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About Toxic Bag Productions

Toxic Bag Productions is the original provider of sound effects for Role-playing Games.

We oughta know; we were there when it happened!

 

SOME TIME IN THE MID-90s.

We were playing our RPG games. We had the visual aids – the maps, the props. We had the soundtrack to the GM’s favorite horror movie playing in the background, when it suddenly hit us: hey, we’re sound designers, we oughta be able to make this game more cinematic with some sound effects. So, after all the characters were dead or insane, we headed down to the studio to see what we could come up with.

In 1996 our groundbreaking line of sound effects CDs introduced RPG game masters across all role-playing genres to the possibilities of adding ambience to their games with sound and music.

The critical response was uniformly positive:

”A pretty creepy collection…Made the hair on my neck stand on end…a must have!” –Brian’s Small Press Picks, Knights of the Dinner Table

“…guaranteed to make them jump…would be a “Sound” addition to your GM’s bag of tricks.” –GameTime magazine

“Every hero needs theme music, and now even the lowliest dungeon-crawler can have some…just the right sound for just the right moment. Diehard game masters – the kind who have painted miniatures for every adventure and spend considerable time assembling props for their games – are going to love this collection.” –Kenneth Newquist, SciFi.com

“Are you one of those DMs who can mimic a fabulous array of voices and make convincing sound effects during the game? Me neither. For those of us with a limited vocal range, Toxic Bag Productions has come to the rescue with a series of sound effects for your roleplaying campaign.” –Dragon #284

Today those high-quality sound effects are still available on compact disc, but technology has advanced and so have we. Now the sounds in the Game Masters Collection – and many more effects we’ve produced since– are available as downloadable mp3 files.

 

Hello! We’ve recently encountered some website issues and we’re working on getting them fixed. The site is going to look a little strange for a day or two.

 

In the meantime, you can still find all of our RPG sound effects at DrivethruRPG.com.

Thanks for your patience!

Joe and Steve
Toxic Bag Productions, Inc.

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Andre Kruppa of Game Soapbox – full interview now online

In February we interviewed Andre Kruppa of Game Soapbox for our podcast. He had many cool things to say about using sound effects, lighting and other theatrical elements in RPGs. You can get the podcast here.

To keep the podcast’s runtime reasonable, we edited the conversation way down. But the edited interview only scratches the surface; there’s much more great info in the full interview. So, we’re posting it for you. Click here to listen to the full interview!

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Lys Galati of Sphinx Group – full interview now online

In November we interviewed Lys Galati of Sphinx Group for our podcast. She had some great information and insights about the gaming industry, the present and future of RPGs, the current state of crowdfunding and lots more. To keep the podcast’s runtime reasonable, we edited the conversation way down. Lots of folks wanted to hear the full interview, so we’ve posted it to the site. Click here to listen to the full interview!

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New sound: Beehive interior

Our new sound for January is a very specific sound for a very specific application – it’s the interior of a bees’ hive. We don’t know if your players are trapped inside a giant have surrounded by giant bees, or if they’ve been shrunk down and are wee enough to become trapped inside a regular bees’ hive, but the result is the same, isn’t it? Don’t get stung!

The giant insects hovered over me, staring right through me with their multi-faceted eyes, their wings a blur as they floated on the air. As they darted back and forth, the deadly points of their stingers glinted in the light of my torch. As I cautiously began to ease my way out of the hive, they gathered to attack!

Beehive Interior is a background sound of the inside of a massive beehive, with worker bees buzzing and crawling around. The effect is ten minutes long and loops seamlessly. It’s available from us for $1.25 and from DrivethruRPG for $1.50.

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End of the year lists!

As 2014 draws to a close, you’re no doubt inundated with “Best of” and “Worst of” lists all over the place. Try as we might, we couldn’t resist the urge to try a couple of those ourselves to see what the fuss is about. So, we sat down with our good friends Eric Van Tassell and Ele Matelan (both of Specimen fame, among other things) to list our top genre movies and television shows of the year. We had a couple of great in-depth chats and the results are here in our two bonus year-end podcasts!

Best Genre TV shows of 2014 Podcast

Best Genre movies of 2014 Podcast

And of course, everyone’s got an opinion, so let us know yours! Send us a note at podcast@toxicbag.com or drop a note on our Facebook page!

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New: Podcast Contest

We’re excited to announce the first ever Toxic Bag Podcast Contest! For the next three
months we’ll be giving away free soundpacks as well as a chance to win the Grand Prize.

Here’s how it works:

We’ll ask a trivia question in each podcast for the next three months. All you have to do is send us an email with the correct answer. All the correct entries will be put into a drawing and 10 random winners receive a free soundpack from our audio library.

The winners will also be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing to be held in December.

Send all entries to: podcast@toxicbag.com

Monthly Prizes: 10 Winners – A soundpack of your choice

Grand Prize: 1 Winner – A Specimen Print and Play, Zombie bundle and a Complete Collection – A $45 Value!

Click here to get the podcasts!

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Only one monthly prize per contestant. Winners determined by random drawing from correct response emails sent to podcast@toxicbag.com. No cash substitutions. Employees of Toxic Bag Productions and DeLeo-Kaga Corporation, their families and business associates are not eligible.  Contest ends December 31, 2014.

 

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New Sounds: Demon Fire


Our new sounds for this month are tied in with a common horror trope: trapping the demon in a circle of enchanted flame. The binding ceremony usually involves drawing symbols on the floor in blood or salt, and setting the circle on fire once the demon steps inside.

Our Demon Fire soundpack comes in three varieties; the differentiating factor is the ignition source for the flame. ‘Cause, let’s face it – you don’t want your players asking, “hey, if we’re in a medieval setting, why am I using a Zippo to light this fire?” Or alternately, in a modern game, “where the heck did I get a torch?”

So, we’ve given you a torch, a match, and a lighter. Each ignition sound is followed by ten minutes of enchanted flame.

And in addition, each download comes with a ten-minute loop of magic flame with no ignition sound, so if you just want continuous fire, you can do that too at no extra charge!

Of course, these fire sounds don’t have to be used exclusively to depict demon traps. Really, you could use them for just about anything your players feel like setting on fire. And if your players are like ours, that’s a lot of things!

Torch (Fantasy/Medieval demon hunter)

The daemon has walked right into your carefully-laid trap; directly into the center of the circle of blood sigils on the stone floor. In the dim light of this dank dungeon, it was easy to conceal it with some hastily-arranged dirt and pieces of rat dung. You touch your torch to the edge of the circle, and the floor erupts in a magical flame.

 

Now, daemon, we will talk.

 

This effect is the sound of a torch igniting a magic flame that burns for ten minutes.

 

Match (Steampunk/Early 20th Century demon hunter)

You have the demon right where you want it. It’s just walked right into the center of the circle of blood sigils you painted on the floor. Before it knows what’s happening, you light a stick match and touch it to the blood. The circle erupts in a magical flame that spreads out to both sides and surrounds the demon in a second.

 

Shall we begin our conversation, hellspawn?

 

This effect is the sound of a wooden stick match igniting a magic flame that burns for ten minutes.

 

Lighter (Modern demon hunter)

You’ve got the demon right where you want him. The smug sonofabitch just walked right into the center of the circle of blood sigils you hid under the throw rug. You smile, just a little, and spark up the chrome lighter in your hand. You throw it to the floor, and the circle erupts in a magical flame. Now old blackeyes there is trapped until you say so.

 

Before I gank you, you’re gonna spill, buttwipe.

 

This effect is the sound of a modern lighter igniting a magic flame that burns for ten minutes.

 

Demon Flame Loop

Now that the demon is trapped within the blood circle, the flame will continue to burn and he won’t be able to leave. This ten-minute loop of magic demon fire will allow you to question him all you like.

 

Each of the Demon Flame soundpacks are available for $1.25 from toxicbag.com and $1.50 from DrivethruRPG.com.

 

 

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Science Fiction Toolkit

You’ve crafted your universe and created the PCs. Everything is in place to begin your epic RPG Campaign for galactic domination. All that’s left is to add that final element: sound. Toxic Bag’s Science Fiction Toolkit gives you the audio building blocks to help create worlds that, before now, the players had only imagined. Designed for use with any RPG system, the toolkit will help make your sci-fi games better.

Over 45 minutes of Sci-Fi Sounds!

Tracks Include:
Sci-Fi Battle *
Jump to Lightspeed ¥
Time Machine Interior (10 minute ambience) ¥
Self-Destruct Sequence ¥
Cyberspace (10 minute ambience) ¥
Starship Bridge (10 minute ambience) †
Star Cruiser Rumble (10 minute ambience) †
Red Alert (6 minute effect) †
GM Soundpack: Blasters & Deflector Shields (click for description)

* Previously available on the Battles Collection
¥ Previously available on the Strange Places Collection – remastered for this set
† New Sound

 

The Science Fiction Toolkit is available from toxicbag.com and DrivethruRPG.com.

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Game Masters App for iPad/iPod – new version available

We’re pleased to announce that version 2.3 of our Game Masters Collection app for iOS is now available on iTunes. The app allows quick, convenient playback of Toxic Bag sound effects from your iPhone or iPad. The free app download provides sample tracks from each of the four Toxic Bag collections to experience, as well as additional sounds for free that do not appear on the original CDs. The lists can be rearranged, and tracks from the different collections gathered together into a Favorites list, perfect for a gaming session or party.

The free download provides over thirty sample sound effects, including a half-dozen each from the four collections. In App Purchase can then be used to activate the full list of sounds for an individual collection. Buy just the collections you want, and have them all available in a single app for playback.

 

What’s New in Version 2.3

You now have access to five more of our critically-acclaimed sound packs!

Eldritch Horror: Cult Ceremonies is a collection of 9 different mystical cult ceremonies. Now you can let your players hear that pesky cult eagerly summoning their icky dark lord to wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world.

Fantasy: Dragons is a collection of 20 growls, hisses, roars and breath attacks. Now you can let your players hear one of the most iconic creatures of the fantasy genre!

Fantasy: Traps is a collection of eleven sinister traps for you to install into your perilous fantasy campaigns.

Horror #2 – EVP  Electronic Voice Phenomena are mysterious recordings which are believed by some to represent the voices of the dead. Now Toxic Bag introduces a collection of creepy EVP phrases for you to use in your modern horror game.

Sci-Fi: Blasters & Deflector Shields is a collection of 16 energy weapons and shields for you to equip your party as they enter your Galactic Sci-Fi Operas.

Changes and fixes –
Optimized for iOS 7.
Changed the iPhone main view to a tableview menu.
Fixed scrubber to resize properly after rotating.
Resized main tableview icons to line up the text.
Cleaned up the startup screens.
Cleaned up actions when app goes into background.
Added a microphone access request for iOS 7 devices.

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New Specimen standalone site

We’ve created a site specifically for our new board game, Specimen. There you’ll find articles about how to play the game; good strategies for playing the crew or the monster; videos about different strategy cards and the development of the game; and selected game images. There are also some downloads of living rules and (soon) other goodies, as well as an exploration of the world in which Specimen takes place.

Visit the site at https://specimengame.wordpress.com/