DungeonPunk: Musical Inspiration

[I'm A Banana]

So here's the idea.

I'm kind of a fan of the "D&D is Genre X!" conversations about our fun little game, here.

So I want to kind of run with that idea.

I, myself, am a fan of various flavors of punk music, from the Oi Oi Brits to the Pop-punk Californians, even coming in with a bit of old metal-style aggressive beats and a whiff of grunge and the like.

I want to manufacture a campaign setting that takes the tropes and ideas of various punk-ish music, sets them up with dragons and dungeons, and make a go of it.

So, this thread is for brainstorming this purely awesome concept.

I'm not that interested in *defining* the genre, though I think it's important to get several themes going through it. What I want to get at are these "essential themes," and how they can be expressed in the fluff of the setting (and, possibly, in the rules, though that's a bit secondary at this stage). Synching it up with things like cyberpunk and steampunk would be key, too.

So, what would you consider essential to a "Punk D&D" vibe? What kind of things should be present? Nightmare mega-corporations with their paws in every dungeon? Mindless consumerism of the masses? Empires? Queens? Zombies? Mohawks on all the barbarians? Let me know!

Also, give me some musical inspiration, since the more I have, the more I can derive adventure ideas from.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well, I think right off the bat one of the evil corporations/group controlling consumerism/media should be Mind Flayers. It would fit perfectly; mindless consumerism = brain-eating monsters.

Elves could be very media/consumer oriented, they are the ones always in high-fashion, etc.

Dwarves could be the more working class, so they will fit more into the punkish-slot.

Magic could be controlled and monitored by various Magic Guilds who rule most of the City-States.

 

[jdrakeh]

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1e, with Stealth Gyrocopters and all that other funky stuff. Man. That was DungeonPunk.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Barbarian tribes should have bards who play "Killed by Death" the "Ace of Spades" and "I'm So Bad Baby, I don't Care." IOW- Motörhead fans. Lots of studded leather abounding, and Axes (slang for guitar, of course) should be their favored weapon.

Early punk had a lot of DIY vibe to it, so most D&D punks should favor improvised weapons, especially chains. Scavenging & repurposing should be a way of life, chaos and anarchy would be a popular motivating forces. At least some should rebel just for the sake of rebellion.

The evolution of Punk includes offshoots such as Skinheads and Straight Edge- the former modeled by xenophobic killers of whatever races they aren't, and the latter modeled by an extremist and aggressive LG vibe- unarmored paladins, favored souls, etc., perhaps?

Watch the Young Ones and carefully crib notes based on Vyvyan's behavior.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Arcane Magic would almost seem like "disco" or "corporate rock" to D&D punks.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

The evolution of Punk includes offshoots such as Skinheads and Straight Edge- the former modeled by xenophobic killers of whatever races they aren't, and the latter modeled by an extremist and aggressive LG vibe- unarmored paladins, favored souls, etc., perhaps?

That is the primary modern version of Skinhead, but I wouldn't say it is the only one. Look back at the old, original British skinheads. They mainly consisted of working class, British kids who created a defined look.

Just that some Skinheads got themselves aligned with the National Front in Britain and BOOM! Modern idea of what a Skinhead is.

I think Skinheads in the D&D world, would be simply one of the defined look for the working-class youth in the D&D world. With perhaps some gang-conflicts, etc. with various Skinhead groups aligning themselves politically with different Guilds.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Good point, FS- my definition was a bit oversimplified.

It wouldn't be until a significant minority of them got dissafected by a loss of jobs and general poverty that some evil demagogue could warp them into something resembling the Skinheads that predominate the modern view.

 

[Derro]

Check out a band call F*#%ed Up (sorry mods). I've been into punk since my early teens and not much of say the last five years has caught my ear. These guys blew my head off. Epic length punk songs, whistling solos, insane time changes. The opening track on the the Hidden World double album is called Crusades.

So kick ass I can hardly stand it.

 

[gamecat]

Off of the top of my head, the song "Otherworld" from Final Fantasy X comes to mind.

Some form of bread-and-circuses-opiate-of-the-masses arena sport comes to mind, be it something gladiatorial or not.

 

[Herobizkit]

I've always pictured an all-Elven street gang called "The Celts", who cover their bodies in the Celtic-style tats and act like the Irish mafia.

Dwarves, of course, all speak with a Scottish accent, wear kilts, and say "Oi!" a lot.