This month's track request poll was won by patron Greg Brunell with his suggestion "Life Returning to a Tainted Forest." I went back and forth a bunch of times on how I wanted to tackle this. If I started the track with a "corrupted" section, it would be super awkward when you looped back around to it. That is: if you wanted to play this song when the forest became uncorrupted, after 3...
2020-07-18 19:43:39 +0000 UTC View PostLOTS of projects wrapping up right now. I just finished some work for one of my video game clients (stay tuned), I just finished the all of the looping mp3s (standard and variants) for Artist tier patrons, and this past weekend I released 2020-07-15 23:50:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to Arkus, a world filled wit...
2020-07-12 18:13:08 +0000 UTC View PostI sincerely hope you enjoy my new campaign setting and all the lovely contributions by my Patreon buddies! I know the post as whole puts a lot of emphasis on the PDF and other assets, but I really believe those three tracks are some of the best in my entire library. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!
Anyway, it wouldn't be Music d20 if I didn't then turn them into something totall...
2020-07-12 18:02:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to Arkus, a world filled with colossal trees that tower over a barren earth beset by unending earthquakes. Atop these trees, gnomes build massive mechanical cities, orcs and tabaxi forge an uneasy alliance, and elves take to the skies atop massive pa...
2020-07-12 17:59:19 +0000 UTC View PostI bet none of you heard the original "Gold Is Meant to Be Spent" and thought to yourself, "hmm, this would make for a great lullaby." If you did, well... man, I guess you and I are on the same page. This lullaby version of the track is perfect for evenings in tropical inns, in kooky wizard's vacation homes, or perhaps just a quite get together in the hoity-toity part of town.
The lo...
2020-07-08 15:19:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Well, it's a bit late, but one of the two winners of last month's track request poll was "Muzak d20: Tunes to Shop By." Now, "muzak" is a style of corporate music whose sole purpose is to get people to buy things. It's designed to have more or less no intrinsic value, and to simply function as a psychological nudge toward consumerism. I don't know about you, but when I'm low on DMing ideas, I p...
2020-07-08 15:14:08 +0000 UTC View Post
Hey y'all, small update today. I just took a few hours to cull and revamp a bunch of my Spotify RPG playlists. As I've said in the past, I would lose my mind if I had to solely listen to Music d20 tracks during my sessions, so please take advantage of these painstakingly curated playlists I've made for your sessions. I truly believe that 99% of the moments in any given RPG session fit pretty ne...
2020-07-06 19:53:24 +0000 UTC View PostTL;DR: Looping mp3s are available for the Artist Tier and up. Zip is in the Artist Tier Master Post.
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Hi friends! I've gotten a lot of requests for looping mp3s lately. Presumably, this increase in demand is due to the rise of VTTs as ...
2020-07-05 16:04:35 +0000 UTC View PostOne of my favorite things to do when DMing is to find elegant ways of reintroducing characters that the party first met ages ago. Especially if the party decides they love some random Boblin the Goblin, bringing that character back in an unexpected way can be so satisfying. The nature of adventuring is that you wa...
2020-07-04 14:39:36 +0000 UTC View PostHALFWAY DONE. Yep, 2020 is halfway done. And I'm sure 2021 is going to be better. And no, I will not be taking any comments on that remark. Well, with the coming of July it's time for our next track request poll! One quick note: you might have noticed that I often include tracks that came in second or third in the poll for the next month as well. I like to give some tracks a second chance, so h...
2020-07-01 23:10:05 +0000 UTC View PostHEY FOLKS! I meant to mention this yesterday, but please send in suggestions for the July track request poll! I'll be posting it tomorrow, probably midday Eastern time, so get 'em in while you can. Just throw anything that comes to mind in the comments, and I'll be sure to include it. We had so many great suggestions last month, and I'm bummed I haven't had a chance to even finish the track tha...
2020-07-01 00:46:28 +0000 UTC View PostThis more upbeat variant of my track "Dillinger Gate" has got tech heist vibes all over it. I tagged it "Infiltration" because to me it seems most useful for intense sci-fi moments that aren't quite combat. Maybe you're carefully sneaking your way into the corporate headquarters, or aggressively making your way through the matrix into a secure cyber vault. This track should be your go-to for di...
2020-06-30 00:47:48 +0000 UTC View Post
QUICK NOTE: The track that tied for first in my June track request poll (Muzak d20: Tunes to Shop By) will be released sometime next month. I had some pretty big life events this month (marriage + moving 800 miles), so things got a bit busy. Don't worry: you'll have some sweet bossa beats next month for all of your chill shopping sessions.
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I love g...
2020-06-30 00:41:28 +0000 UTC View PostI've gotten a few requests lately for sparser tracks. As a DM, I know how distracting it can be when there's some giant music in the way of a scene. I think most of you who follow me know that I like to make music that's big and bold and interesting, but I also know that some moments call for a lot more ＳＰＡＣＥ. As such, I'm going to be releasing some more "stripped down"...
2020-06-27 00:19:22 +0000 UTC View PostI know that a lot of you just like stripped down versions of my tracks. For "Storming the Daimyo," I'm giving you just that! These two versions are "No Percussion" and "Just Percussion."
"Just Percussion" is probably best for straightforward martial arts duels. It's still high intensity, but without the charging strings, it's much sparser.
"No Percussion" is most useful for in...
2020-06-20 18:38:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Today, I'm bringing to you a brand new collaboration with the incredible mapmaker Tom Cartos. This stunning Japanese-style castle map is the culmination of a series of maps Tom has been making over the past month. The story he has been telling that links all these maps ends at the Daimyo Lord Katamori's castle. This map h...
2020-06-20 18:24:55 +0000 UTC View Post
Foundry VTT Adventure - Clash at the Kobold Cauldron
"Something's wrong with the people of Knotside. A few weeks ago, a popular new liquor called Red Claw showed up in the city's many taverns. Anyone that took even a sip of this spirit immediately wanted another taste. At first, these desires were nothing more than cravings. But soon, those c...
2020-06-19 16:10:58 +0000 UTC View PostToday, I'm bringing you something a little different! This track was made in collaboration with the wonderful folks behind Death Saving Bros, an irreverent Actual Play D&D podcast. DM Paul Camper has been a supporter of mine since February, and he's used a number of my tracks to help score Death Saving Bros epis...
2020-06-15 15:00:03 +0000 UTC View PostI truly love creating relaxed, atmospheric, spacey synth tunes. This track is an ambient variant of "We Dug Too Deep." The obvious use is calm moments in a sci-fi campaign: aboard your starship, wandering a Jedi temple, or simply exploring the nighttime back alleys of your Shadowrun city. There's definitely a bit of Vangelis inspiration, so just copy and paste to all of your moody Blade R...
2020-06-11 13:01:59 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm so excited to present this collaboration to you all today! I've been chatting with Miska of Miska's Maps since late 2019, and we've finally found a great opportunity to collaborate. Miska's map "The Mines of Cthonus" is perfect for sci-fi RPGs or Spelljammer-esque D&D settings. While you're free to use the map ho...
2020-06-11 13:01:01 +0000 UTC View PostI wrote the lyrics to "Caro's Song" as a writing exercise for a character in one of my campaigns. Caro the bard (an NPC I designed) had been searching for his missing lover Roeywen for years, traveling each week to the Shrine of Vela (Goddess of Knowledge) and tossing in a gold coin in exchange for some information. He was attempting to narrow down his lover's location by asking one question at...
2020-06-05 19:12:44 +0000 UTC View PostI know it's almost too cliché these days, but I still love roleplaying taverns. It's a great way to establish the vibe of town, get some plot hooks, and flesh out the relationships between the PCs. It's such an iconic part of fantasy RPGs, and while you can find thousands of tavern tunes on Spotify etc, I only have one other track that could constitute as both "tavern-y" and also "lively." I t...
2020-06-05 19:02:53 +0000 UTC View PostHey folks, somehow we've made through another month on our hell planet, which means it's time for another track request poll! Got lots of good suggestions this month, so I didn't even have to write any of my own. Very excited to see what you guys pick.
Reminder: you can select more than one, so toss a vote to anything that sounds remotely interesting.
If you didn't get a...
2020-06-02 14:49:44 +0000 UTC View PostHey folks, first things first: I'm going to post the June track request poll tomorrow, so I need suggestions! Think of it this way: if your post wins, it's sort like commissioning me for free. I'm not going to say what my normal commission fee is, but it's definitely more than what Patreon charges you. So send in those track requests! It can be as simple as "happy city" or as specific as "midni...
2020-06-01 20:34:08 +0000 UTC View Post
I've got another new Spotify playlist for y'all: DnD Metropolis. I love a good cave / forest / village / mountain RPG adventure as much as the next guy, but I've grown increasingly fond of putting campaigns in enormous cities, and focusing most of the action within these la...
2020-05-31 19:10:36 +0000 UTC View PostI'm getting a bit more experimental with what "fantasy music" sounds like these days, and it's been a lot of fun to try introducing more synthetic sounds and textures. HOWEVER, I know a lot of y'all still love harpsichords and choirs and bassoons and all that, so this track is for YOU.
Evil religions are so fun to play in RPGs because it's very easy to understand their motivations. ...
2020-05-29 21:25:34 +0000 UTC View Post
It's been a while since I've done a straightforward collaboration with Cze and Peku, and I think I really picked a great map to get paired with. This gorgeous battlemap is titled Eldritch Church, and I think it's absolutely stunning. The eerie rift is vague enough to represent any cosmic / interpla...
2020-05-29 21:20:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Well, Music d20 Season 3 is well underway! Despite the release date, "On The Rail" from a few week ago is actually the first track I made for Vol. 3, and I've got a bunch of other cool new tracks planned for the coming months.
This release today is my track "Forbidden Texts." It's more ambient than most of my work, but I think the simple melody and slowly shifting textures evoke a v...
2020-05-25 17:03:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Release day is here! I'm so excited to share this album of music with the world. Above is a link to my bandcamp, but this album is also available on all streaming services. I've already added the tracks to my Spotify playlists, so if you use those, you're good to go!
This is music that YOU created. Without your support, this album does not exist. It's that simple. I've seen such an ...
2020-05-22 17:58:45 +0000 UTC View Post