Throughout history, people have occasionally disappeared without a trace. These are the stories of where they went, and what they created.
Somewhere, there is a place which resonates with the dreams of Earth. It has been called Oneira, Fiddler’s Green, Alcheringa, and innumerable other names. We do not know this place, yet we frequently touch it with our unconsciousness. When we sleep or drift deep into reverie, we add shape to it.
It is there that the truly missing go. Somehow they become so attuned to the essence of the dreamtime that their bodies slip into that world.
Yet, they still dream, and when they rouse, they live amongst the architectures of our imagination and theirs. They wake to a world of fantasies and nightmares, some of their own doing.
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Oneira (just a working name) is a place that is given shape by human dreams. Mostly. Perhaps animals also impact it. It might be another dimension. A world in another universe. Whatever it is, it is attuned to our dream process.
Some people also become attuned to it, and in the process of doing so, they slip out of our world into this world. These people physically enter a world which is otherwise shaped by our dreams.
Because they originate in our world, though, they can still affect the dreamtime. When they sleep, their dreams manipulate the world around them. When they wake, the aftereffects of this are still there to some degree or other.
This is a talent which can take some time to master. An inexperienced dreamer may have little more effect than somebody still back on Earth. A master dreamer might turn his nightmares into weapons or his fantasies into miracles.
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A conceit of this setting is that the bulk of our dreams are pretty mundane. Thus the world where this takes place is largely normal. However, those who can master the art of using their dreams to manipulate the world around them can gain strange powers or cause interesting alterations to the world.
Also, the inconsistencies between dreams are naturally handled. Obama is President, for most people. But you might enter a bar where Truman is still President, and a World War II soldier just returned home dances with the sweetheart of his youth. Gravity is still the rule of law. But you might find that you can fly. Your fantasy sex partner is married. But maybe some dream clone of them is waiting for you in your bedroom when you awake.
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Typically, a dreamer stores up dream energy while sleeping, and this lets him perform interesting deeds while awake. Sometimes, however, he instead enacts permanent changes on the world through dreams. This might be done through the equivalent of “experience” found in other games, but spent simply by dreaming.
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Character types
Originals
These are people who came directly from the real world. How long ago is up to the individual story, but it is a useful group for people who want to be new to the setting. It is also a useful group for the surprise upset type character.
Familials
These are people descended from Originals. Playing one probably requires more knowledge of the setting, but also probably makes it easier to be deeply embedded in the setting. My current idea is that they have to be at least 50% real-world descent, whatever path that requires.
Phantasms
These are the results of dreamers. They might be weak. They might be powerful. Whatever the case, they revolve around dreamers in some way.
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Copyright Conrad Hubbard