especially when I want to use rock music in D&D I prefer bands who use fantasy elements in their songs. Bands like Manowar, Blind Guardian and Rhapsody of Fire come to mind. But I am pretty sure there are dozens more.

When asked about my favorite rock band, I usually can’t give a definitive answer. I have been a fan of Genesis, Pink Floyd and Dire Straits for a long time, but recently I’ve started to listen to bands like Nickelback, Theory of a Dead Man, Evanescence and 30 Seconds to Mars, too. But I think my all-time favorite is still Dire Strait’s “Brothers in Arms”.

Related posts:

1. Ask The Readers: What’s your favorite genre?
2. Ask The Readers: What’s your favorite Steampunk RPG?
3. Ask The Readers: What is your favorite “noir” RPG?

But now I found a free source of music from the early 20th century (thanks to the Propnomicon blog). Archive.org has thousands of recordings from 78 rpm records and even phonograph cylinders.

Download audio file (AbeLymansCaliforniaAmbassadorHotelOrchestra-FarewellBlues.mp3)

The above song is 1920s big band music performed by Abe Lyman and his band.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums
2. Every RPG should have its own soundtrack!
3. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack

You can download the music as MP3 file here. Or press the button below to play it directly in your browser:

Download audio file (holdmusic1.mp3)

Related posts:

1. Lazy Friday Video Post: Roll a D6
2. Lazy Friday Video Post: ETA
3. Lazy Friday Video Post: Ballad of the Monster Manual

Especially fall and winter are perfect seasons for horror campaigns. The days are getting shorter, the shadows are growing longer, it’s cold and uncomfortable outside and oustide activities become less and less attractive. Usually when you try to run horror campaigns in summer and spring you encounter several problems. For one it’s usually easier to pull off a horror atmosphere when it’s dark outside. Most people have fear in the dark or at least feel slightly uncomfortable which definitely helps to set the mood. I also noticed that people are usually more willing to get into the right mood for horror when it’s cold and rainy outside. Your mileage may vary of course.

There are a few games I am considering right now. I am already running a Rippers campaign for quite some time now, but it’s not as horror-laden as I wished, but that’s something I can easily change. But my players are currently happy with the campaign’s style right now, so I consider offering them to run a second/alternative campaign over the fall/winter months.

As an alternative I could run a horror solo game with my girlfriend as I planned a long time ago. Alas this plan never left the development stage, but since the "stars are right” this idea may see the light of day (or the darkness of night) after all.

One of my all-time favorite horro games is Call of Cthulhu. Most of you are probably familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, so I don’t have to go into details about the setting here. Especially on a rainy winters day nothing is more fun than to fighting a losing battle against old gods, aliens and insanity. This time I am actually considering purchasing one of the classic CoC campaigns. I have run self-written Call of Cthulhu adventures before, but I just don’t have enough time to properly research, write and prepare an epic Lovecraftian horror campaign right now. So just using a tested campaign may be the best way to go.

Instead of using the Call of Cthulhu rules by Chaosium I actually consider using Trail of Cthulhu, which is using the Gumshoe system. The Gumshoe system was created for campaigns where the focus is on investigations and less on combat. And that is exactly what I am usually aiming for in any horror game. Pelgrane Press’ another horror roleplaying game Esoterrorists could be an alternative to classic Lovecraftian horror. As Trail of Cthulhu it uses the Gumshoe system, but this time the players have actually a chance to make it through the campaign alive (and somewhat sane).

Especially if your players are well versed in the Cthulhu mythos, Esoterrorists could be a welcome change. Instead of “just another Byakhee” or “not Nyarlathotep” again, they are confronted with new and original adversaries. Esoterrorists also allows you to run a campaign reminiscent of the X-Files, with federal agents investigating all kinds of mysterious events all over the United States (or wherever you want to set your campaign). If you haven’t done so, you should at least leaf through the book in your local game store. There are already a couple of supplements and adventures available including a full-blown campaign and even a soundtrack!

If you want some more action in your horror game, I would have a look at Hunter: The Vigil or its predecessor Hunter: The Reckoning. I recently acquired a copy of the latter in a garage sale and I enjoyed reading it very much, but from what I’ve heard, Hunter: The Vigil is a better game in all respects. First and foremost the updated World of Darkness rules are in my opinion many times better than the old ones.
The new setting in Hunter: The Vigil finally allows players to play real humans. In Hunter: The Reckoning the player characters had special abilities which made them just another kind of monsters. The updated setting of Hunter: The Vigil allows for a three-tiered game, where GM and players decided which power-level they prefer. Especially a tier 1 game could be a great basis for a horror campaign.

Ok, you’ve decided you want to run a horror game, you’ve chosen one of the many available settings and perhaps you have even prepared a campaign. Now you really should think about music and props. In my opinion both may not be vital for a good horror game experience, but if used right, they can contribute a lot.

As I’ve pointed out in many posts before, music can help to set the mood. And especially in a horror game mood is everything. Horror movie soundtracks usually work pretty well. I have also used candles for lighting in horror games in the past which usually works great. But beware candles on the game table can be a distraction, too. So, if your players are playing with candles wax instead of focussing on the game you should consider using electrical light instead.

If you ask me, handouts are a must in any investigative game. If the players find a newspaper article, a scrap of paper in the clenched fist of a dead man or some strange runes on the wall of an desecrated church, make sure you have an appropriate handout ready. If you have any artistic skill, a sketch of the monster they encounter or perhaps even a small statue may be pretty cool.

I believe these tips should help you jumpstart your horror campaign. As always I am keen on hearing from you. What horror roleplaying game is your favorite? And what do you use to set the mood? Please post your thoughts in the comments below!

Related posts:

1. Horror Improved!
2. Lovecraftian posts from the archives
3. The Cold War and the Cthulhu Mythos

And in my opinion “Into the Grey” is their best album so far. The 80-min CD features a lot of strong tracks that are almost to “strong” to be played in the background. But that’s not really a bad thing. Some of their pieces reminded me of Vangelis’ excellent “Blade Runner” soundtrack. And especially fans of near future and cyberpunk campaign will be able to put a lot of the music on this CD to good use during their gaming sessions.

While the first few tracks have a cyberpunk theme, the later tracks of “Into the Grey” take the listener to a more distant future. Especially “Mothership” sounds much like the intro theme of a Star Trek series. I even believe the composers were inspired by the intro theme of the fictional SF series “Galaxy Quest” that appeared in the SF parody of the same name. The leitmotif of “Mothership” also appears in a few other  tracks like “Leaving Space Dock”.

As with all Erdenstern albums “Into the Grey” comes with a booklet that give the GM tags for each track that should help him to find the right music for any given situation. The 19th track “Orbit” for example is tagged as gigantic, dangerous, dramatic, while the aforementioned “Mothership” is described as confident, hopeful, solemn. Each of the 21 tracks also has a subtitle to describe further what the music is meant to be about. One of my favorite track “Downtown Blues” has the subtitle “And Another One For My Friend Here”. This should make finding the right music for the job even easier.

All in all I enjoyed “Into the Grey” very much. In my opinion it’s Erdenstern’s best album so far and I will probably make heavy use of their music in my upcoming gaming sessions. Alas their CDs are not yet available digitally but you can order it directly from the Erdenstern website. “Into the Grey” has 21 tracks (playtime about 80 mins) and will set you back 20$ (or €14.99) plus shipping from Germany.

Download audio file (intothegreymedley.mp3″)
(Into the Grey Medley, 5:00 min)

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Into the Grey
2. Review: Eternal Lies Suite
3. Roleplaying music – “WoW: Taverns of Azeroth”

Into The Grey is a story about a future world. Technology has outrun most of the people, and everyone has to take care of themselves. You live from job to job, you meet creatures so upgraded with machinery that they are only vaguely human anymore.

The album contains 21 tracks of SF-inspired music with a complete playtime of 79:48 min. The CD will be released in April.

Download audio file (intothegreymedley.mp3″)
(Into the Grey Medley, 5:00 min)

Related posts:

1. Review: Into the Grey
2. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums
3. Roleplaying music – Bioshock

And this site has proven as a great source of music you can freely use in your blog, podcast etc. as long as you abide to the rules set in the license. 

The music I embedded into this post is by Olivier Renouard, a french artist, that has created some beautiful fantasy themed songs. The music may not be perfectly suited for use while roleplaying but his music can be very inspirational while you are blogging or planning your campaigns.

Download audio file (andoria.mp3)

The song above is part of his album “Magical and Fantasy Musics“, that you can download for free from Jamondo.com.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums
2. Roleplaying music: Into the Grey
3. Music for the adventure in your mind

The CD contains 19 tracks  and has a total play time of 74:32 min. Although you can easily recognize the Erdenstern style, Elyrion sounds quite different from their other CDs.  It’s quite appearent that Erdenstern has tried out new styles on this album. 
The first track “Der Kontinent Audakia” (The Continent Audakia) could be easily sneaked into a “Into the Green” playlist. It’s a very melodic piece reminiscent of their “Library of Fantastic Music” albums. 
Other tracks are less melodic but more rythmic in nature like “Krieger aus Stahl” (Warriors of Steel)  or “Wolfsland” (Land of the Wolves). I’ve to admit that I haven’t checked out the Elyrion roleplaying game yet but the soundtrack does a good job of taking the listener on a journey to the continent of Audakia. 

The album comes in a custom jewel case with a printed booklet (german only). Like with all Erdenstern CDs every track is described with three adjectives in the booklet, so that you can easily choose with music you use in a given roleplaying situation. For example “Die Schänke” (The Tavern) is described as merry, folkloristic, strange while “Berge und Ebenen” (Mountains and Plains) is calm, wide, expectant.

The albums sets you back €14.99 (or $21 or £14.49) and can be ordered directly from Erdenstern. For a list of other retailers, check out this site. I enjoyed “Elyrion – Call of the Titans – Soundtrack” very much and you should check it out if you have the opportunity. You won’t regret it especially if you like to use music in your roleplaying sessions.

Elyrion Soundtrack – Medley

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack
2. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
3. Roleplaying music: “Dead Space”

The Dead Space soundtrack was composed by Jason Graves and is available via iTunes (I haven’t found it as a CD release yet). The complete album costs 9,99€ and is available as DRM-free iTunes Plus.

The first two pieces “Dead Space Theme” and “Welcome Aboard the U.S.G. Ishimura” start off pretty slow and make use of violins and woodwinds. The music sets a serene but eery and foreboding scene. The third tracks “The Necromorphs Attack” gives you an idea of what to expect with 50% of the soundtrack. “The Necromorphs Attack” makes heavy use of fast percussion and sawing violins.

The following tracks are either slow and serene like the first two or of the disorienting and discordant kind like “The Necromorphs Attack”. Especially “I Left My Heart In Med Lab 3″ almost turned my stomach just by listeing to it. That’s exactly the kind of music you need to set the mood in a combat-heavy horror roleplaying game.

In a lot of ways the soundtrack reminded me of the “Aliens” soundtrack (One of my favorite choices for background music in SF-horror RPG sessions). I think I will make use of the “Dead Space” soundtrack in my upcoming “Dark Heresy” session. And I am pretty sure I will have my players at the edge of their seats all the time.

Someone has uploaded the complete soundtrack to YouTube, so you can check it out there, or just play the embedded video below. If you like what you hear, you really should buy the album via iTunes or ask your local dealer for the CD. It’s worth every penny (or cent)!

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music – “WoW: Taverns of Azeroth”
2. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
3. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums

Elyrion

Elyrion Soundtrack – Medley

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Elyrion – Call of the Titans
2. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums
3. Roleplaying music – “WoW: Taverns of Azeroth”

The 2-CD set comes with an “Original Soundtrack” CD and a “Bonus” CD. The first disc contains 25 tracks from the games’ soundtrack, the second features three songs from the band Turbonegro, a death punk group from Norway, and 8 additional tracks from the game soundtrack. I would have preferred when they’ve put the band’s songs at the end of the CD, but since I usually use my iPod to play the background music for my gaming sessions, that’s no big problem. I will just create a playlist withouth those three songs.

The CD set also comes with a booklet containing a letter from the composer, Knut Avenstroup Haugen, the lyrics to some tracks like “Combat Reborn, III. Aquilonia” which is sung in Latin. There are also songs with lyrics in some Hyborian language (I didn’t know that they were any) and Norse. The music itself is what you expect from a soundtrack to a MMORPG that is set into the “Age of Conan”. You get a lot of pieces that are obviously inspired by the great “Conan – The Barbarian” soundtrack from Basil Poledouris, melodical pieces inspired by many different cultures and a lot of use of choirs.
I haven’t used the music in roleplaying sessions yet, but I believe it could work great in any fantasy setting. If you agreed with my other music recommendations you will surely love the music to “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”.

If you want to know more about the making of the soundtrack and it’s composer, there’s a video interview with Knut Avenstroup Hagen at Ten Ton Hammer.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music – “WoW: Taverns of Azeroth”
2. Roleplaying music – “The Witcher”
3. Roleplaying music: “Dead Space”

The download consists of a ZIP file (approx. 191 MBytes in size) that contains the official score and “Music inspired by The Witcher”.

The official score was composed by Adam Skorupa and Paweł Błaszczak. Instead of some of the other soundtracks I recommended for roleplaying purposes the music from The Witcher is not atmospheric but more melodical, making heavy use of choirs (or samples sounding like choirs) and there are pieces that sound like medieval tavern music.

“Music inspired by The Witcher” is a compilation of songs that were inspired by the computer game. It contains songs from different genres and most of the tracks weren’t exactly my cup of tea. But your mileage may vary.

If you are interested to learn more about the Witcher check out the great Witcher Wiki. By the way, there’s also a Polish roleplaying game set into the world of the Witcher novels called Wiedźmin: Gra Wyobraźni. But as far as I know this game was never translated to English.

The Witcher OST – “Dusk in Northern Kingdom”

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
2. Roleplaying music – Bioshock
3. Roleplaying music – “WoW: Taverns of Azeroth”

“Thief – Deadly Shadows” - Pavelock Prison

UPDATE: The download link should work now.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
2. Roleplaying music: “Dead Space”
3. Roleplaying music: Elyrion – Call of the Titans

You can download the Bioshock soundtrack here (ZIP file; 21.7 MByte).
There’s also a review of the score and an interview with the composer at Tracksounds.com!

Bioshock – Main Theme “The Ocean on His Shoulders”

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
2. Roleplaying music – “The Witcher”
3. Roleplaying music – “Thief – Deadly Shadows”

Conan the Barbarian (composed by Basil Poledouris)
Conan the Barbarian is one of my favorite fantasy movies and this is partly because of the great soundtrack. The music is very epic sometimes even bombastic, but there are also quiet, melodic parts. It’s an full orchestral soundtrack, so no synthie sounds here. It’s highly recommended for any fantasy roleplaying game. But you should try to get your hands on the Varese Sarabande CD, since other versions like the CD from Milan miss a few tracks. From what I’ve heard the CD versions are quite hard to find, but you can get it on iTunes for around 6€. So what are you waiting for?

Download audio file (conanthebarbarian.mp3)
Conan the Barbarian – “Theology/Civilization”

A Nightmare On Elm Street (composed by Charles Bernstein)
The Nightmare on Elm Street movies are probably not the best horror movies ever made, but the soundtrack is awesome. The music was done completely with synthesizers and Bernstein manages to create an unsettling and unnatural atmosphere from the first second to the last note. Just listening to the music sets a great mood at the gaming table. I’ve used this soundtrack in many horror campaigns and it never gets old. It’s a timeless classic. As with other soundtrack CDs this is hard to find in shops but it’s available over iTunes for the regular 9,99€ price.

Download audio file (nightmareonelmstreet.mp3)
A Nightmare On Elm Street – “Jail Cell”

John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (composed by John Carpenter)
Prince of Darkness is a great horror movie by one of my favorite directors. If you haven’t seen the movie, yet, go to a video rental store and rent it. It doesn’t have any new-fangled digital effects but it’s very creepy and you’ll get a lot of great ideas for horror campaigns. The trouble is that it’s extremely hard to get a copy of that CD. I sometimes get the feeling that only movie fans and roleplaying geeks buy this kind of soundtrack album and so they are usually “out of print” just a few years after release. And Prince of Darkness is another 80s classic. Like the aforementioned “Nightmare” soundtrack, the music from this horror classic was done in the synthesizer. It’s not quite as good as “Nightmare” but it’s a good alternative. As far as I know the album isn’t available on iTunes either, but there are some John Carpenter compilations available.

Download audio file (princeofdarkness.mp3)
John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness – “Main Theme”

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (composed by Jeremy Soule)
When you are a fan of computer roleplaying games, you probably have played either Oblivion or its predecessor Morrowind, or you’ve at least heard the name Jeremy Soule. Soule has composed a lot of computer and video game soundtracks and is (in)famous for his characteristic style. Some people say, that if you’ve heard one Soule soundtrack you know them all. But in my opinion the soundtracks for Oblivion and Morrowind stand out. Especially Oblivions’ music is perfectly suited as background music for your gaming session. You can easily use it in almost any fantasy setting. When I am not mistaken, the CDs where only available with the Collectors Edition of the game but you can get all Soule soundtracks at DirectSong.com. You can also get several tracks from the Oblivion and the Morrowind sountrack for free at the official Elder Scrolls website.

Download audio file (tes4title.mp3)
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – “Main Theme”

Gears of War (composed by Kevin Riepl)
The soundtrack from this futuristic third person shooter is great for any gaming session involving modern or futuristic battle. Although there are some slow sequences most of the time the music is very fast and almost brutal. In my opinion the Gears of War music would work great with the new Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game “Dark Heresy” or anything similar like post-apocalyptic campaigns. I found this soundtrack over the iTunes but you should get it as CD as well.

Download audio file (gearsofwar.mp3)
Gears of War- “Gears of War”

By the way, from this day on I utilize the “Yahoo! Media Player” on this blog. It’s pretty easy to install and use. You just add the following line of code to your site’s header:

<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://mediaplayer.yahoo.com/js">
</script>

This adds the player to your site. Now you just have to link to a mp3 file to get small play button next to that link. A click on that button and the music starts to play. It’s as easy as that! For more details check out the official site for the player.

Update: I am using a flash-based WordPress plugin now.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack
2. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”
3. Instant soundtrack for your Cthulhu campaign

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Elyrion – Call of the Titans
2. Roleplaying music: “Dead Space”
3. Roleplaying music – Five essential soundtrack albums

1. Turn down the lights
   I usually darken the room when we play “Call of Cthulhu” or similar games. Then I get some candles and use only them for illumination. If someone complains that he can’t read his character sheet just use more candles. Bright artificial light usually distracts from the creepy atmosphere you want to create. If you run a SF-horror campaign you can utilize a flickering neon lamp for quite a nice effect. But this should be used sparingly because it gets old fast.
2. Creepy music
   Another easy trick is to use creepy music in the background. And by creepy I don’t mean the latest Britney Spears album! Soundtracks from movies like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” or “John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness” work great. Refrain from using music with vocal and keep the volume down. If used correctly illumination and music set the mood even before the game started.
3. Props!
   I love using props. When playing games like “Call of Cthulhu” handing out newspaper excerpts and other handouts to the player makes the game feel more real. And this almost everytime improves the sense of horror. A friend of mine has a sheep’s skull that he sometimes brings along when he runs a game and places it in front of his GM screen. This adds a nice touch.
4. Turn off the mobile phones
   That should be a requirement for every gaming session! Just ask your players to turn off their phones. It makes things so much easier!
5. No eating at the gaming table
   Nothing destroys the mood faster than someone munching chips at the gaming table while the GM tries to describe the supernatural horror in all its details. Instead of having food at the table all the time, make pauses to have something to eat. During the meals turn of the lights again and let your players relax.
6. Voice and sounds
   One way to get your players attention especially when it’s supposed to be creepy is to talk with low volume. Usually they will listen more closely (especially if you robbed them of most of their sight by turning the lights down). When something dramatic happens become louder. Some GM even shout, stand up for more effect or even use maniacal laughter (if it’s appropriate).
   In one adventure scratching sounds played an important part, so I scratched with my fingernails over the underside of the gaming table for some great effect.
7. Don’t overdo it
   The most important advice is: don’t overdo it. If you constantly scratch under the table, flicker the lights, do creaky-door sounds all the time, it gets old fast. After a while your players will not be in fear but they will probably throw their dice at you just to make it stop. So use props, voice and sounds sparingly.

I hope these simple tricks will help you improve the mood in your horror adventures! And if you know of more tricks, please let all of us know in the comments!

Related posts:

1. Review: The Book of Unremitting Horror
2. [Horror] Take Your World and Break It
3. The Horror of Leatherbury House

Erdenstern – The River (Into the Gold bonus track)

You can download more tracks on their official site.

Related posts:

1. Roleplaying music: Elyrion – Call of the Titans
2. Roleplaying music: Elyrion Soundtrack
3. Roleplaying music: “Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures”