HYPERBOREA / Music in the Background

**Posted by Ghul** 3/03/2014 7:10 am

It was my friend Bob, otherwise known as "Bobby Sausage," who introduced me to the idea of music in the background during game play. I think it was around 1984 when he threw in the cassette for Conan the Barbarian, the score by Basil Poledouris. I haven't done it that often, but I do recall using Holst's Mars: Bringer of War during one campaign session.

**Posted by Chainsaw** 3/03/2014 9:08 am

Those are good ones. We don't typically have music playing in my regular 1E group, but we always did back in high school (usually the soundtrack for the Dune PC game) and we were listening to Rush last weekend when EOTB, capitalbill, my brother and Fridge gathered for an OD&D one-shot. I like music in the background so long as it's not too loud. Needs to be at a level you can easily ignore if necessary.

**Posted by Ghul** 3/03/2014 9:11 am

I used to play a Dune PC game back in the early Nineties, but I don't remember the music...

Basically, you picked a House, and you tried to take control of the spice and the planet.

**Posted by joseph** 3/05/2014 12:52 pm

I occasionally run a playlist that includes the Conan soundtrack, as well as those from Legend and Bram Stoker's Dracula. There's quite a bit of classical, including Wagner and a 99 cent download called 100 Darkest Pieces of Classical Music. Top it off with Led Zeppelin and the music for The Hyborian Age video game, and I'm set.

**Posted by Blackadder23** 3/06/2014 3:19 pm

I find music during actual game sessions to be annoying, so I don't use it. I often play They Might be Giants while working on material for my games (which might explain why my adventures turn out the way they do).

**Posted by Maezar** 3/09/2014 9:07 pm

The Conan score has been re-recorded. It is excellent. Look for it. I also find Basil's work on other films most inspiring. Even Conan the Destroyer has a wonderfully evocative score. In that classic vein I also enjoy Excalibur and Leonard Rosenman's Lord of the Rings.

**Posted by Handy Haversack** 3/10/2014 10:57 pm

Blackadder23 wrote:
I find music during actual game sessions to be annoying, so I don't use it. I often play They Might be Giants while working on material for my games (which might explain why my adventures turn out the way they do).

I heard They Might Be Giants got lost driving around. Explains a lot!

Last edited by Handy Haversack (3/10/2014 10:58 pm)

**Posted by Blackadder23** 3/13/2014 1:23 pm

The thing that bothers me is, someone keeps moving my chair.

**Posted by Yora** 5/03/2014 6:58 am

I quite like the music from Princess Mononoke and Seirei no Moribito. There's a bunch of rather creepy stuff among it that works great for anything regarded to ancient alien spirits (which is what the two are partially about.)

13th Warrior also has some great music.

**Posted by finarvyn** 5/04/2014 6:45 am

I love movie soundtracks and they are nice in games if kept low. I use Conan, of course as well as Lord f the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean sometimes and VanHelsing. The Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (kevin costner) soundtrack is decent enough, particularly the early part of the soundtrack.

**Posted by blackmote** 6/27/2017 8:22 am

here is some dark, brooding, atmospheric background music I have just discovered that should be just about perfect for setting the mood for many AS&SH games...

https://paleowolf.bandcamp.com/

**Posted by kslacker** 6/29/2017 1:38 pm

I've got a playlist of instrumental sludge metal and stoner rock that I usually play quietly in the background. It's enough to provide some white noise, without intruding too much.

My favourites are from Colour Haze, Dead Branches, Glowsun, Goddess, Shooting Guns, Thorun, YAWN, and (especially) Tuber.

https://youtu.be/szI21Q1v9hE

**Posted by 1970** 10/23/2017 6:40 am

It's not even remotely related to D&D or AS&SH, but when I ran Werewolf: the Apocalypse we played Rammstein in the background, which added to the urgent, angry nature of the game. I also used various Punk Rock sampler CDs when I ran CyberGeneration. Those invoked the rebellious nature of the game, plus they were all dirt cheap.

**Posted by Brock Savage** 11/10/2017 10:29 pm

Good suggestions, guys. The soundtrack from Conan the Barbarian is great for classic sword and sorcery roleplay, you really can't go wrong by using it. It was tradition to play the Excalibur soundtrack during our high school garage games of Warhammer Fantasy Battle.

For my Hyborian Age campaigns, in addition to the Conan soundtrack I also used the soundtrack from The Last Temptation of Christ by Peter Gabriel and added a little Dead Can Dance to evoke the feel of exotic cities such as Zamboula and Arenjun.

For AS&SH I am thinking of using Ennio Morricone's soundtrack from The Thing to evoke darkness, cold, and terror. I am open to suggestions.

kslacker wrote:
I usually play [music] quietly in the background. It's enough to provide some white noise, without intruding too much.

That's the trick, playing the music quietly to set mood. I've seen too many DMs play mood music at a volume where it becomes a distraction.

**Posted by under_score** 11/28/2017 9:39 pm

Since I play entirely online right now, background music is very helpful to me, just to keep things going (you get more awkward silences online than in person). In Roll20 you can find the entire Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, and Age of Conan (the MMO from a while back, it's got a great soundtrack - example). I setup a playlist that shuffles all three together and it works out great. I think I'd have trouble talking as much as I do without some background noise.

Last edited by under_score (11/28/2017 9:39 pm)

**Posted by arcadayn** 12/24/2017 11:31 am

I'm a big fan of ambient music for setting a weird, otherworldly mood. Soma FM is free, and has a few great ambient music channels. My personal favourite is Drone Zone. Also, Tabletop Audio is a super cool free resource for music and sound effects specifically created for RPGs.

I apologise for not being able to post direct links. This is my first post to the forum, so no links allowed!

**Posted by Jimm.Iblis** 12/26/2017 5:25 pm

arcadayn wrote:
...Tabletop Audio

Great suggestion (and I linked it for you)!! I didn't know that was a separate entity from Roll20 but I can personally vouch for its utility. Background audio in a game session is a tricky thing to manage, as Blackadder pointed out, it can get annoying fast when tastes differ. Soundtracks especially have a lot of distracting, sudden peaks and crescendos that will disrupt the flow of gameplay quick; or worse, beg for snark.

I am utilizing Derek and Brandon Fleicher's music, which can be sampled and downloaded here. They have a huge catalog of music designed specifically for every genre of roleplaying game, and their material is designed to be atmospheric without being obtrusive. They have great material for my own desert-set campaign. I play their music low, and with another player, have ambient sound effects from Platemail Games.

**Posted by Iron Ranger** 10/27/2019 10:43 pm

For sure throw Red Sonja and Dark Crystal into your Hyperborea Conan jams.

**Posted by mabon5127** 10/28/2019 6:52 am

blackmote wrote:
here is some dark, brooding, atmospheric background music I have just discovered that should be just about perfect for setting the mood for many AS&SH games...

https://paleowolf.bandcamp.com/

I wanted to bump this again! Great stuff!

**Posted by mabon5127** 10/28/2019 6:52 am

Iron Ranger wrote:
For sure throw Red Sonja and Dark Crystal into your Hyperborea Conan jams.

Love Dark Crystal.