Hey folks!

I'm new to the forums and have been away from pen and paper RPG's for quite a while...six years, in fact. I'm trying to get back into the scene as a hobby, tabletop miniatures and board games as well, and am putting together a group for a Rogue Trader campaign which I will GM. It has been even longer since I GMed a group than the last time I played, so I'm fighting a somewhat uphill battle in compiling/organizing resources to setup the campaign. I've downloaded what I could off of this website in terms of supplemental material, I've got the DH: Creature Anathema on the way, and I've got a couple of other websites(lexicanum, to name one) for some additional background information(these are in addition to the core rulebook, obviously.)

Anyway, my reason for posting here is to see what sorts of things other GMs use to create atmosphere in their games? This is my first time doing anything in the Warhammer 40k Universe, although I've enjoyed some of the novels and the Dawn of War PC series previously.

One idea I had since I'll have a laptop at all of the sessions is to make some soundbytes to play at various plot points during each scenario to help the players' immersion. I used this in some previous D&D games with great success, particularly for scenario introductions,but have since lost all of my resources for doing it. If anyone else has tried this, do you know of 1) a decent, free, voice changer/audio manipulation program? and 2) some decent atmospheric music? I plan to rip some of the music files from EVE Online which has some very good orchestral scores, but I could use more suggestions.

Thanks!

I haven't done this, but I'd be inclined towards any Bach, particularly Tocata in Fugue (D Minor) (sp?); Handle's The Messiah, the Brandenburg Concerto, Phantom of the Opera, the Ride of William Tell, The Ride of the Valkerie's, pretty much any March and Holst's the Planets Suite, particularly Mars and Jupitor. Classics.

Figured I'd post these up as well since I mentioned them...all official and free to download. Some of them are a little quarky...but they're outstanding for mood music and atmosphere I think for anything space-based. For a prime example, the second one down entitled Glorious Future would make a great background to a well crafted intro speech I think.

Skip the top selection of ringtones obviously.

http://www.eveonline.com/download/music/

We have a PC in our gaming space that I use to display images of various NPCs. We also play the bands Explosions in the Sky, Caspian, This Will Destory You, etc in the background for good rock style music with no lyrics. It gets the party into a bit more.

One way I create atmosphere is that I will write down important narrations before the session and mull over it to make sure it is exactly what I want. I will use contemporary things that may not exist in 40k to help my players experience the atmosphere (e.g. The air smelled of Terran Roses and Lho Smoke). This might break the lore a little bit, but I feel it is an ok trade off.

If you are looking for good background music, try sonic legends ( http://www.sonic-legends.com/ or find them on www.rpgnow.com). The price is $2.99 (USD).

Check out the program on this site: www.stefanisberg.com/mutant/Mixer_eng.html

Its really easy to use if you want to use looped sounds or music in your game sessions.

I tend to use a mix of Brahms and Metallica with the player on shuffle, usually it's just there for background but it occasionally throws up a real gem of atmosphere at the most unexpected moment.

I used this once to open a session where the players were comming up against the forces of a terrible alien scourge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RFv5i8LTek&feature=related

it freaked them out somewhat

They have since come to dread an unexpected musical change from their normal opening theme....