Will Savino

Homebrew Subclasses: Vol. 1

I've been working on a bunch of homebrew mechanics for fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons, and this is the first little batch that I'm publishing. This short document includes new playable options for the paladin, the rogue, and the sorcerer:

• The Oath of Merriment is a joyous paladin who fights for the people's right to revel. 
• The Dissident is a rogue freedom fighter on the frontlines against tyranny. 
• The Resonant is a sorcerer whose vibrating blood a...
  2020-01-19 16:43:18 +0000 UTC View Post

Island Vibes

I love tritons. I love sea elves. I love tortles and pirates and seafaring adventures. I also love the music from the Zora domain in just about every Zelda game. In that vein, this alternate version of "With Garners Full of Grain" is some quintessential chill island scoring. 

In one of my campaigns, there's an island community called The Bronze Coast that's home to laidback human bards, laidback tortle druids... in fact, there are laidback members of just about every class and race...

A Post-Album Celebration

Album #1 is done and released into the world. I have to admit that's a big relief for me! Hopefully this will greatly help your ability to play Music d20 tracks wherever you are without having to worry about compiling your mp3s. With that said... here's a new mp3!

This track is perfect for bustling city streets: I specifically had a harvest festival in mind, but any sort of busy city affair is ideal. Maybe it's a royal ball, a post-adventure party at the local tavern, or just a jolly mo...

Album release!

The people have spoken! You said you wanted my music available elsewhere, so here it is. You can now buy the first batch of standard tracks on Bandcamp, or find it on YouTube, Spotify, 2020-01-09 13:18:37 +0000 UTC View Post

A More Traditional Wickedness

This variant of "Those Who Writhe Below" has a more conventional instrumentation that's perfect for either more conventional villains (a feudal lord, a wicked wizard, or dark priest) or for calmer moments related to these villains (exploring their lair, or studying their backstory in relative safety). It's certainly still evil  music, but it's perhaps a bit subtler due simply to the arrangement. 

Cultish Evils

I love mysterious villains that largely work in the shadows. Yes, it's fun to just be pissed off at a big orc who keeps ruining your day, but sometimes a more insidious evil lurks below: cults of cosmic horrors, or secretive puppet masters weaving intrigue in plain sight. This music is great for those moments where the BBEG is revealing his dark scheme, or as he hmakes a grand entrance. 

I was particularly thinking of the Daelkyr in Eberron (evil alien creatures who create monstrou...

Journey *Through* A Tarrasque

Hey patrons!

As a special gift over the holiday season, I joined up with 20 battlemap makers, 2 miniature makers, 1 magic item creator, 1 monster maker, 1 adventure writer, and another composer to bring you a giant, terrifying, full formed Tarrasque for you party to take on! Here's what you'll get, for free, as thanks for being Patrons:

Inside the Belly of the Beast

A gargantuan 123x40 grid battlemap within the Tarrasque itself! Dungeon crawl through the dank and dangerous...

Echoes of Light

There are a million different ways to portray the Feywild or other primordial elven "domains." Some versions are dangerous, tricky, and untamed. Others are pristine, elegant, and regal. One thing these portrayals often have in common is a sort of shimmery, illusory, magical property. That's the effect I really wanted to achieve here: this notion of somewhere otherworldly and beyond perception.

In my campaigns, I like the ideas of everyday portals, or "coterminous" locations... a sort of...

Music Distribution Poll

Hey all! I've got some great music coming at you in the next few weeks, but I'm timing them to coincide with some collaborations. You'll be getting some nice freebies as part of the deal, and I'm really excited for you to see and hear everything. 

Right now, I'm looking for a bit of feedback. I want to make sure that my music is as easy to access and use as possible. When I DM, I use a bunch of custom Spotify playlists filled with music from lots of artists. Having everyth...

Relaxing Piano On The Mountaintop

I heard a lot of great feedback regarding "Behold The Ancient Meadow" when I released it last month. I decided it was worth revisiting, with a much sparser arrangement. This solo piano version is useful for calmer moments in your campaign, or just instances of reflection. 

Maybe the party just finished a quest and gets to enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet before setting off on their next adventure, or maybe they've just reconnected with an old friend. This music is relaxing and...

The Moment Before All Hell Breaks Lose

Before every great campaign stumble, there's a moment when a party has to decide whether to enact their foolish plans. Your thief is browsing pockets in the bazaar or your chaotic sorcerer is peering longingly into the magic shop, Fireball at the ready. 

Set the stage! Establish the stakes! Show them that even casual story beats can be brimming with potential energy. This alternate version of "No Laughing Matter" is the track for the anticipatory calm before blunders start to casca...

When Antics Get Serious

How many times has this happened to you: Your players are in a tavern trying to gather information for an investigation. The party's murder hobo then decides to start a brawl because they lost a bet. All of a sudden, you (the DM) realize that these actions must have consequences. Cue "No Laughing Matter." 

This track (heavily inspired some of the music from The Witcher 3) is the music for when a casual moment suddenly becomes very tense: a card game becomes a duel, an interrogation...

The Shivering War

I've been meaning to make a combat track that's 90% percussion for a while now. I often start that way before eventually chickening out and adding strings, bass, and all the rest. Well this time I mostly did it! This is WAR music. Angry toms. Furious tambourines. Chaotic evil snares.  I tried to blend the percussion styles of a lot of different cultures. In my mind, this is the score to a battle between a desert tribe and Northern barbarians, so it's a thorough mix of both sound...

Stringy Tension

I told y'all in a previous post that I recently got some new string libraries. Well, they sound really good and I'm moderately obsessed with them, so here's some more! I did a new version of the dungeon music I posted last night with just a string orchestra. I'm pretty impressed with how many different textures these create. 

This track is perfect for a tense moment that's a bit less exotic than than the standard version of this track. Maybe you're in a haunted woods, sneaking into...

Get Ready To Delve

It seem like lots of campaigns these days focus less and less on the actual dungeon delving portion of tabletop games, but I still love me some old-fashioned trap-filled murder tombs. This track will help score those tense moments of puzzle solving, sneaking, and plundering as you plumb the depths of rotting catacombs and mysterious ruins. 

Medieval Combat

Yesterday I posted a couple tracks, one of which I'd been sitting on for a while. After finally getting some nice new string samples (yes, believe it or not, I don't have access to a full orchestra), I was ready to record this combat version of "Autumn On The Ramparts." I probably veer a bit too far off the fantasy mainstream much of the time, but I promise that is not the case here! 

If you need music for a duel against a knight, storming a castle, or defending the capito...

Majestic Fields and Tall Towers

I've got two new tracks for you all. A couple more highly requested themes! 

• "Behold The Ancient Meadow" is my take on vast plains. At some point, most adventurers end up having to simply travel long distances across pleasant but largely empty fields. If you have a calm moment, this should set the scene perfectly!
• "Autumn On The Ramparts" is ideal for your castle walls, your guildhalls, or even something like a Viking longboat. This is serious music: maybe you've jus...
  2019-11-05 19:14:11 +0000 UTC View Post

Low Intensity Pirate Adventures

This week's track (Sailing With The Splintered) is perfect for high seas adventures, but what about when you're just chilling with some pirates while the party's bard is trying to score free drinks?  This variant track is perfect for those low stakes, high flavor moments of your campaign. Exploring some jungle ruins, collecting your reward at the desert oasis, or just playing a game of Three-Dragon Ante with the semi-legitimate merchants in town.

Again, a special thanks to all of y...

Pirate Adventures

In my seafaring campaign, The Splintered is either a reckless squad of thieves and criminals, or a ragtag group of freedom fighters, depending on whom you ask.  This track should hopefully capture both sides of that dichotomy! This rousing adventure music can score high seas combat, exciting tavern brawls, or even a chase through the desert. There's a level of exoticism in the instrumentation that hopefully can suit lots of tropical or arid campaign environs. 

Patrons supporti...

Music For Your Mage College

One of my wonderful patrons (@sovest555) requested music for a "Prestigious Magic Academy" on the Music d20 Discord. I'm currently prepping a magic school for one of my homebrew campaigns, so I was more than happy to oblige. This track has more than a few Harry Potter vibes about it, but hopefully it's appropriate for any snooty group of elites: the professors at the alchemy school, the high council of elves, or a league of bankers oppressing the townsfolk.

I'd also like to announce tha...

New Version of Pious Vengeance

After a few weeks of contemplating how I could reconfigure Pious Vengeance with less insane intensity, I finally decided to create a string quartet version, with some extra bells to maintain the "pissed-off cleric" vibe I had in the original. This track was made for the fabulous map creator Venatus Maps. He included it alongside his wonderful new cathedral entrance map which I've included right here!

2019-10-13 15:16:07 +0000 UTC View Post

Three New Tracks For October

Hey patrons! I'm super pleased with how these new tracks turned out, and I think they'll help you score a wide range of player scenarios.

• "Midnight In The Ashen Grove" was inspired by a spooky evening my players spent in an enchanted fortress that had been tainted by vile forces. This can definitely be used for a whole spectrum of spooky environments (sewers, abandoned mines, haunted cemeteries), or even just some melancholy story beats: player death, dark backstories, or evil pla...
  2019-10-05 16:04:24 +0000 UTC View Post

Two New Variants: Peaceful Harp, and Grooving Combat

Here are two new variants for my $5 and up tiers! 

• You'll remember "The Liquid Truth" from the first pack of standard tracks. I really liked that vaguely Celtic melody, but I felt it was too driving and cheery for some slower scenes. This new harp arrangement is better for calm moments in peaceful village, or just downtime by the campfire.
• "Midnight In The Ashen Grove" is a dungeon-centric track from the newest batch of standard tunes. This version adds some bass and...
  2019-10-05 16:04:08 +0000 UTC View Post

Free Track: Duel Compulsion

Here's a combat track from the first batch of music I released! If you're on the fence about becoming a patron, give this one a listen, and feel free to download via the link at the bottom. 

It's one of my favorites for all sorts of high intensity scenarios. Ideal for exciting battles: your low level party has to fight a griffon on a mountaintop, or a pirate captain they've been pursuing at sea. Maybe they're chasing doppelgangers through crowded city streets, or attempting to beco...

Variant Pack 1

This first set of variant tracks will help you score even more scenarios in your campaign.

• "In Corridors of Yore (Organ and Celesta)" is perfect for a decrepit castle or a spooky church, or maybe a sinister cult that's trying to keep up appearances in the capitol.
• "Duel Compulsion (Ambient)" evokes deep caves or seemingly empty lairs.
• "Last Respite (Piano)" can be whipped out for those crucial emotional moments: player death, NPC betrayal, or the reveal ...
  2019-09-19 13:15:02 +0000 UTC View Post

The Start Of Your Adventure!

The first pack of tracks! This diverse set of 10 fantasy tunes should get your campaign off to a perfect start: lively market song "The Liquid Truth,"  thrilling combat track "Duel Compulsion," and pensive campfire tune "Last Respite." You can smite the undead to "Pious Vengeance," or take your first steps into the Underdark with "Ritual Deep, Dark, and Wet." This pack has a bit of everything, so there should be a little something for most encounters your players will run into. Make sure...