[Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen] Oneiromancy II: Dream Riding

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen

Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition

Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

A Primer on Oneiromancy

Part II: Dream Riding

 My comments are in yellow and are regarding my reviews of the system and my own personal and Storyteller's perspective recommendations for use in our Chronicle. 

Sources: The original source material is from Changeling: The Lost, 1^st Edition, adapted for use by Mind Mages in Mage: The Awakening 2^nd Edition.

Keep in mind that the following are for dreams only, not the deeper travel into Astral space starting with the Oneiros.

Oneiromancy Series:

Part 1: Magic & Dreams

Part 2: Dream Riding

Part 3: Dreamweaving

Part 4: Dream Combat

Being in a dream means actively participating in the ongoing narrative of the dream but while also meddling with it. Media like Inception and Falling Water are strong inspirations for what this is like — that uncanny valley of sensation and causality, an experience that’s almost but not quite convincing as real life. It is also filled with bouts of extraordinary fantasy that nevertheless have symbolic and stream-of-consciousness connections to the dreamer’s psyche, Alice in Wonderland style. The result is subtle shifts, which work with the dream in progress, and paradigm shifts, which hijack the dream’s narrative at the cost of putting strain on the dreamer’s mind and calling their subconscious attention to an intruder. 


Strong exertions and spellwork can drastically change the dream which constantly responses to stimuli, and not always in ways that make immediate logical sense. Changes can be racked up slowly with teamwork, building upon ideas or suddenly in response to a strong will. 

Dream Intensity

Not all dreams are the same. Some are powerful, intense experiences that snatch up the dreamer and hapless oneiropomps and take them for a ride, forcing them to experience the fullness of the dream’s intended course until it is completed. Other dreams are wisps of imagery and vague symbolism, poorly remembered when away, and often only half-noticed while asleep. Such dreams are easy manipulated by skilled oneiromancers.

The power level of a given dream is referred to as its Intensity. At the onset of dreaming, the Intensity is determined by rolling the dreaming character’s Wits + Resolve.  The number of successes gained in that roll determines the Intensity of the dream.

Dreaming and Characters

Walking into a dream is like walking into a new world, populated by nightmare monsters and everyday people just like any other world. But here, everything has two meanings. The doorman in your apartment building isn’t just a doorman, he’s also your frustration with your humdrum daily routine. He doesn’t know that, but if you press him, he’ll insist you come inside before it gets dark, and if you don’t he might become something else. When these two meanings conflict, one takes a backseat. That’s why, when you speak a dream aloud, its events may not make sense to the waking mind. A sun rises at midnight, or a dog speaks Chinese, or a door leads where it shouldn’t. These are the transitions between symbol and meaning, the translation between the subconscious and something consciousness can clearly remember.

Because dreaming will invariably become relevant in a game a Storyteller should take a few moments to consider the sorts of dreams his Storyteller characters have. Just as a person’s likes, dislikes, ambitions and fears are relevant when creating an interesting character for characters to interact with, a mage can tell a lot about someone by interacting with their dreams. Thus, the Storyteller is advised to jot down a few quick ideas about the nature of a character’s dreams.

Likewise, players should think about the kinds of dreams their characters experience, Cabalmates may become very familiar with the dreams and Oneiroi. The kinds of dreams a character has say something about that character, and the truths held in the dreaming world tend to become known within a Cabal. Fears, hopes and even sexual fantasies could become common knowledge within a Geotic Cabal, though most are careful to keep such information secret.

Types of Dreams

1. Recurring Dreams:  What kind of recurring dreams might a character have? The kinds of recurring dreams that a character has can say something about that character’s personality or psyche. For some reason, some concept — portrayed symbolically in dreams, of course — has its hooks in the sleeping mind, which dwells on that concept. Sometimes, this is simply a reflection of the character’s own interests, neuroses or stressful life situations, but sometimes, there are other factors at work. Though the Intensity of a recurring dream is determined as normal each time it is dreamed, the Wits + Resolve roll to determine that Intensity benefits from the 9 again rule.

2. Memory Dreams: Many people experience a variety of memory dreams, subconscious recollections of things that happened during their waking hours. Which memories the subconscious squirrels away to dredge up during REM sleep can likewise tell something about the dreamer. Often such dreams aren’t faithful recollections, but are colored by the associations the dreamer has with the dream, what emotions they experience in remembering the dream and other similar personality “tints.” Sometimes the dreamer himself isn’t aware of why he continually remembers a certain event from his childhood, or why a specific hallway from his high school years recurs even in dreams that aren’t about old alma mater. Many oneiromancers can discover the reasons behind the recurring dreams through careful exploration of the dream itself. Similar to recurring dreams, the Wits + Resolve roll to determine the Intensity of a memory dream benefits from the 9 again rule. Should the dream be a recurring memory dream, it benefits from the 8 again rule.

3. Wish Fulfillment: The human subconscious is, in many ways, the source of such human experiences as hopes and desires, whether sublimated or open. Therefore, it is no surprise that many dreams feature some kind of wish fulfillment, allowing the dreamer to experience her fondest wishes. Making love with someone she is infatuated with, the opportunity to get back at someone who has hurt her, the chance to reunite with a loved one who died while they were quarreling — most people experience some sort of wish fulfillment dream occasionally. The meanings behind those dreams are often obvious, but sometimes the wish fulfillment is expressed in symbolic terms: dreams of flight may represent freedom from a constricting or binding situation, while dreams of being pregnant may represent a creative urge unfulfilled.

4. Prophetic Dreams: The Supernal touches all things, running through the fabric of dreams from the Astral Plane as surely as it runs through the furthest mad reaches of the Tellurian. In the Supernal Realms, the past and the future merge, and fate looms. Therefore, it is no surprise that dreams sometimes contain glimpses of the future. Some oneiromancers believe that many dreams are prophetic, reflecting the future in the same way that many divination methods do: as something that absolutely will occur if events continue based on the exact moment in time when the divinatory process is used. Of course, free will is the biggest source of those changes in events, and so they are hints at best. Still, prophetic dreams are quite common among the Awakened (especially with the Dream Merit), and many mages experience them.

While in a dream, a changeling who suspects his environs to be prophetic may make a Wits + Occult + Gnosis roll with a bonus equal to the Intensity of the Dream. Success indicates whether or not the dream itself is indeed prophetic, but provides no other information about it. An exceptional success indicates not only whether the dream is prophetic but also gives an indication to the mage of how a prophetic dream might be both avoided and assured to occur. If a changeling makes any changes whatsoever to the dream through the use of oneiromancy, the dream ceases to actually function as a prophetic dream.

Many oneiromancers consider it terribly unlucky to alter genuinely prophetic dreams. A dreamer who experiences a prophetic dream and then later sees that prediction come true may regain a point of Willpower. Such moments infuse the dreamer’s sense of self and assurance in his dream experiences, even as they generally send a shiver down the spines of those who don’t believe in such things.

5. Nightmares: What wish fulfillment dreams are to hopes and desires, nightmares are to insecurities and fears. Most dreamers experience the occasional nightmare — a dream that contains imagery, experiences or memories that provoke a fear response. Such dreams are quite terrifying and, in the case of recurring nightmares, can actually contribute to poor health and psychological stress. Nightmares are intensely personal. What creates great fear in one person may simply be an odd dream for another. Therefore, the kinds of nightmares a character experiences tells much about what he fears, hates or generally has negative associations with. 

Similar to many dreams, however, nightmares can be tremendously symbolic: what appears to be simply a strange dream about clowns and playgrounds may actually be symbolic associations with being abused as a child to the dreamer. When determining the Intensity of a dream, a nightmare of Intensity equal to or greater than the dreamer’s Willpower results in a terrifying ordeal so severe the dreamer likely wakes sobbing or screaming. The dreamer does not regain any Willpower points from slumber after a night of rest that includes such night terrors. 

In addition, the deranged often have more horrific nightmares. Reduce the number of successes required to prevent Willpower recovery by one per derangement or Mental Condition the victim possesses. Thus, a dreamer with two derangements and a Willpower 5 need only experience an Intensity 3 nightmare to prevent the recovery of Willpower. Such dreams will always feature traits associated with the derangement in question, however: a phobic’s nightmares are often haunted by the thing he is afraid of, and the schizophrenic may come face-to-face with the supposed source of his hallucinations quite frequently in his dreams.

New Mental Condition: Nightmares

Some peoples’ psyches are naturally predisposed toward nightmares. For such dreamers, the more intense the dream is, the more likely she is to experience nightmares — the intensity of the dream unnerves the dreamer, and what began as a simple dream of some other kind takes a dramatic shift into the nightmarish. In game terms, any dream with an Intensity higher than the dreamer’s Resolve becomes a nightmare. These nightmares retain the beginning dream’s Intensity, however, meaning that such dreams are quite likely to leave the dreamer ill rested the next morning.

Merit: Dream (• to •••••) 

Prerequisites: Composure •••, Wits •••

Effect: Once per chapter, your character can dig within her dreams for prophetic answers to primordial truths. She may enter her own dreams without a meditation roll when she sleeps, and if she has a basic understanding of something she wishes to divine from her dreams, you may use this Merit. Your character must sleep or meditate for at least four hours. Then, ask the Storyteller a yes or no question about the topic at hand. He must answer accurately, but can use “maybe” if the answer is truly neither yes nor no. Depending on the answer, you may ask additional questions, until you have asked questions equal to your Dream Merit dots.

Oneiromancy

The arts of dream manipulation are practiced by many mages. Though all have the ability to shape dreams, not all bother to hone the skill. True oneiromancers seek to understand the nuances of the human condition, as expressed through dreams. The Skill associated with oneiromancy is Empathy — because mages are people, their manipulation of dreams is, of necessity, half psychology. If they understand what dreams mean and how they work, they can get the same result from a mortal dreamscape.

Eidolons and Props  

An eidolon is a dream actor, a character that is part of a dream and doesn’t exist outside that context. Most eidolons are just set dressing, extras in the play that unfolds as the dream progresses. Some of them are more important, representing thoughts the dreamer wrestles with or specific strong emotions. An eidolon may be a symbol for the sleeper’s fear that her mother will ridicule her in front of her friends at an upcoming party, but not for fear of her mother or of ridicule in general. Changelings can interact with eidolons as though they were ordinary people or creatures, and in fact must do so if they want to change anything inside the dream.

Objects and creatures in dreams are props that have identical traits to real-world versions of themselves. Like eidolons, they can be important or unimportant. The line between eidolons and props can be fuzzy; some prop-like things might be eidolons if they’re more like characters. A talking dog, a nightmare monster on a rampage, and a sapient computer could all be eidolons.  

The importance of an eidolon or prop isn’t based on its role in the current scene, but rather on whether or not it represents something from the dreamer’s mind. A locked door might seem crucial to a changeling trying to break into a house, but unless it represents the dreamer’s inability to let new friends get close to him, it’s an unimportant prop.

Playing a Role  

An oneiropomp must engage directly with the ongoing scene within the dream before she can make changes or glean secrets, and she must take up a role that matches what’s already happening there when she arrives. She needs to influence the situation inside the dream so that it will present her with the symbolic opportunity she needs to accomplish her goals.

Dream Reaching (Mind ••)

Practice: Ruling

Primary Factor: Duration

Withstand: Composure

Suggested Rote Skills: Empathy, Medicine, Persuasion

The mage may enter and share the dreams of a sleeping subject. The mage witnesses the dream, and can influence its direction, though she is not directly a part of the dream. Casting this spell on herself ensures the mage remembers her dreams.

+1 Reach: the mage becomes an active part of the dream, able to take action inside as described in Mage: The Awakening 2^nd Edition. Casting the spell on herself induces lucid dreaming if she sleeps during the spell’s Duration, without need for meditation.

+1 Reach: The mage can access the Dream Riding access below:

If a Lucid dreamer or mage is disturbed by a loud noise occurs nearby or something disturbs his body, a reflexive Resolve + Composure roll is required to stay within his dream-state. If the roll fails, he immediately awakens, yanked from this reverie.

Likewise, an oneiromancer can choose to exit a dream at any time with a successful Resolve + Composure roll and an instant action. However, the one whose dreamscape serves as the setting for a dream-visitation is not so fortunate. Nonlucid dreamers have no control over whether or not they can end the dream. A lucid dreamer or oneiromancer can make a Resolve + Composure roll to awaken, as above, but this roll can be reflexively opposed by a present oneiromancer’s Wits + Empathy + Gnosis roll; indeed, multiple oneiromancers may reflexively use Teamwork to assist one another in keeping the sleeper asleep until they are finished with their goals there.

Dream Riding

Dream riding is perhaps the simplest and least intensive form of oneiromancy. A dream-riding mage enters the dream of another and makes simple changes to events and the environment around him. He can introduce fairly dramatic changes, altering the appearance of the dream’s setting, how its dream-inhabitants act and all manner of other changes. The integral dream itself remains relatively the same.

Subtle Shifts
Without dreamweaving, the existing narrative of the dream limits the mage’s influence, as above. However, she can exert her will to subtly tweak facts about the dream and nudge events in a direction that better suits her purpose.  


Subtle dreamweaving effects can be as fantastical as the oneiropomp likes, as long as they’re still relatively small changes to the dream. Players should describe their changes in terms of what’s actually happening to the characters and props in the scene — for instance, granting armor might make a bulletproof vest appear on the mage’s person, or it might make a giant hand sprout from the ground to grab the bullet out of the air. Learning information about the dreamer via shifts involves actions that prompt the eidolons or the dream itself to give things away; for example, an oneiropomp may weave the sound of a text message alert into the dream and wait for the dreamer to instinctively enter a password into his smartphone, which the mage can observe.

Working changes to the dream is accomplished through the use of a Wits + Empathy + Gnosis roll, with a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dream being altered. The mage views the dream happening around the dreamer from a disembodied vantage just above the dreamer’s head; it is a change to make himself appear within the context of the dream, and another change to make himself appear to be someone or something else within it. 

The oneiropomp must be careful to not use too heavy of a hand, however, lest he disrupt the dream. Should the oneiromancer ever roll a number of successes on a dream riding roll that is greater than the Intensity of the dream, his changes were too much for the dream to remain whole, and it unravels. The oneiromancer may spend a point of Willpower to prevent this happening. The oneiromancer also has the option of voluntarily giving himself penalties to this roll, but once he has determined his dice pool, all the successes from that roll count. It can be something of a delicate juggling act to keep a weak dream intact.

Most of the time, mages simply dream ride in order to observe what is going on, not doing much to change the content of the dreamscape. Naturally occurring dreams have value in and of themselves, and a wise oneiropomp understands this. From within the dream, a mage may use dream riding to perform a number of simple actions:

1. Analyze the Dream:

By making minute, weak changes to see how the dreamscape reacts to them, the oneiromancer can determine if the dream in question is a full nightmare, recurring dream, memory dream or wish fulfillment. This requires an instant Wits + Empathy roll, at a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dream. The oneiromancer makes tiny changes and looks for the signs that indicates the kind of dream — memory dreams immediately reinforce aspects of the dream that are remembered rather than imagined, nightmares slightly twist introduced aspects into darker manifestations, recurring dreams are harder to introduce random events into because their pattern is already set, while wish fulfillment or normal dreams are relatively simple to change.

In addition, with a Wits + Occult + Gnosis roll, with a bonus equal to the Intensity of the dream, the oneiropomp can determine if the dream is prophetic or not. If the oneiromancer performs any changes whatsoever to a prophetic dream, however, even the changes used to determine the type of dream, its prophetic ability is nullified — it ceases to be a true message from the Supernal, and simply becomes another dream once the oneiropomp has tampered with it. Thus, the first thing that wise oneiropomps do is analyze a dream to see if it is prophetic before making any changes to it. Even a change as simple as appearing within the context of the dream can ruin its prescient quality.

2. Convince the Dreamer:

With an Intelligence + Empathy + Gnosis roll that requires a whole night of work, the oneiromancer may alter dreams subtly, injecting subliminal suggestions into the dreamscape for later use. For each success on the dream riding roll, the mage may “store” an extra die in the psyche of the dreamer. When interacting socially with the dreamer at a later date, the mage may tap into these subliminal clues, pitching his voice to a certain tone, using a certain phrase or wearing a certain scent, using as many of these dice as he pleases on any Social Maneuvering rolls in dealing with the dreamer. These clues remain embedded in the dreamer’s psyche for one week, fading at the end of that period. Only a single “batch” of subliminal clues may rest in the psyche of any given dreamer at one time — establishing a new set of suggestions overwrites the previously stored ones.

3. Learn about the Dreamer:

By watching several nights’ worth of dreams, an oneiropomp may learn quite a bit about a dreamer. This requires an extended Wits + Empathy roll, with one roll permitted per night. During these nights, the oneiropomp may not alter the content of the dreamscape whatsoever. Every success on this roll reveals one of the following details about the dreamer: her Virtue, her Vice, one of her Conditions, her Willpower, one of her Merits.  It can also reveal the use of mind- or emotion-altering supernatural powers on the dreamer within the past month, as well.

4. Psychotherapy:

An oneiropomp with the knowledge to do so may actually use the dreams of a subject as a means of treating psychological or mental problems. This is a standard Wits + Empathy roll, with a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dream in which the work is performed. Each night of work by the oneiropomp is the equivalent of a week of normal psychotherapy.  This work can also be done by means of spells at Mind 2 or higher.

5. Scour Dream Intensity:

Though this is rarely used, the oneiromancer may actually scour the Intensity of the dream, reducing the power of its hold over the dreamer’s psyche. Most oneiromancers use this to lessen the power of nightmares, allowing the dreamer to experience the nightmare (and thus perhaps get the kind of catharsis that some people gain from their bad dreams) without finding themselves exhausted the next day. This requires a Wits + Empathy + Gnosis roll, at a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dream; each success reduces the Intensity of the dream by 1. If the Intensity of a dream is scoured below 1, the dream ends abruptly, and the dreamer awakens. This may only be performed once per dream.

This can also be used to scour away the Intensity of dream-poison, reducing the hold of entities over mortals they control through contagion-dreams. This is a Wits + Empathy + Gnosis roll, at no penalty. This roll is opposed by a roll of the dream-poison’s Intensity. If the oneiromancer wins this contested roll, each of his successes over that of the dream-poison reduces the Intensity of the dream-poison by 1. If the contagion-dream wins, however, the oneiromancer takes one point of lethal damage per net success to their dream form.

6. Search for Dream-Poison:

Searching for the subtle signs of dream-poison is a time-consuming and often difficult task. It is an extended Wits + Empathy + Gnosis roll, at a penalty equal to the Intensity of the dominant dream that evening. Each roll takes a single night of work, and requires a number of total successes equal to the Intensity of the contagion-dream. Most oneiropomps regularly search the dreams of those they watch for the taint out outside influence.

New Mental Merit: Lucid Dreaming (••)

Prerequisites: Non-Mage, Resolve •••

Effect: Your character has the ability to control his own dreams, subtly shaping them according to his wishes. For all intents and purposes, your character is considered to have the ability to dream ride (as above), but only in his own dreams. He is also capable of engaging in oneiromachy, or dream-combat, with oneiropomps who enter his dreams.

Lucid dreamers cannot use any of the special actions associated with dream riding (such as Scour the Integrity, Analyze the Dream and the like); their changes are limited to simple environmental changes. However, the changes a lucid dreamer makes to his dreams have no chance of disrupting the dream, either, granting lucid dreamers unprecedented control over their own dreams even if they can’t perform quite the same feats that true oneiromancers can.