Lyrical Inspiration

[dave_o]

Has anyone tried using song lyrics as inspiration for RPGs? It works really, really well. I'd like to offer up a bit of...

...Manowar.

Manowar - Blood of my Enemies
'Three sons have I, and they ride by my side. The Fierce, The Black, and The Wicked are their names. We ride down my enemies in their half-hearted flights. No voice of mercy, no evangels of light. Mighty messangers, evil's rite. Darkness is coming, groans of the dead. I ride through the air, I laugh as I die. With powers of evil dark knowledge is mine. The ride of the wicked, the person with trust. Kill, without warning. For blood now I lust.'

This could TOTALLY be used as a prophetic 'apoclypse' Using the '...person with trust.' line from the end of the verse, one assumes the NPC is of a high, trusted stature. Such offices are perhaps a king, a high wizard, a nobleman, etc. He would also have three sons, who are later transformed (sorta like the Taken from The Black Company) into The Fierce, The Black and The Wicked. I'm thinking applying some sort of template to them, maybe even custom tailored. Based on 'I ride through the air, I laugh as I die' followed by 'With powers of evil dark knowledge is mine' I think LICHDOM is in order. And basically, this guy just tears arse and makes with the mass genocide.

And then Manowar goes and provides us with a resolution...

'Strong winds, magic mist! To Asgard the Valkryes fly! High overhead, they carry the dead, where the blood of my enemy lies.'

The would-be heros perhaps amass a celestial army to combat the new evil. Or, perhaps they decend into hell to strike at the root of the problem.

See? Even cheesy metal bands like Manowar have good till. (I actually really dig Manowar, instrumentally, but I've been a semi-metalhead forever.)

 

[dave_o]

Insanity.

BTW, give Manowar - My Spirit Lives On a listen.

It's fookin' amazing.

 

[derverdammte]

I agree...lyrics work well as inspiration sometimes. My two favorites at the moment are both from Judas Priest--"Hard as Iron" and "One Shot at Glory."

 

[333 Dave]

Battle of Evermore, by Led Zepplin.
Duh.

 

[rackabello]

Come all you rolling minstrels
And together we will try
To rouse the spirit of the earth
And move the rolling sky

Faiport Convention, "Come All Ye"
__________________________________________________
Okay, so I'm not much of a metalhead (anymore). Still, I always thought the above was a great chorus, giving a song that's essentially about how good the band sounds a hint of magic. Old British and Celtic folksongs often have wonderful material for gaming inspiration. Here's another from Fairport, their version of the old ballad "Tam Lin," about a girl who's love is in thrall to an Unseelie Queen:


"Oh tell to me Tam Lin" she said
"Why came you here to dwell?"
"The Queen of Fairies caught me
when from my horse I fell

And at the end of seven years
she pays a tithe to hell
I so fair and full of flesh
and fear'ed be myself

But tonight is Halloween
and the fairy folk ride,
Those that would their true love win
at mile's cross they must hide.

First let pass the horses black
and then let pass the brown
Quickly run to the white steed
and pull the rider down,

For I'll ride on the white steed,
the nearest to the town
For I was an earthly knight,
they give me that renown.

Oh they will turn me in your arms
to a newt or a snake
But hold me tight and fear not,
I am your baby's father.

And they will turn me in your arms
into a lion bold
But hold me tight and fear not
and you will love your child,

And they will turn me in your arms
into a naked knight
But cloak me in your mantle
and keep me out of sight".

In the middle of the night
she heard the bridle ring
She heeded what he did say
and young Tam Lin did win.

Then up spoke the Fairy Queen,
an angry Queen was she
"Woe betide her ill-farred face,
an ill death may she die

Had I known Tam Lin" she said
"This night I did see
I'd have looked him in the eyes
and turned him to a tree."
_________________________
spooky, eh?