Lucid Dreaming

[Crothian]

For those who don't know, Lucid Dreaming is when you are dreaming, and know it. It's a rare dream state that not everyone can do.

Many people have dream sequences in their games. Usually this involves the PCs nopt realizing they are asleep until their dream self dies and they awaken. Has anyone ever tried doing a Lucid Dreaming Sequence? Where PCs can explore their dreams and possible get some sort of hints of clues about anything.

Nothing like a little insomnia to get the mind going.

 

[Mana]

Most definetely. My first (and really, only) character to have played, Mana, was quite a dreamer. His dreams influenced the campaign a lot, and I think dreams can play quite a role in D&D.

I myself am quite a lucid dreamer in real life, as there are many simple techniques to increase the rate of lucid dreams, and recollection of them. Just about every dream I have is lucid, and that's just about every night. Dreams are certainly a lot more interesting when you can control them, as my D&D character also did.

-Mana

 

[Umbran]

Just about every dream I have is lucid, and that's just about every night.

Many folks who do a lot of lucid dreaming think this, but they are usually incorrect. For one thing, most folks, lucid dreamers or not, fail to remember most of their dreams. Just because you only remember the lucid ones doesn't mean the others don't happen frequently.

Plus, from what I have read (in Scientific American, IIRC, though I cannot name issue number at the moment) the brain-state of lucid dreaming is not the same as for normal dreaming. Regularly failing to reach normal REM sleep is unhealthy. Lucid dreaming can be fun, but if you really are replacing most of your normal dreams with lucid ones, you may not doing yourself any favors.

IIRC, at least one person around here is professionally knowledgeble on sleep, and may be able to shed more light on the topic...

 

[Rune]

You may consider following the link in my sig to the Runic Storyhour. It's actually a whole campaign (setting) in a dream and, yes, the characters are aware of it.

 

[Riekhan]

Mana, regarding Umbran's post, do you feel like you haven't gotten a good nights sleep when you dream lucidly?

 

[morpheous1777]

Plus, from what I have read (in Scientific American, IIRC, though I cannot name issue number at the moment) the brain-state of lucid dreaming is not the same as for normal dreaming. Regularly failing to reach normal REM sleep is unhealthy. Lucid dreaming can be fun, but if you really are replacing most of your normal dreams with lucid ones, you may not doing yourself any favors.

I have to agree with umbran, I am also a a lucid dreamer (for me its kinda like daydreaming but half way asleep and i am fully aware and in control in my dream), I have lucid dreamed for hours on end alot of times, when i get done i feel relaxed and as though i took a short nap and i usually remember it all, but after a while i start to get really tired, because you come close to rem sleep but not all the way. I remember doing it for 4-6 hours the night before i had to go work, those days sucked i was tired as hell. but then agian i have heard of people who actually achieve short periods of rem sleep while lucid dreaming, but i am not one of them.

 

[Mark]

IIRC, at least one person around here is professionally knowledgeble on sleep, and may be able to shed more light on the topic...

That would be Piratecat, I believe. (...and, "no", that's not a crack about his DMing... )

 

[Dinkeldog]

I'm sure PC will be here any minute.

Sagiro's story hour has a character, Morningstar, that does the whole dreamworld thing akin to Jordan's Tel'aran'rhiod. Most of the in depth stuff happened earlier in the story; there isn't much in the later sections.

Dream sequences only annoyed the one group that were subjected to them. It's one of the main reasons we fired that particular DM.

 

[Crothian]

Bumping my own thread, how cool is that.