Quote from: Natty Bodak;854454With the *very occasional* occurrence of "Xanadu" for when the party is fighting Olivia Newton-John on roller skates.

That sounds oddly compelling.

Recently used the "Thunderball" theme to get everyone psyched for a session where they dodged around 30 foot tall mechanical colossi that rose out of the ocean to attack the city by stormy night. Worked well, might try that sort of thing again.

The trick is not to make too big a deal about it, then it looks pretentious.

I sometimes cue up Star Trek's theme before playing FASA Star Trek. I also have a disc of Star Trek sound effects but seldom try to use it as it becomes too cumbersome to try to keep pace.

I'd like to find some authentic music for Flashing Blades, recordings of songs from that era (or close enough), but haven't really scoured anywhere for that yet. Any suggestions?

Quote from: The Butcher;851366We eat and catch up, followed by a recap and/or level up, and then get the show on the road.

My experience with background music in gaming, generally speaking, is a mixed bag. I love the idea of theme songs and introductions and background music, but from the GM's chair ir all too often becomes an additional chore, and sometimes a distracting one at that.

I do a quick recap. Like "Ok, when we left off you were preparing to take on the white dragon." and then ask them what they do now.
Or "Ok, last session you arrived at the swamp and were waiting for the guide." and roll into the guide arriving.

This has been my experience too. One DM I was a player on their campaign started off with wanting to do music in the background. But quickly dropped it as...
A: it was a bit of a hassle to set up and required pauses to change tracks. Once set up though it moved relatively smoothly.
And more importantly.
B: it got in the way of playing. Both in hearing the DM and other players clearly. And it was actually breaking immersion for some.

This was something they warned about in oration class way back too.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;851380We talk.

A game is neither a movie nor a radio play.

Some games are not anyway. Some are. It's quite a challenge to elevate a game to that level though, I'll grant you.

Quote from: Dumarest;979819I'd like to find some authentic music for Flashing Blades, recordings of songs from that era (or close enough), but haven't really scoured anywhere for that yet. Any suggestions?

I listed a few in this post.

Quote from: Bren;979831I listed a few in this post.

Thanks, any particular recordings worthwhile?

Quote from: Moracai;851234What are your rituals of beginning a session?

At the beginning of a session someone usually does "last time on" to remind everyone what's going on. It also helps -- I think -- to put things in context of the world; if I'm doing the recap, I'll throw in cultural or background context.

This is usually /short/ unless it's been awhile since we played.

I do use music when we play -- not as background (which makes it hard to hear) but sometimes to introduce a scene or whatever. Usually the music is commentary on what's going on in some way. During combat, I'll also run music between rounds while I'm setting up the initiative tables or whatever -- give the PCs something to listen to.

I think RPGing has a LOT that's similar to radio and story telling. Running a horror game is a LOT like telling ghost stories. YMMV, of course.

Cheers,
-E.

Quote from: Dumarest;979834Thanks, any particular recordings worthwhile?

I haven't purchased any, just used what I've found free on YouTube and such.

Quote from: Dumarest;979834Thanks, any particular recordings worthwhile?

Can't go wrong with the version of Handel's Sarabande from Barry Lyndon.

Quote from: Voros;979865Can't go wrong with the version of Handel's Sarabande from Barry Lyndon.

It's about 100 years too recent, though, isn't it?

I'm looking for 1600 to 1650ish.

As I well know, that period is a bit tough. Other than La Vive de Roi (King Henri's Song) there isn't much that I've found. Although the Sarabande existed (according to the scene where the Cardinal dances one mentioned both in Dumas and other sources) the easiest one to find is Handel's. Their are a few Dutch Beggar Songs from that period (I listed one from Bergen op Zoom). Lully (b. 1632) is the probably the best known 17th century French composer, but he is writing in the second half of the century. You should be able to find works by Michael Preatorius for the first half of the century. He might be your best bet.

As an anglophone its always easier to find stuff from England. Chansons are likely to still be popular and if you don't mind the location change you should be able to find some English Renaissance airs and such from the late Tudor period. Those are probably still being sung somewhere.

Quote from: Omega;979821I do a quick recap. Like "Ok, when we left off you were preparing to take on the white dragon." and then ask them what they do now.
Or "Ok, last session you arrived at the swamp and were waiting for the guide." and roll into the guide arriving.

My DM for our current campaign loves the "When we last met our band of intrepid adventurers..." in a old-timey newsreal/radio-play announcer voice and then usually blathers on a completely fabricated series of daring dos that absolutely did not happen the previous session.

When I run Night's Black agents, I use tracks from the Night's Black Agents: Blood and Shadows soundrack. There's an intro theme I use when we are sitting down, and a briefing theme I use while recapping.

I don't have a theme for Mutants & Masterminds, but like some trendy modern TV series, I have a tone-setting quote at the beginning of each session.

Quote from: Dumarest;979921It's about 100 years too recent, though, isn't it?

I'm looking for 1600 to 1650ish.

That is generally considered the Baroque period so Monteverdi and the like. But that is all court music, the folk music is lost to the mists of time I believe.

To me the music that best captures the spirit of Flashing Blades would be the gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt.