Sounds for agitated crowds

SoundSet Suggestions
#1

I’m running a horror game set during the Spanish Civil War’s Siege of Madrid (Soldiers of Pen & Ink for Trail of Cthulhu if anybody’s interested, it’s excellent!) and there’s lots of situations where there’ll be crowds of people in various states of upset, such as under artillery barrage or aircraft bombing, huddled nervously in underground bunkers, engaging in large-scale combined arms battles, being trapped and attacked, and, for reasons spoilery, being quietly glum and miserable en masse.

Any suggestions on the best soundset or two for crowds when the marketplace goes nasty?

#2

Try the Goblin Attack/Attack on Sandpoint for screaming crowds. It also has hushed crowds (for just before someone’s speaking) that might do for subdued people. Hell’s Bright Shadow’s Aria Park Protest is a big shouting crowd who’s mad as hell and not going to take it anymore! (There’s also a protest battle in there, for when things turn ugly.) Battle at Wolven Pass is straight-up large-scale engagement sounds. Dragon’s Demand’s The Auction has some “concerned” crowds of a quieter variety.

Dance of the Damned’s Silver Council has a chattering crowd in a small room, while DoD’s Masquerade Ball has a chattering crowd in a larger room.

Friendly Tavern and Tavern Brawl have happy and angry crowds, respectively.

To add a little more of the “upset” to the crowds, when screaming isn’t called for, I might recommend throwing in some of In Search of Sanity’s various Tension Levels. Refuge of Dreamers has five different ones, and a little subtle eerie music/sounds could give you the unease you’re looking for.

2 Likes
#3

That’s an absolutely excellent answer, thank you very much. I’ll give Attack on Sandpoint a go, it seems the most broadly suitable.

Nice idea about the tension levels stuff, too. I’ve never used music in RPGs before, just directly representative sounds, and I’m a little nervous about it but I’ll experiment over the next few sessions.

#4

Excellent! You can try making some custom moods too, adding in both your music and your crowd sounds, so that you don’t have to go fishing through all of your sets. Spooky is a set that might work too for adding some unease if you’re on a soundset budget.