First time DM!!! :D

GyozaHappyHour
GyozaHappyHour
edited January 2012 in Player Lounge
Alright. So hey, I'm new to Obsidian Portal, just joined a few minutes ago. I actually got here from the "Dungeon Master Guys" Podcast. If you haven't heard of them yet, check them out. I really learned a lot from the discussions they have together about DM-ing. Anyway, just some general info, I started playing D&D a few years ago, only playing around halfway through one 3.5 campaign in high school. Regardless, I'm starting out with a new group in college and I was hoping to pick up some tips while I used this website. However I do have one question!

What kind of music do any of you suggest to be used in your D&D sessions? I'm talkin' about in and out of combat as well as music that helps paint the picture of wherever your adventurers are. I was specifically wondering about festival and bustling marketplace music.

Thanks! ^^

Comments

  • HurstGM
    HurstGM
    Posts: 205
    Welcome to the OP! There is a campaign with nothing but music "here":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/gaming-music. I would check there if you wanted something more immediate, but soon enough there will be plenty of responses.
  • GyozaHappyHour
    GyozaHappyHour
    Posts: 3
    Oh my.

    How could I have missed this?! I probably rolled a 1. xD
  • KenSee
    KenSee
    Posts: 93
    Hey! Welcome to best part of our hobby, GMing!

    Welcome to the Portal you won't find a better resource for advice, tips, and tricks.

    Glad to have you and good luck on your campaign!

    -Ken See
  • TheMazeController
    TheMazeController
    Posts: 115
    Welcome!

    I used to have Pandora account with nothing but gaming music on it before they got annoying with ads if you let me know what you had in mind specifically I may be able to help otherwise yes the music here is as good a start as any.
  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    Welcome to OP. I hope you discover all the wonderful things OP has to offer as I have over the past 6 months.

    Good luck with you campaign. I cant wait to check it out.

    -Steve
    "Star Trek Late Night":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-trek-late-night
    "Duskreign's CotM December 2011":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/wyrmshadow/wikis/122011
    "CotM January 2012":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/star-trek-late-night-januarys-cotm/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=star-trek-late-night-januarys-cotm
  • arsheesh
    arsheesh
    Posts: 850
    Welcome Gyoza, always nice to see a fresh face here at the forums. Looks like you've already met some of the usual suspects, but I thought I'd hop on the welcome wagon as well. Friendly crowd this, so if you ever need anything, advice or what have you, feel free to holler. One of the best ways to think about building your new site is to take a look at some of the more popular sites on the forum (the first few pages of the "Campaigns" section contains a slew of Gems). In addition to getting inspiration for your own campaign it will also introduce you to some really great people to share your hobby with. Best wishes.

    Cheers,
    -Arsheesh
  • Morrinn
    Morrinn
    Posts: 166
    Heya Gyoza, welcome to OP.
    For music selection I would second Hurst's suggestion to check out the gaming music campaign. But I'd also suggest you consider going for something more than just music with a Soundscape.

    Playing a continuous playlist of fantasy songs can be a bit distracting, and having to cycle through songs or playlists depending on the scene can be bothersome as well.
    Soundscape programs will allow you to add an ambient noise at a very customization level that will kick in with whatever sound you prefer, like musical scores, at certain intervals or whenever you want them.

    There are dozens of different programs you could use with of various complexities and detailed micro organizing, but the most intuative I would suggest is Softrope. Available for free right "here":http://softrope.net/
  • Black_Vulmea
    Black_Vulmea
    Posts: 277
    Welcome to the Portal.

    I never really used music with _D&D_ , but I love playing _Traveller_ to old school techno, like Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, Mike Oldfield, Tomita, and Jean Michel Jarre.

    Mike aka Black Vulmea
    "_Le Ballet de l'Acier_":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/le-ballet-de-l-acier - swashbuckling adventures in the age of the Three Musketeers and Captain Alatriste
    Featured Campaign of the Month - August 2011
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Hello Gyoza!! I also 3rd the "music campaign":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/gaming-music by the awesome and friendly, despite the name, "darkmagus":http://www.obsidianportal.com/profile/DarkMagus
    I have used magic often in the past- but with a Skype game currently, find it difficult.
    Black- I want to play Traveller with you right now- happy to drive to OC!!
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt
    Duskreign's "COTM for November 2011":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/wyrmshadow/wiki_pages/112011

    Just trying to help out.

  • GyozaHappyHour
    GyozaHappyHour
    Posts: 3
    Whoa! I'm really grateful for all the responses! Don't worry, I will be coming often to find new and interesting ways to shape and craft my campaign. :P

    Anyway, I'm really interested in the idea of Soundscapes. I find myself that the constant looping of a single song during a combat encounter can get annoying after a few rounds. However! What I, as well as my players, enjoy about the music I have played so far during combat encounters was that when hearing, for example, a combat song from the video game "Lost Odyssey", some people stop for a moment and chuckle while remembering how pumped they were when playing that video game. Then I notice that the party REALLY get into that exhilarating mentality when, before you know it, EVERYONE is standing up on their tippy-toes, bouncing back and forth, waiting for their next turn.

    The problem I run into with music is (as I said before) tracks usually listing from 1:30 to 3:00 which constantly loop and repeat themselves, as well as not having much music for other aspects (i.e. a bustling festival, woodland forest, abandoned ruins, etc.)
  • RaseCidraen
    RaseCidraen
    Posts: 890
    Welcome to the portal, Gyoza!

    First off, excellent choice about Lost Odyssey! That's a superb game in it's own right.

    My two cents on the matter (as someone who dabbles in sound engineering/design):

    I find that a 1:30~3:00 loop is too repetitive for longer duration fights. However, if you can find a piece or two that is thematically and instrumentally similar (not too hard if you know what you're listening to), spend a minute or two figuring the proper order of the songs that you want (if you want to do it properly you might want to consider four songs, because you don't want to have HIGH INTENSITY all the time. It's all about structure. ...here we go on an aside... again. You want to alternate the mood of the songs - start off with something medium intensity, then blend into a high-intensity song, then go to a medium-low, then back to a high. It shifts the mood of the fight, so it goes from Tactics Tactics to ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK to Maybe we should back off to LEEEROY JENKINS!)

    ...anyway, if you find songs with similar start/end points, you can create pretty seamless transitions, especially if the main themes are similar/carried throughout. Think Pirates of the Carribean. Excellent soundtrack, carries the same main theme throughout the majority of the songs. It's excellent in that way.

    When it comes to Bustling festival, maybe celtic music - low key stuff from obscure video games that they use in towns. If people in your group are PC gamers only, not console, you can use things like Cosmo canyon from FF7, or the reverse is true as well. Music from Risen/Fable/The Witcher... Any game where there's a theme for a city can work - and if the city is similar to the one they visit, and the song gets replayed whenever they go there... well, if the city is prominent enough, you can actually build an emotional attachment to the city. We associate music with memory (the reason most couples have 'a song'), so you can play with that expectation. If every time they go into the Industrial Steampunk Town - Generic, they hear a track from Blue Man Group, but this visit, they go in and hear a track from Stomp (or even something more subtle, like a higher paced track from the source group), it subconciously alters the mood of the scene. They'll actively seek out the sense of disturbance (or should), with no work on your end (other than to give them one, then switch the tracks back once the issue is resolved, so they get closure).

    ...I sound like an utter quack.
  • twiggyleaf
    twiggyleaf
    Posts: 2,006
    Hi Gyoza

    I see you are already getting some more than adequate responses so I will just send out a warm welcome and some best wishes.


    twiggyleaf
    "Shimring - The Faces of Divinity":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/shimring
    (a multiplanar 3.5 D&D campaign)

    "I met a traveller from an antique land....."

    CotM May 2016: Mysteria: set in Wolfgang Baur’s MIDGARD.

    Previous CotM Aug 2012: Shimring: High Level Multiplanar Campaign

    Inner Council Member

  • slamfu
    Posts: 1 edited January 2012
    The soundtrack to Conan the Barbarian is always a good mood setter for my crew. The "Anvil of Crom" always stirs the bloodlust :)
    Post edited by slamfu on
  • WolfLord
    WolfLord
    Posts: 278 edited January 2012
    Welcome! Like twiggy i see i'm a bit late to the welcome party ^^ nevertheless feel free to ask if you need anything! Glad to see another new face here on the portal :)

    As far as music goes, yeah def check out DarMagus's Gaming Music campaign, one of the best gaming music resources out there and made by one of our own which is awesome!
    - Dan
    "Avatar: Conquest of the Imperial Order":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/avatar_adventure
    "CotM November 2011":http://blog.obsidianportal.com/november-11-campaign-of-the-month-avatar-conquest-of-the-imperial-order/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=november-11-campaign-of-the-month-avatar-conquest-of-the-imperial-order
    "Duskreign
    Post edited by WolfLord on
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