James Maliszewski
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Dream-Quest Table of Contents
🕑 Added 2025-09-02 04:00:07 +0000 UTCToday, I thought I'd take a brief break from presenting sample rules from my Dream-Quest draft and instead share the very rough outline I've got for the work as a whole. Bear in mind, this is all incredibly rough and subject to change. In some ways, it's more of a fond hope on my part than a coherent and well-realized plan. There's still no certainty that I'll even finish Dream-Quest, however much it feels like a runaway train at the moment.
However, I do think there's value in posting this, because it not only give me a frame for my flights of fancy, it's also something that you can pore over and ask questions about, perhaps even pointing out obvious areas that I somehow overlooked or otherwise didn't include. Ideally, Dream-Quest will one day be a finished and reasonably complete old school fantasy RPG. To achieve that completeness, I'm going to need assistance from interested gamers who will nudge me in the right direction when I go astray, as I almost certainly will from time to time.
So, please, use the comments (or the Advanced Grognardia Discord server) as a place to let me know what you think of this table of contents. I'm very interested in your opinions of it.
Dream-Quest: Adventures Beyond the Wall of Sleep
Front Matter (10 pages)
Title Page — 1
Credits — 1
Table of Contents — 4
Introduction — 4
What is Dream-Quest?
Inspirations & Sources
How to Use This Book
Part I: Rules of Play
Chapter 1: Characters (40 pages)
Character Generation Overview
Origins: Earthborn and Dreamborn
Ability Scores
Character Classes
Dream-Ship Captain
Dreamer
Knight of Dreams
Moon Prowler
Mystic
Oracle
Poet-Seer
Shadow
Advancement & Leveling
Equipment & Wealth
Chapter 2: Rules of Play (30 pages)
Core Mechanics
Combat
Exploration (wilderness, underworld, dream-logic)
Time & Travel (weeks at sea, shifting geography, ivory/ebony gates)
Social Interaction (reaction rolls, charms, taboos)
Chapter 3: Magic (30 pages)
Nature of Dream-Magic
Spellcasting Rules
Magic Items & Dream Relics
Spell Lists
Part II: The Dreamlands
Chapter 4: The Nature of the Dreamlands (10 pages)
Cosmology & Geography
One-Way Entry from Earth
Time, Death, and Awakening
Dream Logic in Play
Chapter 5: Realms of Dream (80 pages)
Gazetteer (each location 4–8 pages, with hex/pointcrawl maps, random encounters, and hooks).
Ulthar
Dylath-Leen
Celephaïs
Enchanted Woods
The Underworld
Leng
The Moon
White Ship Voyages
Kadath (the forbidden destination, sketched for high-level play)
Chapter 6: Denizens of Dream (30 pages)
Bestiary of Dreamlands Monsters
Chapter 7: Factions & Powers (20 pages)
Gods of Dream (Hypnos, Nodens, Nyarlathotep, Bast, etc.)
Mortal Powers (Dylath-Leen merchants, Ulthar elders, Leng warlords, etc.)
Alien Intrusions (moon-beasts, Others, etc.)
Cults, secret societies, agendas
Part III: Referee’s Toolkit
Chapter 8: Running Dream-Quest (20 pages)
Using Dream Logic (when to bend rules)
Adventure Design (pilgrimages, delves, intrigues)
Random Tables (dream events, treasures, encounters by region)
Chapter 9: Sample Adventure (10 pages)
Designed for 1st-level characters
Includes maps, keyed locations, NPCs
Chapter 10: Appendices (10 pages)
Appendix A: OSE Compatibility Notes
Appendix B: Inspirations (Lovecraft stories, Dunsany, other reading)
Appendix C: Quick Reference Charts
Character Sheet
Back Matter (10 pages)
Index
License
As I stated earlier, this is all a very rough estimate, based on what I've already sketched out in my head. In some cases, like the Bestiary, I'm far from certain what I'll include in the end, while in others, like character classes, I have a good idea of what I intend to create. No doubt, as the project grows, it will, like the Dreamlands themselves, shift and change, perhaps even in unexpected directions.
Regardless, I'm hopeful that, wherever it ends up, it'll be an enjoyable journey. As ever, thank you for your continued encouragement and support. That means a lot to me.
Comments
James Maliszewski
Absolutely! I'm still nowhere near ready to do that, but, yes, I will be looking for playtesters when the time comes.
Sasha Bilton
This looks absolutely fantastic! Do you think you'd want "playtesters"?
