The Soundtrack of Our Game

Music can greatly enhance the immersive experience of playing or running a D&D game. There is a reason why movies and TV shows have their own soundtracks. Music transmits emotion. It colors a scene. A single chord can change the tone of any scene instantly. We can use the power of music in our D&D game to enhance the immersion of our players. We can create a soundtrack for our game that draws players into the scene and reinforces the dramatic pace of our D&D sessions.

Music Tools for D&D

There are many tools to bring music into our game. We can get very detailed technical setups using software that lets us create custom scenes, including music and sound effects. On the other hand, a long enough YouTube video that provides subtle background music might be enough to provide some emotional underscoring to our scenes. Spotify playlists present a balance of detail and effort. We can curate our own playlists or find some that are tailored to specific types of scenes or moods. Playlists that fit broad themes such as “neutral”, “tension”, “beautiful”, “tavern”, and “combat” provide different sonic atmospheres while remaining useful in many different scenes.

We tailor the soundtrack to the general tone of the scene or sequence of scenes. Are the characters entering a dark forgotten grotto? Cue the “tension” playlist. Do they see a gargantuan dire owlbear rushing towards them? Press play on the “combat” playlist. Do the characters enter a fantastical temple hidden inside a lush forest? Play the “beautiful” playlist for them. We could get more detailed with a wider range of themed playlists, or we could build custom scenes with dedicated RPG music software. But really, a handful of playlists for broad categories of moods, settings, or emotions is all we need.

At the end of this article, I provide the Spotify playlists I use as the soundtrack to my game. There you will also find links to other RPG music tools.

Music and D&D: Setting the scene

We can change the soundtrack to underline a change of scenes. Imagine the following movie scene: The knight gets off her horse to rest for a moment. The ride had been uneventful thus far and she is eager to take off her helmet and get out of the sun for a while. But then the music changes. The clanging of the knight’s armor, and the chirping of birds around her are now underpinned by ominous low strings. In this scene, nothing else indicates a lurking danger but the music alone manages to create anxiety in us, the viewers. As dungeon masters we can use this same technique. We can set the tone of the scene before the players or the characters know what is coming.

While this technique works well for creepy, or dangerous scenes, we can use it in any scenario. Are the characters entering a new location? Change the music. Are they beginning a conversation with an NPC? Change the music. Has the battle concluded, and the characters are beginning to investigate the enemy’s remains? Change the music. Simply switching to a different piece of music at the beginning of a new scene can help players stay engaged. We can reinforce the pacing of our game by making the soundtrack follow the sequence of scenes. We don’t have to do this for every minute change in the flow of the game. But a new track when the pace of the game changes keeps things fresh and engaging for us and the players.

Music and D&D: Getting into the game

Similar to changing the music for a new scene, we can empower the beginning of each game session with music. We might play the same piece of music every time we jump back into the game. We can choose this specific piece based on the tone of our campaign. A Curse of Strahd campaign might use a track from a horror movie score. When running an adventure like Storm King’s Thunder, we might play a more classically “high fantasy” soundtrack at the beginning of each session.

Whichever piece of music we choose, we can hack the psyche of our players with this technique. Just as smells can conjure up powerful memories, a recurring piece of music, can quickly create the attentive atmosphere that leads to an engaging start to our game. Over time, players will consciously, or subconsciously, recognize that the session is about to begin when we cue that soundtrack. The piece of music might even become a sort of theme song to our campaign. Years later, we might listen to this piece and feel the memories and emotions of that game rush back to us.

Music and D&D: In-world music

Film composers distinguish between source music that is part of the fiction, and incidental music which is heard only by the viewers and not part of the fictional world. In our D&D games, we can use both types of music. Most of the time, we will use incidental music to underscore the tone of a particular scene. But sometimes, source music will also be part of our game’s soundtrack. For example, the characters might enter a busy tavern. Then, we cue some fantasy folk tunes which can be heard by the players, but presumably also by the characters.

There are, however, opportunities for source music that go beyond the classic fiddler in a tavern. We can select an ominous Gregorian chant when the characters are witnessing a dark ritual conducted by chanting cultists. We can play an aria from an opera when characters find themselves at court, listening to the performance of a famous bard. When we have the time and the means, we might even create our own custom piece of music that is part of the fiction.

For my home game, I wrote the “Ballad of the Dodkong,” an ancient stone giant hymn. The piece told the tale of Grugaran, the first Dodkong who accidentally killed his wife when he tried to attain immortality. When a friendly giant NPC began to sing the ballad, I performed the piece I had written. It was a special moment for me and the players. When the characters later came to the stone giants’ hideout, they heard the “Ballad of the Dodkong” being chanted from deep within the mountains. I sang the first couple of lines, and the players immediately knew and felt that this was bad news.

When players can hear the same piece of music their characters are hearing, it draws them into the world. Source music in our D&D game allows players to feel the way their characters feel. Music, used in this way, draws a direct line from the emotional valency within the story to the atmosphere at the gaming table. We need not create custom music to make powerful use of source music in D&D. We can spend some time to pick pieces for emotionally charged scenes that are part of the fictional world. Look for opportunities for source music in your game. Try it out. Let your players hear with the ears and minds of their characters.

Using the power of music in D&D

The immediate emotional connection that music can create is a powerful tool for running D&D games. We don’t have to invest in complicated technical solutions to create a soundtrack to our games at the table or in online play. A couple of curated Spotify playlists is all we need to conjure musical atmospheres for many situations in our game. We can use music to follow the pace of a session by switching pieces when the situation changes. A specific track that we play at the beginning of each of our sessions can support a strong and engaging start to our game. Such a piece might become a sort of theme song for our campaign. If we want to take music in D&D to the next level, we can think about source music for specific scenes. Pieces of music that both the players and the characters can hear can make for an incredibly immersive experience. Whatever the specifics at our table, music is a flexible tool to enhance the emotional quality of our D&D games.

Related Illusory Script Articles

• D&D Pre-Game Routines and the Strong Start

Links and Resources

Articles

• Andrew Borecky (2021): “Dungeons, Dragons, and Music: The Immersive Qualities of Sound in Dungeons & Dragons” In: Journal of Sound and Music in Games (2021) 2 (1): 46–64. – https://doi.org/10.1525/jsmg.2021.2.1.46
• Arcane Eye (2019): “Choosing the Right Music For Your Campaign” – https://arcaneeye.com/dm-tools-5e/dnd-music/

Spotify and YouTube Playlists

• D&D Spotify playlists curated by Andreas Van den Abeele, which I use in my game:
  • D&D – Neutral (I use this as neutral background for any type of scene.)
  • D&D – Tension (I use this for dungeons, tense social interactions, creepy scenes…)
  • D&D – Combat (I use this for any type of combat. The tracks drive the action but they aren’t the “saving-the-multiverse” kind of epic.)
  • D&D – Beautiful (I use this for scenes of serenity and beauty. It could be a temple, a vision or dream, an emotional social interaction…)
  • D&D – Festive Town (I use this for taverns or town festivals. It contains some source music for in-world instrumental music.)
  • D&D – Epic Boss (I use this for epic climax battles. I try not to overuse this kind of hyper-epic music.)
• RPG Music Maker Travis Savoie composes and produces soundtracks for published WotC Adventures. He publishes them on his YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpN8PfgGR8gMmca6l6CX1fg
• Reddit user bezoing put together a much more extensive list of Spotify playlists. These will allow you to tailor the musical underscoring precisely to the mood you want to achieve.

Other tools for music in your D&D game

• Hydra (Discord Music Bot) – https://hydra.bot/ (add Hydra to your discord server and cue music from YouTube or Spotify with the “.play” command)
• SyrinScape – https://syrinscape.com/ (SyrinScape creates soundscapes for your game based on algorithms so that the sounds will not repeat themselves. They have a free demo version but you can buy individual soundtracks, or get a monthly subscription)
• Tabletop Audio – https://tabletopaudio.com/ (This service is free with lots of “sound boards” to play sound effects and music. You can donate to the makers of the site)