Absolutely loving the positive ways to use Dream! My DM brain is just thinking of all the horrible things I can do to my players, but you've shown me the path of light and utility!
That was definitely my intention! I think this spell is riddled with possibilities if I can get people to take another look at it. I'm glad you feel inspired :)
One of my favorites spells, I played a pact of the tome warlock with aspect of the moon, and would spend nights doing things with the dream spell while the party long rested.
It looked to me like it would be good for assassination of anyone I know about, anonymously, from a distance, by never letting them sleep and by damaging them every night. However by that level the good targets will all either not need sleep or will have magical helpers who can restore their HP and remove exhaustion.
The spell _Imprisonment_ has the "slumber" option, whereby the target is asleep forever, without aging or needing to breathe or eat. Such an individual could become a sort of repository for knowledge: visited regularly by mages who pour entire libraries worth of information into the dreams of that person (who will have perfect recollection thereof) or cast _Dream_ to come ask him questions. If your DM rules that multiple castings of _Dream_ allow more than one caster at the same time in the target's dreams, then it could become a safe meeting ground for enemies to have a chat face to face, negotiate a truce, etc. No harm can be done, no tricks can be pulled, everyone's localisation remains secret. And the sleeping target is just playing host to those high-stakes encounters in his dreams.
Thank you so much for making this. It is so easy to overlook spells and feats as being useless, while in reality, we just do not realize the possible uses at first glance.
This is EXACTLY what I mean when I said this spell needs an entire video hahaha! I love all of these suggestions! I don't have the creativity to think of all of these so I really appreciate the time and explination you took creating these!
Love the idea's, I'm 100% adding high-end dream brothels for the elite class of my world that would double as information gathering and manipulation. Bwahahahahaha. Thanks for the great content!
I was hoping you'd appreciate that idea! I know you like to consider the implications of what certain magics would mean for the political and societal structures of your world.
I mentioned minutes ago that "people are doing spellcasting against me" and I received a single knock on the wall from my next door neighbor - investigate the satellite footage to confirm. Have a good day. Dan
Great video! :) subbed. My young warlock is themed around the power of dreams & nightmares and he has just reached a level where the dream spell is now accessible - this was an excellent primer that has got me thinking about options for it (I’d already selected it)
Oh man, I hadn't thought about Twin Dream! I had to go look at TCoE Sorcerers to see if they can swap out their subclass spells for an illusion, but they cannot. I'm gonna have to watch for that with new or updated Sorcerer subclasses in the next few years. I guess you'd have to multiclass to eventually twin cast Dream.
• Warlock • Pact of the Tome • Aspect if the Moon Cast Dream while the rest of the party is getting a Long Rest and talk to Ancient Dragons and other powerful creatures in their sleep. 😴 🐉
I'm looking to create an encounter, where the party is trying to solve a mystery, ehile in reality they are all asleep and experiencing the same dream created by a mindflayer, who is draining them one by one. As the mystey unfolds, the dream is slowly collapsing with increasing hints around them.
That could be a lot of fun! I enjoy memorable set pieces like that when they're done right. Have you watched my video about 10 ways to use Mind Flayers? You might enjoy it for inspiration. My wife also wrote an article about using dream sequences. Let me know if I can drop you a link or two.
If the dreamer really cannot wake up from the dream by themselves you could make a gladiator miss their big fight. Estimate their sleep pattern to the best of your ability, cast Dream 4 hours into their sleep and just keep them asleep so they miss their big fight. Same could be done for generals. Or BBEGs. Though they are more likely to have lackeys that will wake them up.
What a creative and informative video, great job! I'm about to play a characters who's heavily themed around dreams and nightmares so this has really given me many ideas on how to play that character. Loved the vid from start to finish, keep it up!
Excellent discussion on dream! it's a bit niche though and requires a certain kind of campaign and party. only thing i don't like about it is it's possibly time-consuming (if the party isn't interested in all the dream-weaving and you have a very intricate dream mapped out and do it every session) and not collaborative with the party. i could see though as an excellent tactic for solo play. my fave was creating a dating service with dream.
I agree with you. The campaign where I used this spell heavily was the right kind, and the other players were heavily interested in the dreams. I'm glad you liked the ideas!
The Nazis used a dream spell in WW2 to communicate the positions of u boats in the Atlantic, as well as spying in the astral plane on specific targets who had the codes and coordinates of the ships. Occult weapons are used just as much as physical ones in war.
I'm playing a fey inspired spellcaster and i'm having a blast with reading other people dreams, which my DM let me do with detect thoughts (since they are asleep, we consider their dreams as what is presently on their mind). I can't wait to interract with those dreams in some of the manners you propose 😊
I'm so glad for a nice long list of how to use dream. My reborn warlock is looking forward to spamming this badboy. It's my hope to bombard evil people with images the innocents they kill and urge them to repent. Or be haunted forever. But I also want to use it to help sooth those who are emotionally scarred and need rest
It's such a great spell! I think you're going to enjoy it. Definitely let your DM know you're planning to pick it because you might surprise them with how you want to use it. :)
Question: When you use the dream spell, does the caster of the spell receive a long rest? Do you have to be in the trance for the full 8 hours to cause the nightmare? Or do you just quickly go in and they are affected the whole night?
5e's rules for what you can do and cannot do while long resting are muddy, and the Dream spell is a gray area. There's no definitive answer, so it'll be a DM's decision. In my experience, DMs allow it as part of a long rest.
I came to watch this video because I don't understand the spell. Unfortunately, I still have problem to grasp the concept of the spell. As DM, I play a hag and I want to cast dream on one member of the party. As soon as he goes to sleep, I induce him to stand up and follow a beautiful naked woman who's running in the forest. The woman is the hag. He reaches the woman and the hag shifts her form and attack the pc who is far frow his party. Is this a good use of the spell? I read the spell description many times but I don't know what can I do with it. For a hag, how can it be useful?
The short of it is that it should be used as a manipulative illusion, information gatherer, or a rest denial. It doesn't affect their real-world positioning (no sleep walking, though that would be fun). It's an illusion that takes place in someone's dream. For a hag, I recommend plaguing their dreams so they can't rest. They could also trick them into thinking someone is a hag or other evil creature in disguise by giving them recurring dreams that tell them so. Players tend to trust dream sequences from the DM as if they're important story beats, so you can use that to your advantage by having the dreams actually come from a monster with an agenda.
@@FlutesLoot Thanks. The description of the spell says "Choose a creature known to you..". I don't know how to interpret the phrase. If I play a hag, are PCs known to me, or I have to study them first?
@@giacomobiagini9263 the hag must be aware of the PCs to target them. They should probably either know their name or have seen them before. You could be more strict and limit it to targets who have met the caster.
Absolutely loving the positive ways to use Dream! My DM brain is just thinking of all the horrible things I can do to my players, but you've shown me the path of light and utility!
That was definitely my intention! I think this spell is riddled with possibilities if I can get people to take another look at it. I'm glad you feel inspired :)
Use it to help people with PTSD nightmares :)
One of my favorites spells, I played a pact of the tome warlock with aspect of the moon, and would spend nights doing things with the dream spell while the party long rested.
That's an excellent use of a Warlock's time! You can get the spell back in one hour and cast it many times in the night.
It looked to me like it would be good for assassination of anyone I know about, anonymously, from a distance, by never letting them sleep and by damaging them every night. However by that level the good targets will all either not need sleep or will have magical helpers who can restore their HP and remove exhaustion.
The spell _Imprisonment_ has the "slumber" option, whereby the target is asleep forever, without aging or needing to breathe or eat. Such an individual could become a sort of repository for knowledge: visited regularly by mages who pour entire libraries worth of information into the dreams of that person (who will have perfect recollection thereof) or cast _Dream_ to come ask him questions.
If your DM rules that multiple castings of _Dream_ allow more than one caster at the same time in the target's dreams, then it could become a safe meeting ground for enemies to have a chat face to face, negotiate a truce, etc. No harm can be done, no tricks can be pulled, everyone's localisation remains secret. And the sleeping target is just playing host to those high-stakes encounters in his dreams.
Wow that is such a COOL idea!
I added your comment to the article that accompanies this video because the idea is so good.
@@FlutesLoot That's awesome! 😁
Edit: And you even have me credit! Thanks a lot! ❤
Thank you so much for making this. It is so easy to overlook spells and feats as being useless, while in reality, we just do not realize the possible uses at first glance.
You're welcome! It's a hobby of mine to make the fringe, less-used aspects of the game become important or featured in some way.
This is EXACTLY what I mean when I said this spell needs an entire video hahaha! I love all of these suggestions! I don't have the creativity to think of all of these so I really appreciate the time and explination you took creating these!
I'm glad you checked it out from my comment! I'm even happier that you enjoyed it :D
Love the idea's, I'm 100% adding high-end dream brothels for the elite class of my world that would double as information gathering and manipulation. Bwahahahahaha. Thanks for the great content!
I was hoping you'd appreciate that idea! I know you like to consider the implications of what certain magics would mean for the political and societal structures of your world.
Five gold a pop
@@crapstirrer per hour!
I mentioned minutes ago that "people are doing spellcasting against me" and I received a single knock on the wall from my next door neighbor - investigate the satellite footage to confirm. Have a good day.
Dan
👀
Great video! :) subbed.
My young warlock is themed around the power of dreams & nightmares and he has just reached a level where the dream spell is now accessible - this was an excellent primer that has got me thinking about options for it (I’d already selected it)
Fantastic! I get excited when I gain access to Dream. Get creative and have fun! :)
Spy network sounds so smart, albeit expensive.
Too bad Sorcerer does not have access to it, bit saves DM from solving mystery of Twin Dream.
Oh man, I hadn't thought about Twin Dream! I had to go look at TCoE Sorcerers to see if they can swap out their subclass spells for an illusion, but they cannot. I'm gonna have to watch for that with new or updated Sorcerer subclasses in the next few years. I guess you'd have to multiclass to eventually twin cast Dream.
Level 9 warlock/ level 5 sorcerer can twin dream.... OMG that sounds like a rulings nightmare, pun intended.
@@hopeforescape884 a beautiful disaster
• Warlock
• Pact of the Tome
• Aspect if the Moon
Cast Dream while the rest of the party is getting a Long Rest and talk to Ancient Dragons and other powerful creatures in their sleep. 😴 🐉
I wish I could skip sleeping in the real world :P
@@FlutesLoot It takes up a third of our entire life!
@@alanschaub147 exactly, you know what I'm talking about
I'm looking to create an encounter, where the party is trying to solve a mystery, ehile in reality they are all asleep and experiencing the same dream created by a mindflayer, who is draining them one by one. As the mystey unfolds, the dream is slowly collapsing with increasing hints around them.
That could be a lot of fun! I enjoy memorable set pieces like that when they're done right.
Have you watched my video about 10 ways to use Mind Flayers? You might enjoy it for inspiration. My wife also wrote an article about using dream sequences. Let me know if I can drop you a link or two.
If the dreamer really cannot wake up from the dream by themselves you could make a gladiator miss their big fight. Estimate their sleep pattern to the best of your ability, cast Dream 4 hours into their sleep and just keep them asleep so they miss their big fight.
Same could be done for generals. Or BBEGs. Though they are more likely to have lackeys that will wake them up.
Oh that would be fun :P
Excellent video with some brilliant ideas. Thank you
I'm glad you like the ideas :)
I just love these spell specific videos. Thanks a lot Flutes :)
You're welcome! I'm pumped to hear that you enjoy them. I'll be quick to make more if I think I have something to say :P
What a creative and informative video, great job! I'm about to play a characters who's heavily themed around dreams and nightmares so this has really given me many ideas on how to play that character. Loved the vid from start to finish, keep it up!
Thank you! This is one of my favorites that I'm most proud of.
Great video
Thank you! I love this spell and I wanted to portray that.
Excellent discussion on dream! it's a bit niche though and requires a certain kind of campaign and party. only thing i don't like about it is it's possibly time-consuming (if the party isn't interested in all the dream-weaving and you have a very intricate dream mapped out and do it every session) and not collaborative with the party. i could see though as an excellent tactic for solo play. my fave was creating a dating service with dream.
I agree with you. The campaign where I used this spell heavily was the right kind, and the other players were heavily interested in the dreams. I'm glad you liked the ideas!
Brilliant. Such well thought out and rational ideas. Love it.
Thank you! :) I'm proud of this one.
Thx for this in-depth breakdown. Ya got my sub💪🤓👍
Thx Greg! I'm glad it was useful for you :)
The Nazis used a dream spell in WW2 to communicate the positions of u boats in the Atlantic, as well as spying in the astral plane on specific targets who had the codes and coordinates of the ships. Occult weapons are used just as much as physical ones in war.
Radios are pretty good like that.
Those ideas are awesome !
Thank you! I'm using a few of these ideas in my current campaign, and I love them.
I'm playing a fey inspired spellcaster and i'm having a blast with reading other people dreams, which my DM let me do with detect thoughts (since they are asleep, we consider their dreams as what is presently on their mind).
I can't wait to interract with those dreams in some of the manners you propose 😊
By the way, what would you consider as a feat (or feats) that would interract really well with that spell ?
@@QM67100 oooo that's a cool idea to combine the effort with Detect Thoughts to help sculpt a dream later.
@@QM67100 most relevant feat: Telepathic
I'm so glad for a nice long list of how to use dream. My reborn warlock is looking forward to spamming this badboy. It's my hope to bombard evil people with images the innocents they kill and urge them to repent. Or be haunted forever.
But I also want to use it to help sooth those who are emotionally scarred and need rest
It's such a great spell! I think you're going to enjoy it. Definitely let your DM know you're planning to pick it because you might surprise them with how you want to use it. :)
Great and inventive!
Thank you! I hope the video/article inspires players to pick the Dream spell more often.
The dream spell would wipe out nobles as they only have 9 hp
I like how you think! Huge implications.
I'd there were a dream dragon what would it's breath attack do?
Probably incapacitate with a nightmare state that deals psychic damage.
Question: When you use the dream spell, does the caster of the spell receive a long rest? Do you have to be in the trance for the full 8 hours to cause the nightmare? Or do you just quickly go in and they are affected the whole night?
5e's rules for what you can do and cannot do while long resting are muddy, and the Dream spell is a gray area. There's no definitive answer, so it'll be a DM's decision. In my experience, DMs allow it as part of a long rest.
I came to watch this video because I don't understand the spell. Unfortunately, I still have problem to grasp the concept of the spell.
As DM, I play a hag and I want to cast dream on one member of the party. As soon as he goes to sleep, I induce him to stand up and follow a beautiful naked woman who's running in the forest. The woman is the hag. He reaches the woman and the hag shifts her form and attack the pc who is far frow his party.
Is this a good use of the spell? I read the spell description many times but I don't know what can I do with it. For a hag, how can it be useful?
The short of it is that it should be used as a manipulative illusion, information gatherer, or a rest denial. It doesn't affect their real-world positioning (no sleep walking, though that would be fun). It's an illusion that takes place in someone's dream.
For a hag, I recommend plaguing their dreams so they can't rest. They could also trick them into thinking someone is a hag or other evil creature in disguise by giving them recurring dreams that tell them so. Players tend to trust dream sequences from the DM as if they're important story beats, so you can use that to your advantage by having the dreams actually come from a monster with an agenda.
@@FlutesLoot Thanks. The description of the spell says "Choose a creature known to you..". I don't know how to interpret the phrase. If I play a hag, are PCs known to me, or I have to study them first?
@@giacomobiagini9263 the hag must be aware of the PCs to target them. They should probably either know their name or have seen them before. You could be more strict and limit it to targets who have met the caster.