Do you use song lyrics as inspiration for adventures?

[Tinner]

Lately I've been thinking it would be interesting to have a series of encounters for my players. If I did it right, they probably wouldn't put it all together:

"There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out,
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt,
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed,
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread."

They would necessarily be combats. Just interactions. I think that could be cool.

I actually ran this already.
The dungeon was located inside a "blue whale beached."
Each person they encountered was an aspect of a different divine being, the choking skeleton was Death, the rich man in the golden bed was dreaming of the world, and when he awoke, one of the PC's had to take his place and dream the world anew - which caused no end of strange changes, when his dreams took some strange turns.
The rest of the campaign was then based on correcting the problems caused when "Cedric broke the world."

I also ran a one-shot game based on the NIN album title "The Downward Spiral"
An elder earth elemental was being punished by the gods, and was forced to slowly spiral into the earth deeper and deeper.
His digging disturbed other underground dwellers, and the PC's were called upon to investigate the disturbance. They had lots of fun with grimlocks and bullette's and xorn ...

 

[Mallus]

Lately, I can't get David Bowie's "Life on Mars" out of my head. I keep hearing the chorus:

"...sailors, fighting in the dancehall
Oh man, look at those cavemen go
It's the freakiest show
Take a look at the....
lawman beating up the wrong guy
I wonder if he'll ever know
He's in the best-selling show
Is there life on Mars?"

I swear there's an adventure in there; we've got a bar-fight between sailors and cavemen, corrupt authorities secretly being watched (by the nobles manipulating them perhaps), and ummm, a rhetorical question (I think).

Hmmmm, how to work in the 'mice in their million hordes'? Is a plague of dire rats to obvious...

 

[Talmun]

My apologies if it's been mentioned, but I've always wanted to come up with an adventure based on this:

"The Black Queen chants the funeral march
As the choir softly sings
To summon back the Fire Witch
To the court of the Crimson King"

from 'In the court of the Crimson King' by King Crimson

actually, that song has lots of great lyrics, but that one always grabs me...

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Plenty of stuff from Iron Maiden, especially the recent ones like Wickerman, Brave New World etc.

I hope my players aren't reading this thread.

I have based an upcoming story arc in my campaign on Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden, but I'm not going to mention any details right now, just in case they find this.

 

[Lord Judas]

Librarian:

Number of the Beast is a fine choice, and Id recommend a listen or two of "Dance of the Dead" if you havent heard it already from Maiden's latest. (Cant believe I failed to mention that one in my last post). I was seriously going to use this part as a story (quest intro) by an NPC:

"Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
About a thing that I saw
One night wandering in the everglades
I'd one drink but no more

I was rambling, enjoying the bright moonlight
Gazing up at the stars
Not aware of a presence so near to me
Watching my every move

Feeling scared and I fell to my knees
As something rushed me from the trees
Took me to an unholy place
And that is where I fell from grace

Then they summoned me over to join in with them
To the dance of the dead
Into the circle of fire I followed them
Into the middle I was led ..."

Unfortunately, a Maiden fan joined at the last minute so I scrapped it cause I though he might see it as cheesy idea stealing. But we dont steal ideas, we "pay homage to them"

 

[fusangite]

Black Wings

by Tom Waits

Take an eye for an eye
Take a tooth for a tooth
Just like they say in the Bible
Never leave a trace or forget a face
Of any man at the table
When the moon is a cold chiselled dagger
Sharp enough to draw blood from a stone
He rides through your dreams on a coach
And horses and the fence posts
In the midnight look like bones

Well they've stopped trying to hold him
With mortar, stone and chain
He broke out of every prison
Boots mount the staircase
The door is flung back open
He's not there for he has risen

Well he once killed a man with a guitar string
He's been seen at the table with kings
Well he once saved a baby from drowning
There are those who say beneath his coat there are wings
Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
One look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him

He can turn himself into a stranger
Well they broke a lot of canes on his hide
He was born away in a cornfield
A fever beats in his head like a drum inside
Some say they fear him
Others admire him
Because he steals his promise
One look in his eye
Everyone denies
Ever having met him
Ever having met him

I based one of the gods in a former campaign world on this song. Here's the description:

This is the song sung by bards about Lucky Jim; many are mystified by what the term "bible" might refer to. Most formal religions dispute whether Lucky Jim is a god. He is only recognized as such by worshippers of Mizithra and Hynand. Lucky Jim is thought to be somewhere between 100 and 200 years old and is believed to have been born in a field of maize somewhere near Veldrek to a woman who died in childbirth. Legends abound as to the identity of his father, the most popular being that he is the son of a giant praying mantis.

Lucky Jim has many followers but has no church per se. In fact, it is somewhat unclear as to whether Lucky Jim even knows that he has followers. Nonetheless, his followers can be divided into six basic groups: the Messengers, the Little Jims, the Holy Assassins, the Healers of the Unworthy, the Weedmen and the Unravellers.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Number of the Beast is a fine choice, and Id recommend a listen or two of "Dance of the Dead" if you havent heard it already from Maiden's latest. (Cant believe I failed to mention that one in my last post). I was seriously going to use this part as a story (quest intro) by an NPC:

Haven't heard the latest album, but it's on my list of CDs to purchase. I'll keep my eyes (and ears) open for it. Thanks for the tip!

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

Oh...and virtually anything by Blackmore's Night. I can't listen to them without reaching for dice.

And while listening to a mix cd I made, I remembered this bit from Sara McLachlan's "Possession":

Into this night I wander
It's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of
The path I fear to tread
Oh, into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
Cause' nothing stands between us here
And I won't be denied

Good stuff.

 

[gizmo33]

songs

(I guess not surprisingly) it looks like DnD and metal go along handily. Here's my list:
Black Sabbath - Children of the Sea
Black Sabbath - Sign of the Southern Cross
Dio - Egypt
Queensryche - Enforcer
Queensryche - Road to Madness
Slayer - Spirits in Black
Eagles - Hotel California

Same two Sabbath songs as DMCal, that was a weird coincidence.

 

[gizmo33]

manowar!

Oh, and I can't believe I forgot MANOWAR !!, who are responsible for the entire ethos of the God of War IMC, plus several magic items/artifacts (crown and the ring of destiny, for example). Even my PCs have created characters based on their music.