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Music
Now, for example, if I have the characters enter a bar in the story, usually I'll play a CD that reflects that -- usually Richie Sambora's "Stranger in This Town," anything from Bad Company or Aerosmith, or early Led Zeppelin. All of that usually has a good blues-influenced rock sound to it and can easily set the tone for a loud bar band. Serve up some cold drinks (not necessarily alcohol), tone down the lights a little and you'll see your players start to feel like they're in a more social setting than sitting around a brightly-lit table waiting to kill something. It really works.
You can easily choose different for different situations. For straight up combat, I like to use the Robotech Perfect Soundtrack. That's why I have it. Now I can play the same tension-making music as they had in the cartoon. Just program a couple songs that are appropriate for the combat and then just repeat them until it's done. If you can find some sound effects, especially explosions and jets and such, I'd recommend that playing, as well. Just kinda sets things up for them mentally.
For magical situations, I tend to use music from Queen's "A Kind of Magic." It was used more or less as the soundtrack for the first Highlander movie. That's pretty self-explanatory, I think. The Coalition usually makes me think of the Empire from Star Wars, so I like to use music from Empire Strikes Back.
I'm sure you can figure out other ideas for music.
Books
Never overlook the use of non-RPG books to inspire your campaign. You can pretty much find ideas in anything. All you need is a little imagination and a little time.
For example, let's say that you're going to run a campaign against the Coalition States. Now we all know that they were based on Nazi Germany. Emperor Prosek idolizes Hitler. So do a little reading to flesh things out better.
Maybe you're thinking of running a campaign involving True Atlanteans. Easy enough -- there's quite a bit of info out there in books on Egypt, the search for Atlantis, and others. Do a little research and you'll be amazed at what will get you going.
Personally, books I've used for inspiration in making all this come together for me would include all of Palladium Books RPG books, "Message of the Sphinx" by Hancock and Bauval, the Robotech novels by Jack Mckinney, and a variety of history books. Just remember that you can always use the story of your games as a representation of past history. Remember that people make the same mistakes in history over and over. See if your players can realize the mistakes being made. See if they can discover the creators of the Pyramids. See if they can stop the Nazi-esque regime of the Coalition States.
The RPG books give lots to work with, but don't let yourself be boxed in by what they say. Open your mind to other influences in your games. It will help keep your players on their toes.
If you'd like to start looking for books, you can either go to the local library or bookstore, or you can look online. Either way, it will only help expand your mind and improve your games.
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