How to run sound during combat
The built-in Combat board's ten buttons and their takes, which of the three volume controls to reach for, and how to swap boards without leaving the scene.
Build the board before the session: a handful of buttons for the hits that matter — a swing, a miss, armor, the monster, a killing blow — named for the moment rather than the file. Leave the environment running underneath. Tap a button as it happens; each press picks a different take, so repeats never sound identical.
Build the board before the session
Combat is the worst time to be searching a sound library. Make a board for the fight you expect — a swing, a hit on armor, a miss, the monster's noise, a death — and load it before anyone rolls initiative.
Name the buttons for the moment, not the file
The label on a button is yours to write. “Swing and a miss” is findable mid-fight; “whoosh_03” is not. Use the note underneath for the tell — who it belongs to, when to hit it.
Keep the board short enough to hit without looking
Six to ten buttons is about the limit of what you can reach without taking your eyes off the table; the built-in Combat board has ten. If a board is growing past that, it is really two boards — split it and load both, because boards stack.
Let the ambience keep running
Do not stop the environment for a fight. The room does not stop existing because someone drew a sword, and a background that keeps going makes the effects sit in the space instead of on top of it.
Set the levels so the monster cuts through
Each button has its own Level slider on the Boards screen, and each loaded board a Volume slider under its title. Use the button's Level when one sound is plainly louder than its neighbors; use the board's Volume to sit a whole board under the scene rather than on top of it. Both are saved with the board, so a fight sounds the same next time.
Use takes so the same hit is never identical
Most buttons carry several recordings and pick one at random each press — the built-in Combat board's Slash, Miss and Armor hit each have four. If one of them does not fit your monster, untick it in the takes list and the button only uses the ones you kept.
What goes on a combat board?
The built-in Combat board is ten buttons, and its labels and notes are a workable template for one of your own:
| Button | The note under it | Takes |
|---|---|---|
| Battle cry | The charge | 3 |
| Sword drawn | Initiative — steel comes out | 1 |
| Slash | A hit lands | 4 |
| Miss | The blade finds nothing | 4 |
| Parry | Blade on blade | 2 |
| Armor hit | Blow on plate | 4 |
| Shield bash | Blade turned aside | 3 |
| Arrow hits | Ranged attack lands | 3 |
| Someone is hit | That one hurt | 4 |
| Killing blow | It goes all the way through | 3 |
Which volume control do I want?
There are three, and they multiply:
| Control | Where it is | What it scales |
|---|---|---|
| Level | Under each button, on the Boards screen | That one button |
| Volume | Under a board's title, once it is loaded | Every button on that board |
| Master | Top bar — on a phone, More → Sound | Everything, the environment included |
If you are broadcasting, your players hear the mix you have set rather than the raw files.
Can I swap boards mid-fight?
Yes, and without leaving the scene. Drop a board and load another from the Play screen while the environment keeps playing — useful when a fight turns into a chase, or when the thing they were fighting turns out to be the small problem.
Should I play a sound for every attack?
No. Sound on every single roll becomes noise and slows the table down. Save it for the hits that matter — a critical, a kill, the moment the door comes down. A fight with four well-placed sounds reads as louder than one with forty.
Next
Ready? Open Thaumaturgy — it is free, and there is nothing to install.
Updated 10 November 2026