Designing a character by using lyrics from a song

[Lelldorianx]

Hi guys

I was listening to Dance of Death by Iron Maiden while planning out my Saturday game earlier, and it occurred to me that if you listened to the vocalist's lyrics closely, it was very fantasy/bard-like. I decided to try and piece together a character from the lyrics alone and see if it could come out half-decent.

It was actually a really fun process (of course, I never want to hear the song again... hehe). I was wondering: have you guys ever done something like this before? What are some of the more unique methods that you've heard of / used to plan a dungeon, character, adventure, or campaign? I like playing around with atypical methods like this -- it introduces new challenges to experienced players. What do you guys think?

If anyone's wondering how the Iron Maiden bard turned out, I wrote about his personality/background here.

Has anyone ever tried designing an adventure based on something like music before?

 

[Thunderfoot]

Adventure - no. Character - yes.

Song: The Sentinel by Judas Priest.

The Character: a Fighter armed only with daggers, which he threw instead of pocked with. 1eAD&D so no Feats, or fancy classes, just a fighter with throwing daggers. He actually rocked pretty hard too.

 

[Lanefan]

I was listening to Dance of Death by Iron Maiden while planning out my Saturday game earlier, and it occurred to me that if you listened to the vocalist's lyrics closely, it was very fantasy/bard-like. I decided to try and piece together a character from the lyrics alone and see if it could come out half-decent.

No, but I've gone the other way more than a few times: written song lyrics (and entire songs) about my characters.

Has anyone ever tried designing an adventure based on something like music before?

Yes.

Song: "Ghosts of the Heceta Head" by the Finnish metal band Lordi. Song is about the ghost in a haunted lighthouse being driven out by a bunch of other hostile ghosts. So, of course, the adventure is about defending a ghost in a lighthouse from the hostile intentions of a bunch of other ghosts. This started a 4-adventure arc, another adventure in said arc was a search for the Key to the Seven Winds - this name came directly from a song lyric by another band whose CD I have but I've never otherwise heard of; I can't really tell from the CD cover whether it's the band or the CD that is called "Nocturnal Raid" but that's about all it says on it.

Lan-"deep under sea, their watery graves giving in"-efan

 

[CherubKid]

My players love to identify "gaming songs" = anything from pop to metal that matches their characters... everything from "Hot Child in the City" for a Fire Sorceress to "I Don't Wanna Be" (I come from the mountain/ the crust of creation) for a Dragon-blooded Warrior to a hundred more I can't think of.

They burn "gaming CDs" about their characters, but usually the song comes after the PC's creation.

Also, I've posted about this previously...
I ran an adventure once that centered on intrigue during "The Festival of Tears," a musical competition -- with both a professional division and an amateur's night.

The Players were encouraged (with a minimum of strong-arming) to prepare a song of some sort that suited their character... it could be a pre-recorded pop song, or they could sing on their own. But it had to be a sad song (hence, the Tears).

It was awesome -- we ended up with (pre-recorded) songs from Linkin Park, Evanescence, and Neil Diamond! All followed, of course, by Perform rolls!
One player chose "On top of spaghetti... I lost my poor meatball" for her low-INT fighter, and sang a cappella.

I also used a handful of songs from the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack for the NPCs. The hardest part was talking one of the players out of using "Dust in the Wind" since (unbeknownst to anyone) I had planned that to be the winner's anthem.

 

[IronWolf]

I was listening to Dance of Death by Iron Maiden while planning out my Saturday game earlier, and it occurred to me that if you listened to the vocalist's lyrics closely, it was very fantasy/bard-like. I decided to try and piece together a character from the lyrics alone and see if it could come out half-decent.

Iron Maiden lyrics can be mined for all sorts of awesome stuff!

 

[nedjer]

Iron Maiden lyrics can be mined for all sorts of awesome stuff!

wtf?

Bring in your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Bring in your daughter
To the slaughter

Bring in your daughter
Fetch your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Fetch your daughter
Bring in your daughter
Fetch your daughter
To the slaughter

Bring your daughter, bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go, let her go, let her go
Bring your daughter, bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go, let her go, let her go
Bring your daughter, bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go, let her go, let her go

Let her go, let her go, let her go

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

To which I reply:

"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
Take away our pride."
[G.K. Chesterton: English Hymnal]

Just a babe in a black abyss,
No reason for a place like this,
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain,
An easy way for the blind to go,
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the Hanged Man - the smile of his lips.

The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom tears my spine,
The Eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see.

She came to me with a serpent's kiss,
As the Eye of the Sun rose on her lips,
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry,
So we lay in a black embrace,
And the Seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the Dawn.

The light of the Blind - you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see.

Go

Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain,
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring.
It is You.
It is You.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And to answer the original question: I've designed characters & adventures to the content of songs.

When I design adventures because of music, it's usually an instrumental. Classic examples include Kodo's theme to The Hunted, Vangelis' Summit.

Characters may be inspired by any kind of music, but conventional ones with lyrics are more common, such as Tony Iommi's "Laughing Man in the Devil Mask", Queens of the Stone Age's "The Fine Art of Keeping a Secret" or Queensryche's "I don't believe in love".

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Actually, let me amend something- I had one character in particular who was inspired by the interactions of 4 songs:

Tony Iommi's "Laughing Man in the Devil Mask"
Queens of the Stone Age's "The Fine Art of Keeping a Secret"
Black Sabbath's "Johnny Blade"
Dokken's "Mr. Scary"

Together, those songs provided the inspiration and subsequent mental soundtrack for a Human Fighter/Thief, Johnny Bones...a real piece of work. I had those songs going in a mental loop when I sat down to play him.

Now, he's not the only one I designed with music in mind, but I don't think any of my PCs has had as strong a link as he did.

 

[Diamond Cross]

Isis Astarte Diana Hecate Demeter Kali.

Inana.