Before there was Inception there was Fight Club, The Cell and the Matrix. And before that, Total Recall. And before that, Dreamscape. Playing in the realm of dreams is nothing new to movies or role-playing games and, if used correctly, provides a fertile ground for horror.

The fun part of a dream world is how the rules can be altered at the whim of the game master. Weak heroes can become strong, petty fears can become monstrous, and reality can be bent as suits the dream. Any dream can just as easily become a nightmare. What makes Inception different is how it explicitly outlines the rules of the dream world.

In Inception, there are up to three levels of dreams, each owned by the person's subconscious. Time moves slower the deeper in you go. The fourth level is limbo, where nobody is in control. The dreamer sorts his dreams from reality through a totem, an item he is intimately familiar with. It is possible to construct alternate dream realities through architects who are specially trained to create dream terrain. If you die, you wake up.

These rules may sound familiar to Call of Cthulhu fans because some of them apply to H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands. In the Dreamlands, time flows differently than reality. It is possible to construct alternate dream realities by the powerful residents of the Dreamlands. And if you die, you wake up.

I used three scenarios in my own campaign that deal with dreams: “Dreams Dark and Deadly” by Michael Szymanski from Cthulhu Now, “Little Slices of Death” by Monte Cook from D20 Call of Cthulhu and “The Truth Shall Set You Free” by Bruce Ballon from Unseen Masters. Despite using Call of Cthulhu rules, not a single one of those scenarios is set in the Dreamlands. Each deals with the fragmentation of reality and its effect on the players. In the end, Agent Guppy's blossoming schizophrenia nearly consumed the world.

What was fun about playing in Guppy's dream was the opportunity for a physically weak character to become the hero. Normal rules didn't apply. It was also an opportunity to delve into Guppy's past by using memories (a big no-no in Inception) as part of his dream. In essence, the players were witnesses to Guppy's personal history through his dreams, a feat that would normally require them to sit on the sidelines as I narrated it.

Dreamscape scenarios can be exciting diversions. But you wouldn't want to live there.

Your Turn: How have you used a dreamscape in your game?

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