Yeturs
2012-10-21, 02:48 AM
Okay. This is something I am working on for a psion I am playing. I am trying to hammer out a good way to phrase all the things I want to spell out.
This project is going to bring the realm of dreams into the telepath psions domain of abilities. To do this, I am going to be making a new place, called the dreamscape, and a few powers (3-6) to interact with it.
Here is what I have for the dreamscape so far, separated by fluff and mechanics.
What I want from you guys is this: I need a better way to explain all this (this is a first draft, though. I will rewrite is soon and hopefully that will come out better)
I need power ideas to interact with this. I already have something to view the dreamscape and something to alter its tone.
I need better ways to present the crunch of these rules. Seeding is going to be involved as a standard augment to dream powers, so I wrote the rules for that in the main section.
This is kind of a huge wall... How can I tidy it up?
Fluff: The dreamscape isn't so much a place, as an idea. The conscious mind of mortals rarely perceives it, even as it feeds into it. Each living mind feeds psycho-reactive energy into the dreamscape, with more imaginative minds feeding more energy and duller minds feeding less. It is hypothisised that cutting off this output of psionic energy can be quite harmful. In addition, some psions see the dreamscape as a kind of communal power source, where psionic energy can be drawn from.
As a person sleeps, his mind is freed from the mortal realm to wander the dreamscape. However, the dreamscape doesnt follow traditional rules. When there is no dreamer in an area, the dreamscape simply does not exist. Dreamers in an area create a dreamscape, one that is independent of that any other dreamers farther away may be having. The area, on the physical realm, that dreamers occupy and share a dreamscape is never constant. Sometimes dreamers miles apart share a dreamscape, sometimes couples in the same bed do not. (though this is very rare)
A dreamscape is a very complicated place. Is one dreamer occupies a given dreamscape, it is simply a reflection of the dreamers delights, or his horrors, or anything else that he may dream up. However, if two or more dreamers are in the same dreamscape, it can quickly become a very confusing place. while one dreamer may be having a great dream of a thousand kittens prancing in a field, another may be having a dream of a dreadful shark outswimming and eating them. This combined dreamscape could turn out many ways. For example: The dreamscape may now entail a thousand kittens being eaten by sharks, or perhaps a thousand sharks being eaten by a kitten.
Thankfully, the dreamscape can do no harm to a physical person, save giving them a bad nights sleep.
Crunch: The dreamscape is a hard place to come up with rules for. It will mainly be DM fiat on what is in there. After all, these are the dreams of his characters. Even a PC's dreams are subject to the DM's approval.
There are two major mechanics in the Dreamscape: Tone and Seeding.
The tone of the dreamscape is how happy or how menacing it is. If the tone is bright, happy dreams come up. If the tone is dark, menacing nightmares happen within. The tone is generally as high as 5 (Very bright) or as low as -5 (Total terror).
Many things influence this, but generally, evil dreamers lower the tone by 1, and good dreamers rise it by 1. In addition, recent actions or bad memories have a habit of lowering the score.
An easy way to come up with a random dreamscapes tone is to roll 1d6. Then, subtract 1d6 from it, add the total of good characters minus evil ones to this total.
The other major mechanic of dreamscapes is Seeding. Psionic characters may "Seed" dreams in two ways. When seeding, make a manifester level check. If this check exceeds the targets power resistance, then the dream immediately changes to accommodate the seed.
The first way involves injecting an idea into a dream. The seed may take root and blossom into a dream, or it may wither away and be forgotten by morning. This depends on if the idea has any relevance to dreamers within the dreamscape.
For example: You are probing the dreams of a suspected murderer. By seeding the idea of the murder weapon, it is possible your target may begin dreaming about the murder, his victim, or something completely different, or his dream may continue as if nothing had happened. In any case, this could possibly be used as evidence.
The second way is by forcing anothers dreams into the dreamscape. To do this, the seeder must have a memorized dream. Memorizing anothers dream is a DC 20 autohypnosis check, and you may only have one dream memorized at any given time. If this seed takes root, the dream suddenly changes to match the memorized dream (that is not lost, the seeder still has that dream memorized). From there, the dreamers are left to dream in this new dreamscape as they normally would if they had reached this point in the dream themselves.
For example: The dreamers are dreaming of shark-kittens within the dreamscape. A psion has a dream memorized of a terrible murder. He seed this dream, and succeeds on his manifester level check. The dream suddenly changes. One dreamer finds a door in the ocean of sharkittens, and opens it. Another dreamer finds a kinfe in his hands as the plains darken. The find themselves in the same room, and the one rises the kinfe to the other, who cowers. Now, the dream matches the memorized dream. The dreamers now continue the dream. The dreamer in the murderers shoes, for example, may continue in a new or the same way, or toss the knife, or do anything else he might do in this dream.
This project is going to bring the realm of dreams into the telepath psions domain of abilities. To do this, I am going to be making a new place, called the dreamscape, and a few powers (3-6) to interact with it.
Here is what I have for the dreamscape so far, separated by fluff and mechanics.
What I want from you guys is this: I need a better way to explain all this (this is a first draft, though. I will rewrite is soon and hopefully that will come out better)
I need power ideas to interact with this. I already have something to view the dreamscape and something to alter its tone.
I need better ways to present the crunch of these rules. Seeding is going to be involved as a standard augment to dream powers, so I wrote the rules for that in the main section.
This is kind of a huge wall... How can I tidy it up?
Fluff: The dreamscape isn't so much a place, as an idea. The conscious mind of mortals rarely perceives it, even as it feeds into it. Each living mind feeds psycho-reactive energy into the dreamscape, with more imaginative minds feeding more energy and duller minds feeding less. It is hypothisised that cutting off this output of psionic energy can be quite harmful. In addition, some psions see the dreamscape as a kind of communal power source, where psionic energy can be drawn from.
As a person sleeps, his mind is freed from the mortal realm to wander the dreamscape. However, the dreamscape doesnt follow traditional rules. When there is no dreamer in an area, the dreamscape simply does not exist. Dreamers in an area create a dreamscape, one that is independent of that any other dreamers farther away may be having. The area, on the physical realm, that dreamers occupy and share a dreamscape is never constant. Sometimes dreamers miles apart share a dreamscape, sometimes couples in the same bed do not. (though this is very rare)
A dreamscape is a very complicated place. Is one dreamer occupies a given dreamscape, it is simply a reflection of the dreamers delights, or his horrors, or anything else that he may dream up. However, if two or more dreamers are in the same dreamscape, it can quickly become a very confusing place. while one dreamer may be having a great dream of a thousand kittens prancing in a field, another may be having a dream of a dreadful shark outswimming and eating them. This combined dreamscape could turn out many ways. For example: The dreamscape may now entail a thousand kittens being eaten by sharks, or perhaps a thousand sharks being eaten by a kitten.
Thankfully, the dreamscape can do no harm to a physical person, save giving them a bad nights sleep.
Crunch: The dreamscape is a hard place to come up with rules for. It will mainly be DM fiat on what is in there. After all, these are the dreams of his characters. Even a PC's dreams are subject to the DM's approval.
There are two major mechanics in the Dreamscape: Tone and Seeding.
The tone of the dreamscape is how happy or how menacing it is. If the tone is bright, happy dreams come up. If the tone is dark, menacing nightmares happen within. The tone is generally as high as 5 (Very bright) or as low as -5 (Total terror).
Many things influence this, but generally, evil dreamers lower the tone by 1, and good dreamers rise it by 1. In addition, recent actions or bad memories have a habit of lowering the score.
An easy way to come up with a random dreamscapes tone is to roll 1d6. Then, subtract 1d6 from it, add the total of good characters minus evil ones to this total.
The other major mechanic of dreamscapes is Seeding. Psionic characters may "Seed" dreams in two ways. When seeding, make a manifester level check. If this check exceeds the targets power resistance, then the dream immediately changes to accommodate the seed.
The first way involves injecting an idea into a dream. The seed may take root and blossom into a dream, or it may wither away and be forgotten by morning. This depends on if the idea has any relevance to dreamers within the dreamscape.
For example: You are probing the dreams of a suspected murderer. By seeding the idea of the murder weapon, it is possible your target may begin dreaming about the murder, his victim, or something completely different, or his dream may continue as if nothing had happened. In any case, this could possibly be used as evidence.
The second way is by forcing anothers dreams into the dreamscape. To do this, the seeder must have a memorized dream. Memorizing anothers dream is a DC 20 autohypnosis check, and you may only have one dream memorized at any given time. If this seed takes root, the dream suddenly changes to match the memorized dream (that is not lost, the seeder still has that dream memorized). From there, the dreamers are left to dream in this new dreamscape as they normally would if they had reached this point in the dream themselves.
For example: The dreamers are dreaming of shark-kittens within the dreamscape. A psion has a dream memorized of a terrible murder. He seed this dream, and succeeds on his manifester level check. The dream suddenly changes. One dreamer finds a door in the ocean of sharkittens, and opens it. Another dreamer finds a kinfe in his hands as the plains darken. The find themselves in the same room, and the one rises the kinfe to the other, who cowers. Now, the dream matches the memorized dream. The dreamers now continue the dream. The dreamer in the murderers shoes, for example, may continue in a new or the same way, or toss the knife, or do anything else he might do in this dream.