Best Mood Music for Gaming

[ffanxii4ever]

So I've been thinking about my upcoming campaigns, and I definitely would like to start to incorporate more props, and I was thinking that since I always have my laptop with me at the table, I should find some good music for creating the appropriate mood at the table.

So my question is this, what are the songs, soundtracks, and other musical pieces that the EnWorld Community thinks work great for creating, or adding, to the particular mood of encounters, both social and combat?
The more varied the better, as I am not only looking for music to pump up my players before a big fight, but also to make a creepy encounter even creepier or even a touch horrific, or to add to the feel of a massive war-sized battle, or to make an association with a BBEG, like Vader and the Imperial March (alright, this might be a lofty goal, but a guy can hope, can't he?).

 

[Mark CMG]

This might be helpful -

http://www.enworld.org/forum/general-rpg-discussion/174448-game-related-music-threads-links.html

- though hearing what everyone thinks and uses at this moment in time would help expand your knowledge and that archive, so I hope everyone who uses music chimes in on this thread.

 

[innerdude]

For fantasy:

Nothing beats Loreena McKennitt.

 

[Jhaelen]

For fantasy:

Nothing beats Loreena McKennitt.

Well, maybe for a certain kind of fantasy

Others may prefer something like the Conan soundtrack for a different kind of fantasy...

 

[Ghostwind]

For horror and dark, foreboding music, nothing beats Midnight Syndicate.

 

[Desdichado]

Arguably Nox Arcana beats Midnight Syndicate. In fact, there's long, bitter arguments over that in some little goth niche corners of the web.

 

[Bedrockgames]

Movie soundtracks are great for any genre. Just pick up the soundtracks for movies that are similar to the style of your campaign, and you are set to go. What will work though really depends on the group. I was in a birthright campaign, where the GM somehow made Hotel California by the Eagles work as a theme. If it were a different collection of people, might not have been as effective.

What kind of game are you thinking about?

 

[billd91]

Yup, movie soundtracks rock for this sort of thing. So do game soundtracks if you can get them. I have the Rune game soundtrack that I picked up from Gen Con several years ago. Works pretty well.

I also have the TV show soundtrack from Hunters by the Residents. Very good.

For non-fantasy games, like Cyberpunk, I put together a mix tape back when I worked at the college radio station and had access to a lot of stuff. Some Cassandra Complex, some Killing Joke, a little Blondie and Devo, some MC Spider and Public Enemy, Laibach, Living Colour, Voivod, Ministry. You get the picture. The Crow soundtrack also works very well.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I used the Silent Hill video game soundtracks for my Call of Cthulu one-shot that I ran this week. It was awesome and really added a creepy, scary atmosphere to the game. I've not come across such a big set of horror tracks all on the one album(s) before.

Olaf the Stout

 

[ffanxii4ever]

Right, so that first link is really useful, thanks for that.

Movie soundtracks are great for any genre. Just pick up the soundtracks for movies that are similar to the style of your campaign, and you are set to go. What will work though really depends on the group. I was in a birthright campaign, where the GM somehow made Hotel California by the Eagles work as a theme. If it were a different collection of people, might not have been as effective.

What kind of game are you thinking about?

As for what type of game, it is going to be a Spelljammer game, and there will most likely be a good variety of stuff (if everything goes more or less to plan). So there will be a little bit of horror, a BUNCH of exploration, a fair bit of epic-style of adventuring, and (of course) some saving the world (the Material Plane). Espionage and mystery may also be introduced, depending on how everything goes.