Using Music in D&D (and other TTRPGs)

 I love music, especially when gaming.

It has almost become an addiction at this point. When I am running or playing in a game and there is no music, it feels almost weird to me. I'll start this off by sharing some of my most utilized music resources for when I run my games. Keep in mind this list is not in any particular order, just how readily they came to mind. 

YouTube

• Ambient Worlds (All kinds of ambience)
• Peter's Soul (Video Game ambiences)
• Michael Ghelfi (Fantasy Centric)
• Everness (Elder Scrolls and WoW)
• Sword Coast Soundscapes (For 5e adventure specific sounds)

Spotify

• Waterdeep: Dragon Heist (My most liked playlist for generic fantasy)
• Brian Davis (General ambience, location based)
• My Profile (Lots of campaign specific playlists)

I imagine there are many more out there, so if there are, please let me know! In terms of actually playing the music in sessions, while in person I use a blutetooth speaker placed under the table, so the music is not interfering with voice conversations, but it can still be heard and felt through the floor (depending on the room construction)

Now that I've covered some of the resources I use in my games, here is why I find music so valuable while gaming. 

Music sets the tone.

It is much easier to make players feel certain ways by supporting narrative description with music. Especially for horror. Generally my descriptions can be found lacking (in my overly critical opinion of myself), but the music helps so much in that regard. Happy go-lucky, play some jaunty tavern music, mysterious and intense, play Woedica by Justin Bell (what I am listening to as I type this). Go ahead, try it out. Read the following in silence, and then with the music playing.

At the center of the atrium lies a motionless form surrounded by interwoven circular runes. On each line drawn, the inscribed runes glow faintly. As you cross the threshold a strange smell assaults your nostrils. Decay, with a faint musk and the heady smell of wood smoke. A voice emanates from the shadows, and a form detaches itself form them.

"What are you doing here?"

With the musical accompaniment, this scene will hopefully be much more immersive than it would otherwise be in isolation.

Music makes an encounter into an epic battle.

Just the other day, I was running the finale encounter for my youth campaign of Dragon of Icespire Peak. Small spoilers ahead for that adventure. I decided to hold the finale in Phandalin, with the PCs defending the town from the dragon and a horde of frost skeletons under it's command. Without music, I would hope the encounter would be fun and engaging for them, but the music that I added in just amped it up that much more. I can't think of a video game or movie where some form of boss battle is completely silent. The most recent God of War has some exceptional orchestral boss music. If you want something more intense, look to the Dark Souls series. For run of the mill encounters, I like to use a Spotify playlist, Skyrim, or Darkest Dungeon, or The Witcher 3 depending on the tone.

If it seems like too much work, assign a player DJ.

As a player now, I check with the DM to see if you want me to do it, because I find it helps me focus on the game if I have something to do and help out with the game. But check with your players to see if one can manage music or sound effects for you! Just make sure to communicate the type of music you'd like to hear and they can give you a hand managing the music.

A word of warning however.

I've made it a point when using music to avoid music with significant vocals, "normal" music, and iconic soundtracks too often. What I've found is that music with vocals or lyrics tend to get jumbled with player descriptions and can make it difficult to hear the players with the "crosstalk" of the music. In terms of the "normal" music that we would hear in our everyday lives and the iconic soundtracks there is a different issue. With those cases, I have found that it can bring the players out of the game, as they try to figure out what movie or video game the music is from, and they might become distracted by it and start chatting about that film or game without you meaning to. Not that talking about things is a big issue at the table, but it just has the potential for that to occur if you use those genres.

Feel free to ignore my warning, and use whatever music you'd like though. It's your game and your table. 

My hope is that I have inspired you to amp up your music game or give it a try if you haven't done s yet!