7 free BGM tracks for TRPG sessions — the ones 9 lists agreed on
There is no shortage of TRPG music round-ups, but read several side by side and they barely overlap. The same "exploration" slot gets different tracks, and even within one library the picks diverge.
So we gathered 9 third-party lists that name individual tracks for TRPG and murder-mystery sessions and counted the titles mechanically: 367 mentions, 357 distinct titles once spellings were unified. Only 9 appeared in two or more lists.
From those 9 we removed one title that turned out to be two different pieces and one that is not distributed free, leaving the 7 below. All 7 are on their distributor's official YouTube channel and play right here on this page.
How this list was chosen
- Tallied 9 third-party lists that recommend session music for TRPG or murder-mystery games by naming individual tracks (sequels by the same author count once, so the 9 sources are 11 articles)
- Excluded articles that only introduce distribution sites without naming tracks, selections published by the distributors themselves, and round-ups of commercial soundtracks
- Unified spellings to each distributor's official title and kept only tracks named by two or more independent sources
- Where several tracks share a title, compared the links and video IDs each list pointed to. "危機" turned out to be two pieces by different composers and was dropped
- Dropped titles that are not distributed free. "Carol of the Old Ones" was named by two sources, but its creators' official site offers only listening samples and personal-use sheet music, while the recording is sold as an album
- Ranked by number of appearances, ties broken by the distributor's official title order. One track was named by three sources; the other six by two
Openings and investigation
The stretches where the table's own conversation carries the scene — reading out descriptions, gathering clues. Where the lists overlapped here, they chose short, unassertive tracks that can be cut anywhere.
不可解な事件簿的なBGM
鷹尾まさき(タカオマサキ)1:25
The distributor's description is one line: a hard-boiled mystery cue. The two lists that named it label the moment differently — one as "the case briefing" in a detective scenario, the other as "an uneasy opening" in a murder-mystery game — yet both place it before the story proper starts moving. 1:25.
Use it forCase briefings, Investigation meetings, Uneasy openings
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubeTensionDarkMysteriousElectronicClose matches from arcalune
時計図書館
MATSU2:20
According to the distributor, it layers a clock sound over piano, xylophone and celesta. The two lists used it for library-style exploration and for quiet investigation. One of them notes that the clock divides opinion — a fine accent for some, impossible to ignore for others — and offers a way around it. 2:20.
Use it forLibrary exploration, Quiet investigation, Sorting out clues
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubePianoMysteriousFantasyChillClose matches from arcalune
Encounters with the uncanny
Something appears, something is seen that should not have been, the way out closes. This is where the nine lists overlapped most: three of the seven tracks land here.
不安、恐怖、戦慄
KK3:36
Named by 3 of the 9 sources — the only track in this tally to reach three. The distributor introduces it as horror music with a spine-chilling atmosphere. The three lists put it in horror scenarios generally, the moment a strange phenomenon breaks out, and the instant the investigators find something. 3:36 as listed by the distributor.
Use it forStrange phenomena, Horror scenarios, Building dread
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 3 roundupsOpen on YouTubeHorrorDarkTensionAmbientClose matches from arcalune
ミスト
稿屋 隆3:54
Published in 2012, the oldest of these seven. In the distributor's notes the composer describes the image of a deep fog slowly thickening, admits the piece ran long again because instruments were layered bit by bit, and names the King-based film "The Mist" as the idea's origin. The two lists placed it at the appearance of a mythos creature and at encounters with the abnormal. 3:54.
Use it forMythos creature reveals, Thick fog scenes, Horror exploration
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubeAmbientMysteriousHorrorDarkClose matches from arcalune
suspense piano
KK1:22
By the same composer as the entry above, and at 1:22 the shortest of these seven. The distributor's whole description is a single line inviting the listener into a suspenseful, strange world. The two lists that named it used it for exploring cramped, frightening places and for encounters with the abnormal. Note that the same library also carries a separate track called "suspense cinema piano".
Use it forCramped exploration, Abnormal encounters, Uneasy openings
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubePianoDarkTensionCinematicClose matches from arcalune
Combat
Every list carried several combat cues, yet only one title recurred. Read it as a sign that fight music is the most personal choice a table makes.
超頭脳バトル
Yuyake Monster1:30
The only one of these seven that both lists filed under combat. The distributor describes it as tense, fast-moving electronic music. The scenes asked for are a composed, near-future fight and a "beat me and I'll help you" duel — both closer to a battle of wits than to a brawl. 1:30.
Use it forNear-future combat, Battles of wits, Climaxes
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubeElectronicBattleTensionCoolClose matches from arcalune
Endings
The slot that covers the finale and keeps playing through the debrief afterwards. What mattered in the lists was not length but whether people can keep talking over it.
神隠しの真相
しゃろう2:45
The distributor calls it a nostalgic piano-led instrumental with a Japanese-flavoured melody. Both lists put it in the ending slot but ask different things of it: one wants "a slightly sad or moving finale", the other "a piece that wraps any ending up gently". Of these seven, it is the only one filed under the closing moments. 2:45.
Use it forEndings, Moving finales, Gentle send-offs
DOVA-SYNDROMEView sourceLicence: Check both the DOVA-SYNDROME licence and the composer's own terms before useIn 2 roundupsOpen on YouTubePianoNostalgicEmotionalJapaneseClose matches from arcalune
Seven overlaps out of 357 titles may be the firmest answer this article has. There is little shared consensus about TRPG music, so choosing scene by scene yourself matters more than following any single round-up.
The overlaps also cluster. Three of the seven sit on the frightening side, while calm scenes — towns, everyday life, the journey home — produced no agreement at all. Nothing was added to even out the sections, so the empty slots stay empty.
Under each track we list arcalune's own free BGM for the same moment. The shelf can be filtered by tags such as horror, dungeon, tension and story, so start from whichever scene your table is missing.
FAQ
- Why only seven tracks?
Of the 357 titles named across the 9 lists, 9 appeared in two or more. Removing one title that referred to two different pieces and one that is not distributed free left seven. Nothing was added to round the number up.
- Are all seven free to use?
All seven are published on DOVA-SYNDROME. Commercial use, credit, editing and redistribution are governed by the site's licence together with each composer's own terms, so check the source link for the track before you use it.
- Are the embedded videos official?
Yes. For all seven we checked the title and uploading channel through YouTube's oEmbed response and used only uploads from the official DOVA-SYNDROME channel. No re-uploads are used.
- Can I upload them straight into CCFOLIA or Udonarium?
Whether uploads are allowed and what the file-size limit is are decided by those services, and we have not verified them here. Get the audio from each track's source link and check the conditions in the service's own documentation.