An old RPG (Mekton Zeta) recommended having an opening sequence theme song and a closing credits theme song, just like in most Anime. The opening sequence song should be lively and upbeat, while the ending song should be somber or mellow.
Since I'm gearing up for my Fading Suns reboot, a setting that I've been using to test the mechanics of the Hinirang RPG ruleset, I decided to dip into this little mood-setting trick for the game sessions.
I'm open to suggestions. Currently, we've got the following nominations:
Opening Song:
- "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback
Closing Song:
- "My Immortal" by Evanescence
- "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John
Another Mood-Setting Trick
Scripts. The original Star Wars RPG advocated using scripts to start up each adventure. Players would read out their parts (which would include the expositional banter familiar to fans of the 1st trilogy of movies) and then jump into the scene just introduced.
For this game, I don't think it'll work. Instead, I'll take a stab at a variant. In the Babylon 5 TV series, each season had a different sequence of opening credits that held hints and foreshadowing of events to come (if not for the current season, then for future ones). Here are the voice-over narratives for each...
Season One:
It was the dawn of the third age of mankind, ten years after the Earth/Minbari war.
The Babylon Project was a dream given form. Its goal: to prevent another war by creating a place where humans and aliens could work out their differences peacefully. It's a port of call - a home away from home for diplomats, hustlers, entrepreneurs... and wanderers. Humans and aliens wrapped in two million five hundred thousand tons of spinning metal... all alone in the night.
It can be a dangerous place, but it's our last best hope for peace.
This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations.
The year is 2258. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
- Commander Sinclair
Season Two:
The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace.
A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night.
It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind...the year the Great War came upon us all.
This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations.
The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.
- Captain Sheridan
Season Three:
The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace.
It failed.
But, in the Year of the Shadow War, it became something greater: our last, best hope... for victory.
The year is 2260. The place: Babylon 5.
- Commander Ivanova
Season Four:
It was the year of fire... (Lennier) the year of destruction... (Zack) the year we took back what was ours. (G'Kar)
It was the year of rebirth... (Lyta) the year of great sadness... (Vir) the year of pain... (Marcus) and the year of joy. (Delenn)
It was a new age. (Londo)
It was the end of history. (Franklin)
It was the year everything changed. (Ivanova)
The year is 2261. (Garibaldi) The place: Babylon 5. (Sheridan)
- Various
Since we don't have the budget constraints of a TV series, I'll probably have a different player read the intro in character, with slight variances for each episode.
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