I’m a big believer in theme music. I’m not talking about a song that describes a session or storyline, I mean music that pervades every moment of the roleplaying experience. In my previous post, I talked a little bit about how much the Storyteller System shaped my beliefs about how to run a great campaign with players. One of their suggestions was to have a readily available selection of music to play at appropriate moments. When a scene became super scary, play something dark and ominous. When a moment becomes playful and silly, play a piece that is lighthearted and snappy. The goal is immersion.
It’s not an easy technique and can be a headache if a very recognizable piece of music plays when it’s not supposed to, but the potential gains are huge. When I first adopted this back in the 90s, I was relegated to a cd player boom box and custom made disks that had themes. “Scary” for the jump moments, “Action” for the fight scenes” and so on and so forth. It was a fun experiment, as my players eyes would light up at the sound of a song that would indicate battle or a potential mystery.
Of course, with the advent of iPods and other music media devices, queueing the appropriate song is a simple matter of finding it on a playlist. This ease of inclusion gave DMs fantastic opportunities to spread their wings creatively when shaping scenes, allowing music to help convey intricate emotional moments or that of tremendous strife.
As most players know, combat can be a grind. Even in great game sessions, the wait for your turn can sometimes be monotonous. As a DM, my goal is to keep combat fun and exciting. A lot of suggestions point towards unique environments or nifty set pieces, but when epic battles take place you can still expect an hour to be focused on a single combat encounter. To help alleviate that, I use playlists featuring upbeat music that fits the tone of the combat. Once I started to tinker with these massive playlists that would feature hundred of songs playing randomly, there was a unique opportunity to give the players more than atmosphere but an actual reason to pay attention to the background noise: theme songs.
I had originally heard about this when first exploring the idea of DMing a 4th edition game and I thought it was a really great concept. Inserted into your combat playlists would be Character Themes Songs. When the song, selected by the player, came on in the playlist a special set of rules would become active. While the song played, it would give the player extra abilities to tear through the opposition. Of course, this meant that the players became a little overpowered during their theme song, but who cares? Its a dramatic moment that allows the PC to do something amazing and memorable. Now, as we begin our move into Fifth Edition D&D, I have adapted the rules to reflect the current system. Below are a few suggestions on how to use Theme Music in your game and at the bottom are the optional rules I have implemented for our game. Feel free to incorporate them as you like.
Theme Song (Suggestions – 5th Edition)
- For the duration of a player’s theme song, the player automatically has advantage. She ignores any disadvantages levied against her. When the song ends the player loses both Advantage and Disadvantage.
- Example: Liliana’s theme song activates advantage. She currently is suffering from disadvantage from a Manticore, instead of nullifying both of these traits, the disadvantage is ignored and Lilliana may use the standard Advantage rules.
- For the duration of a player’s theme song, the player has an expanded critical range of +1. This expanded crit range lasts until the end of the theme song.
- Example: Liliana’s theme song activates her expanded crit. She can normally make a critical attack on a 20, while the song is active she can now make a critical attack on 19 or 20. Standard rules for critical attacks apply.
- When a player’s theme song begins, the player automatically gets a new turn regardless of where they are in the current initiative order. This does not permanently move the player to a new spot in the initiative, but simply allows them an extra bonus turn.
- Example: Liliana is fighting the Manticore when Taloth’s theme songs begins. Taloth can begin a new turn immediately after Liliana finishes her current turn.
- When a player’s theme song begins, the player automatically gains a bonus action for their next turn, this bonus can only be used to make an additional attack. The player may chose to use this bonus action as a bonus reaction instead (allowing for 2 reactions instead of the stand 1). This bonus action only lasts until that end of the players next turn.
- Example: Liliana’s theme song plays during Taloth’s turn, she gains a bonus action. She elects to hold onto that action for her turn. When it arrived she uses it to make an extra attack on the Manticore. If she had elected to hold onto the bonus action, it would only last until the end of her turn. At that point the bonus would have been spent regardless if she actually took it.
Player Theme Song (Option Rule – 5th Edition)
- When a player’s theme song begins, the player automatically gets a new turn regardless of where they are in the current initiative order. This does not permanently move the player to a new spot in the initiative, but simply allows them an extra bonus turn. For the duration of a player’s theme song, the player automatically has advantage as well as an expanded critical range of + 1. She ignores any disadvantages levied against her. When the song ends, the player loses any Advantages or Disadvantages in play as well as her expanded crit range.
- Example: Taloth is fighting the Manticore when Liliana’s them song begins to play. Liliana begins a new turn immediately after Taloth finishes his current turn. For the duration of the theme song Liliana has an expanded crit allowing her to roll a 19 or 20 for critical strikes as well as advantage, which allows her to roll two dice and take the higher of the two numbers. When the song ends, the expanded crit and advantages/disadvantages resolve and combat continues as normal.
DM Theme Song (Option Rule – 5th Edition)
- For the duration of the Dungeon Master’s them song, all players are assumed to have disadvantage, this effect cannot be negated and nullifies any current advantages in play. Players are also unable to make opportunity attacks or bonus actions for the duration of the song. Monsters that the DM controls gain an expanded critical range of +1.
- Example: The DM’s theme song turns on, negating Lilana’s current advantage and causes her to lose her bonus action as a Thief. The Manticore now has advantage and a critical range of 19-20 until the end of the DM’s theme song.
Of course, the frequency of when a character’s theme song plays is strictly up to you as a DM. I personally try to have at least 3 songs play for every hour of combat. Typically this means that a playlist around 6 hours long should include each player’s theme 3 times. These numbers are not exact and I suggest you randomize your playlist, skipping through the first 20 randomized songs a few times. If you pull 3 theme songs consistently, then you’re right on target. Adjust the frequency of the songs as you feel is needed for good play flow. For the DM’s theme song, I only include it once a playlist. This means the chance of the song playing becomes very small, but the looks of dread when they hear your special chosen song makes it all the more worth it.
Since music is such an integral part of our gaming experiences there is always the question of what is considered “appropriate music” for a certain situation. Obviously the type of game you’re playing will influence your playlists a lot. For instance if you’re playing a sci-fi action RPG, I suggest more mechanical, trance, and rave music. The random beats and fast tempo will give you that ‘sci-fi’ feel we get so often in our movies. If you’re playing something in the Star Wars oeuvre, I suggest going a bit more classical. It’s not a bad idea to invest in the Star Wars soundtracks. Between both trilogies, the new movies, Clone Wars and a bevy of inspired songs – you should be able to keep your game full of appropriate encounter music. But we’re talking Dungeons and Dragons aren’t we?
For my money, and most likely because I grew up in the 80s, nothing says Dungeons and Dragons to me more than Heavy Metal. Perhaps this is because rock music and metal was so infused with the mystic and supernatural during the 70s and 80s, maybe its because I watched the Heavy Metal movie too many times. So many fantasy movies of the time, which really defined the tropes we take for granted today included hard rock/metal musical scores – it just feels right. Clearly there are other options available as well, the most common would be Howard Shore’s “Lord of the Rings” and “Hobbit” Soundtracks. These scores are chalk full of tracks that will inspire a high fantasy feel with a full piece orchestra steering the combat. For me though, the frenetic pace of a hard driving metal anthem will always get the job done better. The point is: experiment, see what you like, see what your players like, and build a playlist to match your musical tastes.
Below are some songs we use in my playlist that my current group love:
Iced Earth (Days of Purgatory) – This band has a great variety of music that incorporates choirs as well as wide range of influences. A lot of good stuff here.
Metallica (Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets) – Even though Metallica has become “too mainstream” you cannot deny the power of their early albums. Call of Ktulu is still a favorite in our group and many of the players throw horns when the heavy guitar rifts begin.
Avantasia (The Metal Opera Part 1 & 2) – One of my players brought these two albums to me when I asked for suggestions and I have to admit, this is a great band. The Metal Opera is a perfect microcosm of the metal 80s aesthetic infused with a fantastical edge. Highly suggest.
Lordi (The Arockalypse) – This is what happens when Gwar and D&D have a baby. It’s weird, and catchy, and perfect.
Tyr (By The Light of the Nothern Star) – A Faroese (Danish) Folk Metal Band named after one of the most famous gods in D&D? That sentence alone is so full of awesome, I’m in.
Powerglove (Metal Kombat for the Mortal Man) – Let’s face it, it was only a matter of time before someone made a metal band that covered video game music. Listen to all of your favorite video game theme songs in metal form; Super Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, it’s all here.
Delain (Lucidity) – This is a cool dutch symphonic metal band with a female lead vocalist that has some really great driving numbers. Definitely check it out if you wanna do something a little different.
Meet At The Tavern 