Soundtracks: for the PC

BONUS POST!

That's right, everybody, this week there are TWO blog entries! Let the bodies hit the floor!

In the previous article we talked about building a soundtrack as a DM. We divided our soundtrack into three playlists and had a rockin' good time while doing it. And we danced to the music. But does the buck stop there? Does the DM only determine the music in the campaign?

The short answer, if you have a cool DM, is no! No it doesn't! Players can have a hand in the game's soundtrack, in one especial way: Theme Songs.

The idea is this: each PC gets a theme song, and when that tune comes up in combat you get some kind of bonus. This isn't a new idea. Sly Flourish covered it in his article, Three Ways To Use Music In Your Game, and that was almost two years ago. Greg Bilsland had a similar house rule even before that, though I was unable to track it down.

In my campaign, when a Player's theme song comes on, the current turn in the initiative order is resolved ASAP and the PC immediately gets a bonus turn. There's nothing quite as sweet as getting two turns in a round. Just ask the Dragons and Ettins. And even sweeter than cracking extra orc skull is getting to crack them to Bad Reputation.

Oh God... is that... Halfcocked?...

I thoroughly encourage DMs to include this in their games, and for players to be as creative as possible with their songs. Pick something that you know is going to stand out amongst your DM's fantasy fare. It can be Ok Go, John Williams, or Mozart, just so long as, when it plays, everyone thinks "that's Divo the Deva's song, and he/she's about to kick some tail."

If you're feeling particularly creative (or masochistic), try composing or remixing your own theme song. Here's an example. My GM in Star Wars RPG asked us all to pick theme songs, but specifically said that they could not be from Star Wars. So I started combing through iTunes trying to find the perfect sci-fi song for my good natured Imperial Intelligence Officer, Special Agent Coop Marloeve (insert DEAR CHARACTER BLOG joke here).

And yes, for those who cocked an eyebrow
at "Special Agent Coop", he is
inspired by a Twin Peaks character.

As we were listening to various tunes, my brother and I realized that "I Am The Doctor" from the Doctor Who Soundtrack and "Suicide Mission" from Mass Effect 2 were very similar in a lot of ways. So I sped up the ME2 track and combined the songs into one epic five minute theme song.

For those who love Mass Effect and Doctor Who, I've embedded it below. And for those who don't, why don't you? Come on, people, they're great Sci-Fi.

So go out and find a theme song, and start chopping baddies to it. Happy gaming!

-DS

Soundtracks: for the DM

I love incorporating music into my RPGs. I make whole playlists of hundreds of songs from dozens of soundtracks. I pull from all sources: tv shows, films, video games, classical music, rock, pop, anything that fits. Sometimes my soundtracks are classic epic fantasy fare, like The Lord of the Rings, The Witcher, Dragon Age, and Narnia. Other times I make it a bit more Scott Pilgrim, adding in heavy guitar riffs and pulsing beats to keep the action going. Sometimes I draw on Sci-fi to give the music a bit of a modern edge. My current Gloomwrought campaign features a lot of Midnight Syndicate, to give it that proper creepy feeling. I find that music rounds out a game session, and helps keep the focus and energy up during the particularly long 4e combat rounds.

When making a soundtrack as a DM, I divide it up into three playlists. One is the At-Peace soundtrack: this is made up of more peaceful tracks that fill out the down-time PCs experience. I put this one on for basic roleplay, low-stakes exploration, and PC interaction. Ambient tracks are very good (see the Skyrim soundtrack for a plethora of these). Slow tempos, basic melodies, and relaxing tones make up this playlist.

The next playlist I call the Dungeon soundtrack. It is comprised of moodier pieces, with a bit more of a malicious edge to them. They are for the higher-stakes moments outside of combat, such as searching a room for traps, negotiating with Vampires, or exploring a dungeon (hence the name). By putting this soundtrack on, you instantly put the Players on edge. Without any flavour text, you can add creepiness to a room just by pressing play on iTunes.

The last playlist is the Combat playlist. This is the most important playlist of all, so spend most of your time building it. Since 4e combat can get insanely long, I recommend several hours worth of music to keep it from getting repetitive. Fortunately, good combat music is very easy to find. Any action film soundtrack is a good bet. Video game soundtracks almost always have incredible fight music. And if all else fails, getting some natty techno in the mix doesn't hurt either. You can find all kinds of great soundtracks for your game session in places you might not have expected.

If you like, you can add even more playlists. I have one specifically for Taverns, with a lot of medieval instruments and mellow guitars. I have a triumphant combat playlist and a s***-your-pants-scary one. I often like to pick a theme song for the campaign. My Neverwinter campaign's is "Assassin of Kings" from the Witcher 2, and occasionally when it's happier some Skylanders.

Don't judge me: Hans Zimmer wrote the theme. Also, Spyro is adorable. So shut up.

By building a comprehensive and engaging soundtrack, you can drop your players into the action with the click of a mouse. Once you get good at it, you won't be able to go back. Everything will seem a bit more boring. I hope some of these examples grabbed you, and that you have fun building your own soundtrack for your campaign!

Thanks, and happy gaming!
-DS

The Book of Vile Darkness: a Brief Musing

A brief disclaimer: I'm from a religious household, and am a pretty religious guy. As I grew up in my community, I heard a lot of the nonsense regarding D&D that many others have also been exposed to. Neither I or my family ever bought into it: a fictional tabletop game doesn't have the power that extremists give it. In fact, in my experience, D&D promotes many strong moral ideals.The unjustified rumors of demon worship, satanism, etc make me pretty mad. It's stupid that people would put such stock in and be so afraid of a simple game.

Another disclaimer: I play a pretty straight-laced campaign much of the time. Through two tiers of play, I've ran a fairly standard good vs evil storyline. Only recently have the shades grown significantly grayer. But up until the last few months, I've always made a point of letting good triumph over evil. It makes the Players feel like they're making a difference, and I get to feel like I'm delivering a positive message.

A few weeks back I picked up the 4e version of The Book of Vile Darkness by Robert J. Schwalb. When I first heard about the release, I wasn't very interested: the morbid nature put me off. I've never had interest in playing an Evil character or running an "Evil Campaign," so I figured I would pass this one over. In addition, to be completely honest, some of the stuff I'd seen from the original Third Edition book made me a bit uncomfortable. Rules for torture? Cancer Mages? Ritual Sacrifice? I didn't see that sort of thing in my campaign: I didn't particularly want to assist in or justify the negative stigma facing D&D already.

Case in point.

When I read the back of the book however, I was drawn in by the promise of "evil villains...vile monsters, magic items, organizations, traps and hazards, terrain, diseases, and curses". I am in the infancy of epic tier in my campaign, and things are coming to a head. I was looking for any way to up the ante for the players, and am getting ready to unveil some pretty scary and merciless villains. So I figured the book was worth a shot.

I was very pleased to discover that there was a good deal of useful material in the Dungeon Master's Book for any campaign. The chapter of Curses held some incredible mechanics for time-honored story hooks, and the section on Villains was everything I was looking for. There were some very creative monsters and themes (though unfortunately very little Epic support: one monster), and some super cool traps. The Far Realm Anomaly was my favourite trap in the book: a d20 determines one of several possible mutations PCs undergo when exposed to the hazard. Some are positive (freakish legs that add a +1 to speed) and others negative (arms turn to tentacles with a -2 to all attacks).

The book also provided a lot of advice on how to run an Evil Campaign: one in which the characters in it are villains. It gave adventure hooks, plot arcs, even entire campaign outlines. While I myself am not likely to use this content, I know others will wish to try something like this and it will be very useful to them.

I still had a lot of mixed feelings about much of the content in the Player's Book. While I liked the options and mechanics of the options presented, much of the flavor was very contrary to my idea of the game. Blood-Crazed Berserkers, Slaves of Devils, and a theme that is basically a word for word description of the Reavers from Firefly (the theme is even called Reaver). As a Player, I would likely never want to use some of this content.

Call me old-fashioned, but I'm not super keen on my
character looking like this...

My biggest concern, however, was the effect that these options would have on a campaign. As a DM I was worried that they could only lead to huge Player conflicts: some of my group would be game for this stuff, but it definitely wouldn't fly with others. I've seen Players bring in very well-thought-out Evil characters into the campaign, who play nice when they have to and wait til the right opportunity to secretly seize more power for themselves. Our groups Warlock is a perfect example of this. I have seen more frequently, however, the characters who take Evil much too literally. They kill NPCs without provocation, engage in subversive behavior in secret, and stab the other Players in the back. It isn't fun for anyone, and I was distressed that this book might be enabling this kind of behavior.

My fears as a DM were assuaged, however, when I read through the whole book. There is huge emphasis in the opening pages on keeping the game fun for everyone. It identifies the delicacy required in playing an evil adventurer in a group that, in all likelihood, is mostly made up of good ones. All the selfish behavior I was afraid of is addressed here: wanton killing, stabbing allies in the back, playing uncooperatively with the rest of the group etc. The book highly discourages this kind of approach, and gives many alternatives for the average wolf in sheep's clothing (or company).

In my mind, this makes the content in the book a-ok for my campaign. The Book of Vile Darkness fills a niche that wasn't properly filled before in 4e, and in a way that makes sure it's done right. If a Player reads and stands by the advice in this book, I would be open to a Reaver at the table. Who knows? It might shake things up considerably.

Hopefully not too much...

In Review: SlyFlourish's Running Epic Tier D&D Games

"Be kind to them at Heroic

Be even-handed at Paragon

Be a bastard at Epic"

These words open Sly Flourish's Running Epic Tier D&D Games, one of the most valuable resources any 4e Dungeon Master can arm him or herself with when jumping that Level 21 shark.

Epic Tier Dungeons and Dragons is a clustercuss unto itself. It is a major game changer. PCs become gods, armed with scores of power cards and magic items out the wazoo. Monsters become useless ragdolls to be tossed to the four winds with abandon. The Dungeon Master is suddenly reduced to a frustrated and demoralized mess. What should be the climactic and high-stakes end to a campaign, one that has spanned many months (years?), is instead a painful slog through wave after wave of boring encounters, with some half-hearted story dashed in for good measure. That is, if your DM makes it that far.

Fortunately, the internet is full of bloggers, tweeters, and writers who have been there, done that, and found solutions! Few of these have been as outspoken on the subject as Michael E. Shea, also known by his twitter handle and blogging alias Sly Flourish. He has posted countless tweets on the subject, and has always been both a critic of Epic Tier and an advocate for how to make it playable. He also literally wrote the book on the subject.

The book, available from his website, costs $3.99 for a downloadable version or $7.99 for a print copy. As somebody relatively new to the business of buying stuff from bloggers, I bought the downloadable copy. I now wish I'd sprung for the print version. This book belongs on my 4e shelf.

Presentation

The book's design is what I would call Spartan. Nothing is wasted here: it is comprised of basic text, black on white. This gives the book a utilitarian quality (handy if you do decide to print it after all). The table of contents outlines each section clearly. In sharp contrast to the no-nonsense approach of the inside, the front and back covers feature artwork by Jared von Hindman of http://www.headinjurytheater.com/, the writer and illustrator behind the D&D Outsider articles. They offer a hilarious perspective on the power imbalance inherent to Epic Tier, and I always chuckle a little when I see Orcus humbled like that.

Content

The book is designed to be a collection of tips and tricks on how to overcome the pitfalls of running Epic Tier Dungeons and Dragons. It accomplishes this goal neatly. The book offers solutions for the experienced DM to bring into their game and make it as dangerous as it was in Heroic Tier. It gives tips on overcoming each individual Player Role, dodging the defensive buffers of PCs, taking heavy hits to your monsters, scaling up battles, running fast encounters (very important at this stage in the game), and more. He provides advice for moving your campaign into the Epic Tier, or for running one-shots and mini-campaigns.

Occasionally, however, the book goes beyond it's mandate of tweaks and tricks and offers good advice that transcend the game mechanics. Sly Flourish kicks the book off with a section on how to style your Epic Campaign, and how to make it feel special and unique to your Players. Many insightful points are made: your players are basically superheroes, so why doesn't the world treat them as such? Once or twice the book even suggests encounter designs or templates, which can sprout into entire plot hooks. Shea gives advice on finishing your campaign with a bang. Had all this content been explored further, this might have been a fully fledged DM's Guide to Epic Tier. The book never professes to be this, however, so the added content was instead a happy bonus to discover.

One of the most useful tips found in the book is simply to scale up Monster damage. This has consistently worked at my table to up the threat in any Epic encounter. Using the book in conjunction with the stats found on Sly Flourish's DM Cheat Sheet (available for free on his website) has been the quickest and easiest way to make Epic Tier feel Epic again. I now up the damage output of every encounter. More damage means that Player resists and temporary hp mean something. The party Cleric finally gets to use his three heals per turn and feel like it made a real difference. At the end of the day, by giving them the chance to use their special abilities, you make the PCs feel powerful while still getting the satisfaction of keeping them on their toes.

Another brilliant approach suggested by the book is to use environmental effects against the PCs. Adding streams of lava or pillars of necrotic death up the strategy required to defeat an encounter. Giving these effects a high automatic damage output is an easy way to threaten the PCs in ways they don't expect. Adding a skill challenge or puzzle to disarm this effect is another great way to make the encounter even more memorable.

One of my favourite tricks that Sly Flourish presents is called the "Donut Aura". It works exactly like a normal aura, except that it only effects those outside of its range. A Donut Aura 3 means that if a monster doesn't start its turn three squares away from the monster, it's going to regret it. I tested this power with a nasty self-forged boss whose metallic body was coursing with Storm Magic. If the party's archer was too far away, he got blasted with 25 lightning damage. And if you want to get really mean, combine a Donut Aura with a slightly less potent Normal Aura. It forces players to pick the lesser of two evils.

The downside of many of the tips found in the book is that if you use them too often, Players begin to notice. I find that you have to really break them up with each other to keep encounters from seeming too familiar. This isn't really a huge problem: many of the tips seem keyed to improve boss battles, and there are enough tricks in the book to keep it unique for dozens of fights. Just remember, as always, to mix it up from session to session.

Maybe this is me being greedy and a bit lazy for a second, but one thing I would've liked to see in the book was a few monster stat blocks. Many times a specific monster's power was referenced and tweaked, but I think some of the ideas would've benefited from an actual stat block. It might have helped to clarify some of the trickier tips, and shown how to unite several concepts presented in the book into a concise format for instant use at the table. Admittedly, this isn't supposed to be a Monster Manual (heck, I'm not even sure it's legal to publish stat blocks under the 4e game system license). But I for one would love to pay for a DLC with five or six customized monsters in it, ready to play. Especially Solos. Sly Flourish has some great ideas regarding solos.

The Bottom Line


Sly Flourish's Running Epic Tier D&D Games is the definitive published work on the subject. With no help for Epic Tier forthcoming from Wizards of the Coast, we in the 4e community must turn to our own for help. In his 52 page pdf, Mike Shea provides the best advice I have seen on Epic Tier to date. If you are even thinking of running an Epic game, I thoroughly recommend this book.

I bought the book in mid-paragon tier, so it gave me time to process the information and try out one or two things in the last couple levels before Epic. I would suggest this approach, as I found it prepared me in advance for the dramatic change Epic Tier brings.

At four bucks, this is an absolute steal. Do your campaign a favor and download it today. It could save your game before you even know it needs it.

And, if you aren't already, for the love of Selune, follow Sly Flourish on twitter and at his website.


Thanks, and happy gaming!

-DS