Dreams and psychology

[Yakalopoli]

Hey guys, this is my first post but have been a reader and avid follower for ages now. You guys rock!



What would be the closest thing to a KN (Psychology) skill in pathfinder? I was talking things over with my DM about this item in my possession that functions based on the dreams (as in sleepy-time dreams, not goals lol) and fears of someone using it. And he said that in order to 'craft' dreams, it would require knowledge of the human (or monstrous) mind. Yet we can not seem to find something along those lines. Can anyone point us in the right direction, we'd like to prevent adding a new skill if there is something somewhere we don't know about.

Thanks!!

 

[Starman]

What about Knowledge (Psychology, Oneirology, Oneriomancy, or whatever)?

 

[IronWolf]

I don't think any of the traditional knowledge skills fit what you are after that closely, but the list in the core rulebook is just a list of typical fields of study. So I would go for what Starman suggested and just use something like Knowledge(Psychology) that seems applicable for your character and just run with it.

Welcome to the boards by the way!

 

[pawsplay]

Profession (Dream-teller)

 

[Yakalopoli]

Thanks for the input guys, we ended up going with the KN psychology idea. And instead of being just for that one use, we're letting a successful kn(psychology) and maybe some research would give me a +2/+4 (depending on the roll) circumstance bonus on dealing with that person of whom i've studied

 

[fireinthedust]

Thanks for the input guys, we ended up going with the KN psychology idea. And instead of being just for that one use, we're letting a successful kn(psychology) and maybe some research would give me a +2/+4 (depending on the roll) circumstance bonus on dealing with that person of whom i've studied

Sense Motive would have been your best bet.

I think creating a new skill with only the one function (crafting dreams) is bad house rules design. You're only going to use this skill for the one item, and potentially this one adventure. More appropriately (IMHO) perhaps you could have taken an existing skill and applied it to this problem.

Sense Motive is already about discerning whether someone is lying to you or not, and is the closest thing to psychology there is in the game. Not only could you then use it for making dreams (along with, likely, a Spellcraft check to use a magic item) but also to do all the other stuff Sense Motive does for you.

 

[IronWolf]

I think creating a new skill with only the one function (crafting dreams) is bad house rules design. You're only going to use this skill for the one item, and potentially this one adventure. More appropriately (IMHO) perhaps you could have taken an existing skill and applied it to this problem.

Knowledge(Crafting Dreams) would be limited, but the broader topic of Knowledge(Psychology) could have several uses beyond just the dream question the original post was about.

The skill lists under Knowledge are just noted as typical areas of study, so it is just toeing the line of house rules to add a knowledge skill such as psychology. Psychology certainly encompasses more than crafting dreams.

 

[fireinthedust]

fair enough, but I would suggest a different name. Psychology, while rooted in the word Psyche, meaning spirit, and ology (logos? I think?) for knowledge, isn't really a fantasy subject in its current form. Doing tests on rats, or the reaction times of processing capacities by using Stroop tests; or the Erikson or Piaget stages of development, isn't the sort of thing PC heroes should know about.

...unless it's that kind of campaign setting. Sort of steampunk psionics... which sounds cool, now that I think about it. You'd need gunpowder and clockwork constructs, and a city with lots of Industrial coal burning fog... And betazoids...

ahem, everyone meet me in Talking the Talk in five! (jk)

 

[Thanael]

Perhaps this document will have something for you: A Guide to Dreamwalking

It is the fanmade conversion to 3E/new interpretation of the old Ravenloft dreamwalking rules from the Nightmare Lands boxed set. (Note that the Nightmare Lands are the Ravenloft version of the Plane of Dreams amalgamated with a RL domain, so they are tainted by evil more than a normal Plane of Dreams should be.)

It introduces among other thing the new skill Dream Use (Wis). The 3E Manual of the Planes also has rules the (Demi-?) Plane of Dreams and it in turn introduces the Lucid Dreaming Skill which the above pdf notes: For games that use the Lucid Dreaming skill (see Manual of the Planes) treat ranks in one as ranks in another.

There's also this OGL material on the Plane of Dreams from the Book of the Planes on the Grand OGL Wiki. This material also introduces a new skill: Dreaming (Wis).

I think in this case the introduction of a new skill is okay, as in the old 2E system - and also in Cthulhu - active Dreamwalking is a rarely learned but separate skill. If you have no skill ranks you default to wisdom checks.

 

[gamerprinter]

There's also Coleseum Morpheuon, a high level adventure setting (16th - 20th) adventures on the Dream Plane, by Clinton Boomer from Rite Publishing. Might be worth checking out!

GP