Does Reddit like ambiance?

September 29, 2026

Crowdsourcing opinions on TTRPG ambiance

Hi GMs! I’m always going on and on about how much I love ambiance and combat music, but I realize I might be in a very small percentage of people who care at the level that I do. Or am I? Well today, I took to Reddit to ask that very question. Do you care about ambiance? Does it help you get immersed?

I collected about 50 or so responses and here are my findings:

  • 43% of responses like ambiance and combat music
  • 32% or responses don’t care or felt it could be good or bad depending on the GM
  • 25% of responses outright dislike it

As expected, the results are pretty much all over the place, though they lean toward favoring tabletop audio. Of course, as the dev of a tabletop audio management tool, I am thrilled to see that most of the responses were favorable. Of the folks who like audio at the table, one of the most cited reasons for enjoying ambiance and combat music is that a significant portion of TTRPG players play online. This is actually news to me as 99% of my TTRPG career has been spent so far at a physical table. These commenters said that without ambiance in an online game, it can feel like a teams meeting. Some even said that if their GM doesn’t play music, they will play their own audio locally to get immersed. I designed Fantasy Fader with my specific use case in mind, so this is terrific feedback for me because it tells me I should shift my design focus to the online experience to expand my user base.

Why Do Some Players Not Care About D&D Background Music?

Now enough of the data that I want to see, let’s look at the interesting data: that 32% of responses that can go either way. This is the area I’m most interested in as a GM. I know that I love audio at the table, but for people who don’t really care, I want to know why. The most commonly cited reason was “it doesn’t add anything”. I feel that this can be attributed to two possibilities: the GM doesn’t care or the player doesn’t care. I mentioned in my Reddit post that one of my players joked that I only add audio to my games because I enjoy it, which is partially true, but I do also hope that my players enjoy it too. If you have a player that straight up doesn’t get anything out of you adding ambiance to your games, then there’s nothing really you can do about that. However, what you can do for the players that think they don’t care is try harder. Consider more carefully the tracks that you choose, ensuring that they sound accurate to the location while remaining unobtrusive and not distracting (crowd noise is one that is hard to get right). I’ve mentioned before that I don’t necessarily recommend my method of listening to forest noise for literally an entire day, but I do think making your audio at the table a higher priority is a great game booster. A few people mentioned that jarring cuts and short ambiance tracks that loop often are big immersion killers, which was music to my ears since these are issue’s I’m trying to solve with Fantasy Fader.

Why Do Some Players Dislike D&D Background Music?

The commenters that said they don’t like ambiance are the ones we can learn the most from. The most commonly cited reason for disliking ambiance was audio processing issues and feeling like it’s a distraction. The two biggest fixes for these issues are lower volume, and choosing ambiance that doesn’t include vocals. It seemed that many people misunderstood “ambiance” to mean “music” when I made this thread, leading to a lot of anti-vocals sentiment. While I agree that tracks with vocals usually have no place at the table, I think the strategic use of them can create super hype moments. I once ran a boss fight with three stages where I split up a track into instrumental components using an editing software. I started with the percussion only for the first phase, then the horns, then for the third phase when the players had the boss on the ropes, I brought in the vocals. I had players standing and shouting their actions at me with huge smiles on their faces. Though this was an awesome moment, I realized that you can’t have something like that happen every other session; not only because a lot of editing was involved, but because moments like that are only special because they are infrequent.

Best Practices for TTRPG Audio Management:

So! Let’s review our key takeaways:

  • Keep volume low.
  • Get those vocals out of here!
  • Avoid short, repetitive tracks.
    • For ambiance, check out YouTube for extended ambiance tracks. Many ambiance creators make tracks that are several hours long with very little repeated sounds.
    • For combat music, aim for tracks that are longer, loop well, and don’t overstay their welcome for long combats (maybe consider multiple themes for a fight, like a playlist?)
  • Prioritize smooth transitions.
  • Don’t go too crazy with the combat music.
    • Low tempo, and try to avoid that grand, orchestral stuff. Those are better suited for video games and movies!
  • And lastly, don’t let tech management slow down the game.
    • I know as the dev of Fantasy Fader I should be convincing you to use the whole suite of tools it comes with, but if swapping between a bunch of tracks and remembering to apply fade effects and use the soundboard is too much to ask while you’re balancing combat and RP, then don’t do it! Sure, production value is great and will excite your players, but remember this is supposed to be fun, not stressful!

That’s all for today! Usually I tell you to hit me up via email, but I’m trying to use more social media! I’m old, gimmie a break! Here are the ways we can talk:

Email: fantasyfader@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FantasyFader

Discord: toofastturnip

Happy gaming!

p.s. Coming to MAGfest at National Harbor in January 2027 by any chance? I'll be there with my good pal Todd from Big N Lizard showing off our game Pantheon Lorekeepers! We'll be in the Riverview Ballroom indie tabletop showcase. Stop by our booth and say hi!