D&D Mood Music [Archive] - Wizards Community

D&D Mood Music [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Shiftkitty
06-08-07, 09:38 PM Sorry to be repeating a thread, but I couldn't find the original one that got me to looking, and I couldn't remember the name to get a narrow enough search, but the questions had to do with music with a D&D sound. (Not stuff you'd play for atmosphere during a game, but stuff with a definite D&D flavor.)

While alot of stuff by Dio and several 80's metal bands would work, I came across a gem while cleaning house today. Just the album covers alone should get you in the mood to break out the dice and rile up the hordes of evil to plunder your landscape.

Rhapsody.

"Dawn of Victory"
"Holy Thunderforce"
"Rage in the Wind"
These are three of my favorites.

Their discography reads like a series of modules:
Legendary Tales
Symphony of Enchanted Lands
Symphony of Enchanted Land Part II
Dawn of Victory
Rain of Flames
Power of the Dragonflame
Triumph or Agony

Awesome stuff, very heavy, double-bass, symphonic, high speed, somebody got the mixture right between the heavy classical/opera and the heavy metal, IMO.

If you've never heard this band, give them a listen. It's a lot more fun at full volume, but isn't that always the case?
CryoSilver
06-08-07, 09:43 PM I like to play music during the game, but it's usually whatever is on iTunes shuffle.

That means a lot of black and death metal, some classic rock and some progressive metal, mostly.
Optimator
06-08-07, 10:27 PM I like to play music during the game, but it's usually whatever is on iTunes shuffle.

That means a lot of black and death metal, some classic rock and some progressive metal, mostly.

This is usually what I do, but an even more ecclectic mix, and at a somewhat ambient volume.
Zousha_Omenohu
06-09-07, 03:31 AM Actually, it's Rhapsody of Fire now. They changed their name for copyright reasons. Also, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II comes before Triumph or Agony, not after the first Symphony of Enchanted Lands.

I'm more a devotee of Blind Guardian. Their music draws inspiration from many different sources. Their album Nightfall in Middle-Earth is based completely off of The Silmarilion. Also, there are many choice songs on their other albums. If you're running a war campaign, nothing fits better for a theme song than Battlefield, from the album A Night at the Opera. There's also The Soulforged on the same album. Listen closely and you'll figure out who they're talking about.;)

Another great band is Kamelot, particularly with their most recent albums, Epica and The Black Halo. Very moving music, at least to me, though a few of them are so full of anguish that it gets a little depressing (together the albums are a retelling of the Faust legend). Roy Khan's voice is absolutely amazing.
Darth Skippy
06-09-07, 12:49 PM During sessions I mostly use movie soundtracks.

- Conan the Barbarian
- 300
- Silence of the Lambs
- Gladiator
- Matrix
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- The Name of the Rose

I round out my play list with some techno or drum & bass; great up tempo music for battle scenes.

--DS
coldshiftdown
06-09-07, 12:52 PM DragonForce always gets me in the mood do do some high-powered adventuring :D:D
Zousha_Omenohu
06-09-07, 02:57 PM Frankly, I find DragonForce to be best enjoyed in small doses. When listening to their music I find it hard to tell where one song ends and another begins, because all the songs are of the same style and the lyrics all discuss the same themes. Over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I like them (they introduced me to the power metal genre), but I like my music to have a bit more variety.
SlanderPanic
06-09-07, 05:07 PM Any sort of melodic metal makes merry monster mashing music. I generally prefer to either game without music or with strictly instrumental music, though. I find lyrical music to interfere with conversations too much. Orchestral soundtracks are perfect for this, as are some video game soundtracks.

If you can find them, as they're out-of-print and Japanese, the Dracula Battle: Perfect Selection albums are great game music, especially for action-oriented horror games. They're tunes from various Castlevania games performed by a rock band made up of Konami staffers.
Pfisiar
06-09-07, 05:15 PM I like to have a lot of Late Classical music and Romantic stuff playing in the background. Tchakiosky is particularly effective. Berlioz and Wagner work really well also.
Shiftkitty
06-09-07, 09:36 PM Actually, it's Rhapsody of Fire now. They changed their name for copyright reasons. Also, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II comes before Triumph or Agony, not after the first Symphony of Enchanted Lands.

Yeah, I didn't put them in any particular order. I didn't know they'd changed their name, though. Copyright reasons? Was someone else named Rhapsody?

When I've got a game going, we don't play music, not for mood or anything. Part of the problem is me. I get easily distracted by music and have gotten lost listening to a song while the players were discussing something, and they had to bounce a d8 off my head to get my attention. Good part is, by the time the disc runs out, they've usually gotten so involved in the game they don't notice. I will admit, though, it's fun when the song playing matches the scene the party finds themselves in.

We had "Losing My Religion" playing once, and one of the players started singing:
"That's me in the dungeon,
That's me in the pit trap,
Losing all my hitpoints..."
Nimloh
06-10-07, 12:16 AM Does anyone know of any music that would be more common to the D&D setting--like lutes, recorders, etc? I'd be interested in something like that.
zzo38
06-10-07, 12:48 AM In games I am in nobody ever plays music, and it works OK, I probably would prefer it without music anyways, I don't listen to music as much as a lot of other people anyways. But if you want, you can let different players (including the DM) pick their own musics at different times
Nebo
06-10-07, 01:23 AM My group uses soundtracks from movies, mostly. Pirates of the Carribean is a good one. I think there's some Diablo II in there somewhere too.
Zousha_Omenohu
06-10-07, 01:57 AM I agree that if you're playing music during your sessions it should be instrumental only to minimize distraction. Me, I'm too lazy to do stuff like that so we play in silence.
CCS
06-10-07, 04:36 AM My group uses soundtracks from movies, mostly. Pirates of the Carribean is a good one. I think there's some Diablo II in there somewhere too.

Agree, any of the 3 Pirates soundtracks are an ideal fit. MY favorite is PotC2, but PotC3 seems to be the overall favorite of my Mon. night group.
I also like the soundtracks from the Conan movies, Batman Returns and Robin Hood; Prince of Theives.

The other group I play with usually just has one of the local radio stations on in the background.
katakraos
06-10-07, 09:51 AM I use a lot of differents sources for the music of the games I DM.

Classical, Romantic music: Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovski, Weill, Bartok, Stravinski, etc.

movie soundtracks: Pan's Labirynth, The Fountain, The Lord of the Rings, Batman Begins, Pirates of the Caribean, Indiana Jones, Requiem for a Dream, Star Wars, Fynal Fantasy (the game and Advent Children)... it depens on the mood of the scene...

Modern Bands: King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Korol i Shut (russian punk-rock), In Extremo (crazed Germans), Lorena McKennith, ...

Anything can be used :D
Rickenbacker
06-10-07, 09:54 AM I always associated lots of prog rock (esp. the 70s classics like Tull, Yes, Genesis, etc) w/ D&D. Though the above mentioned soundtracks also work for me.
Zousha_Omenohu
06-10-07, 10:09 AM My brother's a big fan of Jethro Tull! Funny how their music fits well with this. I really didn't think we were the type. But then, it's in the nature of Jethro Tull to be the oddballs out there.:)
Shiftkitty
06-10-07, 02:22 PM Does anyone know of any music that would be more common to the D&D setting--like lutes, recorders, etc? I'd be interested in something like that.

Somewhere around here I have a CD called "Saints & Sinners". Hold on a sec...

Here we go. "Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection". It's by Philip Pickett and the New London Consort. I got it a few years ago at Barnes & Noble. You should still be able to find it online somewhere.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Shiftkitty 06-08-07, 09:38 PM	Sorry to be repeating a thread, but I couldn't find the original one that got me to looking, and I couldn't remember the name to get a narrow enough search, but the questions had to do with music with a D&D sound. (Not stuff you'd play for atmosphere during a game, but stuff with a definite D&D flavor.) While alot of stuff by Dio and several 80's metal bands would work, I came across a gem while cleaning house today. Just the album covers alone should get you in the mood to break out the dice and rile up the hordes of evil to plunder your landscape. Rhapsody. "Dawn of Victory" "Holy Thunderforce" "Rage in the Wind" These are three of my favorites. Their discography reads like a series of modules: Legendary Tales Symphony of Enchanted Lands Symphony of Enchanted Land Part II Dawn of Victory Rain of Flames Power of the Dragonflame Triumph or Agony Awesome stuff, very heavy, double-bass, symphonic, high speed, somebody got the mixture right between the heavy classical/opera and the heavy metal, IMO. If you've never heard this band, give them a listen. It's a lot more fun at full volume, but isn't that always the case?
CryoSilver 06-08-07, 09:43 PM	I like to play music during the game, but it's usually whatever is on iTunes shuffle. That means a lot of black and death metal, some classic rock and some progressive metal, mostly.
Optimator 06-08-07, 10:27 PM	I like to play music during the game, but it's usually whatever is on iTunes shuffle. That means a lot of black and death metal, some classic rock and some progressive metal, mostly. This is usually what I do, but an even more ecclectic mix, and at a somewhat ambient volume.
Zousha_Omenohu 06-09-07, 03:31 AM	Actually, it's Rhapsody of Fire now. They changed their name for copyright reasons. Also, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II comes before Triumph or Agony, not after the first Symphony of Enchanted Lands. I'm more a devotee of Blind Guardian. Their music draws inspiration from many different sources. Their album Nightfall in Middle-Earth is based completely off of The Silmarilion. Also, there are many choice songs on their other albums. If you're running a war campaign, nothing fits better for a theme song than Battlefield, from the album A Night at the Opera. There's also The Soulforged on the same album. Listen closely and you'll figure out who they're talking about.;) Another great band is Kamelot, particularly with their most recent albums, Epica and The Black Halo. Very moving music, at least to me, though a few of them are so full of anguish that it gets a little depressing (together the albums are a retelling of the Faust legend). Roy Khan's voice is absolutely amazing.
Darth Skippy 06-09-07, 12:49 PM	During sessions I mostly use movie soundtracks. - Conan the Barbarian - 300 - Silence of the Lambs - Gladiator - Matrix - Bram Stoker's Dracula - The Name of the Rose I round out my play list with some techno or drum & bass; great up tempo music for battle scenes. --DS
coldshiftdown 06-09-07, 12:52 PM	DragonForce always gets me in the mood do do some high-powered adventuring :D:D
Zousha_Omenohu 06-09-07, 02:57 PM	Frankly, I find DragonForce to be best enjoyed in small doses. When listening to their music I find it hard to tell where one song ends and another begins, because all the songs are of the same style and the lyrics all discuss the same themes. Over and over again. Don't get me wrong, I like them (they introduced me to the power metal genre), but I like my music to have a bit more variety.
SlanderPanic 06-09-07, 05:07 PM	Any sort of melodic metal makes merry monster mashing music. I generally prefer to either game without music or with strictly instrumental music, though. I find lyrical music to interfere with conversations too much. Orchestral soundtracks are perfect for this, as are some video game soundtracks. If you can find them, as they're out-of-print and Japanese, the Dracula Battle: Perfect Selection albums are great game music, especially for action-oriented horror games. They're tunes from various Castlevania games performed by a rock band made up of Konami staffers.
Pfisiar 06-09-07, 05:15 PM	I like to have a lot of Late Classical music and Romantic stuff playing in the background. Tchakiosky is particularly effective. Berlioz and Wagner work really well also.
Shiftkitty 06-09-07, 09:36 PM	Actually, it's Rhapsody of Fire now. They changed their name for copyright reasons. Also, Symphony of Enchanted Lands II comes before Triumph or Agony, not after the first Symphony of Enchanted Lands. Yeah, I didn't put them in any particular order. I didn't know they'd changed their name, though. Copyright reasons? Was someone else named Rhapsody? When I've got a game going, we don't play music, not for mood or anything. Part of the problem is me. I get easily distracted by music and have gotten lost listening to a song while the players were discussing something, and they had to bounce a d8 off my head to get my attention. Good part is, by the time the disc runs out, they've usually gotten so involved in the game they don't notice. I will admit, though, it's fun when the song playing matches the scene the party finds themselves in. We had "Losing My Religion" playing once, and one of the players started singing: "That's me in the dungeon, That's me in the pit trap, Losing all my hitpoints..."
Nimloh 06-10-07, 12:16 AM	Does anyone know of any music that would be more common to the D&D setting--like lutes, recorders, etc? I'd be interested in something like that.
zzo38 06-10-07, 12:48 AM	In games I am in nobody ever plays music, and it works OK, I probably would prefer it without music anyways, I don't listen to music as much as a lot of other people anyways. But if you want, you can let different players (including the DM) pick their own musics at different times
Nebo 06-10-07, 01:23 AM	My group uses soundtracks from movies, mostly. Pirates of the Carribean is a good one. I think there's some Diablo II in there somewhere too.
Zousha_Omenohu 06-10-07, 01:57 AM	I agree that if you're playing music during your sessions it should be instrumental only to minimize distraction. Me, I'm too lazy to do stuff like that so we play in silence.
CCS 06-10-07, 04:36 AM	My group uses soundtracks from movies, mostly. Pirates of the Carribean is a good one. I think there's some Diablo II in there somewhere too. Agree, any of the 3 Pirates soundtracks are an ideal fit. MY favorite is PotC2, but PotC3 seems to be the overall favorite of my Mon. night group. I also like the soundtracks from the Conan movies, Batman Returns and Robin Hood; Prince of Theives. The other group I play with usually just has one of the local radio stations on in the background.
katakraos 06-10-07, 09:51 AM	I use a lot of differents sources for the music of the games I DM. Classical, Romantic music: Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovski, Weill, Bartok, Stravinski, etc. movie soundtracks: Pan's Labirynth, The Fountain, The Lord of the Rings, Batman Begins, Pirates of the Caribean, Indiana Jones, Requiem for a Dream, Star Wars, Fynal Fantasy (the game and Advent Children)... it depens on the mood of the scene... Modern Bands: King Crimson, Black Sabbath, Korol i Shut (russian punk-rock), In Extremo (crazed Germans), Lorena McKennith, ... Anything can be used :D
Rickenbacker 06-10-07, 09:54 AM	I always associated lots of prog rock (esp. the 70s classics like Tull, Yes, Genesis, etc) w/ D&D. Though the above mentioned soundtracks also work for me.
Zousha_Omenohu 06-10-07, 10:09 AM	My brother's a big fan of Jethro Tull! Funny how their music fits well with this. I really didn't think we were the type. But then, it's in the nature of Jethro Tull to be the oddballs out there.:)
Shiftkitty 06-10-07, 02:22 PM	Does anyone know of any music that would be more common to the D&D setting--like lutes, recorders, etc? I'd be interested in something like that. Somewhere around here I have a CD called "Saints & Sinners". Hold on a sec... Here we go. "Sinners & Saints: The Ultimate Medieval and Renaissance Music Collection". It's by Philip Pickett and the New London Consort. I got it a few years ago at Barnes & Noble. You should still be able to find it online somewhere.