A game master reached out to me with the idea of using custom soundscapes and audio cues for a tabletop role playing game (RPG), in the same way you would use music for a video game. I immediately found this incredibly fascinating, and liked the idea. This project involves a lot of sound design, synthesis, orchestral composition and targeted production of music to build immersion for the players and the game master.

The example loops below are NOT master tracks:

This client is a person that loves RPGs, and hosts game sessions and campaigns for other people. There is no affiliation with the VTM game franchise, but that does not stop players from wanting the best possible immersion when they enjoy the game.

Game sessions (not campaign length!) can be anything from hours to days, to weeks. A single custom campaign for a table top RPG can last for YEARS without reaching an end, as it is all based around a story created by the game master, and the choices the players decide to make along the way.

You will often find that game masters use online sites to get access to library music, which they use during their game sessions. There are however also options to get 100% original music for your campaign, where you can get as nerdy as you want with the hidden elements that can barely be hidden.

In this personalized project I am focusing a lot on projecting the passage of time between soundscapes and musical elements, because there is a lot of time travel.

With this being a completely custom composition similar to a video game, I wanted to approach it in the same way I would do a video game. Focus on loop ability for as many elements as possible, as well as adding one-shot sound effects the game master can use himself to add ambience to a scene that is being played out.

Basing my audio on the use of the Table Top RPG audio board software SoftRope, I had the option to create sound "packages" to build soundscapes and musical elements that could easily be controlled from a PC.

Taking this approach would allow a single click to start certain sounds looping, certain one-hit effects, a random or sequential queue for different cues or layers to add variation to the same soundscape.

With the strategy defined, I could start taking requests or briefs from the client - where he could describe scenes and areas or feelings he wanted in a certain place. We ended up mostly chasing the feelings due to emotions being the leading strategy to invoke immersion and investment.

Using these briefs and explanations, I created soundscapes for villages, dark hospital scenes, fight ambience, and general world soundscapes using my knowledge of orchestral composition and the effect of sounds on the human mind. It was very important to have a single sound be present through all of the soundscapes and scene ambience, due to the players role playing as vampires experiencing millenniums of history.

What has the same distinct, identifiable sound in the 5th century as in the modern world? The church or temple bells.

I used this single sonic element throughout the compositions to create a "familiarity" through the story that is being told with the music behind what the players experience.

When using the music and soundscapes I composed for him, the client came back with the comment that "never before" had the players felt so immersed, invested, and engaged in the roleplay, and the game itself! It usually takes quite a while before the players warm up to the roleplay aspect of their characters, or to get properly invested in the story and gameplay. With the ambience fueling the scenes and emotions of the players, this was mere minutes before everyone was completely in-character and invested in the session.

The same way would build a world, you can build a auditory soundscape that get people immersed, feeling the world you place them in! This is no longer something we can only do for video games - It is completely within reach, to do this for table top games as well.

I have experience in a wide selection of musical abilities, and got client satisfaction in mind - so leave your soundscape building in good hands, with me! All aiming to be full of emotions and subtle player manipulation, making it feel like they are truly immersed in your world.

Fully customizable offers are available, but there is one thing always present in every offer you receive: I will always give your project the extra sprinkle of creative sizzle it needs to reach the heights you know it can! Save time, money and effort - that's what I'm here for! 🎸✮🎧✮🎸