Friday, October 9, 2009

What music should a DM play during a potential TPK?

I suggest avoiding the Braveheart-esque "slow motion sequence of an important character dying in in the midst of a battle while his companions howl and attempt to reach him," not only is that stuff played-out and hokey, but it's also bad luck in the vein of a Bride and Groom's first dance after the wedding ceremony being to Careless Whisper.

You need something epic and blood-stirring, and something that says in no uncertain terms that the chips are down and you are going to have to bring your A-game to the table if you even want a chance of your character surviving.





The Dollars/Good, Bad & Ugly trilogy had a huge influence of my campaigns, both in the Wilderlands and Planet Algol, in terms of atmosphere, the ways of men and also soundtrack-wise. There is something primal and archetypal about the music from these movies and it causes me no end of grief that those sad-sacks has-beens Metallica use this music as the entrance cue.

BTW, my friend's Kevin and Nadine used this as their wedding music in the middle of a sweltering summer, making the audience wait while the music built tension...after stealing the idea from me. 100% class in my opinion.



I would probably cry if I saw this in concert.

7 comments:

  1. That's some great stuff. I've bored people discussing the storytelling in the soundtracks of sci-fi and fantasy flicks, but you don't get any better than this.

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  2. "The Ecstasy" is one of my favourite pieces. Another excellent TPK one is the showdown music from "Once Upon A Time in the West".

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  3. "Adagio for Strings" from the Platoon soundtrack.

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  4. I bought up all of the Za Frumi I could find for fantasy gaming. I also like the 300 sundtrack as it has plenty of great atmosphere, although Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky are superb for ambiance.

    Music is a sticky situation, some people love it, some people are distracted by it, and some people don't care, there are great ideas here.

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  5. You win the Internets!

    Morricone Rocks, GBU Rocks.

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  6. Just thought of one--

    Bob Dylan "Fixin' to Die"

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