Here’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while: write about the music I use during RPG play. Until I got the green light to write about it for The Escapist, I wasn’t sure anyone wanted to hear about this. Now that I’ve gotten a start to it with one article on the subject of music for analog RPGs, though, I want to take some time to review some music I use during play.

Starting this week, I’ll be doing semi-regular reviews of music I’ve used successfully (and, uh, less successfully) at the game table. Think of it as a musical actual-play report, if you’re into that sort of thing.

First, an introduction. I’ll assume that you’ve read my article at The Escapist,“The DM Is A DJ,” so do read that if you haven’t—it explains the difference between openers and repeaters and dramatic cues, for example. With that introduction to the material in mind, let’s delve a little deeper.

Here at Gameplaywright, we talk about the intersection of games and stories, and I think the way music plays into a game session is a vital example of that intersection. Music is story. At the very least, it is story-like. It brings atmosphere and emotion, themes and motifs into play. These are properties of stories and when brought to bear on players—who are simultaneously actors and audience in an RPG session—it has the power to move them. It has the power to influence and inform. It has the power to change the way we play.

The right music provokes players to invest themselves, if not more fully then at least more quickly, into the tenor of the scene. The right music informs the players as actors, guiding the dramatic choices they make, and influences them as an audience, summoning up their emotions. The right music rewards player choices—whether dramatic or tactical—by manifesting a change in the mood of play, like when a new track is played to mark, say, triumph in battle or a return safely home.

Music gives the gamemaster a whole new vocabulary, a whole other voice, to use during play. With music underscoring her words, she can create contrasts of style that she can’t with words alone—combining dreadful or woeful imagery with a layer of hopeful music, for example. She can pair a scene of villainous violence with an elegant dirge to simultaneously express the might of a foe and some sympathy for his victims. She can make a simple journey across a verbal landscape into an epic quest backed by a dramatic chorus.

Using music effectively during play requires two things: timing and a sense for the dramatic. Both are learnable skills, both can be honed with practice.

The more interest we get on this topic, the longer I’ll continue doing reviews in this series.

In the meantime, here’s an iTunes playlist containing some of my recent or long-time favorite gaming music, including much of what’s mentioned in “The DM Is A DJ.”