Do androids dream of electric sheep

[Wicht]

Dreams are a vital part IMO to the human personality. There is a sort of commonality to the dreams of most people, even though each dream is unique.

As I was thinking of this it struck me that we tend to assume all sapient creatures would dream alike. But such would very likely not be the case. Some sapient creatures might never dream. Tolkien tries to get to this thought with his elves whom he describes as seeing the whole world as a waking dream.

So here's the question - how might non-humans dream, if they dream at all? And how does this help mold their racial personality.

Two examples:
Dwarves: The dreams of mountain dwarves tend to be less linear than human dreams. Rarely do their subconscious minds rehash elements of their waking day. Instead their slumber is deep and their thoughts are of rocks and minearls. They feel the substance of rocks as they slumber, they dwell on the properties and nature of the various minerals and in their minds they are at one with the earth which surrounds them. When they wake they are almost always refreshed and strengthened from their deep slumber and they are more firmly reconnected to their roots.

Noble Fire Salamanders: Not surprisingly the dreams of the fire salamanders deal with heat and flame. Their dreams are like a constant furnace which blazes in their minds throughout their sleep. Their are no pictures, no words to their dream, just a neverending explosion of heat.

 

[Xeriar]

I know my dog dreams. He sometimes goes through periods when he whimpers in his sleep.

He also sleeps with his eyes open on occasion.

Dreams often have a sort of subliminal kind of symbolism. The subconcious often tries to send us messages using the language it understands.

For example, a full set of teeth is considered healthy. A dream where your teeth are falling out may be a sign that you have health issues.

For a dwarf, his beard represents a history of his health. I get this silly image of dwarves waking up and frantically trying to put out their beards from an imaginary fire...

---

Another thing you may ask is if a species is more or less prone to lucid dreaming (or if they can at all).

 

[Balgus]

yeah- i had a dog way back when that we would sit for hours and watch as it slept. It would kick and wimper as if it was running away from something. The funniest thing was when it was on its side and was jogging its leg as if it were running- and my idiot'n brother decided to pull its tail. He shot up like a bullet and ran into the wall. Poor guy. He died a couple months later- of natural causes.

I think all conscious creatures dream- in all its forms. A dwarf and elf would have the same dream, because they are both just variations of the human. If you think about the many forms of humans (some short and gruffy with high con, some nimble and frail with high dex. They all CAN have the same dream, or somewhat of the same dream.

My thought would be this- wet dreams. Would an elf, though hating dwarves during the day, find it in a dream highly attractive? Would a dwarf have sex with an elf in a dream? knowing it was a dream? Cause thinking back to my younger days, I have had "weird" dreams about people I would not normally consider attractive- but hey- it's a dream... or am i alone in this?

 

[Umbran]

Dwarves: The dreams of mountain dwarves tend to be less linear than human dreams. Rarely do their subconscious minds rehash elements of their waking day. Instead their slumber is deep and their thoughts are of rocks and minearls. They feel the substance of rocks as they slumber, they dwell on the properties and nature of the various minerals and in their minds they are at one with the earth which surrounds them. When they wake they are almost always refreshed and strengthened from their deep slumber and they are more firmly reconnected to their roots.

In the first couple of sentences, you're doing fine. Less linear, not rehashing the waking day, fine. But to restrict them to one topic - rocks and minerals... that's too much. Humans aren't resticted to a single topic or theme in their dreams. Why should other sapient species be so limited?

Let's remember that elves have a real peculiarity in sleep - one that goes far enough to be reflected in rules as an immunity to sleep spells. Dwarves don't have such a peculiarity.

I think that yoyu'll get more plausible, interesting results if you talk about the style of dreams, rather than the topic or content of dreams. A critter should be able to dream about anything it can cogitate while awake, imho.

 

[Wicht]

I think that yoyu'll get more plausible, interesting results if you talk about the style of dreams, rather than the topic or content of dreams. A critter should be able to dream about anything it can cogitate while awake, imho.

Ok - thats kind of what I am trying to get at. If you want your species to all be humans in funny skins fine. But if you want a world in which each race is culturally, mentally and biologically distinct, then it seems to me that they should dream in different styles.

With the dwarves I was after an imagery which is sort of hard to convey. One in which their minds tell their bodies that they are melding with the living stone.

 

[Wil]

It depends entirely on the cosmology behind the setting in question. Are the dreams representative of the psyche, or is the dream-realm an actual place? If there is a dream-realm, does every species interact with it the same way or is it further dependent on psyche in interpreting this realm? Do spirits influence dreams, is the dreamer completely powerless in influencing their dreams, do dreams convey messages from the gods or omens?

IMO, dreams are highly underdeveloped in fantasy rpgs but for different reasons - there's usually no attention given to how dreams fit into the metaphysics of the setting.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Wierd dream story of the day...

I've got a co-worker who will be awake while dreaming. It's something like a lucid dream, except she controls her own actions and won't precieve the world beyond the dream.

So, like, if she dreams she's running from something, her brain will register that she actually is, and she'll be as in control of her actions as if normally, and she will precieve that she's running from something, even if she's just running down the hall. It's gotten to the point where she'll take notes that she's dreaming about and such. Of course, completely illegible later, but...yeah...

If humans can have such diveristy, I think most other races probably can, too.

Where's P-kitty? He's got a job in dreams somehow...

 

[Umbran]

IMO, dreams are highly underdeveloped in fantasy rpgs but for different reasons - there's usually no attention given to how dreams fit into the metaphysics of the setting.

I see that as more of a feature than an omission. I'd really prefer to figure out the metaphysics of dreams myself. I don't want them written down in a book that the players can read.

 

[Piratecat]

Where's P-kitty? He's got a job in dreams somehow...

Nope! I'm a sleep and alertness specialist, but I don't know diddly about dreams. The closest I've come is reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics and writing up dreams for Of Sound Mind.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Bah! Wellp, that's closer.