There are some songs that I will probably forever associate with RPGs I’ve played in the past. Here’s a couple with some commentary on them

Negative: Frozen To Lose It All (youtube / spotify)

The main theme from our Buffy: The Vampire Slayer RPG campaign “Apocalypse, Cleveland”. The song actually is very TV-Theme-esque, and in some regards, surprisingly close to the actual Buffy theme. It was played every time there would be a “title sequence” in the “TV show” that was being simulated. An effect that worked quite nicely, even if the players kept protesting about the song (not many Negative fans on that group). We had plans to cut and mix the song to a TV-sized length, but the campaign ended too soon for us to ever get around to it. One of the players made a note after the campaign had ended, that she had heard the song on the radio and it had taken her a while to remember which TV series theme it was. Every time I hear it, I see in my mind the imaginary credit roll that was described during the game.

The nice thing about having an “opening theme” is that it allows a soft descent into the game. Especially if used in concordance with re-introducing the characters at the beginning of the session with it. You can also use it as an audio transition from a pre-story text (like flashbacks, alternate views and such that help set the game without actually being so “part” of it) to the actual story. Think of the James Bond shtick where there is an action sequence before the credits, then the title sequence, then the actual movie.

Depeche Mode: Waiting for the Night (youtube / spotify)

The ending theme for our very long-running Space Master campaign “Quiet Night” from the nineties. The song was used as a wind-down piece after an action-packed game. It was a custom to let the song play a bit before commenting on how the game had been. What has to be said about the song is that it is wonderfully multi-faceted, to the point that new connections between it and the game can still be found even these days. Latest conversation we’ve had about this was only a couple of months ago with one of the original players of Quiet Night, who now runs 3:16 for us. We talked how surprisingly fitting the song is to that game’s themes, some of which are quite much the same as QN’s were.

As said, having an ending-theme helped with many things. It was easier to bomb the characters with a cliffhanger when there was an audio cue to the end of the session instead of just saying “okay, it’s over”. Also, the “agreement” of listening to the ending theme for a while before saying anything gave the song quite big importance – everything done was reflected through the rose-tinted lenses it provided.

Shinjuku Thief: Waltz of the Midwives (sadly no online source)

The bread and butter of my nineties horror campaigns. One of the most disturbing pieces I’ve heard, ever. Starts slowly and bursts into cacophony and laughter of witches. One of our gaming group still starts very loud protests if I pull the CD out, saying that he doesn’t want to hear the damn song. Ever again. If you manage to get your hands on the song, you’ll understand why

There are these rare songs that get played in different games, without it feeling an attempt to somehow undervalue the other game. Usually when you hear a song in a game you’ve heard somewhere else, it doesn’t work that well. The “Imperial March” example on this is probably the best I’ve heard – when you play “Imperial March” when your main baddie enters a scene, you either undervalue your baddie or the song. If your bad guy is original and awesome, it is now tainted with unnecessary burden of the imagery from the song. On the other hand if your bad guy is not as awesome as Darth Vader, you’re paving the way for a disapointment on the players’ part.

Bobby Womack – Across 110th Street (youtube / spotify)

One of the songs defining my old Rakennus campaign. I don’t remember if I used this in the game that much, but it was a song that I listened a lot to when creating the campaign and toying with the ideas for it. The first games were set in the 70s and it really fit that. And later, when years rolled by, it started being about the nostalgia to the good old days. But, as said, I don’t think this one is one for the players, more a personal piece.

The songs that inspire the campaigns can be really varying. I remember listening to the weirdest pop songs when designing some horror-scenarios. These are the songs that never probably get heard by the players, but they’re the ones that usually have the biggest effect on the games.

Songs from the CoW :

College of War has been the longest-running campaign I’ve ever had, which means there are many songs that I associate with it. There’s the Academy theme from Utena (couldn’t find it on the ‘tube or spotify, sorry) that’s been playing every single time the College has been introduced. There’s the Death Theme (youtube) that’s been there for the various incarnations of Death in the game (he’s really a nice bloke, usually). In the latest campaign, there has been Opening (YT/spotify, YT/spotify) and Closing themes (YT/spotify), and character specific songs and whatnot. The latest CoW has probably been the first campaign where I’ve actively used music with Finnish lyrics on the background – A big step for someone who has regarded Finnish lyrics as somehow uncool or “common” to be used in RPG soundtracks.

The Future

Well, I haven’t been using strong thematic music for Henryn viimeinen iso keikka, and will probably steer clear of it for the next 4 games. I’d love to use some stuff like Cobra Starship, Panic! At the Disco, Paramore and Hey Monday on the soundtracks of some future games, but I think the players would want to lynch me if I did that. Technology has allowed some steps soundtrackwise that haven’t been available before – the use of laptops for music management, mixing tools to help having with the sudden pauses caused by switching from scene to another, spotify to create playlists that are collaborative, sharing the work of finding the right tunes with your friends that way. And there are always the friends who make music who can be exploited if push comes to shove.