Imagery & music for Shadowrun, what do you use for setting the tone? Options

[TheWanderingJewe...]

I must admit I draw on this movie a LOT for feel, but there is so much to work in from the music and images it gives the players much to work from

Ghost in the Shell -Innocence- Music Video Anthology - Follow Me (Kenji Kawai)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toEPFGV46vY

[jaellot]

Music wise, for me, I use to have a few of the tracks from Snatch. Mainly becasue it reminded me of a layered world where there's bad guys here, then a different flavor of bad guys over there, and so on.

I got to admit it also, Metallica's Unforgiven II always gets me in the mood for SR. I guess it's because it was playing alot on the radio when I first started playing SR. I still have a memory of me and a buddy, driving in a pounding rain, to where the GM lived, and having yet another awesome time playing Shadowrun.

[Megu]

Oddly, some of the old tracks from the Genesis-era Sonic games. Lava Reef and Flying Battery from S&K and Chemical Plant from S2 come to mind in particular.

[yesferatu]

Snog.
More Snog.
FGCG820 (My devil rat theme)
Front 242 (Always good for headhunting)

[WhiskeyJohnny]

Music wise, for me, I use to have a few of the tracks from Snatch. Mainly becasue it reminded me of a layered world where there's bad guys here, then a different flavor of bad guys over there, and so on.

I feel the same way, but would add to that the music of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Whenever my current character is going to meet someone somewhere I have James Brown's "The Boss" playing in my head.

If someone were to make a Shadowrun film, I'd want it to be Guy Ritchie. It'd be like Snatch or Lock Stock in the future, and with magic.

[tagz]

Oddly, some of the old tracks from the Genesis-era Sonic games. Lava Reef and Flying Battery from S&K and Chemical Plant from S2 come to mind in particular.

Not so odd. In fact, my group went nuts playing the SNES Shadowrun music during a session we had. I think that game's soundtrack had a few tracks that were spot on thematically.

Oh, and if you like those try the OverClocked Remix

[phlapjack77]

Front 242 (Always good for headhunting)

Thanks for the flashbacks (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

God that is such a great song - FrontByFront isn't that good of an album but that song...man!

[Tiralee]

Music's tricky for us, we play via vent to 4 different places, so it can be overwhelming, but if the GM (me) has done their homework, I'll cue up you-tube for some backgound filler.

Although there's a ton of CRAP regge, which sorta sucked when we went to Jamaca, and Kingston Town:) (I found the good stuff, eventually, but there was so much wannabe thugge rap, gah)

Best so far, one of the players has a young daughter and when we were all creeping under Seattle in a ghoul and vampire-spawn infested deathhole, he accidently knocked her lullabye mobile just after I waxed creepy poetic on the scenes of carnage and depravity in front of us.

".....<tinkle, tinkle music, then>
"Ma-ry ha-d a lit-t-le lamb, li-t--te lamb, li-t--te lamb.. Ma-ry ha-d a lit-t-le lamb, and her fleece was as wh-ite a-s snoooooooow"....
<Tink>"
Us: "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH" "WTF?" "WTF!"
Doll's Voice: "Do you wa-nt to play a game?"
Us: "NRAAAAAAAAAAAggGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH"

We all threatened to drive over there and kill him if he pulled that shit again.
Dolls are officially banned.


-Tir.

[J. Packer]

You really can't go wrong with much in the realm of B.P.M. techno style music.

My soundtracks are heavily influenced by Ministry and KMFDM.

My visuals are influenced by Blade Runner, of course. Heck, I read the entire book 2XS with the main character's voice being Harrison Ford. A little Fifth Element for flavor.

[Squiddy Attack]

Slam.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

[TheWanderingJewe...]

I also tend to use certain styles of music. There is a NPC who is a artifact from last century (pushing 100 after leonization and restoration techniques) who listens to older jazz and non cleaned up music from the 1930's and 40's

at the street level, I tend in for older Techno and certain thematic bands. Psychosonik's self-titled first album and billy idol's "Cyberpunk" screams Shadowrun

for some of the more disturbing things I have the players run across....I use silent hill soundtracks

[Doc Chase]

There's a few Massive Attack tracks I'll use for flavor when descending into the bloody underworld that the runners know and love. On the flipside, when the Hand of God is tracking the team's stolen ride, there's explosions everywhere and Larry the THOR Guy just got clearance to push the button and wipe the slate clean, I can't go wrong with Holly Jolly Christmas.

Or Java Jive, by the Puppini Sisters.

[binarywraith]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feJj-SvNq0k

The Crow soundtrack in general is really good for this, but My Life With The Thrill-Kill Cult never fails to get me into the right mood for SR.

[TeslaNick]

Deltron 3030
Bassnectar
Kraftwerk if I'm in a super-retro mood

[Cube]

Timekiller - Project Pitchfork ..And One. So just pick the one you like best. It's something I can picture playing in the background of any club in the Sprawl.

Orgy - Fiction: A post-human pop song. With the prevalence of BTLs, Simsense, and AR, it's kind of appropriate.


Sword of Justice - Death Match: It's a remix of the main battle theme from Megami Tensei II. Since it's a video game battle theme, if you're a smart ass like me, you can loop the original for matrix combat.
And while we're on the topic of MegaTen, here are some other battle themes.

Mass Destruction - Persona 3: For kids shooting themselves in the head to fight demons, this somehow works. For general shadowrunning, ...not so much. However, I could see a particularly cocky NPC adopting it as his own personal theme, if nothing else. (A.K.A. - Music to Murder Obnoxious NPCs by)

Hunting - Digital Devil Saga: Now this is more like it! It's a slow battle theme. A tense standoff. It's more suited for tense standoffs than frantic combat. Of course... Shadowrun combat is frantic by definition, so you won't be using it often.

Digital Devil Saga - Big Battle: Same as above, except this is the boss theme. Kind of slow, but good for fights against the BBEG's Dragon. (Unless the BBEG's Dragon -is- a Dragon. Drakes don't count.)

Battle for Survival - Digital Devil Saga 2: Ah, now this one works better. DDS2 is less about roaming the wastes and hunting rival gangs, and more about infiltrating high-sec enclaves. This is good for when it's time the party has to start acting heroic.
Digital Devil Saga 2 - Madness - And this is for when things start going insane. Still pretty heroic, but waaay more frantic.

JRPGs aside!

Here are some other songs you might enjoy.
Mindless- Mindless (Cool World): It's not a bad city theme, particularly in the more populated areas. This song really gives you a sense that a lot is going on.

Industry and Seduction - Tom Bailey: This song evokes a much quieter feel. There's still a lot going on, but it's underneath the surface. The pace is slower. If your characters are in a seedy part of the Sprawl, or near an industrial complex, or perhaps meeting a Johnson in a seedy bar, this song is pretty good. Also, the sexual undertones are intended. Cool World was a weird movie. [/understatement]

Sedusa: A good industrial song. I think it's by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult.

And that's my music selection. Weird, I know...

[TheWanderingJewe...]

And since Shadowrun is a Noir setting with lots of investigations and such.....can't do without this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kstfCusTJQo

[Neurosis]

This is, as I've said in previous threads about this, a complicated topic I don't feel fully prepared to discuss.

When I do, expect like a full playlist/track list dump. I have made several discs worth of SR mixes and am currently in the process of making a Pandora station specifically for my current campaign...it is fairly iterative of the soundtrack of the movie Layer Cake, which is a fantastic crime movie, incidentally.

[Caine Hazen]

Yaktty Sax about sums up my runner's just fine, they need no other music

[imperialus]

And of course if you ever feel the desire to put your PC's in a bar with some trogmetal playing there's always

Trollfest
or Finntroll

Of course you can never, ever go wrong with Sisters of Mercy

VNV nation does some good stuff too.

[Squiddy Attack]

Juno Reactor has a lot of good stuff too.

[Starglyte]

I prefer the Blade Runner soundtrack myself. Has the blues feel with a future touch.

[Explosive Donut!]

Voodoo People Remix by Pendulum is good as well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKXKWBcaV3A

The fast paced bass and tense synth really give a feel of face paced, deadly combat.

[Tiralee]

Whoever suggested Yakkity Sax, god yes. I've played it (GM) when in the middle of a tense firefight and suddenly, everything went fantastic, people were rolling 6's non-stop, critical fails for the opposition....it was uncanny.

If you're wanting to have some fun, also cue up "In the Hall of the Mountain King" for the legwork summary. It gives the players a feeling of having worked hard to get where they need to go.

But for real fun, get your hands on the "Robocop" soundtrack (they re-released a nice, cleaned-up version a few years ago) and play the stirring "Robocop" theme during a climatic gun battle - your players will thank you:)

-Tir.

[Squiddy Attack]

I believe I've found -the- Shadowrun song, here.

Even the album art looks straight out of SR.

[CanRay]

Rhapsody Of Fire (Guest starring Christopher Lee!), Three Inches of Blood, Dragonforce, and Blind Guardian. With Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and Rolling Stones for the Classical Music lovers.