Skill
| Image |  |
| Description | You know a lot about common dreams… not because you remember being a counselor or anything like that. You can just sort of feel them, picking them out from the background noise. Or maybe that just means you're crazy. |
| When Used | (see below) |
Sources
Using the Book of Common Dreams
Uses
The skill can be toggled to (de)activate it from your character sheet. Using the skill gives:
(If non-Etheric:)
You don't have a lot of personal experience with dreams, at least remembering them, but you know bits and pieces about common dreams. It's hard to say if there's a deeper meaning, but it seems important somehow.(If Etheric:)
You feel like you're walking through someone else's dreams, so it's only fair that you know bits and pieces about them. Who knows? You might be able to catch one.
And then:
(If skill is toggled off:)
You haven't been thinking about this much lately.
Start thinking(If skill is toggled on:)
You've been thinking about this a lot lately.
Stop it
Choosing to start thinking results in:
You contemplate the common dreams of your generation, or at least the generation that's around right now, and what they might mean.
Stop it results in:
You resolve to stop thinking about common dreams. You're not sure how well that'll work, but it should be okay if you can keep yourself distracted.
Item Summary
Adventuring with this skill active while Etheric can result in non-combat encounters that provide items. The offhand items seem somewhat rarer than the usable ones.
Usable items
| Item | Use Effect | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| F paper | Performance Dream | +4 Perception |
| delicate butterfly | Butterfly Dream | +4 Reflexes |
| gunshot cloth | Bloody Dream | +4 Strength |
| spare tooth | Tooth Dream | +4 Will |
(You gain 20 energy of all effects. The stat bonus is doubled if you have one of the dream offhand items equipped and are Etheric.)
Offhand items
(The bonus defense is doubled if you are Etheric and have a dream effect active.)
Encounters
These show up ever 12-30ish? turns, if you are Etheric (Slags Poisoning is not sufficient) and the skill is active. The very first time you use the skill in a run, you are guaranteed to get an dream encounter on the next turn you adventure with Etheric active.
These encounters do not cost Energy, but they do take one energy of Etheric.
The entire world seems a little… off, like color is abandoning the world, leaving everything dark and muted. Eyes seem to peer from every corner, attached to dark shapes ready to rob you or worse.
The man approaching you doesn't surprise you. Although you can't understand the man shouting at you, you gingerly hand him your watch. Unsatisfied, or simply insane, he shoots you and runs off. You try to treat the wound in vain, collapsing as you reflect on your coworkers' warnings to stay in the enclave.
When your eyes open back up, you're feeling better, but the scrap of bloodied cloth in your hand tells a slightly different story.
You found: gunshot cloth
The entire world seems a little… off, like you shouldn't be flitting around in the sky, drinking the nectar of massive flowers and living the care-free life. You lose yourself in the movement of air currents and the intoxicating scent of flowers.
You land on a colossal hand, then glance down to see a butterfly lazily perched on the back of one finger.
You found: delicate butterfly
The entire world seems a little… off, like you're half a step from where you expected. The feeling of unease grows deeper as your teeth start itching.
You poke at one, which obligingly falls out in your hand. A moment later, you're doubled over, coughing up teeth and blood.
You manage to center yourself, pulling back from the horror and confusion to find that all your teeth are still where you left them. However, all your focus doesn't banish the extra tooth clenched in your fist.
You found: spare tooth
The entire world seems a little… off, like you just nodded off in class and haven't gotten your bearings back. That's certainly what the professor's look at the front of the room tells you.
You glance down at the paper on your desk. Entrance exams are today? And there are only five minutes left? You quickly dash off some answers, but aren't surprised to watch your entire future spiral away.
After a moment of reflection, the words on the test are just gibberish and there's no professor looming over you. Huh.
You found: F paper
The entire world seems a little… off, like you're listening to someone describe your experiences rather than experiencing them yourself. But it's right they should describe them! After all, how many days do you have the ball as the clock's running out in the Cyberbowl?
The defensive screen can't match your legs' speed or your processor's reflexes, but there are enough of them to still get in your way. An arm grabs your uniform. As you lay on the power, the arm cracks and fails with a shriek of bent plastic and failing cables. It's music to your ears as you score the winning goal.
The deafening lack of a cheering crowd snaps you out of your reverie… but doesn't explain why that arm is still attached to your shirt.
You found: failed cyberarm
The entire world seems a little… off, like you just woke up out of a dead sleep… although you don't typically sleep in a wooden coffin. You quickly discard the notion that it might be a prank, particularly as you hear a mechanical whine and the coffin begins to move jerkily.
As you pound upward, trying to dislodge the coffin lid, the entire assembly drops with a thud. Smoke fills your tiny chamber as flames lick up from below.
You thrash strongly enough to rouse yourself from the vision. As you take a few deep breaths to calm yourself, you find a shard of charred wood in your hand.
You found: charred wooden souvenir
The entire world seems a little… off, like you just woke up out of a dead sleep. Your body won't respond to your commands, no matter how frantically you try to move and that itch…
You try not to look, but your eyes force themselves to stare at the giant beetles crawling over you. They don't seem interested in biting you with their massive jaws, but their legs scratch and tickle everywhere they move.
It lasts for what seems like an eternity, until you can close your eyes. The itching fades, but when you reopen your eyes, one beetle remains, meeting your gaze with its inscrutable eyes.
You found: carnivorous beetle
The entire world seems a little… off, like you shouldn't be hiding in a bunker, exchanging fire with the drones outside. They move forward in eerie fits and starts, never seeming to be quite in the arc of your bullet, always seeming to get a little closer.
As you fire round after round, you realize the gun you are firing is falling apart, its tumbling pieces mixing with your blood on the ground. No hope. No hope. They're everywhere.
You close your eyes and spend a few moments breathing heavily. The drones are gone when you open your eyes, but the gun remains in a pool of blood at your feet.
You found: shattered sidearm
