James Maliszewski
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Dream-Quest: Death & Return
🕑 Added 2025-08-28 04:00:08 +0000 UTC
The Lands of Dream are indeed wondrous – but they can also be perilous. Yet death is not always the same for all who walk its roads.
Hit Points & Dying
Above 0 HP: A character fights on as normal.
At or Below 0 HP:
The character falls unconscious.
If left untended, he may deteriorate. Next round (or minute outside combat), begins making death rolls.
Death Rolls:
The character is at the brink of death.
Each round (or minute outside combat), roll 1d20:
1–10: The character dies (see Two Kinds of Death, below).
11–20: The character clings to life but remains unconscious.
Companions may attempt aid (see Stabilization).
Stabilization
If a companion tends to an unconscious character for one full round (no other actions), roll 1d20:
1–5: The attempt fails; the character must continue rolling making death rolls.
6–20: The character is stabilized:
He is no longer at risk of dying from his current injuries.
He remains unconscious for 1d6 hours.
He cannot act until he naturally awakens or receives magical healing.
Magical healing immediately stabilizes and revives a character, even if he is below 0 HP, restoring him to consciousness as normal.
Stabilization Frequency
One attempt per round (in combat) or once per minute (out of combat) may be made to stabilize a given unconscious character.
Multiple companions may try, but only one roll per round is permitted for each fallen character.
If the attempt fails, the character continues to make death rolls as normal until another attempt is made on a subsequent round.
The Two Kinds of Death
The consequences of death in the Dreamlands vary, depending on the origin of the character.
Earthborn Characters
The bodies of most Earthborn characters lie elsewhere, dreaming. Some (see Gateborn, below) follow slightly different rules.
Death in the Dreamlands: When an Earthborn "dies" in the Dreamlands, he does not perish outright. Instead, he awakens violently in the Waking World and suffers the following:
Loss of any un-anchored (see Anchoring, pXX) equipment, wealth, and items carried in the Dreamlands.
A permanent scar on the soul: roll on the Dream-Scar Table below. Dream-scars are cumulative, meaning that an Earthborn who dies multiple times in the Dreamlands is burdened with several scars.
Re-roll hit point total. If it is lower than the current total, use it instead.
Fading Dreamers: Each time an Earthborn dies in the Dreamlands, the path back becomes more tenuous.
After the first death, he may return freely.
After the second, there is a 2-in-6 chance he cannot ever find the way back.
With each subsequent death, the chance increases by 1 (3-in-6, 4-in-6, etc.) until it reaches a maximum of 5-in-6. An Earthborn who suffers death in the Dreamlands always has at least a 1-in-6 chance of returning, no matter how many times he has died.
True Death:
If an Earthborn dies in the Waking World while his dream-self wanders, both bodies permanently die. He is gone forever.
Rare sorceries or bargains may allow the dream-self to continue without its waking body. In such cases, he is reborn as a Dreamborn and subject to all of the benefits and drawbacks of that origin.
A Note on Gateborn
Some rare Earthborn pass bodily into the Dreamlands, whether by hidden gate, forgotten ritual, or mischance. Though such Gateborn (sometimes called Crossers) hail from the Waking World, they require slightly different rules.
Flesh and Soul Together: A Gateborn is present in the Dreamlands with his waking body. He eats, sleeps, bleeds, and ages there just as the Dreamborn do.
Death: If slain, he dies as a Dreamborn — no awakening in the Waking World. His only hope lies in rare sorceries, reincarnation, or bargains in the Vale of Pnath (see Gazetteer, pXX).
Benefit – Whole Being: Gateborn cannot suffer dream-scars, since their bodies are fully present rather than dream-projections.
Drawback – True Death: Because their deaths are final, they are far more fragile than projecting Earthborn. A single fatal encounter may end them forever.
Return to Earth: A Gateborn may find his way back to the Waking World, though such returns are rare and often transformative. The referee may impose subtle changes (strange marks, new hungers, altered senses) to mark the passage.
Dreamborn Characters
Those native to the Dreamlands are flesh and blood of that place. Their deaths in the Dreamlands are usually final.
Death: If slain, a Dreamborn ceases to exist, though any equipment, wealth, or items carried remains.
Return: Resurrection of a Dreamborn is possible only through rare sorceries, pacts, or the intervention of the Great Ones (see Gods and Religion, pXX). Some souls may even reincarnate in altered forms, bearing hazy memories of their past lives.
The Vale of Pnath:
Not all Dreamborn vanish immediately. Some reappear in the dreadful Vale of Pnath, drifting among its lightless caverns.
There, the ghouls who gnaw the bones of the Dreamlands may be bargained with. If allies can reach the Vale or strike a pact through ritual or dream, there is a chance the fallen Dreamborn may be led back into life.
Such rescue is perilous, costly, and never guaranteed, for the ghouls are fickle, and they demand much for their aid.
More information on the Underworld and the Vale of Pnath can be found in the Gazetteer (pXX).
Dream-Scar Table (d12)
Bleeding Dream: Whenever reduced below 0 HP in the Dreamlands, make a saving throw versus death. On a failure, your waking self suffers a heart attack and dies.
Broken Shadow: Your shadow moves a half-second out of step with you. –1 to Dexterity-based checks and initiative rolls in the Dreamlands.
Echoing Soul: Sounds near you carry a faint, eerie echo. –1 to ability checks related to Perception or Stealth.
Flickering Form: Your dream-self sometimes wavers. Once per session, in stressful situations (referee's discretion), you vanish for 1d6 rounds, returning dazed and confused (–2 on all rolls that round).
Glass Bones: You have one less hit die than your level would allow (minimum one).
Haunted Mind: Nightmares claw at your thoughts. –1 Wisdom.
Lost Compass: Whenever you return to the Dreamlands, roll 1d6. On a 1, you appear at a random location (referee's choice) instead of where you intended.
Mark of Fear: The Hounds of Tindalos, nightgaunts, or other predatory dream-beings (see Bestiary, pXX) take a particular interest in you. They do not automatically attack, but they always notice your presence.
Shattered Memory: You forget one important person, place, or event (referee's choice).
The Taste of Dust: Dream-food and drink never satisfy you. You gain no benefit from feasting in dream-palaces (see Revelry, pXX) and must rely on mundane rest to recover.
Unwelcome Guest: Upon your return, something small and alien cling to you (tiny parasite, sliver of strange metal, a scrap of nightmare, etc.). It causes –1 Strength or Constitution (player's choice) until it can be removed.
Whispers of Fear: When in the Dreamlands, you always hear faint, disturbing voices. You suffer –1 saving throws against fear or charm spells and effects.
