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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 9:50AM
#1
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Chat about our new series of articlesabout including the Star Wars soundtracks to enhance your roleplaying games!
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 10:34AM
#2
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I'm not a big user of specified music. Although I do like to keep something playing in the background, I almost never make it loud enough to affect the game in any way.
Still, for those times when you do want to use it, or if you plan on using it a lot I have two additional peices of advise. First, get a remote. It makes the whole thing less disruptive than sitting there and messing with the CD player, or worse, having to get up to do that. And second, make yourself a quick cheat sheet with tips on when to use a certain track. Most of the time the titles won't tell you things like "good for a chase" or "good for a scary feel."
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 11:16AM
#3
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Nah - you don't need a remote.
You need a laptop. :o)
That way, you can rip the soundtracks to MP3 format. Then, create a couple folders: Chases, Battle, Starship, Downtime, etc. In each of those folders, create a link to all the appropriate tracks.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 11:58AM
#4
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I use a laptop, of course the gamers at the table just covered their eyes and shook their heads, as they heard the Fox fanfare start up before the Star Wars theme music...
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 12:17PM
#5
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The only issue with the Star Wars music is that it's pretty easy to recognize. Having the Star Wars themes play is basically like having cameos from Luke or Darth Vader -- for better or for worse.
I'd recommend the Six-String Samurai, 28 Days Later, and some parts of the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtracks for Star Wars games. They cover lots of good ground in ways that parse to "Star Wars" pretty easily.
The Splinter Cell soundtracks aren't bad either.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 1:16PM
#6
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I think the Star Wars soundtrack is exactly what works at pivotal moments to bring players into the concept that they are playing Star Wars and not some cheesy knock-off.
I don't seem to have the link to the website, but there is one that has a ton of Star Wars music clips on it, even whole songs. I have all the best clips on my computer. All orchestral in the vein of Star Wars; not that faux rock crud, not industrial, and not rock. Absolutely perfect for a game in a way that doesn't remove you from the fact that this is Star Wars and which carries combat or roleplay moments well.
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 1:50PM
#7
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Agreed 100%
Star wars is well STAR WARS. having Vader or Luke pop up is differnt because the focus is still kept on the PCs. I mean nothing puts a chill down a PCs theme like warping into a star system.. and the DM suddenly putting the Imperial March up
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 9:16PM
#8
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Great article, very helpful.
I haven't used SW music yet, but Deadairis is right, there's a lot of good non-SW scores that thematically "match".
For my D&D campaign, I used LOTR scores, tracks from the Neverwinter Nights PC games, and would organize the tracks into folders: downtime/village, traveling, peril, combat...
Music is great, but I've played at people's houses where they were playing something in the background that totally yanked me out of the game. I've never understood the supposed correlation between fantasy RP and metal.
"All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand enemies. And when they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you; digger, listener, runner, Prince with the swift warning. Be cunning, and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed."
-Frith, Watership Down
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2 years ago ::
Jul 02, 2008 - 11:56PM
#9
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Yeah, in the first campaign that I played in there were three or four tracks that ruined the flow of the game because the GM stopped to sing along with them.
Lyrics + RPGs = bad.
If you must have music, make it instrumental only.
(The new Doctor Who series has some great tracks)
It's morphin time! ...Oh wait, wrong universe. Now where did I put my lightsabre?
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2 years ago ::
Jul 03, 2008 - 6:52AM
#10
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I use music in all my games ... and with Star Wars, I've used the SW OSTs, but also use some music from other sources ... depending on the feel of the campaign of course. In the past, I've ran a game where the players were part of the Old Republic and worked on a larger patrol vessel. For that, I used a hefty amount of Star Trek (mainly from the movie and DS9) with a smattering of B5 thrown in for tension scenes. The current game I'm running is inspired a bit more by Firefly and Cowboy Bebop, so I use a bit more jazz and use some music from the SW OSTs, Last Starfighter and a good mix of modern action movies, sci-fi and a bit of other tracks that I have. I'm in the planning stages of my next 4 week arc of SW, and I'm looking at throwing some Morricone into the mix as they visit a backwater world. May even have to run a gun fight 
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