Using PC Theme Songs to Showcase Your Heroes

So today's blog post is about giving the PCs of your rpg campaign theme songs. Obviously, this isn't for every game but if your running a game where the PCs are supposed to be badasses, reminiscent of action hero movies and the like this may be the perfect fit. Especially if music is important at your table.

Juan Giménez

The setup would be quite simple. During your session zero have each of the players choose a song they think represents their character well. This might work better for a modern or cyberpunk setting so that the players can choose recognizable songs that wouldn't clash with your playlist. Add these songs to your playlist. Now you can decide how long you want your playlist to be. If you only play music during combat then you'll probably want it shorter, but if you play music the whole session you'll want it longer, maybe around 6 hours. When a PC's song comes up give that PC some sort of bonus. 

A few ideas may be:

• Give them a static bonus to their next turn (IE a +3 bonus to all rolls in D&D 5e)
• Let them auto-succeed on their next action
• My favorite, let them describe how the party gets some sort of edge in the scene they're in because of the PC's badassery (IE letting the PC describe how they use their stealthy skills to sneak past a security system, how they smooth talk with a crime boss, etc, etc)

Finally, my favorite use of this mechanic is what I call "The Blaze of Glory". At any time the player can either ask the GM to play their song or pull out their phone and begin playing their theme. When a player does this they take control of the scene and describe how they overcome the obstacles, defeat the villain, whatever. But at the end of the scene or song, that PC dies in a blaze or glory. This can create super impactful moments where a PC makes the ultimate sacrifice, all the while the song that highlighted so many of their achievements plays in the background.

Let me know if you use this in your own games or one-shots, and how you would modify it for your own use. Until next time, this is Drew of the Travelling Alchemist.