Dreams
Overview
All Changelings have an innate capacity for lucid dreaming. Many never bother to hone this ability, but those who do find it a versatile and, in some cases, dangerous tool.
The descriptions below are for our Changeling players. There are occasional HRs scattered throughout, but they are always marked with (HR) for reference, so you know when our policy differs from the book description.
Much of this information is derived from CtL p.193 onward. Where a detail is taken from a book other than CtL, its abbreviation and page number will be listed. We have here only the basic mechanics as a quick cheat sheet reference during RP. For thematic elements and true details, please read the books! Rites of Spring has a lot of goodies starting on p.44.
Contents
Dream Basics
The skill associated with oneiromancy is Empathy, representing the search to connect and understand the nuances of the human condition.
Dream Intensity
To determine a dream's intensity:
- +roll (dreamer's) Wits + Resolve
This roll is modified by the following:
9-again Recurring Dream 8-again Recurring Memory
Dream Types
The various types of dreams each have their own mechanical effects and consequences.
Prophetic Dreams
Prophetic dreams are dreams which portray an event which has yet to occur.
Making any changes to a prophetic dream negates its prophetic function.
Identification
To determine whether or not your dream is truly prophetic:
- +roll Wits + Occult + Wyrd - Intensity
On Success, you know whether or not the dream is prophetic.
On Exceptional Success, you additionally gain a hint regarding how to avoid or fulfill the prophecy in question.
WP Regain
Any dreamer who sees a prophetic dream come true gains a) +1 Willpower or, b) +1 Glamour (Changeling only).
Nightmares
A nightmare is a draining, horrible dream which plays on the fears of the dreamer.
If the nightmare's Intensity is higher than the total of the dreamer's Willpower score minus the quantity of the dreamer's Derangements, the dreamer does NOT regain any Willpower that night while sleeping.
Oneiromancy
Oneiromancy is the art and practice of entering and manipulating both your own dreams and the dreams of others.
The changeling player makes a normal Meditation roll with a success total equal to the table below. Each roll represents 30 minutes of effort.
- +roll/extended=target # below/0 Wits + Composure + Equipment
| Target Number | Destination Dream |
|---|---|
| 8 Successes | Personal Dreams* |
| 12 Successes | Fetch's Dreams |
| 16 Successes | Dream-tasked Dreams |
* If you WANT to meditate, and do happen to get 8 successes, this is an alternate method of reaching your own dreams. If you fail at getting 12 or 16 successes, but do get 8 successes, you'll be in your own dreams instead.
You must be in the Hedge to enter the dreams of anyone other than yourself.
Entering Dreams
A changeling may enter the dreams of three types of people: himself, his fetch, and anyone he shares a pledge with using the Dreaming task.
Your Dreams
You may enter your own dreams any time you are sleeping at no cost.
Fetch Dreams
You may also always enter the dreams of your Fetch, by spending 1 Willpower as you sleep.
- +roll/extended=12/0 Composure + Wits + Wyrd and get 12 total successes on an extended roll.
Each time you attempt to enter your Fetch's dreams, your ST must roll your Presence + Wyrd as an extended roll. Each time you enter your Fetch's dreams, the number of times the ST rolls is increased by one. I.e. if you have entered your Fetch's dreams 5 times over the course of the past year, the ST would have rolled every time, and the rolls would have been capped at 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively. The target number is the Fetch's Willpower. Once the number is reached, the Fetch realizes the dream connection exists, and may spend 1 Willpower to enter your dreams as well.
Anyone Else's Dreams
You must use a Pledge with the Dreaming Task to enter the dreams of anyone other than you or your Fetch.
Exiting Dreams
Involuntary
If any loud or normally startling noises occur nearby, roll a reflexive Resolve + Composure to stay in your dream state. On failure, you wake, even if you were in the middle of editing someone's dream.
Voluntary
To exit a dream you are working on at any time, roll Resolve + Composure as an instant action.
If the subject of the dream itself is a Changeling or a lucid dreamer, THEY may also roll the same to exit the dream, though an Oneiromancer may oppose this roll with Wits + Empathy + Wyrd to keep the target asleep. Multiple Oneiromancers may use teamwork to assist one another in keeping the sleeper asleep.
If the subject of the dream is NOT a lucid dreamer or a Changeling, they have no control over ending the dream.
Dream Riding
Dream riding is the act of entering another person's dream and making changes to its events and/or environment.
You can change the appearance of the setting or how the actors in it behave, but the overall type of the dream and its point of view must remain static.
By default, your own view is from a disembodied vantage behind the dreamer's head.
Adding yourself to the dream counts as a change made to the dream.
Changing your appearance in the dream counts as a second change made to the dream.
Making Changes
To change a dream:
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd - Intensity
If your successes outweigh the dream's Intensity, the dream unravels. You may voluntarily take penalties to reduce the likelihood of destroying the dream.
You may also spend 1 Willpower to prevent the dream from unraveling due to your excessive successes.
Analyze the Dream
This will allow you to be sure which type of dream you have hopped into. You make minor
- +roll Wits + Empathy - Intensity
- Memory dreams: immediately reinforce aspects of the dream that are remembered rather than imagined.
- Nightmares: slightly twist introduced aspects into darker manifestations.
- Recurring dreams: harder to introduce random events into because their pattern is already set.
- Wish fulfillment/normal dreams: relatively simple to change.
Memory Dreams
To gauge whether or not something in a memory dream is a true memory and not just dreamfluff, roll an extended Wits + Occult + Wyrd with each roll representing a whole night's worth of analysis. The number of successes required is 10 minus the dream's Intensity. (RoS p.45)
Recurring Dreams
You gain a +2 bonus on all Social rolls to determine the dreamer's mood or true intentions for the next 7 days. (RoS p.45)
Verify a Prophetic Dream
To determine whether or not a dream is prophetic while analyzing it:
- +roll Wits + Occult + Wyrd + Intensity
Once you make any changes to a dream, however, nothing following your change will be prophetic. Your tampering snaps the thread.
Convincing the Dreamer/Subliminals
This takes an entire night's worth of work in the target's dreams. For every success you roll, you may store 1 "die" of subliminal suggestion in the dreamer's psyche. These may subsequently be used as bonus dice on Manipulation rolls against the dreamer within the next week.
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd
Only one "set" of these "dice" may be stored in a dreamer's psyche at once. If you want to change the pattern of behaviours/tones/actions you need to perform to trigger their reaction to your subliminal message, the previous "set" of subliminals is erased (even if you rolled more successes on the previous roll than you did on the new one).
Learn about the Dreamer
You may study a dreamer for several nights' worth of unaltered dreams to learn ONE of the following for every 5 cumulative successes you roll. If you alter the dream in any way, that night is ruined and will not count toward your total accumulated successes.
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd
- Virtue
- Vice
- Derangement (one at a time, or that no derangements exist)
- Willpower
- 1 Social or Mental Merit
- 1 Social or Mental Flaw
- Whether any mind- or emotion-altering supernatural powers were used on the dreamer within 1 month of your examination.
Psychotherapy
Oneiromancers may be healers of a less physical sort, affecting their targets through the power of dreams. To use this power, you must have some form of training (typically a Specialty or Professional Training) in Psychology.
To perform basic psychotherapy through dreams:
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd - Intensity
One successful night of such aid from an oneiromancer equates to an entire week of mundane psychotherapy.
Scouring Intensity
Rarely used, an Oneiromancer may deliberately scour the intensity of a dream to lessen its effects on the dreamer's psyche. This is typically performed to ease a nightmare's strength enough that its victim will NOT be exhausted the next day.
To decrease the intensity of a dream:
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd - Intensity
Each success lowers the dream's Intensity by 1.
If the Intensity drops below 1, the dream ends, and the dreamer awakens.
You may only attempt this once per dream.
Scouring the Intensity of Dream Poison
(See the Dream Poison section at the bottom of the page for more details.)
A Changeling may fight back against a True Fae's attack on mortals using Dream Poison, scouring the contagion away.
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd vs. (ST rolls) +roll Dream Poison Intensity
If the Oneiromancer wins the roll, the poison's intensity is reduced by one point for every success over that of the poison roll. I.e. if the Oneiromancer's Wits+Empathy+Wyrd nets him 5 successes and +roll DreamPoisonIntensity nets 1 success, 5-1=4, so the intensity is decreased by 4.
If, however, the contagion-dream wins the contested roll, the Oneiromancer takes 1 Willpower damage per net success. I.e. if the Oneiromancer rolled 1 success and the poison rolled 2, the Oneiromancer would take 3 Willpower damage.
Search for Dream Poison
Searching for the subtle signs of dream poisoning is a time consuming task, and often difficult.
It is an extended roll at a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dominant dream that evening.
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd - Intensity
Each roll take a single night of work, and the roll requires a total of successes equal to the Intensity of the contagion-dream.
Dreamscaping
Dreamscaping literally creates a dream in its entirety, unlike Dreamriding, which performs minor changes to an existing dream.
- You cannot do this to yourself.
- The dreamer-target may not be in an existing dream (enter their dreams before they hit REM sleep).
Dreamscaping a Fallow Psyche
To dreamscape a psyche while it is fallow (i.e. has no existing dream):
- +roll Wits + Empathy + Wyrd vs. Sleeper's Wits + Resolve
This contest immediately triggers REM sleep.
- If your roll wins, you may shape the dreamscape into a scenario of your choosing with an Intensity equal to the number of your successes.
- If the sleeper wins, their own mind creates a dream with an Intensity equal to their Res+Comp's successes.
Creating a dream this way costs 1 Glamour.
Dreamscaping via Scouring Existing Dreams
An alternate method is to scour a dream's Intensity down to zero (per the mechanics higher on this page), resulting in a swift/strange transition from the dreamer's natural dream into the dream prepared by the oneiromancer.
Creating a dream this way costs 2 Glamour.
Dreamscaped Dream Types
Dreamscaped dreams may affect the dreamer in particular ways, via the types below.
Healing Sleep
Speed the dreamer's healing.
With a "healing sleep" of any Intensity, the time the dreamer spends asleep counts as a full night's rest.
For purposes of healing, this stacks with REAL nights of restful sleeping, which can effectively double how quickly a person's wounds heal.
If the Intensity roll is an exceptional success, the healing sleep counts as two days' worth of rest alone. Added to a real night of sleep, the injured dreamer could effectively gain three nights' worth of rest in a single night of sleep.
Stress Relief
If you know the dreamer's Vice and Virtue, you can shape dreams which allow him to recover Willpower as though they had fulfilled their Vice.
If the Intensity roll is exceptional, you can allow him to recover Willpower as if he had fulfilled a Virtue.
Sleep Teaching
A single "sleep teaching" dream acts as a full day of learning on a given topic.
If the Intensity roll is an exceptional success, the sleep teaching dream grants the dreamer 1xp which can only be spent to increase the given Skill, Merit or Contract being taught in the dream.
The dreamer may not gain more dream xp toward that particular trait until the existing xp has been spent on increasing it, though she may gain xp toward different traits in subsequent dreams.
Nightmares
Sometimes, you just need to give someone a terrible night's sleep.
Dreamscaped nightmares are treated like normal nightmares as regards the effects of their Intensity on a dreamer.
Dreamweaving
Dreamweaving is the craft of creating dreams outside of a sleeper's mind and storing them for later use.
Only vessels appropriate for the type of dream being stored will hold them, and will most likely feature in the dream somehow.
A primary advantage of Dreamweaving is that ANYONE can enjoy the benefits of a woven dream. You need not be in a pledge with someone to use one. Oneiromancers may tailor dreams for themselves this way, as well.
Weaving a Dream
To weave a dream, you must:
- Invest the vessel with 1 Glamour.
- Within an hour, begin creating the dream it will hold.
- This requires an extended Intelligence + Empathy + Wyrd roll. Each roll takes 1 day of work. The successes on the roll accumulate and form the Intensity of the dream contained in the vessel.
Unleashing a Woven Dream
Make sure the object is in contact with the target when they go to sleep.
Target is Aware of Dream's Source
The dream will unweave in her psyche naturally, as though it were truly hers, and the dreamer will thereby NOT fight the onset of the dream.
Target is Unaware of Dream's Source
The dreamer opposes the unfamiliar dream with a reflexive Resolve + Composure vs. Dream Intensity as he goes to sleep. Successes on the Resolve + Composure roll decrease the Intensity of the dream.
Types of Woven Dreams
Any Dreamscaped Dream Type
See the list of dreamscaped dream types above.
Wyrd-Dream
These serve as a means of transferring the use of a Contract to the dreamer. I.e. you put a Contract in a vessel and when the person sleeps, it triggers on them. Remote detonation!
Creating a Wyrd-Dream
- Invest a vessel with 1 Glamour.
- Invest the normal Glamour activation fee for the Contract to be captured in the vessel.
- Roll as normal for the Contract.
- If the roll is too weak for your liking, you may reroll.
- Rerolling requires investing the vessel and paying the Contract activation fee in Glamour a second time, and you take a -1 penalty for trying the same action on consecutive turns.
- NOTE: Only Contracts which can be used on targets OTHER than the user may be invested into the Wyrd-dream. (E.g., clauses which permit shapechanging and other effects used only by the wielder cannot be granted via Wyrd-dream.)
- Roll to weave the dream. The target number is at minimum the number of successes you rolled when activating the clause, but you can weave the Intensity higher if you prefer some margin for error regarding unwilling targets' Res+Comp rolls.
- When the dream activates, it triggers the Contract's effects on the sleeper, with an effective success number equal to A) the original roll or B) the Intensity of the dream, whichever is LOWER.
- If the target would ordinarily receive a resistance roll of some kind, they still get it, and the successes are subtracted from the Contract's successes per normal rules.
- These dreams always reflect the nature of the Contract. See CtL p.197.
Personalized Dreams
If you have used the "Learn about the Dreamer" option on the target on multiple occasions (vague in the book -- we are HRing it to 5 occasions), or has known the dreamer for years, the final Intensity of the dream is increased by your dots in Empathy or Wyrd, whichever is greater.
This bonus applies only to the dreamer for which the dream is intended.
If it is used on someone else, REDUCE the final Intensity of the dream by the oneiromancer's dots in Empathy or Wyrd, whichever is greater.
Analyzing Vessels
To ascertain whether or not an object is a dreamwoven vessel, make an extended Wits + Composure + Wyrd roll. The target number is the Intensity of the dream contained within the vessel, and each roll requires 10 minutes of study.
Oneiromachy
Oneiromachy is a term for the art of dream battles, an ancient tradition among the Fae.
Your Mind is a Battlefield
Anyone whose dreams serve as a battlefield in this fashion automatically LOSES 1 Willpower instead of gaining it back that night, due to the psychic trauma of the violence in their dreams.
Waging War
There are two options: you can personally attack someone, or you can manipulate the environment into being hostile toward them.
Personal Attacks
To attack someone, you must create a dream-form (per dream riding rules above) in the dream which serves as your battlefield, then attack per normal real combat.
Attacking
Your weapon is your best Power Trait (Intelligence, Strength or Presence) + a combat skill.
- Athletics - thrown attacks
- Brawl - unarmed combat
- Firearms - guns and bows
- Weaponry - handheld weapons
Attacks receive an "equipment bonus" equal to the attacking character's Wyrd.
EXAMPLE: Joe-Bob wants to wield a dream sword made of fiery blue light and slash at his foe. He is very strong in reality. His roll would be:
- +roll Strength + Weaponry + Wyrd
Defense
Defense is derived entirely from the highest of your Finesse traits: Wits, Dexterity or Manipulation.
Armor
Armor is derived entirely from the highest of your Resistance traits: Resolve, Stamina or Composure.
Environmental Attacks
Attacking via the environment of the dream also receives an equipment bonus equal to the oneiropomp's Wyrd score, but they do NOT rely on typical combat skills: using normal dream riding techniques, you can effectively make Wits + Empathy + Wyrd attacks.
These changes are quick flashes, sudden appearances of storms or wild beasts, etc. They do no damage to anyone other than the target, no matter how epic the devastation of the scenery appears to be.
They harm a single target at a time, just like standard personal attacks.
Dream Damage
Damage inflicted in dream combat is not real. Instead of taking points of Health as damage, oneiromachic damage is inflicted as Willpower points of damage.
Exception: if an attack scores an Exceptional success, the target takes 1B, waking bruised or bleeding from mouth/ears.
- If a target is dropped to 0 Willpower, he awakens, gasping for breath.
- If the damage drops the foe's Willpower to -1 to -4, he awakens with a mild derangement for a single day, or has an already-extant derangement upgraded to Severe for the day.
- If the damage drops him to -5 Willpower, the duration of the derangement (or severity upgrade) lasts a full week.
Stunting
Creativity and quick thinking allow attacks to gain between +1 to +3 bonus dice for fascinating descriptions/interesting effects.
They can apply to offensive or defensive actions, and are applied directly to the Dream Defense of the target (or self).
Each stunt qualifies only once for a dice bonus. It is the unpredictability/creativity which gives the bonus.
See CtL p.199 for full descriptions of the below:
- +1 - Interesting Description
- +2 - Using Thematic Qualities
- +3 - Maestro's Performance
The Lords of Dreams - True Fae
True Fae are the true masters of dreams, and are not limited in the same ways as their once-servants.
- Fae may gain access to ANY mortal's dream either via dream phials or by physically touching the mortal.
- Yes, this means that they have an Actor out of the Hedge, with all normal time limitations put upon that presence.
- True Fae may use Persuasion or Intimidation rather than Empathy to manipulate the dreams of mortals. They don't need to understand the creature whose will they are bending; their force of personality is enough to hammer dreams into the desired shape.
Dream Poison
Dream poison is the general term for a Fae's effect on mortal dreams. It is also called a "contagion dream" by Autumn savants.
Essentially, the Fae warps your dreams into an environment comfortable to IT, not so much to you, so it can visit you whenever it likes.
- Fae may poison an infinite number of mortals' dreams.
- Fae instinctively know when an affected mortal has fallen asleep.
- Fae may enter the dreams of affected mortals at ANY time from ANY location within the Hedge or the mortal world.
- Fae may not poison the dreams of a mortal already tainted by another Fae's contagion-dream.
Experiencing Dream Poison as a Mortal
If you are suffering the affections of a True Fae attempting to poison your dreams tonight, roll Resolve + Composure to contest their efforts.
For each success, you reduce the Intensity of the dream poison.
If the final Intensity of the contagion-dream is lower than the True Fae's Wyrd rating, the poisoning is incomplete, requiring the Fae to attempt the poisoning again.
This contest can go on, night after night, until the Fae succeeds. It will succeed, eventually. It's just a matter of how patient it chooses to be.
- If a Fae's attempt is within 7 days of a failed attempt, the Intensity of the new dream adds the Intensity of the failed dream(s) -- it is cumulative.
- Example: On the first night, the Fae rolls 7, the mortal rolls 3. Intensity for first attempt is therefore 7 - 3 = 4. Next night, Fae rolls 6, mortal fails his roll entirely. Cumulative Intensity: 4 + 6 = 10. This equals the Fae's Wyrd rating, so the mortal's sleeping mind is now successfully poisoned by the Fae.
- Poisoning fades after a week, so if the Fae returns on the 8th day, they must begin the poisoning all over again.
Once the Intensity of the contagion-dream is equal to the Wyrd of the Fae creating it, the mortal's dream world is remade into an environment fitting to the Fae.
Dream Warping
This is like dreamscaping on steroids. (HR) The Fae may use this ability to access/affect a mortal's waking dreams if the mortal is significantly distracted/already daydreaming.
Contagion-Carrier
The True Fae reworks your psyche, turning it into a breeding ground for contagion-dreams. (HR) Sleeping only.
- Fae rolls normally for dreamscaping, with Intensity equal or greater than the mortal's Willpower.
- If successful, the mortal's dreamscape becomes a twisted, hellish place that churns out a new contagion-dream once every week.
These dreams have an Intensity equal to the mortal's Wits + Resolve.
True Fae may visit the dreamscape to harvest these dreams, but if a dream is not harvested for 24 hours, the carrier is compelled to seek others to infect. Infection will occur simply by sleeping beside someone, skin to skin being most effective, but not necessary. A nap counts.
- Every month, a carrier rolls Resolve + Composure and on failure gains a derangement.
- Each subsequent month applies a -1, cumulative.
- i.e. on the first month you roll Res+Comp, second month you roll Res+Comp-1, third month you roll Res+Comp-2, etc.
- When the carrier receives a derangement, these penalties reset back to 0, and the process starts all over again.
- All such derangements somehow focus on elements of the True Fae who has poisoned the carrier.
Healing Contagion-Carriers
Changeling oneiromancers may destroy the contagion dream by scouring it away per the mechanics above.
However, if the carrier has been a carrier for 12+ months, her dreamscape is irrevocably poisoned, and she will forever create dreams capable of poisoning others, and will always be compelled to seek out unpoisoned targets to infect.
The only way to stop her is to kill her.
Ensorcell
In a dreamscaped vision with an Intensity equal to the mortal's Resolve + Composure scores, the Fae may instill a point of Glamour into the mortal, ensorcelling him.
It works just like regular ensorcellment, except that there is no pledge involved and the duration is "while your dreams are still poisoned to suit my fancy."
Granting of Fae Contracts to Ensorcelled Mortals
This gets woven into the mortal's dream per the regular rules, but rather than triggering immediately, the Fae may invest another point of Glamour in the sleeper's psyche to allow him to "hold" the Contract and trigger it on a target of the mortal's choosing.
This is usually only a blessing the Gentry give to trusted agents in the mortal world.
- Exposes mortal's mind to the True Fae's power. (HR): since we use GMC Integrity, the degeneration check is a little different. The mortal must roll Resolve + Composure - 2 or gain a derangement.
Harvest Dreams
Fae may harvest Glamour from dreams. (HR) Sleeping only.
- Fae rolls Presence (or Manipulation) + Wits + Wyrd and receives 1 Glamour per success.
- Dreamers harvested this way loses 1 Willpower upon awakening (and gains none back since sleep wasn't restful).
- If the Fae achieved an Exceptional Success, the victim must make a Resolve + Composure roll to avoid gaining a derangement.
If a Fae likes the 'taste' of your dreams, prepare to end up a broken lunatic. :D
Read the Wyrd
Fae can use the connection between dreams and the Wyrd to induce a prophetic dream in a mortal. (HR) If this is done during the day, the mortal sees terrible visions similar to those of a precognitive psychic. "Nightmares" in this case are horrific visions the mortal cannot shake herself out of without help.
- Fae rolls for dream riding.
- Fae flays away base symbolism/personal meaning in the dream to reveal the raw lines of Fate which lurk beneath all dreams, using the mortal as a vehicle for prophecy.
This has severely detrimental affects on the mortal whose psyche is so abused.
- Mortal rolls Resolve + Composure. If the mortal scores more successes than the Fae's original dream riding roll, he simply experiences a nightmare of Intensity equal to the Fae's successes.
- If the Fae's roll is 1-4 successes higher than the mortal's success total, the mortal experiences a terrible nightmare and wakes with a month-long mild derangement.
- If the Fae's roll is 5+ successes higher than the mortal's success total, the mortal gains a month-long severe derangement, a PERMANENT mild derangement, or has one of his own pre-existing mild derangements permanently upgraded to a severe.
Sleepwalk
The Fae may turn the mortal into a sleepwalker and effectively control his actions as he sleeps. (HR) Only works during the day on an Exceptional Success.
For each successful roll of dream riding by the Fae, the mortal obeys a single simple command.
Such commands include:
- “Get out of bed.”
- “Walk down the hall.”
- “Open the door.”
- “Step into traffic.”
- “Pull the trigger.”
Et cetera.
