Using Music in your RPG

Today we have a very special guest post from our very own DarkMagus, highlighting his Gaming Music “Campaign” please have a read!

Why music?

We are used to piecing the world together through five senses (for those of us fortunate enough to have full use of all of our senses). When watching a film we have only two senses which are available to this work, sight and sound. We are not fully immersed, we are aware that we are merely watching pictures on a screen and that the words we hear are coming from speakers somewhere.

There is also the problem of creating suspension of disbelief. We know the film is fake, that these events are not real, not unfolding before us at the very moment we watch us, yet how many of us do not know at least one person who yells at horror movies (“Get out of there!, or “Run you idiot!”, etc.)? How many of us can say that they haven’t felt their heart skip a beat or haven’t been moved to tears by a scene? Creating suspension of disbelief and the feeling of immersion in a film is aided by darkening the lights, so that the world around the audience disappears temporarily (out of sight out of mind).

Taking the audience out of the real world and putting them into an imaginary world requires then that the film makes good use of the two senses available to them. Low budget films with “cheesy” visual effects can make any good scene simply laughable. The element of sound must also be fitting. Sound effects should synch up with their visual cues. Music should fit the mood and setting, and should be the appropriate pace.

Setting the Tone

If the famous battle track from Gladiator played during March of the Penguins, while humorous, the movie wouldn’t have had its calming tone and the majesty of nature would have been lost in its juxtaposition with the epic feel track. If Waking Life had used 80’s synth-pop a whole dimension of the film would have been lost and the audience would have just felt confused instead of a traveling companion on a surreal journey through an unexplored and intangible aspect of reality. If German techno or 1990’s gangster rap was used for The Lord of the Rings we would have denounced Peter Jackson’s choice of music. Not only would the mood and pace of the movie not have matched the music, but this classic medieval story would have suddenly come into the modern times like a lost time traveler.

The role of music in your table top RPG parallels the role of music in film- I might dare to argue it may even be more important because of the lack of a visual element. Sure we have our mind’s eye where we watch the game unfold before us, but this isn’t real sight. I like to play games in dim lighting, either candle light or low light, often using colored lights, as to take the visual aspects of the real world out of focus, like in movie theatres. But with nothing to actually watch, the entire game and the magic of being taken to another world happens through our ears. Adding some ambience or mood music adds depth to this experience and helps immerse the audience.

Picking appropriate music

Appropriate music should be chosen by considering the three elements I mention above- mood, setting, and pace. Mood is how the track makes you feel. If you are planning a creepy scene then a track full of triumphant fanfare and blazing brass sections will most likely take away from the atmosphere you are trying to create, and may impact the game beyond just the feeling. Players who aren’t afraid because they are laughing at the music or making movie references may not play their character the same as if they were scared. How they feel might influence their actions and therefore the course of your game.

Setting is important, but is the one element which can be fun to play with because it is much more flexible. You might find trance music inappropriate to your 13th century England based game, but the soundtrack to Cowboy Bebop, an anime set in the future added to the feeling of a unique setting by playing jazz and blues instead of more modern or futuristic sounding music.

Setting the Pace

Pace is an important element that is often overlooked. If your party is sitting around the campfire talking about the day’s events or planning for their next adventure, it is best to pick something slow or just still ambience. This will suspend time and not rush the players to stop talking. We all know we want to get more role playing scenes out of our players and putting on fast paced, “lets hurry up and get the job done” kind of music will just remind them that they wanted to fight that wight in the swamp next to town instead of getting lost in talking about their characters’ thoughts and feelings, maybe revealing important secrets or back-story elements not revealed yet. If however they have just stormed the castle and are fighting the evil duke who has poisoned their kidnapped companion then I pick music with a much faster pace and turn it up.

This sense of being overwhelmed by the music combined with the feeling of action from the quicker tempo can up their heartbeats and really make the players feel like they are running out of time. This is a good time to talk quick and loud and flail your arms about. Be overly dramatic when they should be engrossed in the moment and not taking time to careful plan out their battle strategy and meta-game it to death. They are there, the fight is happening, don’t give them extra time to think, well no more time than their character would have. If a player can’t decide their action they lose their turn until the end of the round. Pace is something that everyone should really be feeling at your table, and music really helps with that.

Gaming Music: A Music Resource for DMs

Gaming Music is a “campaign” here on Obsidian Portal created by me (DarkMagus). Users Gaaran and Dethstryke and I have begun putting up reviews of albums that you might find useful for your gaming experience. Albums are categorized and listed alphabetically as well as tagged so you can choose to browse the reviews or search by tags (such as violin, modern, spooky, calm, etc.) to find appropriate music. Dethstryke had the brilliant idea of using the “Characters” tab for composers and artists, so it is easier to find other works reviewed by that same artist. Gaaran has added the “Playlist Helper” which provides some basic playlist types and explains what they are and what types of music belong in them. There are plans to expand this idea into the “Adventure Logs” with sample playlists. The idea is that DMs looking for a certain type of music in a hurry can check out the sample playlists to find appropriate tracks very quickly.

There are already over 100 albums reviewed and a very long to-do list submitted by fans and others. Check it out and let us know what you think. If there is anything you think should be added please let us know.

Thanks,
DarkMagus

Project GMOYFP

Hear My Words!

I’ve been listening to a lot of RPG-related podcasts lately, and I cringe every time I hear them mention a problem that Obsidian Portal solves. Whether it’s scheduling your game, keeping track of NPCs, or bringing a new player up to speed, I just want to scream at my mp3 player every time they discuss inferior solutions on how to deal with these problems.

Get Micah on Your Favorite Podcast

With that in mind, I’m launching Project GMOYFP: Get Micah on Your Favorite Podcast. I want you to reach out to your favorite podcasters and tell them to bring me on the show as a guest speaker. I love to talk about Obsidian Portal and how it can help you manage your game, but many of these podcasters have no idea who I am. When I reach out to them, they think I’m some random whacko off the Internet trying to worm my way onto the show. In fact, I’m a very specific whacko off the Internet trying to worm my way on!

Don't you want to hear what this whacko has to say?

I’ve been on The DM Guys and The Tome Show, and both times were a blast, plus I was able to hopefully introduce a few people to Obsidian Portal. I like to think that some lucky listeners out there heard the name, decided to check it out, and we helped re-energize their campaign. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part, but oh well.

Please! Do me a big favor and reach out to your favorite RPG podcasters, large or small, popular or unknown. Send the podcasters an email or post a note in their forums. A message from a regular listener and community member will carry a lot more weight than one from a whacko like me. Tell them to send me an email at [email protected] I’ll twist and morph my schedule and make myself available.

If we all work together, we can ensure that one more Internet whacko (me!) gets his voice heard.

DM’s: Incentivize Your Players!

Getting the Ball Rolling

So I’ve been running games using Obsidian Portal for a while now, and in the past year I’ve discovered a thing or two about players – they are lazy. Bear in mind that I’m generalizing here but, really, let’s be honest.

Obsidian Portal is this haven for creativity and sometimes implores us DM’s to pour hour after hour of work into our campaign pages, meticulously tweaking every detail until it looks just right on the page and leaving no stones unturned when it comes to adventure logs and wiki pages.

The in-game calendar – Why it’s tough

Highmoon, 448PK

Many people have seen the new campaign calendar and extended it to the next logical step: Why not create a calendar for your in-game time? On the surface, it seems like a good idea, and it’s definitely something I have struggled with in the past. Unfortunately, it’s a very tough problem, and the final result would probably not be what you imagine.

Introducing: Tip Tuesday

The Melting Pot

Obsidian Portal is what we make of it, the entire site itself is an ever growing and strengthening mass of awesome contributions and gaming greatness – created by all of us and I’m especially honored to be part of the team pushing it all forward.

I’d really like to chip in a bit of my own flavor to some of our weekly activities, so I think it’s about time I added a little bit of my own spice to this Obsidian Portal grog we knock back each day.

New Feature: The Campaign Calendar + We Celebrate 4 Years!

Stop Pinching Yourselves!

No this isn’t an early April fools joke, and it’s not some hallucination or illusory spell, this is the real deal! We know you’ve been wanting a calendar for a long time now and we’re delivering in full! Introducing the Campaign Calendar tab and all the awesomeness within!

The campaign calendar allows you to easily schedule your sessions, send reminders to your players, and see who is attending at a quick glance. You can even export your calendar as an iCal file for import into all your favorite calendar managers like iCal or Google Calendar. This is just one more way to whip your game into shape.