User:Fynnkaterin/Guiding Dreamers

Guiding Dreamers

Some dreamers are merely passing through, towards deeper reveries and nightmares. Some linger here, in self-induced trance, in semi-dream, or caught in the middle consciousness [...] Will you intervene with any of them? To what end?

In the Viric Jungle, you can encounter dreaming Londoners and alter their dreams. The rewards depend on the dreamer and on two main qualities: Duration of a Dream and Intensity of the Dream.

When you have successfully guided a dreamer you gain a new quality, Oneiropomp, that increases by 1 with each dream you guide. At first, the only dreamer you can guide is The Bohemian Sculptress; but as you raise Oneiropomp, you gain access to additional dreamers.

Begin this endeavour in the storylet Dreams: A Choice of Reverie.

Strengthening dreams

The options available for adding Duration and/or Intensity appear in two different storylets: Dreams: A Choice of Reverie (the subtitle of which changes according to the dreamer) and Attend to the Dreamer. Which storylet appears next depends on the option you choose and, in some cases, on whether you succeed or fail.

When planning a strategy, it's best to decide whether you want to prioritize Duration or Intensity. In general, Duration converts to Sightings of Parabolan Landmarks, while Intensity converts to different items depending on the dreamer and the action taken to end the dream.

Duration

The main reason to prioritise Duration is to increase the payout in Sightings. You may want to do this if, for example, you're using them (directly or converted) to increase Shadowy at the Dome of Scales (with Cats, Fingerkings, or the Red-Handed Queen dominant), or if you want to use them in later dreams to increase Intensity. To maximise Duration, play the following options:

• On the Dreams storylet, Lend power to the dream, Introduce your own evidence (with the Honey-Addled Detective), or Transform this dream with vistas of the First City (with Madame Petrovsky)
  • These options become more difficult the more Intensity you have. Failure adds Duration without Intensity, but also increases Nightmares. If your Nightmares reach 8, you're locked out of all options except those that dispel the dream.
• On the Attend storylet, Observe and learn. This increases Duration by 1–2 without adding Intensity.

The longer you can keep a dream going before dispelling it, the better your ratio of actions-to-Sightings will be (because of the actions saved by cashing out more often).

Intensity

Each dreamer gives different rewards based on Intensity, which also vary depending on the option you choose to cash out. The main attribute-based checks for increasing Intensity (Lend power to the dream and More! Further!), and options for particular dreamers, become more difficult the more Intensity you have already. At some point, the challenges will approach impossibility, requiring you to spend expensive items on alternate options to increase Intensity further.