Hmmm, two threads, both about music...

When I've run other games (yes, I admit I've been unfaithful) I've always worked hard at creating atmosphere by finding the right music to play in the background. It can't be too intrusive, because then it detracts from rather than adds to the game. When I ran 1st/2nd edition, my favourite track was a Cure cover of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze: I used to play it when the runners were meeting Johnson in Dante's Inferno (although it was tempting to use Voodoo Chilli).

So, here's a fun project for musos out there. Create a perfect tracklist for a Shadowrun games evening. Stick in some "Sacred Spirit" for those tribal moments, maybe, or some prog rock for matrix moments. What do people think?

Usually it just distracts already easily distractable players. >_>

We had a running joke of whenever there was a sudden combat, "roll initiative!" and we'd chuck on First It Giveth by Queens of the Stone Age. But really it doesn't turn out too well, as combat takes about fifteen minutes.

A bit of Rammstein always goes well for the firefight and autochase scenes

White noise fading into pink noise fading into white noise, at random intervals generally in the 5-20 minute range.

~J

Spice Girls. Nothing helps to bring the frustrations of trying to short the controls on a door, with the sprinklers going off, and guards pumping rounds into your general direction, like "If you wanna be my lover..."

If you can find it, I think the Prince of Persia: Warrior Within soundtrack does a great job of setting the right atmosphere for ShadowRun. At least in anticipation of and for fights.

If I recall correctly, that was the joke. The original Seattle sourcebook had a restaurant called Voodoo Chilli. It is a pun on Voodoo Chile.

Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper is perfect for any life threatening situation to really mess with your player's minds.

Culture Club's "Do you really want to hurt me?" whenever the PCs are preparing to interrogate someone. Or if a PC is about to get lucky, "The Crying Game".

I use a randomized playlist with Combichrist, icon of Coil, 16 Volt, Spahn Ranch, Slick idiot, selected tracks from Evanescence, KMFDM, MDFMK, Orgy, PIG, Rosetta Stone, some recent Sigue Sigue Sputnik tacks, Razed in Black, and Shining.

my players really seem to like it.

Play Bad Moon On the Rise by Creedence Clearwater Revival when you start the run. That should set the proper tone . Play Behind Blue Eyes by The Who when the runners meet the Johnson. Play The Lotion Song by The Greenskeepers when the runners get caught (think Silence of the Lambs ). Play Disco Science by Mirwais for when the runners are escaping from Lone Star or corpsec (think the rabbit scene in Snatch). I'd also recommend any of the Metropolis CDs. They provide a good mix of industrial style music that could fit most shadowruns.

Play Stuck in the Middle With You whenever the runners are interrogating a Lone Star officer or other corporate security or law enforcement.

~J

Almost anything by Evanessence played on a soft volume generally works as a backflow without much need to switch tracks ect.

Egghhuhu

Oh, sorry. I just vomited in my mouth a little.

Oh come on, they're not that *hork*

I mean, they're not—*hork, hack*

They're—*hic, haec, hoc*

Never mind.

~J

...I bring actual music into play very sparingly and only for key scenes. For one Decker club I used a little Larry Fast form the Synergy Series for a bit of ambiance. For one scene in a small underground Bistro in Vienna, I used Mingus & Billie Holladay. When the team was in this installation looking for their extraction target, I put on some Chopin Piano music (which the NPC was playing) very quietly and as they neared or strayed away from the room I adjusted the volume accordingly.

Yes, yes K, they really are. And its not sad that I totally envisioned a cat hacking up a hairball.

I love using SFX for select games that I want to 'take to the next level', but it all depends on the game. Doing it too often takes... not only too much work but it cheapens the thrill when it comes together correctly. KMFDM to Chopan, Tool, and even a select few seconds from My Chemical Romance.

Yes, I had to scrub with bleach after that last one.

Whitehouse—Why You Never Became a Dancer.

Also, the Silent Hill 1 soundtrack. Except for the opening, which is too recognizable (though awesome), and the opera. I don't know what the opera's doing there.

~J

Deus Ex soundtrack. Duh.

Guess there is no love for the 2 official Shadowrun Soundtrack albums. =P

Figures...Those albums were mediocre at best.

I disagree—the Alex Cremers one at least was pretty solid.

~J

There is an official SR soundtrack? Is it from the PS game? Or is it an indy CD? How bad is it? I'd give it a spin.

It's a CD that was sold at cons (Gencon, specifically, that I know of) by FASA.

Suprised I'm the only one that thinks this, but then again, I seem to be the only person I know that RPGs and can tolerate this type of music. If your runner team is even a little gutter punk, from the barrens, or basically playing captain badass, Tupac is hard to beat. Played somewhat quietly in the background, it has some good beats, anti-authority overtones, and undertones of desperation, all of which mesh nicely with a shadowrun game. Finding anyone who doesn't immediately say, "ewwww, rap," however, is significantly more difficult.

We allow no Shedim music here.

~J

My current favorite music for running (as I have been running a bit more magical campaigns with more astral and metaplanar aspects) has been Radiohead. Some of their stuff has some nice eerie undertones and beats that work very well for those kinds of scenes. Treefingers (from the Kid A album) is a definite.

Also Massive Attack is very good for some settings, and I too have used My Chemical Romance on rare occasions.

I actually bought the Alex Cremers Shadowrun Soundtrack from the FASA website right before they folded (rest in peace). I think it's a very solid album. Very moody and ambient.

It really depends on the situation.

Most of the time though, I go with ambient stuff, and computer game soundtracks. Most other stuff is too unstable (movie scores, classical) or have lyrics that detract from the focus.

Yes, many a time my collection of music from Final Fantasy soundtracks and various other soundtracks find a way into my games and they fit very well with the game.

My Final Fantasy VII soundtrack has come into play more times than I can count....doing something Shaman-y, use the Cosmo Canyon theme...Need a Corp Loyalty Track? The theme from Junon Harbor works wonders....Someone tripping on drugs the good way? The chocobo racing song...The Bad Way? Jenova's theme is good for that trip..., and the Turks theme is good if you want your players to feel like Badass Mofos...and Running from that Wizworm had to get an 'exotic' reagent from? The Final Battle song is great.

Here's what I use most weekends:

Soundtracks
Ghost In The Shell: Original Soundtrack
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex O.S.T
Equilibrium Original Soundtrack
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai Soundtrack
Smokin' Aces Soundtrack
Hunt for Red October Soundtrack

Bands/Musicians
Rammstein
Metallica
Apocalyptica
The Clash
The Doors
5 6 7 8's
Red Elvises
Johnny Cash

Yoshida Brothers, for your Japanacorp musical needs.

Kenshi, can you be e-mailed?

For those decking runs, the "Hackers" soundtrack cause I mean its the most realistic hacking movie ever right?

in all seriousness, Iron Maiden on loop creates an epic feel.

Or Geto Boys "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta" for those times you want boost your runners egos a little too far