Please, all writers and Dungeon Masters, make use of my not-exhaustive-but-pretty-good-list below!

I listen to music whilst I’m writing, I find it really helps me stay in the atmosphere of the genre or moment that I’m writing for, whether it’s for D&D or my novels.

Also note that just because I name a soundtrack that doesn’t mean I like all tracks on that soundtrack. If I have written mystery in a soundtrack that is full of noise, for example, The Dark Tower by Junkie XL, that is because I have selected the mystery tracks from this album and ignored the noise.

I also recommend doing extensive searches for different versions of the same track, City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra have a fine catalogue of film albums for example, Harry Potter, Conan etc which makes the same leitmotifs and themes sound a bit different.

I am always adding to this list, so it will have changed drastically in 6 months.

Genres of Fantasy

These are the intended genre of D&D or fantasy, not the genre of the music itself.

1. Arabian Nights - The desert adventures, Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean influenced games, usually Swords & Sorcery.

2. Epic Fantasy - generic fantasy in Fantasy Europe.

3. Sci-fi - generic sci-fi music.

4. Mystery - exploration of a tomb, intrigue in a city, artefact lore.

5. Fairytale, Jungle, Funeral, War, Lost World, Religious, Gothic, Chill D&D, Undead, Romance, are all self-explanatory.

6. Medieval - usually means tavern or feast music, sometimes the Hollywood sound of that era

7. Swords & Sorcery - usually Arabian Nights is Swords & Sorcery, but not always. It means a pulp fantasy such as Conan, not high fantasy like Lord of the Rings.

Music by Genre

• Alan Silvestri The Mummy Returns

• Alfred Newman David And Bathsheba, The Robe

• Bernard Herrmann & Alfred Newman The Egyptian

• Bernard Herrmann The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

• David Arnold Stargate

• Graeme Revell 13th Warrior rejected score

• Harry Gregson Williams Prince of Persia, Kingdom of Heaven

• Ingo Ludwig Frenzel The Physician

• Jerry Goldsmith The Mummy, 13th Warrior

• John Williams Indiana Jones Saga 4 films

• Lawrence Rosenthal Clash of the Titans

• Marco Beltrami Gods of Egypt

• Maurice Jarre Lawrence of Arabia, The Message

• Miklos Rózsa El Cid

• Trevor Jones Cleopatra

• Alan Menken Aladdin

• Alexandre Desplat Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows, Godzilla

• Benjamin Walfisch IT

• Bernard Herrmann Fahrenheit 451

• Caroline Shaw Partita For 8 Voices

• Ennio Morricone The Hateful Eight, Hamlet

• Ernest Gold Exodus

• Hans Zimmer Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code

• Henryk Gorecki Copernican

• Howard Shore Eastern Promises

• James Horner The Name of the Rose

• Jasper Kyd Assassins Creed Series

• John Ekstrand Life

• John Ottman X-Men: Apocalypse

• John Williams Indiana Jones Saga 4 films

• Junkie XL The Dark Tower

• Justin Bell Pillars of Eternity

• Kevin Macleod Various Open Licence Tracks

• Lawrence Rosenthal Clash of the Titans

• Mark Streitenfeld Prometheus

• Miklos Rózsa Knights of the Round Table

• Popul Vuh Nosferatu

• Ramin Djawadi Game of Thrones Saga

• Richard Wagner Forest Murmurs, Lohengrin Prelude

• Tangerine Dream Legend

• The Tolkien Ensemble Verse of the Rings

• Thomas Newman 1917

• Trevor Jones Cleopatra, Excalibur, Merlin

• Alex North Dragonslayer

• Basil Poledouris Flesh and Blood

• Corona Borealis Various

• Ennio Morricone Hamlet

• Jed Kurzel Macbeth

• Jerry Goldsmith First Knight

• John Barry The Lion In Winter

• Justin Bell Pillars of Eternity

• Patrick Doyle Henry V

• Ramin Djawadi Game of Thrones Saga

• Trevor Jones Excalibur, The Last of the Mohicans

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Requiem

• Bernard Herrmann Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Mysterious Island

• Hans Zimmer Pirates of the Caribbean Saga

• Henry Jackman Kong Skull Island

• James Horner Avatar, Apocalypto

• John Williams Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Indiana Jones Saga 4 films

• Michael Giacchino Planet of the Apes Trilogy

• Philip Glass Symphony No. 7

• Sergei Rachmaninoff The Isle of the Dead

• Alan Silvestri Predator

• Henry Jackman Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

• James Horner Jumanji, Avatar

• Jerry Goldsmith Congo

• Carl Orff Carmina Burana

• Ernest Gold Exodus

• Gabriel Fauré Requiem, Op. 48

• Hans Zimmer Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code

• Howard Shore Searching For Richard

• Midwinter The Waters of Sweet Sorrow

• Miklos Rózsa Knights of the Round Table

• Alex North Dragonslayer

• Andrew Powell & Alan Parsons Ladyhawke

• Antonin Dvorak Requiem, Op 89

• Brian Eno & Toto Dune

• Claude Debussy La Mer, L109

• Daniel Pemberton The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

• Edvard Grieg Funeral March For Rikard Nordraak

• Eivor The Last Kingdom

• Elmer Bernstein The Black Cauldron

• Frederik Wiedmann The Dragon Prince

• Gustav Holst The Planets

• Harry Gregson Williams The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Kingdom of Heaven

• Henryk Gorecki Copernican

• Howard Shore Searching For Richard, The Hobbit Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

• James Horner Krull, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: Searching for Spock, Willow

• James Newton Howard The Huntsman: Winters War

• Jeremy Soule Elder Scrolls Saga, Guild Wars 1 & 2, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights

• Jerry Goldsmith 13th Warrior, First Knight

• Joel Goldsmith Kull The Conqueror

• John Barry Dances With Wolves

• John Lunn The Last Kingdom

• John Williams Indiana Jones Saga 4 films, Memoirs of a Geisha, Star Wars Saga 9 films

• Justin Bell Pillars of Eternity

• Led Zeppelin All

• Lorne Balfe His Dark Materials

• Marcin Przybyłowicz & Percival The Witcher 3

• Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloe Michael Giacchino Rogue One

• Miklos Rózsa Knights of the Round Table

• Nobuo Uematsu & Various Artists Final Fantasy Series

• Ramin Djawadi Warcraft, Game of Thrones Saga

• Richard Wagner Parsifal

• Rush The Necromancer, The Fountain of Lamneth

• Sonja Belousova & Various Artists The Witcher TV Series

• Trevor Jones Merlin

• Vangelis Conquest of Paradise

• Witchcraft The Alchemist Song not album

• Wojciech Kilar Königin der Letzten Tage

• Basil Poledouris Starship Troopers

• Carl Orff Carmina Burana

• Carmine Coppola Apocalypse Now

• Ernest Gold Exodus

• Hans Zimmer King Arthur, The Last Samurai, Gladiator

• Harry Gregson Williams Kingdom of Heaven

• Henryk Gorecki Beatus Vir

• James Horner Braveheart, Troy

• Jerry Goldsmith First Knight

• Joel Goldsmith Kull The Conqueror

• Junkie XL Mad Max: Fury Road

• Kevin Macleod Various Open Licence Tracks

• Ramin Djawadi Clash of the Titans, Dracula Untold, Game of Thrones Saga, The Great Wall, Warcraft

• Richard Wagner Ride of the Valkyries

• Sergei Prokofiev Alexander Nevksy

• Thomas Newman 1917

• Toru Takemitsu RAN

• Trevor Jones The Last of the Mohicans, Merlin, Excalibur

• Antonin Dvorak Requiem, Op 89

• Edvard Grieg Funeral March For Rikard Nordraak, Death of Ase

• Gabriel Fauré Requiem, Op. 48

• Henryk Gorecki Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Tragedy, character death)

• Richard Wagner Siegfried’s Funeral March

• Benjamin Walfisch IT

• Ennio Morricone The Thing

• Jerry Goldsmith Alien, The Omen Trilogy, Poltergeist 1 & 2

• Henryk Gorecki Beatus Vir

• James Horner Braveheart

• John Barry Dances With Wolves

• Richard Wagner Parsifal

• Brian Eno & Toto Dune

• David Arnold Stargate

• Hans Zimmer Interstellar

• James Horner Aliens, Krull, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: Searching for Spock

• Jean-Michel Jarre Oxygéne Trilogy

• Jerry Goldsmith Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Total Recall, Alien

• John Barry The Black Hole, Starcrash

• John Ekstrand Life

• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein Stranger Things

• Mark Streitenfeld Prometheus

• Philip Glass Akhnaten, Koyaanisqatsi

• Rush 2112

• Tangerine Dream Dream Sequence, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Island of the Fay”, Rubycon, Sorcerer

• Vangelis Blade Runner

• Alexandre Desplat The Shape of Water, Tale of Tales, Valerian, Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows

• Claude Debussy La Mer, L109, Nocturnes, Prelude To Afternoon Of A Faun

• Daniel Pemberton The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance

• Danny Elfman Alice In Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands

• Depressive Silence Depressive Silence 2

• Elmer Bernstein The Black Cauldron

• Harry Gregson Williams The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

• James Horner The Pagemaster, Spiderwick Chronicles, Willow

• James Newton Howard The Lady in the Water, Maleficent, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Huntsman: Winters War

• Javier Navarette Pan’s Labyrinth

• Jerry Goldsmith Legend

• John Williams BFG, Harry Potter Trilogy first 3 films

• Maurice Ravel Ma Mere L’oye, Pavane For A Dead Princess, Daphnis et Chloe

• Patrick Doyle Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire

• Thomas Newman 1917

• Trevor Jones The Dark Crystal

• Basil Poledouris Conan The Destroyer, Conan The Barbarian

• Ennio Morricone Red Sonja

• Hans Zimmer Gladiator

• James Horner Troy

• Jasper Kyd Assassins Creed Series

• John Barry The Lion In Winter, The Last Valley

• Lawrence Rosenthal Clash of the Titans

• Maurice Jarre The Message

• Miklos Rózsa Quo Vadis, Ben-Hur, El Cid, King of Kings

• Peter Gabriel The Last Temptation of Christ

• Philip Glass Kepler, Akhnaten

• Ramin Djawadi Clash of the Titans

• Danny Elfman The Wolfman, Sleepy Hollow

• Daniel Pemberton The Awakening

• Hans Zimmer Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code

• James Horner Something Wicked This Way Comes

• Jerry Goldsmith The Haunting, The Omen Trilogy, Poltergeist 1 & 2

• John Williams Dracula

• Marco Beltrami The Woman In Black

• Mark Korven The Witch

• Popul Vuh Nosferatu

• Ramin Djawadi Dracula Untold

• Wojciech Kilar Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Ninth Gate

• Led Zeppelin All

• Rush All

• Witchcraft The Alchemist Song not album, Witchcraft

• The Doors The End (Apocalypse)

• Midwinter The Waters of Sweet Sorrow (Religion, Hippy Druids)

• Howard Shore Searching For Richard (Religious, Epic Fantasy)

• John Barry Dances With Wolves (Romance, Epic Fantasy)

• Richard Wagner Parsifal (Romance, Epic Fantasy)

• Depressive Silence Depressive Silence 2 (Synth, Fairytale)

• Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein Stranger Things (Synth D&D, Spelljammer)

• Tangerine Dream Sorcerer (Synth D&D, Spelljammer)

• Andrew Powell & Alan Parsons Ladyhawke (Synth-Cheese, Epic Fantasy, Planar)

• Maurice Ravel Bolero (Trippy)