Tabletop Audio Gives DMs Free, Hand-Crafted Soundtracks For Their Games

Have you ever found yourself sitting up late at night, digging through streaming sites trying to find just the right soundtrack to go along with your game's upcoming epic showdown? Have you tried to subtly start playing ambient music for the duke's party, or the tense stalk through the vampire lord's keep, only to have a YouTube ad pop up and destroy the mood you were trying to create? Did you ever wonder if there was a way to get great soundtracks that you wouldn't have to pay through the nose to use?

Well, good news! There is, and it's called Tabletop Audio.

Seriously, take a moment to set the mood before you start rolling dice.

What Is It?

Put simply, Tabletop Audio is a place you can go to get all the ambient noise you've ever wanted to help set the mood, and add a touch of immersion to your RPGs. Do you want some tinkling piano and crowd noise for when the party is in the saloon? Well, the site has that. Do you need the sound of a city at war? Well, the site has that, too. The strange music of the astral plane? The interior of a 747? A river town? A volcano?

Yep, all of that is available for free from Tabletop Audio.

You've got all kinds of options, too. You can go to the site, and play the tracks directly from there. You can download them, and save them to your mobile device. You can even set up a queue so you've got a playlist ready to go for your game. It allows you to up your game, and do something your players won't forget.

Who's Responsible For This?

The DM behind this site is a man named Tim, and according to him the whole thing started off as a lark. He played tabletop games with his kids, and he just happened to have the necessary skill set to put together audio tracks to improve the game. Once he'd finished using them, he realized other DMs might find these tools useful as well. So he made them available free of charge.

Donations are welcome, though.

Tim's goal is to show it's possible to run a useful, helpful gaming site that provides great, unique content, and which runs entirely off the donations of patrons who want to help him help them improve their games. There are no ads on the site, and as far as Tim's concerned, there never will be. Because that's not what he's about. He just wants to be able to help other people run great games, and it's his hope they'll give back what they can.

Oh, and before I forget, these tracks aren't just for your tabletop games. If you run a podcast, or a YouTube channel that needs some background noise, Tim's tracks are ideal for your project. Check out what I and the folks over at Dungeon Keeper Radio did for our first episode of Risky Business using Tim's saloon track as a scene setter.

Good stuff, right?

So, if you want to add a tool to your DM toolbox, check out Tabletop Audio. It costs you nothing, but if you have some spare scratch, toss it into the donation box to help Tim keep doing his thing.

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday installment. Hopefully you all found it helpful, and at least some of the DMs out there use it in their games. If you want to keep up-to-date on my latest releases, consider following me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. And, if you've got a Washington floating around in your entertainment budget, consider heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a patron today! All it takes is $1 a month to make a difference, and to help me bring great content right to your screen.