Music for Pen & Paper Sessions & Roleplaying

Music for Pen & Paper Sessions & Roleplaying

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Why is music important for Pen & Paper?

Music might not seem like a particularly important component of Pen & Paper roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons at first glance. You just put on some fantasy playlist and you’re done. Why should you put more thought into it?

I find that music really helps enhance the vibes of a scene or moment. When sad music plays like in movies while one of the players tells about their character’s tragic backstory or when combat is supported by background sounds, it’s much easier to immerse yourself in the story.

Additionally, a sudden change in music can also become part of the story itself. When ominous sounds can be heard, like the cawing of ravens in Curse of Strahd or the howling of wolves in Rime of the Frostmaiden, it immediately gives players a reason to be more cautious. Are they being watched? Perhaps a dangerous enemy is following them? Are they walking into an ambush?

So music plays a role both in the background as part of the scene, but also in the foreground as part of the story. But where do you find this music and how do you best integrate it into your session?

Where do I find good Pen & Paper music?

With several years of experience, many Dungeon Masters probably have a collection of music they like to use. But putting this together and having it ready isn’t always easy. On YouTube and Spotify there’s a lot of film music like the works of Thomas Bergersen that I personally like to use in my sessions. But other songs, from country to rap, can also work very well in some situations. Here I mainly want to focus on “general” music.

Spotify

Spotify Order D&D Musik

Reddit is generally a very good source for all Pen & Paper questions. There’s often a lot to find here when it comes to music too. The user u/ghofmann has compiled a very comprehensive list of Spotify playlists that I personally use in every one of my sessions. It helps a lot that Spotify is integrated into Discord. But more on that later. I’ve created a Spotify folder where I save the relevant playlists so I can quickly turn them on anytime. So here’s the list:

Overland Settings

Scene Settings

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