Sample Dreams
The following section includes a number of dreams you can use directly or to inspire your own creations.
Furnace
The agony of the past always tortures the lost soul.
Type. Nightmare
Description. The burning ruins of a home and the surrounding property exude unbearable heat. The dreamer can be seen walking the halls in simple attire, always drifting into the flames. If interacted with, the dreamer only replies that this is what they deserve, and hints that maybe the intruders deserve the same, because why else would they be here.
Amidst the wreckage are unidentifiable heirlooms and personal objects which symbolize all the people the dreamer has failed.
Dream Logic. The flames are normal fire hazards that damage any target that enters them except the dreamer. When the dreamer enters a fire, it vanishes at the end of the round and will reappear in 1d6 rounds in another place within the property before wandering into the fires again.
The area is covered by a spiritwell haunting which will automatically generate one additional spiritfont haunting for each intruder in the dream. The haunting is active and hostile. As long as the haunting remains active, the dreamer can’t exit the dream. It has air spots and uses the flames as spectral constructions. It will take the flare, grasping hands (fiery tendrils that attempt to pull targets into the flames), and haunting attack (animating the fire, creating back drafts or explosions) lair actions. If a spiritfont is rendered dormant, it will awaken within 3d6 rounds as long as the dreamer remains. While the haunting is dormant, the dreamer can be awakened normally, ending the dream.
Memories
A single wall of a homestead overlooks changing scenes of a young man performing worthy deeds.
Type. Inspiration
Description. The dreamer is a woman standing “inside” the home by a large window, looking fondly at the youth. As the dream sequence advances, she ages from middle aged to old, and the youth ages from teenage to a young man in his prime.
The youth is seen building homes, passing out food, dancing, holding up a fallen beam, pushing through flames, handing a small child through a window. The woman looks on with pride and tears of joy at the son who made her proud, even though his time was short.
The woman will happily answer any question about the boy except how he died. She prefers to remember the good times. She draws hope from them, and encourages onlookers to do the same.
Dream Logic. The woman’s home is only composed of part of a single wall and the immediate area of the floor. She doesn’t notice this oddity. Interaction with the youth is not possible, as he is just an illusion fabricated by the dream. The woman ages in accordance with her son, over the course of about 15 years.
Nexus of Worlds
A calming dream where people of many walks of life comingle.
Type. Serene
Description. The landscape is a mishmash of places from various environments and planes that seem on one hand to be in conflict, but on another hand to fit together. Amongst the landscape are beings of all kinds interacting and socializing.
Dream Logic. All creatures speak the same language, but no one can identify it. The dreamer is vacant, appearing as a random cloud in the sky. As long as intruders remain peaceful, the dream will continue and its creatures remain friendly. If an intruder takes a hostile action or draws out the dreamer, the dream’s landscapes begin to fracture and shatter as the world tumbles apart leaving only a dim gray light as the dream ends.
Running Out of Time
A dream foretelling of a kingdom in peril.
Type. Prophetic
Description. A silver fox carrying mistletoe in its mouth is chasing the sun as dark clouds pursue it on a verdant plain. The fox is clearly distressed, and every passing moment, the darkness gains ground on the fox and it’s apparent the fox will not outrun it. If the darkness catches the fox, it will consume it until there is nothing left but bone.
The fox represents a kingdom under peril, and that soon it will be plunged in darkness. What form that darkness takes is unclear, but for the fox it is an ultimate doom.
Rescuing the fox by impeding the darkness will set it free to run beyond the horizon at unnatural speed, representing an uncertain future is possible if the fox (or the kingdom it represents) is saved from being consumed by the darkness.
Dream Logic. Dreamers are transformed into a form that matches the symbolism of its nation or people. The darkness only harms the silver fox. It isn’t possible for another creature except the fox to go beyond the horizon.
The Doldrums
A repetitive dream where the dreamer is forced to repeat the same action endlessly.
Type. Restless
Description. In a nascent path alongside a cliff where flower blossoms dance in the air as trees loom overhead and shade the area, the dreamer, a lone swordsman, fights an opponent. The dreamer parries its attacker then counterattacks and runs its blade through the enemy’s chest. The enemy drops and fades away as a new opponent appears rushing down the path. The foes’ weapons and attire differ, but the dreamer’s actions are identical for each enemy it dispatches.
As long as the dreamer dreams, it is forced to repeat the battles endlessly. If a dream actor attempts to intercede, it finds the dreamer’s foe ignore damage unless they miss an attack against an opponent with a melee weapon, in which case they can be killed by a single attack on following round by the creature it missed.
If the dreamer is made aware of the dream, it realizes the only solution to escape the dream is to leave as the enemy will never change.
Dream Logic. Dream construct enemies have 1 hit point but can’t be damage unless they are parried with a melee weapon first. Spells and other nonweapon attacks simply register no damage.