\ Haven:Mist and Shadow Gameplay/Dream Identity
Gameplay

Dream Identity


While inside the dreamscape characters do not realise that they are
dreaming, or that the world they're in is not real. Drives, desires and
situations from the real world frequently do manifest into their dreams, but
not as something external.

For instance if you go into the dreamscape wishing to be a bird, you will
probably dream about being a bird and flying around, but you won't be aware
that you're not a real bird and this isn't a real world, at least not until
you wake up. Or if you fall asleep in the bathtub, may well end up in a
swamp or other damp locale in your dream.

Similarly if you go into the dreamscape with the intention of delivering a
message about yourself or someone else being held captive you might dream
about being a soldier sent to deliver their commanding office intelligence
about someone being held captive by the Nazis, or yourself be a recently
released POW.

People can sometimes use this to piece together events in real life, if
someone has a single theme of captivity running through all their dreams
when others encounter them frequently they might guess in the waking world
that that person is a captive, they might also be able to guess who they are
by other recurring themes in their dream identities. They wouldn't of
course realise this in the dream however, since they also wouldn't know it
was a dream until they awoke.

Characters do have much sharper memories of the dreams they have in the
dreamscape after they awake compared to normal dreams.

The creation of dreamworlds is a conscious, psychic exercise generally done
while awake or in a semi-sleeping state. Characters are aware they've built
a psychic realm and have consciously chosen each of its features. Characters
can while awake plan who they will be in a certain world when they fall
asleep, and focus on that desire in order to make it manifest. But it
doesn't always work, sometimes their subconscious works against their wishes
to choose a different identity for them.

The details around how someone came to be in that place in the dream world
or whatever other parts of their backstory that are difficult to explain
will be fuzzy and hard for the dreamer to recall. If a dreamer does somehow
realise they are dreaming, they will immediately wake back up.