The Mountain Goats

RPG Inspired Music

The Mountain Goats

I came across this recent article about an upcoming show by the Mountain Goats that mentioned the following:

“The Mountain Goats have been inspired by many things, including the popular game, Dungeons & Dragons. Their 2019 album, In League with Dragons, was heavily inspired by fantasy video games and fictional characters.”

It reminded me that I had been meaning to looking into the band’s connection with D&D. I had read and enjoyed the novels Wolf in White Van and Universal Harvester by John Darnielle, the driving force behind the Mountain Goats. But this was back in 2017, prior to In League with Dragons being released. So it wasn’t until I saw Eric Garneau mention the album in the first issue of his Rock & Roll zine that I became aware of any RPG inspiration for their music.¹

According to Darnielle, In League with Dragons “began as a rock opera about a besieged seaside community called Riversend ruled by a benevolent wizard.” Instead of sticking with this plot throughout the album, he expanded the concept to examine how both old athletes and old wizards are the same in that “they were once magic.”

If you are looking for some RPG-inspired music from genres other than the usual Appendix LP suspects of metal and prog, give the Mountain Goats a listen. I’ve been enjoying exploring their catalog over the past few weeks. Even if their particular indie-folk style is not your typical mug of mead, you may appreciate the way they craft literate songs from unusual topics. Failing that, you may at least get a kick out of their lyrical references to Appendix LP legends like Ozzy Osbourne and Steven Tyler.

You can see some snippets of John Darnielle playing and talking about D&D in the following video:

Milestones

This week’s newsletter is being transmitted from New York City where I am attending NYU graduation ceremonies for Critical Hit Parader artist Kai Thompson. Congratulations, Kai!

I am also happy to report that last week we completed fulfillment of the the first issue of the Critical Hit Parader zine, including art prints signed by Kai for our highest level backers.

1. The first issue of the Rock & Roll zine also included an adventure written by Jackie Yang that was inspired by Getting Into Knives by the Mountain Goats.