From:	DisnyShamn <DisnyShamn@***.COM>
Subject:	Re: Mood music
Date:	Sun, 24 May 1998 10:15:59 EDT

> i was planning a game the other day when i stumbled across some old 149=
2
> soundtrack. The music is excellent for mood setting (mostly mystery an=
d
> a sense of intrigue). Any one else use music to enhance RP? What music
> do ya pick?

Since I don't run Shadowrun in the usual setting, Idunno how helpful this=
will be:

I have three uses for music. The first is simple background mood music; f=
or my Space SR game, there's a DragonballZ soundtrack I use (there's a =
bunch, but only one I like, I forget what one it is now, sorry), which =
covers various moods: high excitement, tense danger, exhuberant victory=
.

The second is music for specific scenes. I either choreograph (wrong word=
with music, right?) a playlist or just pick a song and hit repeat. (my=
campaign finale, already planned out, makes great use of the Transform=
ers: The Movie soundtrack. :)

Themes off the top of my head:
- Astral: Babylon 5 ST (selected tracks), New Age stuff (esp. Enya)
- Tir Na Nog / anything Faerie – Clannad, The Chieftains
- Dark & Nasty (Insect/Tox Spirits, Vampires/Ghouls, the nastier gangs) =
Spawn ST
- Bleak & Depressing: Alice In Chains (esp. "Down In A Hole") works wonde=
rs, some Spawn ST & Marilyn Manson
- All Purpose Non-Joyous: Anything from Trent Reznor (we in my little gro=
up swear he was made for dark RPGs), but esp. "The Perfect Drug"
- Combat: Conan The Barbarian ST (yes, works even with guns), A Night On =
Bald Mountain, the Ode de Joy, Whatsicalled from "Excalibur" (aargh, I =
knew the name...), Ride of the Valkyrie, Transformers The Movie ST ("Da=
re" and "You Got The Touch" for the PCs, "Instruments of
Destruction" f=
or antagonists and/or some of the more violent PCs; "Dare To be Stupid"=
for those junkyard combats)
- Rescue: Several Star Wars tracks, theme from Battlestar Gallactica, Rai=
ders fo the Lost Ark, "Dare" from Transformers the movie.
- Love Scenes: Love being generally so rare a commodity in SR, I'd prefer=
to make it as sappy as possible when it does occur. Celine Dion is exc=
ellent for this purpose.

The third use is character theme songs; I already have 'em figured for mo=
st of the PCs and some NPCs:

Ares (guy w/bushido devotion to guns) - "Bad Company" (by same)
Nova (dippy little rigger chick) - "Just A Girl" (No Doubt)
Trojan (goofy shapeshifting alien bounty hunter) - "Karma Chameleon" (Cul=
ture Club; this works on more levels than you can know)
Xian (former corporate marine) - I'm toying with "Instruments of Destruct=
ion" from Transformers: The Movie
Clint (generic combat guy): "Big Gun" (AC/DC)

It's even more important to have recurring NPC villains, especially power=
ful ones, have theme music! Preferably one that starts low and builds, =
so you can surruptitiously start it playing and watch the looks on the =
players faces as it builds up and they realize who's coming...

- Disney Shaman