Streaming UVG - 4th Sunday of each Month

Starting tomorrow, 2/28/2021, I'll be streaming a campaign of the Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City on Twitch on the Fourth Sunday of each month, from 3pm-7pm CT. Full list of dates and times on the Calendar of Events. 

...Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City is a tabletop role-playing game, half setting, half adventure, and half epic trip; inspired by psychedelic heavy metal, the Dying Earth genre, and classic Oregon Trail games. It leads a group of ‘heroes’ into the depths of a vast and mythic steppe filled with the detritus of time and space and fuzzy riffs.

This is an experiment for me, I've done some streaming for Extra Life and ones for the Known World United Twitch channel, but this will be the first ongoing stream I run. I am hoping it will not only be fun to run and play, but also to watch.

I hope to edit slightly and publish them as podcasts or maybe even youtube videos, but that will require a little time and effort so I don't want to commit to a release date until I know what I can deliver. 

As I've been prepping the game, I've made a 3 mix for the UVG Radio to provide more musical inspiration for the campaign.

#	Artist	Track
1	Thou	Black Sabbath
2	Emma Ruth Rundle	Marked For Death
3	Frayle	Ring of Fire
4	Cara Neir	Four Seasons in a Day
5	Jeremiah Sand	Golden Fervor
6	Here Lies Man	I Wander
7	Emmanuelle Parrenin / Detlef Weinrich	Zombie’s Passport
8	Adzes	A Forest
9	ISOTROPÍA	Feast in Time of Plague
10	Senyawa	Istana
11	Terry Gross	Worm Gear
12	Seven that Spells	Terminus Est
13	Enslaved	Immigrant Song

UVG Radio Volume 2

 

A second mix of tunes selected as inspiration for my newly started Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City games.

I'll be streaming a campaign of the Ultraviolet Grasslands and the Black City on Twitch on the Fourth Sunday of each month, starting 2/28, from 3pm-7pm CT. Full list of dates and times on the Calendar of Events. 

#	Artist	Track
1	The Comet Is Coming	Because The End Is Really The Beginning
2	The Young Gods	Gasoline Man (Megadrive Mix)
3	hackedepicciotto	Third From the Sun
4	Earth	Rooks Across the Gate
5	Ganser	Bags For Life
6	The Legendary Pink Dots	The Brightest Star
7	King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard	Polygondwanaland
8	Undersmile	Spore
9	Current 93	Inerrant Infallible (Black Ships at Nineveh and Edom)
10	Militia Vox	SYRENNE
11	Bong-Ra	Amun [Hidden Chambers]
12	Free Nelson MandoomJazz	Black Sabbath
13	Circle	Terminal

So Many Games... So Little Time (to blog)...

 

Some games I hope to run during 2021...

I keep meaning to update here more... I had a week off earlier in January but spent a lot of it away from my home office taking a much needed break from sitting at a desk staring at computer screens for 8-12 hours a day. (Though I did devour the excellent Raised By Wolves while laying on a couch staring at a TV screen...)

More than needing a break, though, I'm realizing that most of my RPG energy these days is spent on actually running games, something that I did a metric-fuck-ton of during 2020. With alternating 5th Edition D&D games running Saturday Afternoons, games most Thursday evenings, every other Wednesday, a couple of stints running games every other Sunday morning and at least one one-shot game each month plus the one to two games I play in... well, I average two to three games per week most weeks...

While the downside of all this gaming is less blogging, the upside was running a lot of games, including a bunch of games I hadn't run before. Here is a quick break down...

• Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

• I'd run CoC back in high school, so that would have been back in the 5th edition was still relatively new.. Ending up running several one shots and a short campaign and definitely think it works best in the one shot format. Highlight was running The Lightless Beacon, a free one shot scenario which is where I'd recommend starting if you're interested in running (also conveniently free on Roll20).

• The Quiet Year

• Ran (or facilitated rather, as its GM-less) this post-apocalyptic map game using Roll20 and would definitely give it another whirl. It is on my list of backup games for when my groups are down a few players.

• The Sprawl

• Finally ran a one-shot of the Sprawl, the Powered by the Apocalypse Cyberpunk Game and was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked, even in a one-shot. Many PbtA games really take more than one session to get cooking, but ran a one-shot using the Downtown Dataheist quickstart mission and had a blast.

• tremulus

• also ran the Cthulhu mythos themed PbtA game, tremulus, using the Ebon Eaves scenario and it was fine? Would try it again, but really, what I'm jonesin' to run is the frozen wasteland playset.

• Fiasco!

• Had played the original version, but the revised version that swaps in cards in place of dice was a marked improvement and quite enjoyed running through the Suburbia scenario and looking forward to being able to game in person again to take advantage of having the big boxed set and all the expansion packs.

• The Forest Hymn and Picnic

• I've now run the Last Winter Holiday quick-start adventure included in A Cursory Guidebook To The Forest Hymn & Picnic twice now and each time was a lot of fun, so I cannot wait until the full game is done and I can run a party through a campaign of the Forest Hymn and Picnic...

• Alien the Roleplaying Game

• This was the big one that I went into 2020 determined to run after getting it late in 2019... and run it I did... I ran six separate one shots of Alien, plus the Destroyer of World module as a three session mini-campaign. The system is pretty elegant and cinematic and I fully intend do a fuller review sometime soon.

Music to Game To: The Psychic Maelstrom Mixes

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

The Psychic Maelstrom Mixes

So a few weeks ago, listening to the new <PIG> album, Candy, and thinking about running Apocalypse World again, and this happened...

1st, I was just going to pick a song ("The Power of Love") as a theme song for my new #ApocalypseWorld campaign-Then I got to thinkin' several of the tracks worked well in conjunction with the different playbooks https://t.co/2HDcSv67Kl #MusicToGameTo #AntagonistRelations 2/14

— Antagonist Relations (@antag_relations) June 28, 2019

then this happened...

Postscript... #psychicmaelstrom preserve me, I'm already contemplating how to repeat this but with Einstürzende Neubauten songs... #AntagonistRelations #MusicToGameTo

— Antagonist Relations (@antag_relations) June 28, 2019

Then I finally just made a playlist of 12 songs (for each playbook, plus the MC) for each playbook, plus the MC...

So, I present the Psychic Maelstrom Mixes... There were some arbitrary rules I invented for myself to craft each mix, but those won't be interesting to anyone else, so I'll skip listing them. Unlike most Music to Game To that I recommend, these are heavier on lyrics and cover songs. While normally, I wouldn't want players to get bogged down in recognizing songs, here I want the covers they catch to feel like echoes of the past rising up through the psychic maelstrom of Apocalypse World.

• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Angel
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Battlebabe
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Brainer
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Chopper
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Driver
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Gunlugger
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Hardholder
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Hocus
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Maestro D'
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Savvyhead
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Skinner
• Psychic Maelstrom Mix - The Master of Ceremonies

For my upcoming Apocalypse World Game, I plan on adding the mix for each playbook in play to a master list and playing it on shuffle during the game, which is easy for me since I have all the mp3s, but hopefully others can get good use from these mixes as inspiration for playing or running Apocalypse World too, or at least getting a peak into the psychic maelstrom inside my mind that drives me to put together 13+ hours of music for RPG games.

Random Ship Names & Maritime Songs to Game to

Put together a few more resources for any maritime themed D&D games; first a table to use to generate random D&D inspired ship names like: the Violet Wyrm, the Smirking Voyager, the Emerald Cockatrice, the Wand'rin' Mephit and the Rusty Siren. Easily works as a dockside tavern name generator too...

Antagonist Relations Random Ship Names

Also, here are a few Maritime themed songs that will fit well for when your party visits a dock side tavern...

from The Blasting Company's A History of Public Relations Dilemmae

• Princess Andy 
• Sinking Ships

from Shirley Inspired

• Stewart Lee and Stuart Estell - 'Polly On The Shore' 
• Stuart Estell - 'Just As The Tide Was Flowing' 

Finally, don't forget Thomas' fantastic Heroes of Waves and Wharves that I wrote trinkets and NPC spell lists for. 30+ pages of maritime themed material for your 5e D&D game.

Music to Game to: Andrew Liles - The Dying Submariner: Complete Download Version

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

Andrew Liles – The Dying Submariner: Complete Download Version

The original edition of The Dying Submariner was subtitled: A Concerto For Piano And Reverberation In Four Movements is extremely minimal in instrumentation but extremely effective at portraying a sinking, claustrophobic atmosphere of being lost at, or worse, below the sea.
Ghostly piano playing echoes through the tracks, recasting the familiar instrument as an eerie explorer diving deeper and deeper into pitch black water. Nearing a length of 3 hours, the album provides plenty of soundtrack, bordering on soundscape, for doomed maritime adventures.
The Aqualungs versions, making up the last seven tracks, expand the instrumentation of the album but retain a maritime theme.

Vocals?...No
Music Genre(s)… Experimental, Ambient
Perfect for… Pitch black, haunted sessions of slowly building tension and dread.
If you only grab one track, make it... The minimal, yet menacing “The Dying Submariner – Part II”, which features rumbling piano lines that emerge from the depths of the track.

Music to Game to: Undersmile - Narwhal

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

Undersmile – Narwhal

Sludgy, epic, female fronted doom metal, Narwhal has a maritime theme that makes it perfect for throwing on while you run Ghosts of Saltmarsh. The sprawling tracks feature thudding drums and guitar riffs that wash over listeners like crashing waves. The vocals provide a haunting atmosphere without being distracting.

Vocals?...Yes
Music Genre(s)… Doom Metal
Perfect for… Dark, maritime themed fantasy where you want to evoke epic storms, crashing waves and titanic monsters moving inexorably towards land.
If you only grab one track, make it... The massive and menacing track, “Berk”, which moves between roaring riffs and quieter haunting passages, provides a good taste of the heavy and inevitable sonic-scape of the album.

Music to Game to: The Bug vs Earth - Concrete Desert

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

The Bug vs Earth – Concrete Desert

I’ve featured Earth before, with my very first Music to Game to highlighting the two album epic Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light. On Concrete Desert, Earth’s Dylan Carlson collaborates with The Bug, dub/electronic producer Kevin Martin, for an album inspired by Los Angeles in particular and America more broadly. The result is a vast album, where the empty spaces of the American west meet a dystopic futuristic sound. A ghostly menace fills the tracks, which bear names like “Don’t Walk These Streets, givng them a bit of neo-noir flavor, making this album a great soundtrack for a modern, sci-fi, or post-apocalyptic game.

• Vocals?...Yes, but only on the bonus tracks
• Music Genre(s)… Doom, Electronic, Dub
• Perfect for… Modern or post-apocalyptic games set in vast, empty spaces or crumbling cities.
• If you only grab one track, make it... the epically haunting “American Dream” which features an eerie guitar melody that seems to wander a wasteland of drifting sand and broken promises.

Music to Game to: Ufomammut - Snailking

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

Ufomammut – Snailking

Cosmic in scope and psychedelic in feel, Snailking is fantastic doom metal for games where you want mix of heavy riffs and chilling synths. There are some samples used on the songs which could be a little incongruous for high fantasy games, but overall the sweeping epic feel of the album provides a great sonic backdrop.

• Vocals?...Yes, in Italian and also samples. 
• Music Genre(s)… Doom Metal, Psychedelic Sludge
• Perfect for… Games with epic combats that could benefit from a backdrop of doom laden riffs.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “Lacrimosa” which features heavy riffs and thudding drums amidst swirling synths.

Music to Game to: Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol.1 and Occult Architecture Vol. 2

I listen to a lot of music (over 41 days worth in 2018 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.

Moon Duo – Occult Architecture Vol.1 and Occult Architecture Vol. 2

A psychedelic conceptual opus in two parts intended to be “an intricately woven hymn to the invisible structures found in the cycle of seasons and the journey of day into night, dark into light through the Chinese theory of Yin and Yang”, Moon Duo’s Occult Architecture albums are a great choice for background music for any RPG. With driving rhythms, psychedelic guitar work and understated vocals these two albums provide a wonderfully evocative and thematic backdrop for a game.

• Vocals?...Yes, but unobtrusive.
• Music Genre(s)… Psychedelic Rock
• Perfect for… Games where you want a psychedelic touch that isn’t over-whelming or distracting.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The shimmering and sinister “Cult of Moloch” from Vol. 1 and the propulsive “The Crystal World” from Vol. 2

Music to Game to: Harvestman - Music for Megaliths

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.

HARVESTMAN - MUSIC FOR MEGALITHS

Steve Von Till of metal stalwarts Neurosis is the force behind this moniker, but this album is not one of furious riffs and rock. Instead, synths and acoustic instrumentation mix together wonderfully, create a dark and ghostly palate conjuring moonlight forests where ancient standing stones wait for sacrifices to be offered up once again. This rich and resonant music will fit right in place as the soundtrack to many a fantasy game, especially those with a slightly darker edge.

• Vocals?...Yes, on the closer “White Horse” only.
• Music Genre(s)… Avantgarde, Ethereal, Experimental, Drone
• Perfect for… Any game where you want to add a subtle and dark foreboding atmosphere, like dark mist banks rolling through an ancient forest.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The haunting opener “The Forest is Our Temple” which brings an ancient Celtic feel with droning pipes and psychedelic guitar.

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”.

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"

Music to Game to: Abominations of Yondo - That Remote and Awful Twilight

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.

ABOMINATIONS OF YONDO – THAT REMOTE AND AWFUL TWILIGHT

Originally recommended by Warren Ellis, this is an excellent free album of eerie ambience draws inspiration from the penultimate chapter of ‘The Time Machine’ by H.G. Wells. The minimal and atmospheric soundscapes provide a fantastic backdrop for your players’ fertile imaginations to feast upon as they remain tense and slightly sinister without relying on bombast. A terrific addition to the sonic arsenal of any game master, especially one running a Cthulhu mythos inspired game.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Electronic Experimental
• Perfect for… Sci-fi and horror games where you want to add an understated, unsettling and otherworldly tension.
• If you only grab one track, make it...All of them, you’ve got no excuse not to grab this excellent FREE album.

Music to Game to: John Carpenter - Lost Themes

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.

JOHN CARPENTER – LOST THEMES

Again, skirting up against the edge of my “no soundtracks” rule (already broken once and certain to be broken again), I’d like recommend John Carpenter’s Lost Themes album, which as you might guess is not music from his movie soundtracks but rather original music in the style of his soundtracks. The result is thoroughly cinematic music well suited to providing suspense, propulsion and atmosphere to any game that you want to lend a Carpenter-ian flare to.

• Vocals?...Only on the bonus remix tracks on some digital versions or as the Lost Themes Remixed album.
• Music Genre(s)… Ambient, Synthwave
• Perfect for… Sci-fi, horror and adventure games with a 80’s throwback feel.
• If you only grab one track, make it... the eerily melancholy, yet still propulsive “Night”. If you get the remix album or the bonus digital tracks, I also heartily recommend the JG Thirlwell Remix of “Abyss” which sounds a lot like Jim’s excellent Xordox tracks.

Music to Game to: Myrkur M

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.

MYRKUR – M

Myrkur’s first full length album, delivers a funereal feel, with alternating wailing black metal and ethereal choral vocals. The use of Scandinavian folk instruments lends it a Norse feel and give it a bit of medieval feeling well suited to being played during a fantasy RPG setting. While the shift between the harsh screams and ghostly, beautiful melodic vocals can feel like a bit of whiplash, it will certainly help keep your players on their toes, so to speak.

• Vocals?...Yes, in Danish
• Music Genre(s)… Black Metal
• Perfect for… Dark games with a Norse flavor, where intrepid heroes battle giants in dark valleys or struggle against revenants in misty forests.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “Skaði”, which opens with thundering drums, foreboding piano and wailing vocals, before shifting midway through the song to a more operatic and epic feel and back again.

Music to Game to: SUNN O))) - Black One

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.

SUNN O))) – BLACK ONE

The purveyors of sonic doom took a decidedly bleak direction with Black One, resulting in an album that drips with hopelessness, claustrophobia and terror—this, of course, makes it a fantastic album to have as the soundtrack for any number of horror RPGs. The droning riffs of base and guitar give the songs a sense of implacability… these are not tracks to play when the party faces down a ferocious dragon but rather for when they have to stay one step ahead of an immensely ancient and potent vampire who will surely slay them unless they can remain just outside his grasp until the coming of dawn. This can be unsettling and anxiety inducing music, perfect for putting your players on edge as their characters cope with terrifyingly patient adversaries.

• Vocals?...Yes, heavily distorted
• Music Genre(s)… Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Experimental, Dark Ambient
• Perfect for…Dark horror games where the PCs are relentlessly pursued by implacable horrors given the shape of humans across wind blasted stony stretches or deep below the earth in forgotten caverns.
• If you only grab one track, make it... the epic subterranean “Báthory Erzsébet”. The vocals for the track were recorded inside of a casket, which sounds like a gimmick but lends the vocals a desperate, desiccated sound that underline the ominous and claustrophobic dread of the song.

Music to Game to: Shirley Collins - Lodestar

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.

SHIRLEY COLLINS – LODESTAR

Famed folk singer and song collector Shirley Collins first full album after 38 years, these songs are given profound and resonant backing by experimental musicians Cyclobe. A collection of traditional songs with one original composition, they draw on the British folk ballad tradition which lend them well to games set in a post-medieval, pre-20th century settings that draw on folklore. Moving seamlessly between dread, levity, sorrow and beauty, the songs provide a rich palate for any game master to draw upon to set the mood.

• Vocals?...Yes
• Music Genre(s)… Folk, Traditional
• Perfect for…Games with a folkloric or archaic feel that still have a vein of darkness running through them. 
• If you only grab one track, make it... The deceptively dark and rich “Cruel Lincoln”, where the birds sing as the murderer’s deeds and punishment are narrated.

Music to Game To: Free Nelson Mandoomjazz - Awakening of a Capital

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.

FREE NELSON MANDOOMJAZZ – AWAKENING OF A CAPITAL

It’s easy to see a bit of Lovecraftian influence from the song titles on Awakening of a Capital, The Stars Unseen, The Pillars of Dagon, Erich Zann and Beneath the Sea all fit, but undoubtedly Howie would find the free jazz, doom metal inflected stylings degenerate and unpleasant – which, when you think about it, is probably what you want to serve as a soundtrack for a cosmic horror story. But another song title is the most evocative for me, and sometimes I think would serve well for as a theme song for certain D&D PC’s… “Poking the Bear” which stands out as the most playful of the album. Overall the album would serve well to bring a slightly discordant and jazzy background to any game of 20th or 21st century horror, balancing melancholic doom with a more propulsive free jazz style.

• Vocals?...No
• Music Genre(s)… Doom jazz, free jazz
• Perfect for… 20th century games of cosmic horror.
• If you only grab one track, make it... The spasmodic and squawking “Poking the Bear”, where a yawping and frantic sax melody flies fitfully over a driving and insistent bass line and steady drumming and could serve well as the theme song for the more impulsive PCs of many a gaming table.

Music to Game to: Allfather - And All Will Be Desolation

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.

ALLFATHER – AND ALL WILL BE DESOLATION

Thunderous sludge metal with heavy riffs, these songs should have your players feeling like their first level PCs can walk right up to that corrupt minor lordling and punch him right in the gut. From the first listen, this album has been inspiring dreams in me of getting to run a commoner rebellion campaign or to play a berserker dedicated to battling nefarious and rotten nobles. The refrain of “Citadels” sums up the fighting spirit of the album best… “Instead of burning bridges and raising citadels / We should be burning flags and raising fucking hell”.

• Vocals?...Yes
• Music Genre(s)… Metal, Sludge
• Perfect for…Dark, gritty fantasy games where the PCs fight the good fight against oppressive forces.
• If you only grab one track, make it... “Citadels”, the perfect theme song for a game about commoners battling decadent and corrupt nobility.