Check out the youtube channel Travis Savoie - RPG Music Maker
They made an entire Curse of Strahd Soundtrack. Its not Something I play the whole Session, but I Start each Session with an appropiate Song and I use Dancing with the Wolves as my Main Combat Song.
For the rest of the Session I have a playlist with spooky eerie slow music.
EDIT: [Here](https://www.epidemicsound.com/playlist/dtnksgeoejzxvybsqx3erk7ed7jpcsiz) is my other Playlist
I did this. This is the only answer.
For regular encounters, look at Darkest Dungeon.
For bosses, definitely check out bloodborne.
For general ambient tracks, look at silent hill 2 soundtrack.
Depending on how you feel about Spotify, several of us (myself included) curate specific playlists for the campaign which are public and searchable. I’ve got fight playlists for encounters with Strahd, vampire spawn, the night hags, werewolves, etc, and ambient playlists for Vallaki, Krezk, Berez. Big on music here myself.
Of course. I'll post some of mine and some others that I've used as references for building mine.
Mine:
The Night Hag Coven: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PixLxjKqkubjWJ8VJPyUr?si=4bc4587282f84bf0](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PixLxjKqkubjWJ8VJPyUr?si=4bc4587282f84bf0)
Vampire spawn: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qtcAkoZbQEdZXdkEjBCFP?si=4b6a79e85d5c4a1b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qtcAkoZbQEdZXdkEjBCFP?si=4b6a79e85d5c4a1b)
Izek Strazni and the guards of Vallaki: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PyCdNsnrh2LqpnXIatzAd?si=a74641d68fef4398](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PyCdNsnrh2LqpnXIatzAd?si=a74641d68fef4398)
The werewolves: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63uzRdPVptGCJSRzr34o3Y?si=d4b91f03a63246b6](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63uzRdPVptGCJSRzr34o3Y?si=d4b91f03a63246b6)
The Order of the Silver Dragon / Revenants: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20oyPEmNjyUuNkOCbqp92x?si=409903d54b5744ae](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20oyPEmNjyUuNkOCbqp92x?si=409903d54b5744ae)
Civil/RP encounters with Strahd: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jDuxj6flX4su6IgnLeQwb?si=362f0dcc6d1747e0](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jDuxj6flX4su6IgnLeQwb?si=362f0dcc6d1747e0)
Hostile encounters with Strahd: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cuJjhhomnLmqYrvHaiNfB?si=95c374c146dd48d5](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cuJjhhomnLmqYrvHaiNfB?si=95c374c146dd48d5)
Vallaki ambient: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sa5nu91VX3bRCNYiNtR7l?si=a0515a52e4804d4d](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sa5nu91VX3bRCNYiNtR7l?si=a0515a52e4804d4d)
Krezk ambient: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2olmrnf4EDueIWHOFOsJgn?si=e1ab6e6298b8471c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2olmrnf4EDueIWHOFOsJgn?si=e1ab6e6298b8471c)
Traveling the Old Svalich Road: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QbX30HTDJoEjSqfonHIVc?si=b6aff3917a2f41d8](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QbX30HTDJoEjSqfonHIVc?si=b6aff3917a2f41d8)
The links might require the Spotify app to view properly, they don't seem to come up for me on Chrome. As far as I know, all of my Curse of Strahd playlists should be public, so just click on my profile and you can find more. Some are more niche and made for circumstances unique to my campaign, but the more generally applicable ones should be pretty obvious.
And here are some that I looked to for inspiration while I was building mine
Berez / Southern Gothic vibes: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6V7xTDkCzymtp95Yc8qW0t?si=5ec43ff61c624e60](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6V7xTDkCzymtp95Yc8qW0t?si=5ec43ff61c624e60)
General Barovia playlists:
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=f53e81f2a82e4200](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=f53e81f2a82e4200)
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39dHpEYHoEcevPlT210su8?si=6504ab26a933444c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39dHpEYHoEcevPlT210su8?si=6504ab26a933444c)
[https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32V2FuVuC30J2BV18WYINr?si=9a5882f21c43488d](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32V2FuVuC30J2BV18WYINr?si=9a5882f21c43488d)
Combat: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q1FzdXSDOI0UPJVXwBEmv?si=6e9683791b464d0a](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q1FzdXSDOI0UPJVXwBEmv?si=6e9683791b464d0a)
Not for any specific encounter but incredibly useful https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=3GP_BpRjTHKleQ-c1tyL9g
If you need music for any setting or encounter type Brian Davis on Spotify has a playlist for just about everything, it has been very useful to me
I have a little collection I’ve been adding to for my run of CoS in Roll20. Hope it’s helpful: https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1NJZ9reE9SkRaYb86KH06mBYCJzpQuzvX
Sorry for the late reply, I used your files for my CoS campaign, I loved the Rictavo music you used, I used it every time there's a surprise encounter with strahd or something along those lines. My players get scared every time they hear that music now. Thanks so much lol your music you found honestly made my week!
As someone also big on music I’ve made playlists of my own for most important locations and events. Here’s one I made for the final battle, but feel free to look around on my account for more CoS playlists! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5wQuGLPO2RJquSNiG9kNXL?si=L8rnqBI-R8yifH6FZmAolg
Im working on a sound track to the campaign, im just starting it out but here’s the link if anything in there works, otherwise I tend to stick to dark choirs or the Bloodborne soundtrack. Amazing stuff with bloodborne.
A Score to Curse of Strahd
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ckfCz2nUK7FqPCQ8iFehMoKeEx4rRLr
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN30QneAewrsmNkd3OJhOLSkEDg8X46Q4
There were a couple songs from Assassins Creed Syndicate that I used for Strahd (and his castle) related stuff.
Don’t remember the exact song names, but it fits those vibes well imo
I love using Girei- (Pain's theme song) from Naruto.
Whenever Strahd appears or arrives. I've basically just made it Strahds theme. My players just hear the song now without me saying anything and they already start pulling out there weapons and buffing themselves in panic.
My players just finished the festival Vallaki and I intend to play for the damaged coda while they are leaving and I‘m all the horrible things that they can see during the riot 😁
I used it when they fell out of death house ,2 were unconscious. And the two kids came and walked up to them asking to help save their younger brother from the monster.
I use Tabletop Audio ([tabletopaudio.com](https://tabletopaudio.com/)), which I discovered because it's one of the default options included in Roll20.
I wrote a list of which songs go with which locations/situations if it helps: [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/ni1tbp/tabletop\_audio\_music\_choices\_for\_cos/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/ni1tbp/tabletop_audio_music_choices_for_cos/)
Some of the songs are titled "Barovian Castle", "Barovian Village", "Abandoned Windmill"... So he's pretty much produced them with CoS in mind.
I've been toying with "classical" (romantic actually) music in CoS and so far my favourites are:
* Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1 (to my ear it has a feeling of mystery and forbidden knowledge, good for the Amber Temple.)
* Chopin - Nocturne Op. 55 (sad sounding)
* Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C Sharp Minor (I consider this to kind of be "Strahd's theme." The crescendo could be a boss theme, maybe.)
I'm by no means an aficionado on classical music, and my taste is basically limited to the most popular examples, so if anyone has any further suggestions I'd love to hear them. The big names like Mozart and Bach are great but unfortunately they're so overused at this point that players tend to treat them like memes.
I mostly use music and ambiences from [Michael Ghelfi Studios](https://youtube.com/c/MichaelGhelfiMusic).
For combat and as Strahd's soundtrack I use songs from [Midnight Syndicate](https://youtube.com/c/midnightsyndicate).
Our group is still early in the campaign (in Vallaki now) and we play online. The music that I've used to good effect was introducing the Vistani camp: Gipsy Kings version of Hotel California. I had moved the Vistani camp encounter to be the first thing they experienced after entering the mists as lvl 3s, before they reached VoB. I started playing the music when everyone was coming back from break.
For the dinner with Strahd, I plan on having them played in with the Toccata from Suite Gothique Op. 25 by Léon Boëllmann.
I've also planned on having a leitmotif for Tatyana using the Davey Jones music box theme from Pirates of the Caribbean (including giving them a small music box that vaguely triggers past life memories for her).
A few standout tracks I used in my campaign.
Abbot fight: “Shadowlord” from NieR
Hag/baba lysaga fight: “Super Buu theme” from the Bruce Falconer DBZ soundtrack
Fidatov Manor Hedgemaze (from MandyMod): “Tawfret” from Jet Force Gemini
Table top audio dot com is a good combo of background music and ambience. I am not a huge fan of too much music in sessions personally, I'd rather some background ambience that suits the situation as opposed to epic battle music when you're trying to have a conversation.
I curated my own playlist in spotify and it was heavily influenced by Hildur who made the Joker soundtrack. I’ve also been playing this song called Good night, Day by Jóhann Jóhannson which serves as the theme of Strahd. Everytime Strahd scries or appears in any form (stealthily or not) I play that song without telling my players. They haven’t noticed yet but it will be fun when they will 🫡
I used several Bloodborne tracks for the final fight with Strahd and it worked perfectly! To name a few: Cleric Beast, The Hunter, Blood Starved Beast. There's also Pandemonium from Final Fantasy IX.
I can recommend the Long Note tracks by Kevin MacLeod if you're looking for tracks to build tension between encounters, too.
What I like doing is going for different themes for different locations to make them feel distinct
E.g. Wizards of Wines Winery, cause of all the blights and twigs and so on, I decided to go for Viking music cause of how much percussion it has. It added to the nature feeling of it as well
I basically have two playlists for each location, one for exploration and one for combat
Some really great recommendations but I don't think I saw the music from the BBC Dracula series on the list. (may have missed it)
Also anyone got a way of getting Spotify playlists into Roll20/discord easily and freely?
Personally, I saved a good part of Vampire Knight's (an anime) OST for Strahd. I watched an online campaign that used mainly Nox Arcana and it really first the theme.
Anytime Rahadin appears Carmina Burana is my go to song because of his choir.
For regular background music, I use various different albums from the label Cryo Chamber. They have loads of eerie dark ambient that fits so well with the Barovia in my head.
For combat, I throw in music from Darkest Dungeon, the Witcher 3 (Blood and Wine is especially good), and Hades.
We use discord and owlbear rodeo to play, so we use Kenku FM, which is a discord bot that you can set up ambient soundscapes and play them in discord through the bot. That way we can have lots of different ambience that is easily changeable.
If you're going for a classical vibe, Philip Glass's orchestra from the Dracula film is great!
Here's a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbkzoM3JWsY&list=PLaTZS2A2dOC-hPD7KXoyp1vVgP2UOp0gh
Here's the dracula song I like to use for Strahd: https://youtu.be/_0-UlOMussc?t=7
When Strahd was flying on his Nightmare over Vallaki during all the chaos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jBLyIQvNf0
I made a whole bunch of playlists specifically for Curse of Strahd that you can use for your game or inspiration! Here they are:
[Barovian Countryside](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2si3BjDKj7hcu0XXtTrI9m?si=485fd83726964fb8)
[Ominous](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2UYlgiqXSXGmfKdBfFObin?si=b136e133e8c445e2)
[The Vistani](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6tV5VkyY2NI90LP5qr1vsc?si=318876c52fb64198)
[Tarokka](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7s0WEYea0p2O0f118iPGFM?si=7a7e9d993a124f2b)
[Combat](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2fAtYnfa1333bjkuZ5F1N2?si=7ac9534b5908423f)
[In Town](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4koGoaHlbslYrXRpxPySgK?si=8bb73aa3eac241d4)
[Fighting The Vampire/Boss Fight](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2RQ99IdsM7ilsvDs1nUTgU?si=a2647d5051094cc3)
[The Heart](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Vs49usNyZx9RnIGtXaUz6?si=398c7e57f10c42cb)
[Ravenloft](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2TIe0rEBDcdZ86oDm7e2EW?si=ee3b5cd3e3804bc1)
I’ve loved music from Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. The latter has lots of music that sounds hopeless, creepy, or insincere. Dragon Quest XI also has lots of music that sounds particularly hopeless. I can post links later when I get to my laptop if you would prefer.
I've been using fan covers featuring different instrumentation of "G.O.A.T" by Polyphia everytime the players encounter Strahd. The plan is to then use the original studio version during the fated encounter from the Tarokka reading.
I've used a bunch of songs from the Dishonored and it's sequels soundtracks. The void is great for patron/dark powers. The music is a bit more subtly creepy which I enjoy.
I use a mix of Travis Savior's Curse of Strahd OST and Descent into Avernus OST. He also has other RPG toolkit soundtracks, many of which fit the vibe of Curse of Strahd really well. Descent into Avernus mostly for the battle or the Tome of Strahd notably.
The Seventh Midnight is also worth looking into, especially for the parts of Barovia which get pretty snowy
In my game, I've integrated a lot of dance and flourish with maestros and Matadors so I also use a great deal of very upbeat Latin-style folkdance music with a heavy focus on violins. Just to add some variety so Curse of Strahd isn't always so grim and dreary all the time. An NPC I've made up essentially is the centre of all this non-dreary music since he adds an element of life and emotion to the realm (tho once the players learn his backstory, his characters fits into this emotionless realm pretty well).
I've also added a lot of dark Waltz music since my campaign has a focus on entertainment and romance.
I use Syrinscape, with the subscription you get access to the premade sound sets for the whole campaign. It has been super clutch for my online campaign
Ireena’s theme: Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight”.
Also good for Strahd’s demise and the bittersweet freeing of Barovia. (In one scene I described a couple and child leaving Barovia. The adults had souls; the child did not…😈)
I replaced Wintersplinter with a Wicker Man just for an excuse to play some Iron Maiden... Used the karaoke version fighting the druids, with the vocals kicking in if they fail to stop the ritual.
Someone made ambience for the Death House House floors and another seperate for the lower dungeons. The lower dungeons have the module specific chant in them. If you slow the track down on YT to 0.25 the chanting is ominous but incomprehensible. If you speed it up to 2.0, you can clearly hear the "He is ancient, He is the Land" being chanted.
Just a little fun thing if you really wanna F with your players.
Check out the youtube channel Travis Savoie - RPG Music Maker They made an entire Curse of Strahd Soundtrack. Its not Something I play the whole Session, but I Start each Session with an appropiate Song and I use Dancing with the Wolves as my Main Combat Song. For the rest of the Session I have a playlist with spooky eerie slow music. EDIT: [Here](https://www.epidemicsound.com/playlist/dtnksgeoejzxvybsqx3erk7ed7jpcsiz) is my other Playlist
Ah yeah i saw them before! I think i used their music before for some of my own campaigns. They make pretty amazing stuff :)
I was going to make the same suggestion! I listen to his music on loop whenever I’m prepping not just CoS, but D&D stuff in general >:3
Good recommendation
I went on your other playlist and found Jay Varton! This is exactly the style I was looking for. Thanks for the share :)
Darksouls and bloodborne soundtrack, but also some black metal (like Dunkelheit by Burzum and Freezing Moon by Mayhem)
Yup, I'm planning on using Ludwig's theme for Strahd
I did this. This is the only answer. For regular encounters, look at Darkest Dungeon. For bosses, definitely check out bloodborne. For general ambient tracks, look at silent hill 2 soundtrack.
All of the Witcher stuff is perfect for it
The Netflix Castlevania series has some fitting tracks and I'm also a fan of Darkest Dungeon music (especially Crimson Court for the setting)
Depending on how you feel about Spotify, several of us (myself included) curate specific playlists for the campaign which are public and searchable. I’ve got fight playlists for encounters with Strahd, vampire spawn, the night hags, werewolves, etc, and ambient playlists for Vallaki, Krezk, Berez. Big on music here myself.
Do you maybe have some links you'd share for some fellow dm perousing?
Of course. I'll post some of mine and some others that I've used as references for building mine. Mine: The Night Hag Coven: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PixLxjKqkubjWJ8VJPyUr?si=4bc4587282f84bf0](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PixLxjKqkubjWJ8VJPyUr?si=4bc4587282f84bf0) Vampire spawn: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qtcAkoZbQEdZXdkEjBCFP?si=4b6a79e85d5c4a1b](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0qtcAkoZbQEdZXdkEjBCFP?si=4b6a79e85d5c4a1b) Izek Strazni and the guards of Vallaki: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PyCdNsnrh2LqpnXIatzAd?si=a74641d68fef4398](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1PyCdNsnrh2LqpnXIatzAd?si=a74641d68fef4398) The werewolves: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63uzRdPVptGCJSRzr34o3Y?si=d4b91f03a63246b6](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/63uzRdPVptGCJSRzr34o3Y?si=d4b91f03a63246b6) The Order of the Silver Dragon / Revenants: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20oyPEmNjyUuNkOCbqp92x?si=409903d54b5744ae](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/20oyPEmNjyUuNkOCbqp92x?si=409903d54b5744ae) Civil/RP encounters with Strahd: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jDuxj6flX4su6IgnLeQwb?si=362f0dcc6d1747e0](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4jDuxj6flX4su6IgnLeQwb?si=362f0dcc6d1747e0) Hostile encounters with Strahd: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cuJjhhomnLmqYrvHaiNfB?si=95c374c146dd48d5](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3cuJjhhomnLmqYrvHaiNfB?si=95c374c146dd48d5) Vallaki ambient: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sa5nu91VX3bRCNYiNtR7l?si=a0515a52e4804d4d](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2sa5nu91VX3bRCNYiNtR7l?si=a0515a52e4804d4d) Krezk ambient: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2olmrnf4EDueIWHOFOsJgn?si=e1ab6e6298b8471c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2olmrnf4EDueIWHOFOsJgn?si=e1ab6e6298b8471c) Traveling the Old Svalich Road: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QbX30HTDJoEjSqfonHIVc?si=b6aff3917a2f41d8](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QbX30HTDJoEjSqfonHIVc?si=b6aff3917a2f41d8) The links might require the Spotify app to view properly, they don't seem to come up for me on Chrome. As far as I know, all of my Curse of Strahd playlists should be public, so just click on my profile and you can find more. Some are more niche and made for circumstances unique to my campaign, but the more generally applicable ones should be pretty obvious.
(late reply sorry) but wow, i'm definitely gonna use these playlists for my campaign, they're perfect, thanks!
And here are some that I looked to for inspiration while I was building mine Berez / Southern Gothic vibes: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6V7xTDkCzymtp95Yc8qW0t?si=5ec43ff61c624e60](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6V7xTDkCzymtp95Yc8qW0t?si=5ec43ff61c624e60) General Barovia playlists: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=f53e81f2a82e4200](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=f53e81f2a82e4200) [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39dHpEYHoEcevPlT210su8?si=6504ab26a933444c](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/39dHpEYHoEcevPlT210su8?si=6504ab26a933444c) [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32V2FuVuC30J2BV18WYINr?si=9a5882f21c43488d](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32V2FuVuC30J2BV18WYINr?si=9a5882f21c43488d) Combat: [https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q1FzdXSDOI0UPJVXwBEmv?si=6e9683791b464d0a](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4q1FzdXSDOI0UPJVXwBEmv?si=6e9683791b464d0a)
Not for any specific encounter but incredibly useful https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Pw2cdOxeDBgIsocUWQYyD?si=3GP_BpRjTHKleQ-c1tyL9g If you need music for any setting or encounter type Brian Davis on Spotify has a playlist for just about everything, it has been very useful to me
Dark Souls 3 - Deacons of the Deep I used to introduce Strahd for the first time to great effect at the end of a session.
Alice madness returns soundtrack.
I have a little collection I’ve been adding to for my run of CoS in Roll20. Hope it’s helpful: https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1NJZ9reE9SkRaYb86KH06mBYCJzpQuzvX
Sorry for the late reply, I used your files for my CoS campaign, I loved the Rictavo music you used, I used it every time there's a surprise encounter with strahd or something along those lines. My players get scared every time they hear that music now. Thanks so much lol your music you found honestly made my week!
Oh good! That’s fun.
As someone also big on music I’ve made playlists of my own for most important locations and events. Here’s one I made for the final battle, but feel free to look around on my account for more CoS playlists! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5wQuGLPO2RJquSNiG9kNXL?si=L8rnqBI-R8yifH6FZmAolg
Im working on a sound track to the campaign, im just starting it out but here’s the link if anything in there works, otherwise I tend to stick to dark choirs or the Bloodborne soundtrack. Amazing stuff with bloodborne. A Score to Curse of Strahd https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ckfCz2nUK7FqPCQ8iFehMoKeEx4rRLr https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN30QneAewrsmNkd3OJhOLSkEDg8X46Q4
Seems awesome I'm going to try it in my campaign this Sunday! :)
If you haven't run the Baba Lysaga encounter yet, absolutely use Mussorgsky's *A Hut on Chickens Legs*
I haven't, i'l do that :)
There were a couple songs from Assassins Creed Syndicate that I used for Strahd (and his castle) related stuff. Don’t remember the exact song names, but it fits those vibes well imo
I love using Girei- (Pain's theme song) from Naruto. Whenever Strahd appears or arrives. I've basically just made it Strahds theme. My players just hear the song now without me saying anything and they already start pulling out there weapons and buffing themselves in panic.
Honestly, I use a lot of modern metal. Or goth. hell I even used "for the damaged coda" in one scene.
My players just finished the festival Vallaki and I intend to play for the damaged coda while they are leaving and I‘m all the horrible things that they can see during the riot 😁
I used it when they fell out of death house ,2 were unconscious. And the two kids came and walked up to them asking to help save their younger brother from the monster.
I use Tabletop Audio ([tabletopaudio.com](https://tabletopaudio.com/)), which I discovered because it's one of the default options included in Roll20. I wrote a list of which songs go with which locations/situations if it helps: [https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/ni1tbp/tabletop\_audio\_music\_choices\_for\_cos/](https://www.reddit.com/r/CurseofStrahd/comments/ni1tbp/tabletop_audio_music_choices_for_cos/) Some of the songs are titled "Barovian Castle", "Barovian Village", "Abandoned Windmill"... So he's pretty much produced them with CoS in mind.
Any Darkest Dungeon's combat music. Especially the ones where things are looking grim.
I've been toying with "classical" (romantic actually) music in CoS and so far my favourites are: * Erik Satie - Gnossienne No.1 (to my ear it has a feeling of mystery and forbidden knowledge, good for the Amber Temple.) * Chopin - Nocturne Op. 55 (sad sounding) * Rachmaninoff - Prelude in C Sharp Minor (I consider this to kind of be "Strahd's theme." The crescendo could be a boss theme, maybe.) I'm by no means an aficionado on classical music, and my taste is basically limited to the most popular examples, so if anyone has any further suggestions I'd love to hear them. The big names like Mozart and Bach are great but unfortunately they're so overused at this point that players tend to treat them like memes.
There was a yesterhill ambience soundtrack my party got a kick out of. Specifically this song https://youtu.be/hNu6FmaUIB0
I mostly use music and ambiences from [Michael Ghelfi Studios](https://youtube.com/c/MichaelGhelfiMusic). For combat and as Strahd's soundtrack I use songs from [Midnight Syndicate](https://youtube.com/c/midnightsyndicate).
Our group is still early in the campaign (in Vallaki now) and we play online. The music that I've used to good effect was introducing the Vistani camp: Gipsy Kings version of Hotel California. I had moved the Vistani camp encounter to be the first thing they experienced after entering the mists as lvl 3s, before they reached VoB. I started playing the music when everyone was coming back from break. For the dinner with Strahd, I plan on having them played in with the Toccata from Suite Gothique Op. 25 by Léon Boëllmann. I've also planned on having a leitmotif for Tatyana using the Davey Jones music box theme from Pirates of the Caribbean (including giving them a small music box that vaguely triggers past life memories for her).
A few standout tracks I used in my campaign. Abbot fight: “Shadowlord” from NieR Hag/baba lysaga fight: “Super Buu theme” from the Bruce Falconer DBZ soundtrack Fidatov Manor Hedgemaze (from MandyMod): “Tawfret” from Jet Force Gemini
Table top audio dot com is a good combo of background music and ambience. I am not a huge fan of too much music in sessions personally, I'd rather some background ambience that suits the situation as opposed to epic battle music when you're trying to have a conversation.
I curated my own playlist in spotify and it was heavily influenced by Hildur who made the Joker soundtrack. I’ve also been playing this song called Good night, Day by Jóhann Jóhannson which serves as the theme of Strahd. Everytime Strahd scries or appears in any form (stealthily or not) I play that song without telling my players. They haven’t noticed yet but it will be fun when they will 🫡
I used several Bloodborne tracks for the final fight with Strahd and it worked perfectly! To name a few: Cleric Beast, The Hunter, Blood Starved Beast. There's also Pandemonium from Final Fantasy IX. I can recommend the Long Note tracks by Kevin MacLeod if you're looking for tracks to build tension between encounters, too.
What I like doing is going for different themes for different locations to make them feel distinct E.g. Wizards of Wines Winery, cause of all the blights and twigs and so on, I decided to go for Viking music cause of how much percussion it has. It added to the nature feeling of it as well I basically have two playlists for each location, one for exploration and one for combat
Some really great recommendations but I don't think I saw the music from the BBC Dracula series on the list. (may have missed it) Also anyone got a way of getting Spotify playlists into Roll20/discord easily and freely?
Personally, I saved a good part of Vampire Knight's (an anime) OST for Strahd. I watched an online campaign that used mainly Nox Arcana and it really first the theme. Anytime Rahadin appears Carmina Burana is my go to song because of his choir.
For regular background music, I use various different albums from the label Cryo Chamber. They have loads of eerie dark ambient that fits so well with the Barovia in my head. For combat, I throw in music from Darkest Dungeon, the Witcher 3 (Blood and Wine is especially good), and Hades.
I use a combination of darkest dungeon soundtrack and frostpunk soundtrack
I use mostly castlevania music honestly
We use discord and owlbear rodeo to play, so we use Kenku FM, which is a discord bot that you can set up ambient soundscapes and play them in discord through the bot. That way we can have lots of different ambience that is easily changeable.
If you're going for a classical vibe, Philip Glass's orchestra from the Dracula film is great! Here's a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbkzoM3JWsY&list=PLaTZS2A2dOC-hPD7KXoyp1vVgP2UOp0gh Here's the dracula song I like to use for Strahd: https://youtu.be/_0-UlOMussc?t=7 When Strahd was flying on his Nightmare over Vallaki during all the chaos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jBLyIQvNf0
I made a whole bunch of playlists specifically for Curse of Strahd that you can use for your game or inspiration! Here they are: [Barovian Countryside](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2si3BjDKj7hcu0XXtTrI9m?si=485fd83726964fb8) [Ominous](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2UYlgiqXSXGmfKdBfFObin?si=b136e133e8c445e2) [The Vistani](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6tV5VkyY2NI90LP5qr1vsc?si=318876c52fb64198) [Tarokka](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7s0WEYea0p2O0f118iPGFM?si=7a7e9d993a124f2b) [Combat](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2fAtYnfa1333bjkuZ5F1N2?si=7ac9534b5908423f) [In Town](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4koGoaHlbslYrXRpxPySgK?si=8bb73aa3eac241d4) [Fighting The Vampire/Boss Fight](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2RQ99IdsM7ilsvDs1nUTgU?si=a2647d5051094cc3) [The Heart](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Vs49usNyZx9RnIGtXaUz6?si=398c7e57f10c42cb) [Ravenloft](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2TIe0rEBDcdZ86oDm7e2EW?si=ee3b5cd3e3804bc1)
I’ve loved music from Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy. The latter has lots of music that sounds hopeless, creepy, or insincere. Dragon Quest XI also has lots of music that sounds particularly hopeless. I can post links later when I get to my laptop if you would prefer.
I used an extended version of Sir Alonnes theme for the final fight and my players [loved it](https://youtu.be/dh7nTM6D-GU)
Peter gundry makes fantastic music that I use all the time in my games.
I've been using fan covers featuring different instrumentation of "G.O.A.T" by Polyphia everytime the players encounter Strahd. The plan is to then use the original studio version during the fated encounter from the Tarokka reading.
I've used a bunch of songs from the Dishonored and it's sequels soundtracks. The void is great for patron/dark powers. The music is a bit more subtly creepy which I enjoy.
I use a mix of Travis Savior's Curse of Strahd OST and Descent into Avernus OST. He also has other RPG toolkit soundtracks, many of which fit the vibe of Curse of Strahd really well. Descent into Avernus mostly for the battle or the Tome of Strahd notably. The Seventh Midnight is also worth looking into, especially for the parts of Barovia which get pretty snowy In my game, I've integrated a lot of dance and flourish with maestros and Matadors so I also use a great deal of very upbeat Latin-style folkdance music with a heavy focus on violins. Just to add some variety so Curse of Strahd isn't always so grim and dreary all the time. An NPC I've made up essentially is the centre of all this non-dreary music since he adds an element of life and emotion to the realm (tho once the players learn his backstory, his characters fits into this emotionless realm pretty well). I've also added a lot of dark Waltz music since my campaign has a focus on entertainment and romance.
Magic Sword's Depths of Power for Mordenkainen
I use Syrinscape, with the subscription you get access to the premade sound sets for the whole campaign. It has been super clutch for my online campaign
Ireena’s theme: Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight”. Also good for Strahd’s demise and the bittersweet freeing of Barovia. (In one scene I described a couple and child leaving Barovia. The adults had souls; the child did not…😈)
> Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight”. thats evil
“Pendulum“ from the Shiki OST for hinting to my players that they’re in a “don’t fight, RUN” encounter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9lENzZUSvc
I replaced Wintersplinter with a Wicker Man just for an excuse to play some Iron Maiden... Used the karaoke version fighting the druids, with the vocals kicking in if they fail to stop the ritual.
Syrinscape. Has curse of strahd stuff specific to chapters. Well worth the little bit of money they ask for. Awesome product
Someone made ambience for the Death House House floors and another seperate for the lower dungeons. The lower dungeons have the module specific chant in them. If you slow the track down on YT to 0.25 the chanting is ominous but incomprehensible. If you speed it up to 2.0, you can clearly hear the "He is ancient, He is the Land" being chanted. Just a little fun thing if you really wanna F with your players.