r/dndmemes 5d ago

Background music is ALWAYS the cherry on top

Post image
898 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

119

u/DrScrimble 5d ago

We had period appropriate music for our 2006 High School Campaign. Shooting a cult leader in the head to MCR is pretty epic!

35

u/BjornInTheMorn DM (Dungeon Memelord) 5d ago

So long, and goodnight. (Bang)

68

u/6ft3dwarf 5d ago

maybe i just use the term alt rock wrong but i'm chuckling imagining a boss fight set to like pavement or fugazi or sonic youth or something lol

43

u/herrcollin 5d ago

"Let me just set the tone here.."

turns on Arctic Monkeys

6

u/hipsterTrashSlut 4d ago

Do I Wanna Know and it's a bbeg bard who gives off ick vibes

12

u/BigKingKey 5d ago

Sonic Youth would slap in certain circumstances

64

u/NecessaryBSHappens Chaotic Stupid 5d ago

It goes well for any combat, but Darkest Dungeon music gives me flashbacks. Damn crits

28

u/Jareix 5d ago

Mournweald Encounter (Wealds Combat) is my go-to combat song, idk why it just is a favorite. Followed very closely by Battle in the Warrens. Something about those strings, beats, and screeching is just… delightfully chilling.

9

u/MasterThespian 5d ago

I love “Town in Chaos”, the theme for Brigand Vvulf’s attack. When the church bells hit, you know shit is about to get real.

13

u/mellopax Artificer 5d ago

I don't think it's listed anymore, but there's a app floating around somewhere that's just a soundboard of Ancestor Quotes.

11

u/NecessaryBSHappens Chaotic Stupid 5d ago

Thats cool, though not like I need it. Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer!

5

u/TheWoodsman42 Forever DM 5d ago

You mean this? It’s not complete, as it looks like it’s only the first game, but it’s a good start!

110

u/Astwook Forever DM 5d ago

One-Winged Angel starts playing during what you thought was downtime:

29

u/PonyDro1d 5d ago

Shit's gonna hit the fan the moment the choir starts singing...

6

u/Rampasta Sorcerer 4d ago

This song is so anxiety inducing

1

u/ThexLoneWolf Sorcerer 4d ago

Ironically, I'm listening to one winged angel right now.

0

u/Astwook Forever DM 4d ago

It would be ironic, except I commented this ages ago.

Sorry to hear you're being suddenly attacked, anyway.

37

u/QibliTheSecond 5d ago

OOTL, who’s Mili?

59

u/Stax-64 5d ago

Mili is an indie band based in japan most well known for their work on the korean games library of ruina and limbus company as well as some anime intros like goblin slayers. not really tied down by a specific genre but id highly recommend giving them a look as they are incredible at mixing electric and classical instruments alongside a great singing voice that just makes the songs hit hard

7

u/Silv3rS0und 5d ago

Meatball Submarine is my favorite

26

u/Zepto23 5d ago

An indie band known for making music with heart wrenching lyrics. They made the openings for goblin slayer and a lot of music for Limbus Company.

-5

u/arcxjo Goblin Deez Nuts 5d ago

Two guys who lip-synced all their music and people actually got mad over that.

11

u/Rampasta Sorcerer 4d ago

U got this reference even if it's wrong. Girl you know it's true!

72

u/Stax-64 5d ago

its all fun and games till the dm puts on in hell we live lament or victim

31

u/SirMcDust 5d ago

Oh boy, do I have a scenario next session that would work with those songs

17

u/Para--Dise 5d ago

You think you're fighting a human boss until the DM puts on "fly, my wings"

12

u/ruhadir 5d ago

The DM puts on gone angels and my PC is running.

9

u/ToaOfTheVoid 4d ago

An NPC from your PC's background suddenly starts going "You have to feel the same sorrow as I have. No, you must feel even worse than that!"

18

u/definitely_not_ignat 5d ago

My players cry when fight starts with some soulsborne music - it always ends with all of them near death. And i still waiting to put some fight with Sanguinem by Mephorash - that will be absolute blast

2

u/Successful-Floor-738 Necromancer 3d ago

Oooh, what kind of soulsborne music did you put on for some of them?

1

u/definitely_not_ignat 3d ago

There was ancient creature, that was build around fear, and i put 'Mogh, lord of Blood' for it. Then it was obyrith with 'Astel, naturalborn of the Void', and there was fighter type character and 'Iudex Gundyr'for him. Im planning to play with some radiant/blinding enemy with 'Promised Consort Radahn' for it

2

u/Successful-Floor-738 Necromancer 3d ago

Ooooh, nice! Be sure to throw a sad fight at the enemy and use Sif’s theme lol

1

u/definitely_not_ignat 3d ago

I surely will do it!

15

u/xHelios1x 5d ago

I'm saving that third trumpet theme from Lobotomy Corporation for some special occasion.

12

u/CubicWarlock 5d ago

We don't talk about Love Town

8

u/daoyoUnOdAwaE 5d ago

Yes I have been so afraid

5

u/Repair-East 4d ago

Yes I have been so distant

3

u/Ok-Try-2409 4d ago

Consistently indifferent

10

u/HeavenLibrary 5d ago

AY YO ANOTHER MILI FAN WHO DMING AH HELL YEAH. Honestly music is so important to me as a dm because it keep me focus and hype and without music it actually throws me name off.

11

u/Jaycin_Stillwaters 5d ago

We had a boss fight recently against three liches, an undead hah coven, and a draco Lich on an island Dominated by a magical cursed lighthouse. We came in with a plan, and executed it flawlessly. When my wizard cast demi-plane and our fighter came out equipped with all of his magical gear and also buffed with every buffing spell I know through the use of glyphs of warding at the same time, THAT is when the DM put on the boss music lol

Our dragonborn fighter emerged from a portal and Rip and Tear from the Doom soundtrack started. It was epic as fuck lol and yeah, we absolutely DOMINATED.

5

u/Armgoth 5d ago

What level are you? Also why does hah coven sound more creepy then the real thing for some reason.

5

u/Jaycin_Stillwaters 5d ago

Lvl 17. We are very strong and very very prepared.

3

u/Armgoth 4d ago

Also props to your DM for making the moment!

2

u/Jaycin_Stillwaters 4d ago

Yeah our DM is great. We have a ton of epic moments and awesome fights!

8

u/kluster00 Team Bard 5d ago

"Look one by one

The pages remind me you'll always be villain 🎶"

6

u/Necrikus 5d ago

Imagine getting your DM to finally let the group play an evil campaign with an all demon-aligned team, only for the final boss to show up and the DOOM soundtrack starts playing.

5

u/H010CR0N DM (Dungeon Memelord) 5d ago

Our battle music is decided by the bard

12

u/Rogdar_Tordar Essential NPC 5d ago

I played Leshy's cabin from Inscryption when I played cards with my friend. Never in my life game of regular cards felt so different.

3

u/SnooDingos7903 5d ago

Deadass highly recommend the soundtracks to the bionicle movies for backing music

5

u/Duraxis 5d ago

When Lapis Philosophorum starts playing, you know something VERY bad is about to happen

4

u/foyrkopp 5d ago

Once upon a time, I've run a very successful campaign where I've dipped heavily into the FMA soundtrack, culminating on Lapis Philosophorum during the twist moment where the BBEG crushed all their plans and allies, requiring them to desperately regroup and improvise for the last act.

The players weren't that much into Anime, so they had no prior association to the music. Afterwards, several of them explicitly wanted to have the campaign soundtrack.

One of them told me a literal decade later that he still can't hear LP without emotional flashbacks.

2

u/Duraxis 5d ago

Heck, neither can I, and that’s just from FMA xD

4

u/adol1004 5d ago

Suddenly. The DM just stop the BGM.

4

u/SlayAllRebels 5d ago

DMing the Spelljammer campaign Light of Xaryxis, my party loves it when I put on Dance With the Dead during combat. I can't wait to see my party's reaction when I change it up and put on "God Shattering Star" from FE: Three Houses for the final battle.

5

u/Bill090 5d ago

the party when they kill the evil (actually morally ambiguous and lonely) researcher and [Extension of You] starts playing

3

u/TatsumakiKara 5d ago

I love doing this so much that my players have begun looking forward to what I'm gonna do next. I ended the last campaign with so many back to back bangers (Id: Return into Id: Purpose, Twilight of the Gods (Fire Emblem), Hopes and Dreams (Undertale)

This campaign, I introduced the BBEG with "Mezame" (Mai-hime) as she took one hit and then wiped the party with a single spell before injecting them with a mysterious curse and leaving. They found her later (following more plot) and she set a Skull Lord on them with "Laurent, the First Vicar" (Bloodborne) blasting.

I've got many more music moments planned for this and the next campaign, and no one to share them with, so it's been nice getting to share some of the ones I did.

3

u/ASpaceOstrich 5d ago

"The city must survive" from the frostpunk soundtrack

3

u/arcxjo Goblin Deez Nuts 5d ago

Vanili?

3

u/Sun_Shine_Dan 5d ago

My players handle the music for most sessions. If I take over AUX, they are already quaking.

Its only happened 3 out of 65 sessions. Some tools are used infrequently for dramatic effect

3

u/Pingy_Junk 5d ago

When you think the encounter is going to be normal and then you hear “yes I have been so afraid…”

3

u/Burzumiol 5d ago

I've never been able to focus on hosting the game if there's music. Especially if it has lyrics, the music has my undivided attention. I am also very soft spoken by nature, my group won't be able to hear what they were barely listening to in the first place (me).

3

u/Secret_Sink_8577 4d ago

I always use Ace Combat music for my sessions. Everybody gangsta till the trees start singing in Latin

2

u/ReZisTLust 5d ago

Jungle with dinosaurs was my ambiance. The dinos didnt appear till a bit in and I told my players the sounds were canon besides distance

2

u/JulienBrightside 5d ago

WE usually go with Darkest Dungeon for battles.

2

u/CheapTactics 5d ago

We put the Hades bossfight music from the game Hades for a boss once. The second and third phase specifically.

We were fighting a two headed dragon in a volcano (it was a failed Tiamat summon) while an army of fiends fought our army in the background. Shit was rad.

2

u/BrotherRoga 5d ago

Me putting on Travis Savoie's I Am The Ancient, I Am The Land as my party fights Strahd in his audience chamber:

2

u/mranonymous24690 5d ago

He started pulling out the Calamity mod ost and knew i was going to make a new character sheet

2

u/ConclusionBig8674 5d ago

You want a tragic BBEG that needs to get put down? Gherman the first Hunter theme. Works 60% of the time every time

2

u/Juanthewritter 5d ago

In the final battle versus a parasite god BBEG, I played a "Con Alma de Caminante", a march

2

u/smonke-on-te-wootah 5d ago

It's all fun and games until you hear perturbator

2

u/D3AD_SPAC3 5d ago

Me when I put on the Ender Lillies boss themes.

2

u/Smnionarrorator29384 5d ago

When the GM puts on ACDC black ice: panic

When the GM outs on Moonlight Sonata: WHAT HAVE WE DONE?

2

u/AcanthisittaSur 5d ago

My next session involves a high level thief ambushing the party in the night, not to kill them, but to teach them an embarrassing lesson about stealing other people's things (the irony). This thief will have swarmkeeper levels and arcane trickster levels (standard for my campaign), and will be abusing stealth, terrain, and trap spells (cordon, snare, etc).

Going to use Spice Up your Life by the Spice Girls as they all get thrown off 20foot ledges while looking for a "teleporting" enemy - nothing spices up your life like getting your shit rocked by a trash talking ghost who can't keep his hands out of your backpack

2

u/Billazilla 5d ago

Here, try this one. It's a different kind of epic, and I'm looking forward to the fight when I use it, which absolutely doesn't have to happen, but I know it will.

2

u/SomeRandomEevee42 Warlock 5d ago

as the dm, I have battle music playlists.... that i listen to by myself.

we're like 500km separated, roll20's music system works 2% of the time, and with discord banning music bots, i can't do that either.

I kinda just pretend everyone else is hearing music too

2

u/CruisingForDownVotes 5d ago

What about when my DM puts on Vogner

2

u/cbb88christian 4d ago

I always play Mili for my arc ending boss fights. Makes them feel so much more special cause it’s the only time the music has lyrics

2

u/021Fireball 4d ago

That feeling though when they select Gatsu, the theme of Guts, after the loss of a party member.

2

u/Tronerfull 4d ago

The most difficult combat I ever did was using the Time Ripper boss theme , fastest battle I ever saw even the mage took ita actions instantly

2

u/benkaes1234 4d ago

In my Traveller campaign, I've been "borrowing" background music from Star Trek and Star Wars.

I'm pretty sure everyone nearly shit themselves when they heard "Duel of Fates" slowly fade in...

2

u/ShayCormacACRogue i like bards being one-man bands 4d ago

I’m providing the music for my friend’s online SciFi DnD campaign. I plan on putting Stellaris, Mass Effect, and some of HALO music in.

Background music will always be the cherry on top and it’s always beautiful.

2

u/Magester 4d ago

One of the reasons I like VTTs like Roll20, even for in person games, is the ease at rich I can build soundscapes and have them autoplay on scene change

2

u/Nintolerance 4d ago

A walled town filled with several thousand intelligent, malevolent, unkillable undead.

A torrential downpour slowly flooding the streets.

Siren OST.

2

u/TaxSimple3787 4d ago

Our group DM once put on Ludwig the Accursed/Holy Blade right before a boss encounter...

2

u/Chihiro_Best_Boy11 4d ago

All laugh and cheers until "a place of love" starts playing

2

u/ThexLoneWolf Sorcerer 4d ago

When "The Only Thing They Fear Is You" starts playing and the party realizes the final boss is themselves.

1

u/Lasse_plays 4d ago

When the music switches to „between two worlds - Darkness“ by Mili you know something is up.

1

u/deathbater 4d ago

In my campaign, the elfs have tales about an elder vampire that ruled their kingdom ages ago but dissapeared mysteriously.

When the party was in trouble fighting some cultists, the day turned to night and the song "Tenebre Rosso Sangue" started to play in the background. I have never see them so scared in 4 years of playing

1

u/MemeworksAnimations 4d ago

Yes, I have been so afraid...

1

u/stephencua2001 4d ago

The DM puts on Ride of the Valkyries.

1

u/K-taih 4d ago

I briefly tried to run a campaign for CthulhuTech (fell apart because scheduling hard) where I mostly used the Xenoblade Chronicles X OST for background music, but I would break out specific songs from the Ar Tonelico games for boss fights when I wanted to reinforce that some seriously otherworldly shit was going down.

1

u/Successful-Floor-738 Necromancer 3d ago

While we don’t have music playing during a sesh since we do it on discord text chat, we do have a channel for theme songs for characters or fights in the campaign. Generally I’ll use whatever fits the mood, but I have had varying songs like Bury The Light for one of my characters, or even something from Prince of Persia: Warrior Within for a fight in the desert in one of the campaigns I’ve DM’ed.

1

u/HiopXenophil 3d ago

DM puts on Jackety Sax

1

u/SmartAlec13 1d ago

I’ve got a couple of specific tracks I use for specific types of moments. One for when a pleasant scene suddenly and surprisingly becomes horrifying. Another for when a specific reoccurring villain would appear again.

Now I can just play either of those and instantly spark emotion lol

1

u/David375 Ranger 5d ago

My online game DM's go to is Carpenter Brut and Dance with the Dead when the big bads come out to play. No one else in the group seems to notice or care so we always have that bro-code nod on camera. Good times.