Music to Game to: Kristoffer Lo - The Black Meat

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

KRISTOFFER LO - THE BLACK MEAT

I played tuba from 5th grade all through highschool, which instilled in me a deep and abiding love for the instrument, so when I saw this Quietus article about a drone album composed solely on Tuba and Flugabone I got it without a second thought… And I have been well-rewarded for my trust, The Black Meat is an album that evokes oceanic depths, vast echoing caverns haunted by melancholic spirits and the calm at the center of a storm that could roar back at any moment. While not for every game, it is a wonderful backdrop for a game that needs a bit of slow and portentous soundtrack to give it depth.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Electronic, Jazz, Ambient, Abstract
• Perfect for… Any game where you want to add an understated but haunting and lugubrious backdrop.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The eerily wistful “Front Rows Gallows View”.

Dinosaurs, Zombies and Necromancers, Oh My! – Tomb Thoughts #3

Since my last missive, we’ve played three more sessions, bringing our total sessions to five. Some general thoughts first about playing a 5th Edition game again (as opposed to running it), followed by a break for spoilers and then session notes at the end.

Firstly, I’d like to say that switching from hand-writing notes to using my tablet and a Bluetooth keyboard has been fantastic. Eliminating the need to go through my notes and decipher them as I type them up has eliminated a major pain point. I remain a steadfast proponent of a shared player document, with a player or players taking notes as a great way to create an easy to reference record of the game. We play every two weeks on Wednesdays but skipped a date as it fell on Halloween and our intrepid DM’s birthday, but having the notes let me quickly recap the previous session when we returned to the game.

With our sixth session tonight, this is the longest I’ve gotten to play a single 5th edition character. I don’t know that 5th edition is my favorite edition to play, but I’ve still enjoyed it. Frankly, the best decision I made about my character was taking this Archaeologist Ideal: Death Wish: Nothing is more exhilarating than a narrow escape from the jaws of death. (Chaotic), which has served as a prompt for me that my character should be active and helping to push the plot forward when otherwise I might hesitate. Instead of giving in to the urge to protect my precious PC at all cost, the ideal reminds me that he should be taking risks, even, or perhaps especially, potentially deadly risks, which means Ordulin Bellweather is jumping onto the backs of Zombie Tyrannosaurus Rexs and rushing forward into trapped areas to test solutions instead of hanging back and watching everything from 120ft away to plink away at foes with Eldritch Bolt.

I’m enjoying playing a warlock, though the spell slots increasing in level rather than in quantity is slightly frustrating in one regard, which is that not every spell scales with level. It’s annoying to have to decide on using a second level spell slot on Shield, which gets no bump from a higher slot or taking an extra hit from a foe to save that slot for Branding Smite which does benefit from that increased spell slot level.

We played a session in a local brewery...

**Spoilers for Tomb of Annihilation Follow**

Belt Buckles of Bonded Action - Weird Magic Item #19

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Belt Buckles of Bonded Action

These matching belt bucklers are in the shape of a thundercloud with a lightning bolt. When each buckle is worn by a pair of individuals, the wearer of a belt buckle can spend a bonus (or quick or minor depending on the action economy of the game) action to do the following as long as the other wearer is willing and conscious.

• Add to their speed up to the speed of the other belt buckle wearer. If this option is chosen, the other wearer loses that amount of speed on their next movement. The other wearer also gains +2 to AC on their next turn.
• Take an additional standard action. If this option is chosen, the other wearer loses their standard action on their next turn but gains +4 to AC until the start of the user's next turn.

Music to Game to: S U R V I V E - MNQ026

I listen to a lot of music (over 40 days worth in 2017 according to last.fm) and I find that few things help me keep the mood of a game foregrounded in my mind like a good soundtrack. Plus, I’ve discovered that when I’m playing music to a speaker via Bluetooth, I’m less likely to be on my phone, lest my players hear any stray sounds, letting me better model engagement during a game. To that end, I want to share some of my favorite music to game to; the albums that inspire and inflame my imagination and that I’ve found work well as background music for games as well. I’ll do a mini-review and cover the basics of what mood it helps me set.

S U R V I V E - MNQ026

You might have heard of S U R V I V E because two of the band members are responsible for the theme and score of Stranger Things, a little known Netflix series, and I'm not going to lie, if you like the music on that show, you're going to love MNQ026 (or any of S U R V I V E's other releases, to be honest). It's that good, tense, propulsive, John Carpenter inflected throwback Synthwave perfect for any 80's influence or set game.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Electronic Experimental, Synthwave
• Perfect for… Sci-fi and horror games where you want have a 80's throwback synthesizer soundtrack.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The pulsating and propulsive "Hourglass"

Scroll of Expedient Memorization - Weird Magic Item #18

Inspired by the incredibly excellent Weird Magic Item generator over at Donjon.bin.sh, I've been coming up with a few of my own system agnostic weird magic items to put in the many games I run, be they 13th Age or Beyond the Wall...

Eventually I want to try and put them into a randomizer, but I need to generate a few first. I'm going to try and post one every other Wednesday. Please let me know if you end up using an item I've created in your own game. You can find the entire series here...

Antagonist Relations Weird Magic Item Generator Presents...

Scroll of Expedient Memorization

When read this scroll allows a spellcaster who memorizes, prays for or otherwise prepares spells from a list for a day to swap out one memorized/prepared spell for another that they know. Reading the scroll takes a full minute and at the end the spell swap is instantaneous. Strangely, goblin spellcasters often have these scrolls in their possessions, a fact that both puzzles and worries other wizards and clerics.