Music as Inspiration

Towards the tail end of my thirteen hour flight yesterday, I was too uncomfortable to sleep and I was too tired to do anything useful. After exhausting the videos that I wanted to watch, I just sat back and listened to music. It was actually wonderful. I almost never just listen to music anymore. I'm always listening to music while doing something else and it just sinks into the background. Actively listening made me remember that I used to draw so much inspiration from artists that I love.

This is relevant to this blog because I look back over the years at the games that I have run and realize that music has been an inportant source of inspiration for many of them. I'm not talking about coming up with a cool soundtrack once the main idea has been developed (though I do that as well). I really mean that music informed the campaign development from the start.

Unlike in visual media, the inspiration that one receives from music might not be entirely obvious. Sure, there are lyrics that inspire me. I did run a Rolemaster epic adventure based on the song "King of Pain" by the Police (I used the song lyrics as prophecy). I came up for the name and themes of a long running cyberpunk/vampire campaign from the lyrics to a My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult song ("The Velvet Edge", which you will note also is my domain name). But the true value of music as a source of inspiration is that can evoke specific moods and feelings that are entirely personal. When I listen to Peter Gabriel's Passion, I am specifically conjuring up images and feeling that will be completely different from yours. I never saw The Last Temptation of Christ, so I place the music in an entirely different context. For me, I hear Sword & Sorcery. I hear desert caravans and vibrant bazaars. Listening to it along with Lorenna McKennit's An Ancient Muse (and some Dead Can Dance) makes me want to run a campaign set along a real or fictional Silk Road.

Music also inspired specific characters. In college, I took a music appreciation class. As our final assignment, we had to write up our thoughts and feeling about a small handful of classical pieces. Being the procrastinator that I was, I waited until the last possible moment and shut myself in a darkened room, laid on the floor, and blasted the music. Given that Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring was one of the pieces, it kind of freaked me out. Ever since, I've had a thing for the piece and decided to make the riots surrounding its debut central to the backstory of my child vampire, Moondancer.

Since I now have readers that check in regularly, I'm going to invite some participation. Have you ever been inspired to run a particular campaign, adventure, or character primarily through music? Drop a comment and let me know.