[Open] Dream On; A Guide To The Aspect Of Dreams
May 18, 2016 15:18:16 GMT
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Post by alphanumeric on May 18, 2016 15:18:16 GMT
Dream On; A Guide to the Aspect of Dreams, By alphaNumeric
Yo, this is alphaNumeric, aka Ben here, and I'm gonna take some time to talk about one of my favorite aspects. This aspect that provides immense power that can be called upon as easily as snapping your fingers. That's right. Dreams.
Dreams 101: Doing Everything Right the First Time
What is the Aspect of Dreams all about? First and foremost, Dreams is about creativity and originality. Put simply, Dream Players are driven to play the game with ideas that are as creative as possible. Unlike Rain, however, Dreams has a considerable amount of restrictions on how this creativity is put to use. Ideas are more effective and helpful the first time they are implemented as compared to the second, third or fourth time. In addition, said ideas work much better if you yourself actually come up with them. What I'm trying to say is that the more original an idea is to you, the Dreams Player, the more effective it will be.
Let me provide an example. If a friend were to suggest that you create a giant rope to wrangle Prospit and crash it down onto the battlefield to take out the Black King, the idea would never work. The rope would break, or the BK would learn what you're doing and send the agents to take you out, or you would get struck by a meteor or the like out of random chance.
But, if you were to come up with the idea yourself, then, in all likelihood, there would be a Prospit-Sized crater in the battlefield.
This is a very basic (and dangerous) example of Dreams' abilities being put into action. To get a better idea as to how Dreams works, every player needs to figure out the intricacies on their own. By forming their own ideas, individual Dream players can form unique ideas about how this aspect works, and will thusly be able to use it better.
Another key aspect of Dreams is doing things the right way. And I don't mean in terms of the Law or bullshit like that. Since Dreams players ideas become less effective the more they are repeated, most Dreams players strive to "do things right the first time" so as to reap the greatest reward for their efforts. does that make us perfectionists? Does that make us obsessive/compulsive over every little thing we do? Yes, but with good reason. When you typically are only given one chance to do something, you want to make sure it turns out in your favor.
As it is commonly said, good Dreams don't repeat themselves. And neither do good Dream Players.
Abilities: The Tools You are Given
Any good creator needs a set of tools with which to do their work. Dream abilities are your set of tools. That being so, the idea of uniqueness is stretched a little bit with these abilities. The abilities themselves can be cast as repetitively as you wish, as long as the product is entirely different and unique each time the ability is cast. Below are the most common Dream abilities.
[Dreams Never Die]: A buff that gives a lot of stat bonuses, particularly in defense, when the player is focused on the specific purpose of accomplishing a precise task. As soon as they digress from their goal or achieve it, the ability vanishes. Widely regarded as creepy, because the buff animation appears to crawl onto other players.
[Living The Dream]: Dream's basic attack ability and default move for all Dream players. It can conjure any object out of a transparent, glass like compound, but will become increasingly weak if players use the same object more than once. This relies on imagination and ingenuity on behalf of the player.
[The Game Has Changed]: A similar ability to [Living The Dream], but far more powerful. Causes the player to float, and generates a 3D grid in the field of effect. This places the area under their direct command, much like a canvas for doing their artistry thing. This is a very typical Berserk Trigger for Dreams players, and should be treated with necessary precautions. It is advised that if you see a 3D grid appearing in your area, it is advised that you run as far away as you can as fast as possible. When you are outside the grid you are safe, but while you are still within it you are less meaningful than an ant to the Dream player.
[What Alice Found]: An ability that creates dreams. This tricks the target into believing that they are in a dream. Naturally, they can't actually be hurt, but the caster has complete control over what they see. Its effectiveness is determined by the uniqueness of the ideas within the dream.
[Lucid Sleep]: Not entirely sure what this does other than boost your sleep coefficient. More research needed.
[Dream Weaver]: This ability is primarily a defensive one, allowing the caster to weave a basket-like wireframe in front of them. This works as a pretty reliable defensive ability, as it can be cast multiple times with the same level of effectiveness as long as the caster changes the fine details of the weave.
[Moonchild]: This gives you hella pluck regeneration if you are currently on your Dream moon. This can be very helpful when battling the agents of Derse or other dangerous constructs.
Don't Look at my Junk and Other Dream Facts
Let me preface this section with a brief apology. I'm sorry for your future embarrassment. No clue what I'm talking about? Oh you will.
Have you ever had a Dream where you arrive at school, or your job, or something related, and you realize you are completely naked? Well apparently SBurb has, and it really took that idea to heart. Arrange to have a pair of pants and a shirt shipped to your bed on skaia or your slab in the crypt, because the Dream God tier outfit is completely transparent. Well, not completely. It is made of a sort of see-through purple fabric with a silky texture, and it leaves nothing to the imagination. Literally nothing. You thought the page man pants were bad? You don't know the half of it.
The following sentence is more for people who have Dream players in their sessions, not Dream Players themselves. If you are a Dream player, but skip to the next paragraph. That said, never, ever comment on a Dream Player's originality. And most of all, never say anything along the lines of "Woah bro, that was so great! Do it again!" This is effectively poison on the Dream Player's mind, and they will probably cease to acknowledge your existence for the remainder of the session, if not longer.
Dream Players, more often than not have Dreamselves that are awake pre-entry. Which moon they end up on seems to lean towards Prospit, but most of the previous Dream players I know have been from Derse. (I believe there is only one that I know who was a native Prospit Dreamer.)
Dream Players also have very limited abilities upon becoming God Tier to enter Dream Bubbles. Whenever you sleep, your soul occasionally travels to Dream Bubbles and can interact with the dead within. With practice over many sessions, this ability can become easier to control. A friend of mine once knew a Dream Player who became so proficient in Dream Bubbles, he was able to bring a dead player back from one. Granted it was in the form of a robot, and it greatly resembled a highly sensitive AI, so I can't confirm whether or not this is a valid technique. Ether way, this is not an area I recommend exploring.
A common issue with Dream Players is the creation of nightmare constructs. When Dream players overuse [Living the Dream], the ability can glitch into [Living the Nightmare], which causes nega-affects on attacks used through it. Kind of a rare occurrence, I've seen it only once, but this ability can create "nightmare constructs". These are basically really really overpowered imps that will attack anything they see. They look like they are made out of black glass and black water, and are very shiny and reflective. I believe that this is a glitch somewhere along the lines of Saccharine Doppelgängers. If this starts happening, abscond and get some help. These things are pretty intense.
Dream Players can also (very rarely) have the [Earning Your Wings] Dream Questline completed upon awakening, which means they can fly away from their moon much earlier than other players.
Because of this, Dream Players can have a higher chance of being Other Corrupted or blinded, due to their ability to stay further from their planets early into the game.
Denizens: The Aerosmith of the Dream Universe.
Alright, now we get to talk about everyone's favorite drunken snakes- the Denizens. As usual, these guys are pretty much huge assholes. Lol good luck.
Maya: Generally Female exclusive. Think of a giant worm with wings that changes its appearance based on how conversation with it is going. Also, try not to stare at her hands. Just don't.
Morpheus: Generally Male Exclusive, from what I know, but 2 female Dream Players I knew have had him. I had him as well, and he's a total bro. (When he isn't being a dick.) His eyes look like stars, and he's usually partially obscured by fog. Talks in riddles (duh) and has a habit of putting things to sleep. Seriously, make sure to be fully caffeinated before seeing this guy, as he can make someone fall asleep because of being too close in proximity. This denizen is black and grey, with streaks of color and black hair. As stated earlier, he is also surrounded by a sort of pale fog. DO NOT set foot in this, as you will pass out. He has no tail, simply fading away at the end of his body.
Oneiros: The Oneiroi are one of the 'multi denizens', those that present themselves as a group of individual entities instead of a singular creature. All of them have slightly different personalities and speak to you differently, but you ultimately bargain and deal with them as a singular unit. Gender neutral Denizen that is supposedly assigned to first session Dream Players, however I got Morpheus when I first rolled Dream. (Possible Glitch) Supposedly it's easy to garner minor ARC bonuses from navigating their unified dialogue generator, since their differing personalities make for an excellent source of creative negotiations.
Penis Ouija: Other Random Dreams Crap and Dots for Dummies.
Offense : •••
Defense : •••
Support : •••
Whisperings: The Grid
Get With the Beat - Fraymotifs:
So let's talk about fraymotifs. Those involving Dream players are kind of different from the rest. While most provide a solid beat for corresponding action, Dream Fraymotifs provide something more like jazz chord changes which are then embellished upon through your reactions. Following the "chord changes" and creating new ideas based on the little information provided is how Dream Players tend to work through Fraymotifs.
I've found that if you have an instrument as your strife weapon, (lol trumpetkind is the best kind) you will get the best result out of these Fraymotifs, as you can improvise over the motifs to produce new and unique attacks.
Gentle Mannerisms: Aspect Relations:
Dream players tend to work well with players of Mist or Stage, Mist because of their replication of objects and other such manipulation and Stage because of their acceptance of improvising within constraints.
In addition, several players of Dream that I have known (myself included) have had lands with "Mist" in their names and many partner dungeons thereof. If you have a Mist player in your session, expect him/her to be on your planet often if Mist is in the name.
While there aren't many physical connections (Land-wise) between Dreams and Stage, they tend to get along really well, and players of Stage and Dreams can draw really good crowds in the Liquid Negrocity Jazz Club. Like seriously, the place was overflowing. It is commonly accepted that Dreams players working at the Club with players of complementing aspects can easily help produce a UU between the two. Dream players also work well with Law Players, as Law's tendency for rules works well with Dream's structured creationism. As for Rain, Dreams and Rain and pretty much total opposites. You won't commonly find a good Dream/Rain duo out there, as their ways of creating are in stark contrast to each other. (More Below)
Power Moves - Unbreakable Unions:
Dreams/Rain: (Credit for This goes to TechicolorCapitalist, if you haven't already go read his Rain guide)These aspects are considered opposite each other, and with good reason. Dreams is really hard for a Rain player, and Rain is really hard for a Dream player. While it may initially seem like there's no big difference, trust me when I say there is. Dream's is all about the creativity and freedom found in rational thought, and doing thing once and doing things right. Meanwhile, Rain is all about the creativity and freedom found in irrational thought, and doing things over and over again, often with multiple versions of yourself, until you get it done the way you want it done. When working together, Rain and Dreams will either be incredible good for each other or incredible bad. Which it is depends almost entirely on the players.
The most common Rain/Dream Unite Synchronisation is called [The Beginning of Something Really Excellent]. It generates a reality distortion zone of scarily large levels, wherein the Dream player pulls together all of their weird Dream architectural knowledge to build up an environment for the Rain player to fuck around in. The Dream player sets the scene, the Rain player provides ample opportunity for excitement and growth, and the combination of the two creates an environment where the two players have total freedom over the events at hand.
Dreams/Law: This UU is one of the best ones you can achieve as a Dream player. If you have a Law player in your session, I recommend finding them and chilling for a while. Law is all about rules and regulations and being rational. and Dreams is all about rational creativity within those rules. This makes for a very interesting mesh. Not much else to say on the subject, Law players are sweet.
The most common Dream/Law unite synchronization is called [So Let Us Create]. This is essentially a huge ass two player buff. It allows the Dream player to imbue the Law player with Dream Energy. The Law player then chooses a dynamic thing to create or achieve, and then both players use Dream energy to create the thing or achieve the goal. Honestly it's pretty freakin' sweet. Think of this ability as a sort of guided missile, where the Law player is the one aiming and the Dream player is the one providing the energy.
Yo, this is alphaNumeric, aka Ben here, and I'm gonna take some time to talk about one of my favorite aspects. This aspect that provides immense power that can be called upon as easily as snapping your fingers. That's right. Dreams.
Dreams 101: Doing Everything Right the First Time
What is the Aspect of Dreams all about? First and foremost, Dreams is about creativity and originality. Put simply, Dream Players are driven to play the game with ideas that are as creative as possible. Unlike Rain, however, Dreams has a considerable amount of restrictions on how this creativity is put to use. Ideas are more effective and helpful the first time they are implemented as compared to the second, third or fourth time. In addition, said ideas work much better if you yourself actually come up with them. What I'm trying to say is that the more original an idea is to you, the Dreams Player, the more effective it will be.
Let me provide an example. If a friend were to suggest that you create a giant rope to wrangle Prospit and crash it down onto the battlefield to take out the Black King, the idea would never work. The rope would break, or the BK would learn what you're doing and send the agents to take you out, or you would get struck by a meteor or the like out of random chance.
But, if you were to come up with the idea yourself, then, in all likelihood, there would be a Prospit-Sized crater in the battlefield.
This is a very basic (and dangerous) example of Dreams' abilities being put into action. To get a better idea as to how Dreams works, every player needs to figure out the intricacies on their own. By forming their own ideas, individual Dream players can form unique ideas about how this aspect works, and will thusly be able to use it better.
Another key aspect of Dreams is doing things the right way. And I don't mean in terms of the Law or bullshit like that. Since Dreams players ideas become less effective the more they are repeated, most Dreams players strive to "do things right the first time" so as to reap the greatest reward for their efforts. does that make us perfectionists? Does that make us obsessive/compulsive over every little thing we do? Yes, but with good reason. When you typically are only given one chance to do something, you want to make sure it turns out in your favor.
As it is commonly said, good Dreams don't repeat themselves. And neither do good Dream Players.
Abilities: The Tools You are Given
Any good creator needs a set of tools with which to do their work. Dream abilities are your set of tools. That being so, the idea of uniqueness is stretched a little bit with these abilities. The abilities themselves can be cast as repetitively as you wish, as long as the product is entirely different and unique each time the ability is cast. Below are the most common Dream abilities.
[Dreams Never Die]: A buff that gives a lot of stat bonuses, particularly in defense, when the player is focused on the specific purpose of accomplishing a precise task. As soon as they digress from their goal or achieve it, the ability vanishes. Widely regarded as creepy, because the buff animation appears to crawl onto other players.
[Living The Dream]: Dream's basic attack ability and default move for all Dream players. It can conjure any object out of a transparent, glass like compound, but will become increasingly weak if players use the same object more than once. This relies on imagination and ingenuity on behalf of the player.
[The Game Has Changed]: A similar ability to [Living The Dream], but far more powerful. Causes the player to float, and generates a 3D grid in the field of effect. This places the area under their direct command, much like a canvas for doing their artistry thing. This is a very typical Berserk Trigger for Dreams players, and should be treated with necessary precautions. It is advised that if you see a 3D grid appearing in your area, it is advised that you run as far away as you can as fast as possible. When you are outside the grid you are safe, but while you are still within it you are less meaningful than an ant to the Dream player.
[What Alice Found]: An ability that creates dreams. This tricks the target into believing that they are in a dream. Naturally, they can't actually be hurt, but the caster has complete control over what they see. Its effectiveness is determined by the uniqueness of the ideas within the dream.
[Lucid Sleep]: Not entirely sure what this does other than boost your sleep coefficient. More research needed.
[Dream Weaver]: This ability is primarily a defensive one, allowing the caster to weave a basket-like wireframe in front of them. This works as a pretty reliable defensive ability, as it can be cast multiple times with the same level of effectiveness as long as the caster changes the fine details of the weave.
[Moonchild]: This gives you hella pluck regeneration if you are currently on your Dream moon. This can be very helpful when battling the agents of Derse or other dangerous constructs.
Don't Look at my Junk and Other Dream Facts
Let me preface this section with a brief apology. I'm sorry for your future embarrassment. No clue what I'm talking about? Oh you will.
Have you ever had a Dream where you arrive at school, or your job, or something related, and you realize you are completely naked? Well apparently SBurb has, and it really took that idea to heart. Arrange to have a pair of pants and a shirt shipped to your bed on skaia or your slab in the crypt, because the Dream God tier outfit is completely transparent. Well, not completely. It is made of a sort of see-through purple fabric with a silky texture, and it leaves nothing to the imagination. Literally nothing. You thought the page man pants were bad? You don't know the half of it.
The following sentence is more for people who have Dream players in their sessions, not Dream Players themselves. If you are a Dream player, but skip to the next paragraph. That said, never, ever comment on a Dream Player's originality. And most of all, never say anything along the lines of "Woah bro, that was so great! Do it again!" This is effectively poison on the Dream Player's mind, and they will probably cease to acknowledge your existence for the remainder of the session, if not longer.
Dream Players, more often than not have Dreamselves that are awake pre-entry. Which moon they end up on seems to lean towards Prospit, but most of the previous Dream players I know have been from Derse. (I believe there is only one that I know who was a native Prospit Dreamer.)
Dream Players also have very limited abilities upon becoming God Tier to enter Dream Bubbles. Whenever you sleep, your soul occasionally travels to Dream Bubbles and can interact with the dead within. With practice over many sessions, this ability can become easier to control. A friend of mine once knew a Dream Player who became so proficient in Dream Bubbles, he was able to bring a dead player back from one. Granted it was in the form of a robot, and it greatly resembled a highly sensitive AI, so I can't confirm whether or not this is a valid technique. Ether way, this is not an area I recommend exploring.
A common issue with Dream Players is the creation of nightmare constructs. When Dream players overuse [Living the Dream], the ability can glitch into [Living the Nightmare], which causes nega-affects on attacks used through it. Kind of a rare occurrence, I've seen it only once, but this ability can create "nightmare constructs". These are basically really really overpowered imps that will attack anything they see. They look like they are made out of black glass and black water, and are very shiny and reflective. I believe that this is a glitch somewhere along the lines of Saccharine Doppelgängers. If this starts happening, abscond and get some help. These things are pretty intense.
Dream Players can also (very rarely) have the [Earning Your Wings] Dream Questline completed upon awakening, which means they can fly away from their moon much earlier than other players.
Because of this, Dream Players can have a higher chance of being Other Corrupted or blinded, due to their ability to stay further from their planets early into the game.
Denizens: The Aerosmith of the Dream Universe.
Alright, now we get to talk about everyone's favorite drunken snakes- the Denizens. As usual, these guys are pretty much huge assholes. Lol good luck.
Maya: Generally Female exclusive. Think of a giant worm with wings that changes its appearance based on how conversation with it is going. Also, try not to stare at her hands. Just don't.
Morpheus: Generally Male Exclusive, from what I know, but 2 female Dream Players I knew have had him. I had him as well, and he's a total bro. (When he isn't being a dick.) His eyes look like stars, and he's usually partially obscured by fog. Talks in riddles (duh) and has a habit of putting things to sleep. Seriously, make sure to be fully caffeinated before seeing this guy, as he can make someone fall asleep because of being too close in proximity. This denizen is black and grey, with streaks of color and black hair. As stated earlier, he is also surrounded by a sort of pale fog. DO NOT set foot in this, as you will pass out. He has no tail, simply fading away at the end of his body.
Oneiros: The Oneiroi are one of the 'multi denizens', those that present themselves as a group of individual entities instead of a singular creature. All of them have slightly different personalities and speak to you differently, but you ultimately bargain and deal with them as a singular unit. Gender neutral Denizen that is supposedly assigned to first session Dream Players, however I got Morpheus when I first rolled Dream. (Possible Glitch) Supposedly it's easy to garner minor ARC bonuses from navigating their unified dialogue generator, since their differing personalities make for an excellent source of creative negotiations.
Penis Ouija: Other Random Dreams Crap and Dots for Dummies.
Offense : •••
Defense : •••
Support : •••
Whisperings: The Grid
Get With the Beat - Fraymotifs:
So let's talk about fraymotifs. Those involving Dream players are kind of different from the rest. While most provide a solid beat for corresponding action, Dream Fraymotifs provide something more like jazz chord changes which are then embellished upon through your reactions. Following the "chord changes" and creating new ideas based on the little information provided is how Dream Players tend to work through Fraymotifs.
I've found that if you have an instrument as your strife weapon, (lol trumpetkind is the best kind) you will get the best result out of these Fraymotifs, as you can improvise over the motifs to produce new and unique attacks.
Gentle Mannerisms: Aspect Relations:
Dream players tend to work well with players of Mist or Stage, Mist because of their replication of objects and other such manipulation and Stage because of their acceptance of improvising within constraints.
In addition, several players of Dream that I have known (myself included) have had lands with "Mist" in their names and many partner dungeons thereof. If you have a Mist player in your session, expect him/her to be on your planet often if Mist is in the name.
While there aren't many physical connections (Land-wise) between Dreams and Stage, they tend to get along really well, and players of Stage and Dreams can draw really good crowds in the Liquid Negrocity Jazz Club. Like seriously, the place was overflowing. It is commonly accepted that Dreams players working at the Club with players of complementing aspects can easily help produce a UU between the two. Dream players also work well with Law Players, as Law's tendency for rules works well with Dream's structured creationism. As for Rain, Dreams and Rain and pretty much total opposites. You won't commonly find a good Dream/Rain duo out there, as their ways of creating are in stark contrast to each other. (More Below)
Power Moves - Unbreakable Unions:
Dreams/Rain: (Credit for This goes to TechicolorCapitalist, if you haven't already go read his Rain guide)These aspects are considered opposite each other, and with good reason. Dreams is really hard for a Rain player, and Rain is really hard for a Dream player. While it may initially seem like there's no big difference, trust me when I say there is. Dream's is all about the creativity and freedom found in rational thought, and doing thing once and doing things right. Meanwhile, Rain is all about the creativity and freedom found in irrational thought, and doing things over and over again, often with multiple versions of yourself, until you get it done the way you want it done. When working together, Rain and Dreams will either be incredible good for each other or incredible bad. Which it is depends almost entirely on the players.
The most common Rain/Dream Unite Synchronisation is called [The Beginning of Something Really Excellent]. It generates a reality distortion zone of scarily large levels, wherein the Dream player pulls together all of their weird Dream architectural knowledge to build up an environment for the Rain player to fuck around in. The Dream player sets the scene, the Rain player provides ample opportunity for excitement and growth, and the combination of the two creates an environment where the two players have total freedom over the events at hand.
Dreams/Law: This UU is one of the best ones you can achieve as a Dream player. If you have a Law player in your session, I recommend finding them and chilling for a while. Law is all about rules and regulations and being rational. and Dreams is all about rational creativity within those rules. This makes for a very interesting mesh. Not much else to say on the subject, Law players are sweet.
The most common Dream/Law unite synchronization is called [So Let Us Create]. This is essentially a huge ass two player buff. It allows the Dream player to imbue the Law player with Dream Energy. The Law player then chooses a dynamic thing to create or achieve, and then both players use Dream energy to create the thing or achieve the goal. Honestly it's pretty freakin' sweet. Think of this ability as a sort of guided missile, where the Law player is the one aiming and the Dream player is the one providing the energy.
