# Music for tabletop roleplaying games **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2004, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966 "2004-03-07T09:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/21 "2004-03-09T14:08:09Z")
I don’t currently use music for my game, but I plan to, once I have a multi-CD changer or a computer in a convenient location. I picked up Holst’s The Planets because every article on the subject of D&D music ever has mentioned it. I also recommend the \*Pirates of the Carribbean \* soundtrack. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/22 "2004-03-09T14:10:51Z")
> [@gex gex](#): > > OK, I don’t do anything like this (so I know nothing), but I’m amazed that no-one’s mentioned Weezer’s _In The Garage_. Well, there are several possible reason for this: 1. Songs with lyrics don’t make good background music. 2. Songs about how roleplaying is a pastime for sad fuckers who live in their parents’ garages don’t usually go down well at gaming sessions. 3. Nobody listens to shitty bands like Weezer anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/23 "2004-03-09T14:17:24Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > Well, there are several possible reason for this: Gotta take issue with #1 and #3. Starting with #3, this really isn’t the place to be insulting someone’s taste in music. Weezer’s a pretty good band, IMO, and the ‘Buddy Holly’ video is hilarious. As for point #1, John Williams’s ‘Duel of the Fates’ from the _Star Wars : Episode One_ soundtrack has lyrics, but it perfectly suited to epic battles. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/24 "2004-03-09T17:50:45Z")
Lots of good suggestions so far. My current campaign is the first time I’ve used music, and I’m loving it. (the players seem to like it too.) I have to agree with the no lyrics suggestion, but I amend it to no **english** lyrics. I find that if the lyrics are in a foreign (or made up) language, it’s not as distraction. Conan, LOTR, Midnight Syndicate, and Medieaval Baebes all get heavy rotation in my games. I play Ravenloft, so most of my picks go toward the spooky end of things: Bram Stoker’s Dracula soundtrack Castlevania, Resident Evil, Silent Hill videogame soundtracks. Vas Signs soundtrack Danzig’s Black Aria Some are good for general D&D too: Nickel Creek Blackmore’s Night (an exception to my no english lyrics rule) Jethro Tull (ditto) I have a couple theme songs for major NPCs. The big one is Nine Inch Nails’ A Warm Place. Very cool song, and I found a bunch of remixes of it for different moods. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/25 "2004-03-09T23:22:41Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > Gotta take issue with #1 and #3. Starting with #3, this really isn’t the place to be insulting someone’s taste in music. It’s more the place to criticise someone’s musical taste than it is to say “he he ur all so lame”. Or what did you think **gex gex** meant by “I don’t know anything about roleplaying, but you should play this song about how all roleplayers are sad geeks”? > [@](#): > > As for point #1, John Williams’s ‘Duel of the Fates’ from the _Star Wars : Episode One_ soundtrack has lyrics, Really? What do they say? Gibble-gabble lyrics are perfectly acceptable, because they’re just voice-as-instrument. As **gonzoron** didn’t quite say, it’s meaningful sounds that are the distraction. Languages we don’t understand are just sounds; languages we do, we cannot help but listen and extract the meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Moo\_the\_Magic\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moo_the_Magic_Cow)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/26 "2004-03-09T23:30:07Z")
Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop Weezer - In the Garage Beatles - It’s Only Love Ride of the Valkyries ---
**Author:** ![Toffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e19adc/32.png) [@Toffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toffe)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/27 "2004-03-10T02:23:01Z")
I recommend Hedningarna. Sibelius, Prokofiev and Moussorgsky have also written some great stuff that might be appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/28 "2004-03-10T03:18:07Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > Gibble-gabble lyrics are perfectly acceptable, because they’re just voice-as-instrument. As **gonzoron** didn’t quite say, it’s meaningful sounds that are the distraction. Languages we don’t understand are just sounds; languages we do, we cannot help but listen and extract the meaning. Well, maybe you find lyrics too distracting, but I use songs with lyrics as background in roleplaying on a fairly regular basis, and don’t have problems with it. Okay, some of them are in German. But I understand enough German that it’s not all gibberish, and some of them are in English and also aren’t a problem. The fact that you don’t like using things with lyrics doesn’t mean they’re inherantly unusable. ---
**Author:** ![Daikona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Daikona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daikona)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/29 "2004-03-10T03:22:09Z")
It does occur to me, Evil Death… I just asked several people, to make sure it wasn’t just me taking something different out of it, and you are officially the only person I know of who takes In the Garage that way. It’s talking about when he was a teenager hanging out there, with the garage band/games thing, not him living there as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/30 "2004-03-10T03:28:13Z")
My suggestions: Qntal Estampie Die Verbannten Kinder Eva’s Excellent mood creators. The music is midiaeval and etherial. Also check out: Love is colder than death Some of Nick Cave ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/31 "2004-03-10T03:34:24Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > 1. Songs about how roleplaying is a pastime for sad fuckers who live in their parents’ garages don’t usually go down well at gaming sessions. 1. You are the FIRST roleplayer I’ve met who thought that song was offensive. (In fact I first heard it after it was mentioned on a D&D MB.) 2. You do realise it’s about a teenager (specifically Rivers Cuomo) hanging out in his garage, where he keeps his comics and games, and where he can noodle around with his music, right? (Several parts of the song suggest the early-to-mid eighties when Rivers would have been 13-16.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/32 "2004-03-10T04:48:31Z")
Quoth **Moo** : > [@](#): > > Ride of the Valkyries That has some merit, too, but you’d have to be careful to use it sparingly. Too recognizable, and it’d be an instant tip-off to the players that this is the Big Epic Battle which Culminates the Adventure. You could play it once that’s already obvious, I suppose. Or if you wanted to be really sadistic, you could just play it at random one day, as the party is just traipsing through the forest, and nothing happens :\>. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/33 "2004-03-10T06:29:17Z")
Since there seems to be a bit of a poll, mark me one down as one more gamer who loves Weezer in general, and “In the Garage” in particular. And yeah, I always thought the song was poking a bit of fun at gamers. So what? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/34 "2004-03-10T07:11:19Z")
Try the _Labyrinth_ soundtrack. It’s got some songs with vocals, some without, and all of it dandy fantasy music. ---
**Author:** ![dio\_e\_morto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@dio\_e\_morto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dio_e_morto)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/35 "2004-03-10T07:36:14Z")
Carmina Burana Sleepy Hollow soundtrack almost anything by Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/36 "2004-03-10T12:56:02Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by Evil Death_ > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally Posted by gex gex_ > > OK, I don’t do anything like this (so I know nothing), but I’m amazed that no-one’s mentioned Weezer’s In The Garage. > > Well, there are several possible reason for this: > > 1. Songs with lyrics don’t make good background music. > > 2. Songs about how roleplaying is a pastime for sad fuckers who live in their parents’ garages don’t usually go down well at gaming sessions. > > 3. Nobody listens to shitty bands like Weezer anyway. Bit touchy, aren’t we? I never set out to call anyone ‘lame,’ and I’d always thought the song was pretty celebratory. Like, “I like Kiss, I like these games, who cares what anyone else thinks?” I posted a song about gaming. If you perceive that as an attack, you’re the one with issues. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/37 "2004-03-10T13:20:28Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > Really? What do they say? > > Gibble-gabble lyrics are perfectly acceptable, because they’re just voice-as-instrument. As **gonzoron** didn’t quite say, it’s meaningful sounds that are the distraction. Languages we don’t understand are just sounds; languages we do, we cannot help but listen and extract the meaning. Just because we don’t understand the lyrics doesn’t mean they aren’t lyrics. If you wanted to specify _intelligible_ lyrics, then… > [@Evil Death](#): > > Songs with lyrics don’t make good background music. …wasn’t the best way to do that. Even if you had, I’d still disagree. Greensleeves pops to mind as an acceptable song with intelligible lyrics that’d be at home in a D&D game. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/38 "2004-03-10T15:35:42Z")
Unfortunately, their CD was never released, but Djembe had some awesome songs. My favorite is In Taberna. The Soil Bleeds Black also has some nice songs. We’re trying to find some songs for our game this Saturday, too. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/39 "2004-03-10T16:38:29Z")
It’s probably a personal thing whether to use intelligible lyrics or not. I happen to find it distracting. Other people don’t. See what works for your group. I happen to be the type of person who notices lyrics first when hearing a new song. I might not be able to hum it afterwards, but I can usually remember a few lyrics. So when I use a song with lyrics, I feel as though I’m talking over someone. Of course, what’s gibberish to one person may not be gibberish to another. I don’t know if anyone in my group speaks enough german or italian (or Zabrak ;)) for it to matter, but I haven’t heard any complaints. I also avoid overtly recognizable stuff like Ride of the Valkyries or Saber Dance, mainly because I’d rather the players not sing along. 🙂 Oh, and In My Garage is a great song. I wouldn’t play during a game, but it’s a great song. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966/40 "2004-03-10T18:18:12Z")
Interesting to see that so many gamers have put thought into this. Everything I would have suggested, and more, has already been mentioned. I’m bookmarking the thread–in my next campaign, there will be areas where not only the players, but the characters will be able to hear themes at times, if they have the right abilities. I’ll need a good selection of music to work from, since I don’t want to try to write it all myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/music-for-tabletop-roleplaying-games/232966.md?page=3)