Audio & Music

The Power of Sound

Close your eyes and imagine a tavern. Now add the clink of glasses, distant laughter, a crackling fireplace and a bard's gentle melody. That's the difference between seeing a scene and being in it.

In Foundry VTT you're the sound designer and the DJ. Every creaking door, thunderclap and musical sting tells players how to feel before you say a word. And because Foundry plays audio for everyone at once, the whole table hears the same thing at the same moment.

The Audio Ecosystem

Sound in Foundry comes from four places:

Each player has their own volume sliders at the top of the Playlists tab, one each for music, ambient (environment) sound and interface sounds. They only change what that player hears, so a player with a noisy room can turn music down without affecting anyone else.

How Playlists Work

A Playlist is a document in the Playlists tab of the sidebar. Inside it are sounds (tracks). To build one:

1. In the Playlists tab, click Create Playlist and give it a name.
2. Choose its playback mode (see below) and, if you like, a fade time so tracks ease in and out.
3. Add sounds: each one has a name, an audio file, its own volume, and a repeat toggle so it loops.
4. Press play. Everyone connected hears it, at their own volume settings.

The Four Playback Modes

Audio Formats

Foundry recommends OGG for audio: it's compact and loops cleanly. MP3 also works, and WebM is fine for audio too. Converting a big library of WAV files to OGG saves your players a lot of download time, because every player's browser has to fetch each track it plays.

Ambient Sounds: Painting with Audio

Ambient sounds are invisible actors in your scene, providing atmosphere without stealing focus. Unlike playlists, they're placed on the scene and each player hears them only when one of their tokens is within range.

1. Pick Sounds in the scene controls on the left of the screen.
2. Use the draw tool and click-drag on the map: the drag sets the sound's radius. (You can also drag a track from the Playlists tab onto the canvas.)
3. In the sound's configuration, choose the audio file, radius and volume. Common options include easing (the volume fades toward the edge), whether walls block the sound, and a darkness range so the sound plays only when the scene is dark enough (crickets at night, birdsong by day).
4. Players hear the ambient sound through their own ambient volume slider.

Sound-Reactive Lights

Since V13, a light's animation can react to the sound playing in the scene, so a campfire light can flicker in time with its crackle, or a magic circle can pulse with a drumbeat. Look for the reactivity options in the light's configuration. See Creating Scenes for more on lighting.

Scene Playlists

A scene's configuration lets you attach a playlist (or a single track) that starts automatically when you activate that scene. Give every major location its own theme and the music changes as soon as you move the party.

The Psychology of Game Audio

Different sounds trigger different emotions. Use this power wisely.

Combat Audio: The Rhythm of Battle

Foundry doesn't change the music on its own when combat starts. You switch playlists yourself, run a hotbar macro (below), or let a module handle it. Plan your arc like this:

A One-Click Music Swap

This script macro stops your "Exploration" playlist and starts "Combat". Create it in a hotbar slot (see Macros & Automation) and change the playlist names to match yours.

// Swap exploration music for combat music (GM only).
if (!game.user.isGM) {
  ui.notifications.warn("Only the GM can change the music.");
  return;
}
const explore = game.playlists.getName("Exploration");
const combat = game.playlists.getName("Combat");
if (explore?.playing) await explore.stopAll();
if (combat) await combat.playAll();
else ui.notifications.warn("No playlist named Combat.");

Building Your Audio Library

A well-organized audio library is a GM's secret weapon.

Essential Sound Categories

Organization Tips

Keep your audio in a folder inside your User Data's Data folder (for example an audio folder you create) and organize it like this:

📁 audio/
├── 📁 music/
│   ├── 📁 combat/
│   │   ├── combat_generic_01.ogg
│   │   ├── combat_boss_intense.ogg
│   │   └── combat_victory_fanfare.ogg
│   ├── 📁 calm/
│   │   ├── town_day_peaceful.ogg
│   │   └── dungeon_creepy_loop.ogg
│   └── 📁 emotional/
│       └── farewell_sad_strings.ogg
├── 📁 ambience/
│   ├── 📁 nature/
│   │   └── forest_birds_wind.ogg
│   └── 📁 urban/
│       └── tavern_busy_night.ogg
└── 📁 sfx/
    ├── 📁 spells/
    │   └── fireball_explosion.ogg
    └── 📁 stingers/
        └── level_up_fanfare.ogg
            

Advanced Audio Techniques

Layering for Depth

Great soundscapes use several quiet layers. In a Simultaneous playlist, each layer is a track with its own volume:

Dynamic Music

Music that responds to the game:

• Exploration to combat: crossfade when initiative starts. Playlist fade times make a manual switch smooth; the macro above makes it one click.
• Location themes: attach a playlist to each important scene so it starts when the scene is activated.
• Time of day: give ambient sounds a darkness range: birdsong in daylight, crickets at night.
• Health-based intensity: music that swells as the party weakens isn't built in; it needs your own macro or a module.

Try It in Foundry: Audio Scene Design

Audio Resources

Always check each site's licence before using a track, especially if you stream or record your games.

Free Music and Sound Sources

• Incompetech: royalty-free music by Kevin MacLeod
• Freesound.org: community-made sound effects (licences vary by sound)
• YouTube Audio Library: free music and effects
• Zapsplat: a large library of sound effects (registration required)
• BBC Sound Effects: a big archive with its own licence terms

Specialized RPG Audio

• Tabletop Audio: ambiences designed for RPGs
• Syrinscape: a dynamic soundboard app
• Battle Bards: RPG music and ambience
• Plate Mail Games: fantasy music for many situations

Audio Editing Tools

• Audacity: free, good for trimming loops and exporting OGG
• Reaper: a professional editor at a modest price
• Online tools: trimmers and format converters

Common Audio Pitfalls

The Volume Wars

Problem: music drowning out player conversation.

Solution: keep track volumes low (a third or so for music, lower for ambience) and remind players they can set their own sliders in the Playlists tab.

The Silent Player

Problem: one player hears nothing.

Solution: browsers block sound until you interact with the page, so ask them to click anywhere in the Foundry window. Then check their volume sliders and, for ambient sounds, that their token is inside the sound's radius.

The Jarring Transition

Problem: sudden music stops and starts break immersion.

Solution: set a fade time on your playlists and prepare transitions in advance.

The Repetitive Loop

Problem: a 30-second loop driving everyone crazy.

Solution: use longer loops (3+ minutes) or a Shuffle playlist of several tracks.

The Missing Moment

Problem: the epic moment happens with no audio support.

Solution: keep a Soundboard Only playlist of stingers ready: victory, discovery, danger.

Ideas from the Table

The Synchronized Storm

Put a thunder stinger in your soundboard and trigger it the moment the villain appears in a flash of lightning on the map. Good timing will make your players jump.

Personal Themes

Give each PC a short theme in a Soundboard Only playlist. Play it when they do something heroic. By the end of the campaign, the opening notes alone get everyone excited for that character's moment.

The Living Tavern

Give the tavern a morning playlist (roosters, breakfast cooking) and an evening one (rowdy crowd, bard performing), or use darkness ranges on its ambient sounds. Players may start planning visits around who'll be there at different times.

Where to Go Next

Your scenes now have depth and every moment has the right emotional backing. Next, Modules & Add-ons shows how to extend Foundry to match your vision. To light the scenes your sounds live in, revisit Creating Scenes.