Boss fight music for a tabletop game: one prompt, $0.125

To make boss fight music for a tabletop session, write one prompt with section markers like [0:00-0:30] Phase one: ... and send it to Sume's Music Router. One generation is a fixed $0.125, you steer the length inside the prompt rather than with a duration field, and the result is an audio file you can drop into your virtual tabletop's playlist.

Game masters have a busy autumn: Wizards of the Coast's 2026 plan, as reported by Gaming Trend (read 2026-10-04), puts October through December in a "Season of Champions", and Halloween one-shots are a reliable draw. A fight that changes phase deserves music that changes with it.

How do section markers work?

Sume's Music docs (read 2026-10-04) say the model, Google Lyria 3.5 today, writes full-length structured tracks up to a few minutes and is steered by the prompt: say "a 2-minute track" or use markers such as [0:00-0:30] Intro: .... There is no seed, guidance or duration parameter, and duration or duration_seconds are rejected. Prompts run up to 5000 characters.

Treat the markers as creative direction, not guarantees. The docs say the model's reported lyrics or section map is metadata, not an audio measurement, so listen before the players arrive.

What does a three-phase boss prompt look like?

Name tempo as a number, a key, two to four instruments with texture, and one named moment, then close with "Instrumental, no vocals." The docs list those axes as the way to avoid generic choices. Put exclusions in the positive prompt: negative_prompt is rejected when non-empty.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/music-router/generate \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: boss-fight-001" \
  -d '{
    "model": "sume/music-auto",
    "prompt": "A 2-minute boss fight, D minor. [0:00-0:30] Phase one: 96 BPM, low taiko and bowed cello, slow menace. [0:30-1:15] Phase two: 132 BPM, driving strings, brass stabs, the pulse doubles. [1:15-2:00] Phase three: 150 BPM, choir pads, full percussion, a final held chord. Cinematic, dry and close. Instrumental, no vocals."
  }'

What does it cost to try several versions?

The rate card (read 2026-10-04) lists music at $0.125 per audio generation, whatever the prompt length. Every Music Router model charges that fixed Music price.

How do I fetch the file?

The create call returns a job. Poll GET /v1/jobs/{id}/status until completed, then read GET /v1/jobs/{id}/result and take the artifact with type: audio from result.artifacts[]. It is a media.sume.com URL, typically audio/mpeg (Jobs and results). If you want a stronger match for a scene, pass a public HTTPS image_url of the battle map or monster art as conditioning.

Pair it with the quieter tracks in the winter one-shot kit and you have a whole session's audio for a couple of dollars.