Dreamer Class for B/X - Labyrinth Lord

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I came up with this idea a few weeks ago while reading a comic book called Lucy Dreaming, about a young girl going through puberty who starts to experience some very odd quirks, including her pupils turning gold-colored, and having very vivid dreams in which she is a hero, warrior-princess, leading a revolution in a dream world. In her dreams, she realizes that she’s dreaming and can’t figure out why she can’t simply wake up, but as time goes on, she learns to use her dream powers rather than be afraid of them. Another interesting idea from the series is that every time she visits the dream world, while her overall “role” stays the same, her appearance changes, as does the landscape of the dream world itself. She also begins to be able to recognize other dreamers in the waking world, and beings to realize that what’s happening to her isn’t just the result of changes happening due to puberty (which is a funny thing that happens in the first issue of the comic). As an aside, I highly recommend this comic, especially to younger teenaged girls and their parents.

Right after reading that comic, I was also reading Dark Nights: Metal by DC Comics, and Sandman (aka “Dream”) makes a brief appearance in that story as well. This all got me to thinking about doing something with dreams in an RPG setting.

This class relies a lot upon the DM to create a “dream plane” or equivalent for the campaign setting, to allow the dreamer character to make use of his or her powers. By using the dreamer’s powers in a clever manner, the DM can drop hints about future plot points in the campaign, but of course needs to be careful to balance the rest of the players so that the dreamer character doesn’t completely take over the direction of the game. It's designed for the Labyrinth Lord game but could be used for a variety of old-school games with a few tweaks. 

I'd love comments on the class, as it's mainly just off-the-cuff and I haven't playtested it or anything. It's really more of an idea and creative expression at this point. In particular, many of the abilities the dreamer has while in the dream world scale with level, which I know is not consistent with most B/X or Labyrinth Lord games, but I couldn't figure out how best to show the dreamer getting better over time without scaling them. 

Dreamers

·        Requirements: None

·        Prime Requisite: WIS

·        Hit Dice: 1d6; +1 after 9^th level

·        Maximum Level: None

Dreamers are a special class that have the ability to travel to the dream world, or plane, each night while sleeping. While in the dream world, the dreamer has special abilities, and upon awakening, is able to retain some of those abilities in the real world. The nature of the abilities retained depends upon the dreams had while in the dream world, so the abilities will vary from day to day.

Dreamers can use any one-handed weapon, but due to their need for free movement to cast spells, they cannot use any metal armor.  Dreamers are also able to use any magic weapon (as long as that weapon is allowed by the class) and magic armor (non-metal), and any other magic item that has powers related to divination or dreaming (e.g., all crystal balls, etc.). Dreamers save and attack as clerics, and use the illusionist experience and level progression table (from the Labyrinth Lord AEC) as shown below.

DREAMER LEVEL PROGRESSION
Experience	Level	Hit Dice (1d6)
0	1	1
2,251	2	2
4,501	3	3
9,001	4	4
18,001	5	5
36,001	6	6
80,001	7	7
160,001	8	8
310,001	9	9
450,001	10	+1 hp only*
600,001	11	+2 hp only*
750,001	12	+3 hp only*
850,001	13	+4 hp only*
950,001	14	+5 hp only*
1,050,001	15	+6 hp only*
1,150,001	16	+7 hp only*
1,250,001	17	+8 hp only*
1,350,001	18	+9 hp only*
1,450,001	19	+10 hp only*
1,550,001	20	+11 hp only*

Each night, the dreamer’s consciousness travels to the dream world, and the dreamer is lucid during this time. While in the dream world, the dreamer has control over his or her actions and has a limited ability to direct the narrative that is happening. The dreamer needs eight hours of uninterrupted rest to lucid dream, and this time also counts as normal rest (e.g., for recovery of hit points, etc.). While in the dream world, the dreamer has the following powers:

• Attacks as a fighter of the same level (as opposed to using the cleric attack matrix while in the waking world)
• Adds +1 / +5% to all rolls made in the dream world as a result of his or her mastery of the dream realm. This bonus increases to +2 / +10% at 6^th level and to +3 / +15% at 12^th level
• Wields a “dream weapon,” the primary weapon used by the dreamer in the dream world counts as magic while in the dream world (e.g., provides light for seeing and can damage foes that can only be damaged by magic weapons, etc.). The dream weapon counts as +1 at first level, and increase to +2 at 5^th level, +3 at 10^th level, +4 at 15^th level, and +5 at 20^th level. At 10^th, 15^th, and 20^th levels, the dreamer may also assign other qualities to the weapon (one each per level, such as “flame tongue” or “frost brand”). The magical bonuses and special abilities on the dream weapon do not function in the waking world. Also, the bonuses do not “stack” with any bonuses that the dreamer’s weapon already has (e.g., if a 5^th level dreamer wields a +2 sword normally in the waking world, it does not become a +4 dream sword in the dream world).
• Able to transport companions to the dream world. Beginning at 3^rd level, the dreamer may bring up to three companions with him or her to the dream world, and keep them lucid while they are there. The dreamer’s companions retain the benefits of a full night’s rest while with the dreamer in the dream world (e.g., for spell recovery and memorization, hit point recovery, etc.).  
• Inspires allies, beginning at 5^th level. As a natural leader in the dream world, three times a day, the dreamer is able to provide a bonus of +2 / +10% to a roll, to one of his or her allies while they are in the dream world.

Upon returning from the dream world, each morning the dreamer is able to retain a small portion of the powers that he or she has while in the dream world. The dream world is constantly changing and very chaotic, so the actual powers the dreamer gains each morning while shift from day to day. The DM can work with the player to choose which powers best fit based on the adventures had in the dream world the night before, or the player can just roll on the following table.

Percent Roll	Power Name	Ability
01 – 25%	Dream Warrior	+1 to attack rolls and damage. Increase by +1 at 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th levels.
26 – 50%	Dream World	Gains spell ability as a magic-user of the same level; dream time from the night before counts as spell preparation/memorization time.
51% - 75%	Dream Infiltrator	Gains thief abilities as a thief of the same level.
76% - 100%	Future Sight	Gains limited ability to see future events based on events that happened in the dream world. From 1st through 5th level, takes the form of either an automatic hit during combat, or an automatic successful saving throw, once per day. From 5th through 10th level, this is the equivalent of casting an Augury spell with the dreamer’s level being used as the caster level for the basis of success. From 11th – 15th, this is the equivalent of a Locate Object spell. From 16th – 20th level, this is the equivalent of a Commune spell, but the dreamer is not seeking knowledge from divine powers but rather relying on his or her knowledge gained in the dream world.

Hanging: Home office (laptop)

Listening: "Drink's On Me" by Jazzinuf

Drinking: coffee