Waking Nightmare - sort of a Nightmare on Elm Street thing

What do you think?

Waking Nightmare
Enchantment/Illusion (Shadow) [Mind-affecting, Evil]
Level: Sor/Wiz 9
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Unlimited
Targets: Self, plus 1 creature/level
Duration: 10 minutes/level (D)
Saving Throw: Will disbelief; see text
Spell Resistance: Yes; see text

You create a dreamscape of shadowstuff, calling the minds of many creatures to participate in the same waking nightmare, where they must face you to escape. The targets only have to be on the same plane, and do not have to be asleep, or even be capable of sleep. However, the spell requires malice, and so you cannot bring any allies into the dreamscape, only enemies.

Creatures caught in the dreamscape fall into a coma in the physical world, and the version of themselves that appear in the dreamscape are created from shadow. Since this is a dream-like representation of the creature, he appears with whatever equipment he normally has (though this does not create items the creature does not actually own). He has the same hit points his physical body had, but may ignore temporary physical ailments like disease or paralysis. This shadowy version is connected to the physical version, so any damage the creature takes in the nightmare manifests on his physical body. Likewise, magic and items that are expended in the dreamscape are expended in the real world.

Those whose spell resistance defends against the spell briefly enter the dreamscape and can observe what happens, but are not affected by it at all, nor can they affect it. They can choose to leave the spell as a full-round action, or they can choose to accept the dream reality, letting the spell affect them. If they accept the spell, they still get a save to disbelieve.

Creatures who fail their save are fully trapped in the nightmare, and are affected within it as if everything were real. Creatures who succeed their save recognize the nightmare as an illusion, but still enter the dreamscape. They take only 60% of normal damage from effects in the dreamscape, and non-damaging effects are only 60% as powerful, or have only a 60% chance of affecting them. However, their own actions are at normal strength. Creatures can attempt to disbelieve the dreamscape, getting a new save each round as a standard action, but succeeding only lessens the effect, and doesn’t awaken them. To escape the nightmare on your own, you must defeat its caster.

You also are part of the dreamscape, but you automatically disbelieve. If you are slain or lose consciousness, the spell ends and all those trapped within it are freed.

A creature whose physical body is damaged by something outside the nightmare gets a new save to wake up and exit the dream. Dispel evil cast on a sleeper frees him from the dream and stuns the caster of waking nightmare for one round.

The difficulty of the save depends on how well you know the subject and what sort of physical connection (if any) you have to that creature. The modifiers for this are the same as for the nightmare spell.

The general appearance of the dreamscape is up to you, letting you choose a theme (such as shadowy forest full of screams, jagged peaks where impossibly huge monsters float overhead in a stormy sky, or a spike-filled dungeon with slowly shifting halls and stairways), though you cannot specify a particular layout or precise details. The terrain is solid, but cannot be directly hazardous, so no lava, intense cold, or grinding maws to chew your foes.

A mirage arcana or hallucinatory terrain cast in the dreamscape has a very tangible effect, letting the caster reshape the dreamscape.

The dreamscape covers an area roughly 1000 feet in diameter, beyond which is an impenetrable, unseen barrier. A creature that manages to leave this area, such as by teleporting or plane shifting, ceases to exist, because he is just a shadow manifestation. The original creature awakens, but is stunned for one round.

Ouch..

Have you read 'Occult Lore's Oneomancer {Dream Mage}?

This spell screams to use those rules instead of trying to cram the entire chapter into one 3.5 compatable spell.

You are tying to import in the 'Dream Self' Template and dream combat.. the chapter doesn't even touch trying to force someone into sleep {and thus to dream}.

Its also best used when the plane of Dreams exists in the cosmology, you could simply baneful teleport everyone to the plane, this would make the mechanics easier {everyone is physically there} and make it nastier {if you didn't have your favorite Greatsword with you..}

If I were to run a module that has this spell in it, I will port in the Oneomancy rules.

Two things I note:
Unlimited range - Does the spell still require line of effect? If so, you still need to be in the same room as them.
The save - This spell makes them fall comatose instantly, but they wake up if damaged. This is abusable if you have your allies coup de grace them. I would suggest just a single will save to negate the spell entirely, which would save on complications.
Other than that, this spell is really cool.

Primitive Screwhead said:

Ouch..

Have you read 'Occult Lore's Oneomancer {Dream Mage}?

Click to expand...

I actually have read those rules, a long time ago, and I have the book somewhere. I think Keith Baker wrote them, actually. But unfortunately I don't have space to repeat them in full in the adventure I'm trying to finalize, and with a few revisions, this spell does what I need.

The big problem is that I need the spell to affect a whole party of PCs, even elves (who don't sleep, according to D&D). Thus the switch to it being a shadow effect, instead of an actual dream.

Hm. Maybe the spell should just sorta clone you into the dreamscape, so that you can still also act in the waking world (though you can only act in one place at a given time). Optimally the caster would be far away, so it would be difficult for you to mount an effective counterattack while you're being attacked in the dreamscape, but it would be an option. Hm. Sound interesting?

Interesting idea...

My first thought was a spell that did two things:
- Create an Avatar of the caster at a chosen point in the Shadow plane, much like an Astral project where the Avatar's Str = casters Int, Dex = Chr and Con = Chr. All spell effects used through the Avatar are [Shadow] effect and do not affect the material plane.

- An area around the Avatar forces living beings into a dual existance on both the material and the shadow plane. A will save places the character half-way {resulting in only half-damage from [Shadow] effects} and allows the character to choose to 'wake up' and pull completely out of the Shadow plane.. or push all the way into the Shadow plane since your damage will only be half-way effective on the Avatar

The fun part is, you have to be on the Shadow plane to fight the Avatar. Your actions happen in both planes, so walking over a real-world cliff would be a bad thing.
This allows all the PC's to participate, as well as generate an interesting combat scene where some PCs can't affect {or even see} the Avatar..possibly getting in the way of other PCs.

this version keeps the entire part in play, has most of the same RP aspects, and does not allow for nasty unintended consequences like forcing a coma could.

The environment of the shadow realm could look like the casters location, allowing characters to possibly search out the physical location of the bad guy... or like something completely different, allowing the bad guy to trick characters to accidently walk of a real cliff due to it looking like the edge is a bit farther away than it really is. {works only for those fully involved in the spell.

Also this means you can use already existing rules instead of having to write them into the spell description.

Also, I would go with a straight half-damage instead of using 60%.. easier to calculate

Lastly, yes.. Keith Baker did write that Occult Lore chapter and it goes nicely with Eberron's Dal Quor.