Musical Interlude - Dragon Age: Inquisition - Tavern Songs

If you're the type of DM who likes to use a little music to set the mood during gaming sessions (I do. In fact I will have a write-up of my favorite mood music composer very soon!) then the folks at Electronic Arts will make your day. They announced yesterday that until February 9 they are giving away the 'tavern songs' from their recent release Dragon Age: Inquisition! After February 9 the album will be made available on various digital platforms but at a cost. To sweeten this deal EA has even included the sheet music for each of the 10 tracks in the .ZIP file.

While I have never actually played any of the games from the Dragon Age franchise, most of my gaming group have and they keep recommending I try it. My younger brother loves the series. In fact, he has been itching to run the Dragon Age tabletop RPG published by Green Ronin Publishing for seemingly forever now. I'm sure when he finally gets to he'll make good use of these tracks.

And let me assure you that you don't need to be a fan of the series to appreciate these songs. Sure, some of the references in the lyrics might be lost on you but if, like me, you're going to use these as background music during gaming sessions then the volume shouldn't be loud enough for anyone to really notice the lyrics anyway. I've only been able to give the album a quick listen, but personally I really dug tracks 3 ("Empress of Fire"), 7 ("Bard Maker"), and 8 ("Sera") Click the pic below and get this album for free before February 9:

Welcome to Dungeon Beef!

Greetings! Welcome to Dungeon Beef, a little slice of the interwebs for me to put my musings and grumblings about role-playing games and everything that goes along with them.

I live for tabletop gaming. It is my favorite pastime and the one indulgence I still allow myself. I used to collect comic books and action figures, I was a hardcore video gamer, at one time I was a die-hard movie buff too, gobbling up DVDs like my life depended on it, but as life moves forward these and other hobbies have all fallen to the wayside in my twilight years. But I could never let go of role playing. It has brought me more happiness than anything else I've ever experienced. (Editor's note: This does not include the wife. Hi honey!) I've been gaming for over two decades now, cutting my teeth on AD&D, White Wolf, Shadowrun, and d6 Star Wars games back in the wild days of the 1990s.

"What the heck does Dungeon Beef mean anyway?" I hear you not asking. Good question. I don't know. It may have something to do with Dave's "magical" cow Chelsie from Knights of the Dinner Table. Maybe not. Maybe it's just the image of a Holstein in full barding, laden with a mace, torches, and a ten-foot pole about to enter a dungeon that amuses me.

It is my intention that this blog will contain some useful and/or entertaining information about RPGs so we'll see how that goes. Even though I've been gaming for over 20 years now I am always trying to improve as a Game Master, and I think getting this process out there will make it easier for me and might even help some other GMs along the way.

Thanks for stopping by, and may all your hits be crits.