The Beckoning Dream

Represents how aware an entity is of the world around them, other entities, and of themselves. A numerical value that corresponds to how many cards something can have in its Present at once.

Maximum Awareness indicates the highest possible value your Current Awareness can be.
Current Awareness is exactly that.
If a mechanic refers to Awareness, it means your Current Awareness.

If your Awareness changes, such as when you Blink to absorb Stress, you do not need to Discard or Draw cards to match the new Awareness. Instead your Awareness will impact you the next time you would normally Draw cards, either prohibiting you from doing so (in the case it went down) or allowing you to Draw more (in the case it went up).

A player Blind Burns by Burning the top card of their Future without looking at it.

Represents a connection between two characters; a core memory around which their relationship develops. Each Bond is associated with specific cards in the decks of all characters that share that Bond, along with a statement that defines it. Bonds are created by spending 2 XP (per character) as part of Reflection.

If a card associated with a Bond would be removed from a deck as part of Reflection, 1 XP can be spent to change the Bond, associating it with a new card in the deck and making a new statement of how the Bond has changed from that Dreamer’s perspective. If not, the Bond can no longer be Invoked by that Dreamer.

When a card that is not yours and is part of a Bond is Revealed (except during a Spike), you can invoke it by choosing one of the following effects to apply before the effects of the Revealed cards are determined. The Revealed card is called the Bond Card.

• Tag In: Replace the Bond Card with one from your Present. The Bond Card card goes to its owner’s Present. Continue the current turn as if it were yours.
• Shared Pain: Any Stress dealt to the Bond Card’s owner this turn can be split between you and them however you choose.
• Combined Might: Select and Reveal a card, adding its value to the Bond Card’s. The Bond Card’s owner can choose to Score the card using either the Bond Card’s suit or the suit of the card you Revealed. At the end of this turn, Burn the card you Revealed.

In order to Invoke a Bond, all players involved must be willing and agree to the chosen effect(s), and the Dreamers involved must be narratively present. Invoking a Bond adds your Dreamer to the Conflict if they are not already involved.

More powerful abilities Dreamers gain by spending 3 XP during Reflection.

The Boons are separated into three broad categories:

• General: Abilities focused on impacting the core rituals of play. They rarely depend on having specific cards in your deck, and when they do it is to represent a minimum power threshold. They often build off of each other to become exceedingly powerful as you focus on specific styles. General Boons
• Minor Arcana: Boons that are directly related to the Minor Arcana suit(s) you are emphasizing in your deck. They focus on bolstering the strengths and mitigating the weaknesses of those suits. Minor Arcana Boons
• Major Arcana: Each Major Arcana has an associated Boon, allowing you to add it to your deck and wield its power. For those that prefer the Major to the Minor, there are also abilities focused on utilizing multiple Major Arcana in your deck. Major Arcana Boons

A player Burns a card by Discarding it from their Present to the Pyre. If their Present is empty, they can instead Discard from their Past. If both Past and Present are empty, they must Blind Burn instead.

A Conflict occurs when the goals of the Dreamers - the player characters - collide with the goals of others or the shared subconscious of the Dreamlands. There are three types of Conflicts: Duels; Efforts; and Spikes. Each type is resolved differently.

A collection of tarot cards that represents the abilities of a Dreamer. Every deck must abide by the following limitations:

• A deck can only have one of each card in your deck. Ex: can’t have two 4 of Wands.
• All cards in a deck must be indistinguishable from one another on one side. Typically this means they are all from the same tarot deck. If they aren’t, they must be sleeved, proxied, or somehow obfuscated such that it is impossible to know what card is being selected when random choice / order is needed.
• Each suit (Swords, Cups, Wands, Pentacles) present in the deck must be contiguous. I.e. all values are present between the lowest and highest value for that suit. For example, a deck can’t have the 2, 3, 5, and 7 of Pentacles; it is missing the 4 and 6.

Additionally, the first time a deck is made (such as when you are first making a character), it must also abide by the following limitations:

• Each suit present in the deck must start with the Ace.
• No card in the deck can have a value greater than 6.

A player Discards a card by choosing a card from their Present and putting it in their Past.

A player Draws a card by taking the top card of their Future and putting it in their Present.

Draw, unlike Select, is meant to be random. If something changes the source location of a Draw operation, ensure the source is randomized before Drawing the card. For example, if something says to Draw from your Past, turn the Past cards facedown, shuffle, and then Draw. You can flip them face up once the action is completed.

The process by which a GM and their players construct a Dream Deck and a Dream Spread, which will form the basis for their dream (session of play). This is also when Guides are created.

Create the Dream Deck by combining four random Major Arcana cards from a neutral (GM) deck with one random card each from the players’ decks. If there are more than three players, add one additional Major Arcana card for each player beyond three.

Create the Dream Spread using cards drawn at random from the Dream Deck. Typically this is an assortment of three cards, each informing a scene of play. For each scene/card that is resolved positively for the Dreamers, they gain an XP during Reflection.

Then the GM asks a question of the Dreamers, who pull a card at random from their decks to help inform their answer. This answer should either be something visual, or have a clear visual representation defined. That is their Guide for this dream.

Finally, the remainder of the Dreamer’s cards are shuffled and placed face-down to form their Futures. Play begins.

A type of Conflict representing one or more sentient wills opposing the Dreamers, or vice versa. The entities opposing the Dreamers are called foes, who are defined by their decks of cards similarly to Dreamers. Duels can involve any number of foes, but they always use Initiative.

On a player’s turn…

1. The player chooses a foe as their Opponent.
2. Player & Opponent Select a card.
3. Player & Opponent Reveal their card.
4. Score the Revealed cards.
5. Interpret the Scored cards.
6. Resolve the Duel if only one side remains.

A “side” is entirely narrative. Each foe could represent their own side, or they could be in alignment and represent one side. It is possible for players to be against each other (Player vs Player, or PvP), either with or without foes involved. Such a thing should be discussed during Session 0.

When only one side remains, either because the representatives of the other sides have been eliminated (ran out of cards) or because they Fell Back (see Interpretation Effects), then the Conflict is over.

A type of Conflict representing the Dreamers coming up against the stable-state of the dream. Something is set on its course, either to remain fixed or to continue changing as designed, and the Dreamers must oppose it in order to get what they want. Efforts are represented by a spread of cards, which can be as few as one. Efforts use Initiative.

Every Effort has a Difficulty, which defines how “stable” this aspect of the dream is. Higher Difficulty Efforts are large in scope and represent more stubborn aspects of the stable state. Dreamers overcome Efforts by reducing their Difficulty to zero, typically by dealing Stress.

Every Effort has an Intensity, which defines how powerfully it resists being overcome. Higher Intensity Efforts represent particularly hostile, tenacious, or virulent elements of the dream. The Intensity determines the Stress (and other consequences) that a Dreamer takes when they do not Score well enough against the Effort.

On a player’s turn…

1. The player chooses a card from the Effort’s spread to oppose.
2. The player Selects & Reveals a card.
3. Score the Revealed card against the opposed card. If they Score a Countered, Setback, or Clash, they take Stress equal to the Effort’s Intensity.
4. Interpret the Scored card. Any Stress it deals is subtracted from the Effort’s Difficulty. If this reduces the Difficulty to zero or less, the Effort is Resolved.

An entity in a Duel that opposes the will of the Dreamers and is typically represented by a deck of cards.

The set of shuffled (random order) cards that are placed face down in play.

A Dreamer’s Guide represents an idea that is pointing the way forward. It is something visual, typically summarized by a single statement encompassing a thing, the quantity, and the quality.

During Dream Construction, the GM asks a question. Each Dreamer pulls a card at random from their deck to help inform their answer to the question. The answer should be clear, concise, and either be visual itself (“The Stalking Cat”) or tied to a clear visual (“A Blossoming Love”, which is represented by “A Hopeful Flower”).

When your Guide appears in the artwork of Revealed cards (except during a Spike), you can Invoke it by choosing one of the following effects to apply before the effects of the Revealed cards are determined. The “Guide Card” is the card with artwork depicting your Guide.

• Bolster: Increase the value of the Guide Card by 1.
• Weaken: Decrease the value of the Guide Card by 1.
• Push: Burn a card and choose one Revealed card. The chosen card’s owner can choose an additional option when they Interpret, following the normal rules & limitations based on their card’s Score, except that they can also choose from the suit options of the card you Burned.
• Just in Time: If you are not involved in the current Conflict, you may enter it, ignoring any limitations of narrative positioning (although you should describe how you arrive on the scene).

You do not need to be narratively present in a Conflict to Invoke your Guide. Invoking your Guide is always optional. Any number of Guides can be Invoked simultaneously.

The process by which Dreamers take turns interacting with specific types of Conflict. Duels and Efforts both use Initiative, and describe the things a Dreamer does on their turn to advance the narrative.

No matter what, a Dreamer’s turn in Initiative ends using the following steps:

1. Place any Revealed cards that are not in a defined location (Past, Present, Future, Pyre, etc.) in their owner’s Past.
2. If you have fewer cards in your Present than your Awareness, Draw the difference.
3. Choose who goes next - you can choose yourself.

The first turn in a Conflict can be decided in any manner the group wishes.

When a card is Interpreted, the narratively nebulous Score is transformed into a series of concrete mechanical consequences. The higher the Score, the more (and generally more powerful) consequences can be created.

A participant in a Conflict chooses a number of Interpretation Effects (see separate section) based on what they Scored.

• A Triumph grants 3 choices.
• A Clash or Success grants 2 choices.
• A Setback grants 1 choice.
• Those who are Countered choose nothing.

The same effect cannot be chosen more than once, and some choices are limited based on Score. Others can only be chosen if the Scored card was of the proper suit.

An effect that is limited by Score will have a Score or Scores listed in brackets after the effect’s name. Ex: Fall Back [Setback] can only be chosen by someone that Scored a Setback.

Where a person, place, or thing is located in the story. What a Dreamer is capable of is beholden to narrative positioning. You can’t participate in a Conflict that occurs somewhere you are not, just as you couldn’t cross a bridge if it didn’t exist. However you can use mechanics in the game to change your narrative positioning, entering a Conflict or building that missing bridge.

Narrative Positioning in The Beckoning Dream is more relaxed than usual to accommodate “dream logic”. Part of the setting’s conceit is that reality is defined by perception and thought, so things that would be impossible in everyday life could be simple to a Dreamer. Each table or game group is the ultimate arbiter of what is or isn’t possible.

Oneirogen represent a Dreamer’s attunement to the dreamscape. They are awarded when players use the artwork or interpretive meaning of their cards to enhance, guide, or inform the narrative that results from playing with those cards.

A Dreamer can accumulate any number of Oneirogen.

Oneirogen can be spent in the following ways:

• When a Dreamer chooses to Help or Hinder, they can increase the amount they do so by 1 for each Oneirogen they spend.
• When a Dreamer Invokes a Guide to Bolster or Waken, they can increase the amount they do so by 1 for each Oneirogen they spend.
• When a Dreamer takes Stress, they can spend Oneirogen to absorb it, 1 for 1.
• If a Dreamer would wake up, they can append all of their Oneirogen to remain in the dream. Shuffle your deck and Blind Burn ⅓ of it, rounded up, or ½ rounded up if this is the second time they have done so. They must spend at least 1 Oneirogen to do this, and they can’t do this more than twice in a single dream.

Dreamers can spend multiple Oneirogen in multiple different ways at once. However, they can never spend more than their Maximum Awareness in a single turn.

The foe that a Dreamer is pitting themselves against in a Duel, selected during Step 1 of their turn in the Duel.

Could also refer to the opposed card in the case of an Effort.

The set of face-up cards that have already been used. Their order doesn’t matter.

The set of cards a player can look at and choose from for most gameplay. This would be called a “hand” in other card games.

A communal pile of face-up and face-down cards that are inaccessible from play.

If people at the table prefer to not have others handle their cards and do not want them mixed with others, that is okay. Each player can have their own Pyre, so long as it is easily distinguished from their Past, Present, and Future.

When a dream/session ends, Dreamers gain one experience point, or XP, for each card in the Dream Spread (see Dream Construction) that was resolved positively (i.e. in accordance with the will of the Dreamers). Then answer the following questions:

1. Did we learn something important about the challenges ahead of us?
2. Did we make progress towards achieving anyone’s dream?

An additional XP is awarded for each “yes”. All Dreamers gain the same amount of XP, and only one XP is gained for the second question, even if multiple dreams were advanced.

XP can be spent to change a Dreamer between dreams in the following ways:

• Spend One XP to…
  • Add the next lowest value card for a suit that is in your deck.
  • Remove the two lowest cards you have for a suit to add the next highest card to that suit.
  • Remove the highest card of one suit in your deck to add the next highest card of a different suit in your deck.
• Spend Two XP to…
  • Forge a Bond with another character. See Bonds for more information.
  • Add the Ace and 2 of a suit you do not have to your deck.
  • Increase your Maximum Awareness by 1.
• Spend Three XP to…
  • Add the next highest value card for a suit that is in your deck.
  • Gain a Boon.
• Spend Four XP to…
  • TRANSFORM: Remove all cards from your deck. Add 2 fewer cards to your deck than what you removed, using the same rules as creating a brand new character except that you can add values higher than 6 (but not higher than 9). This transformation represents a serious change in your character, and can be used to rebuild a deck you are unhappy with or that doesn’t represent your character’s journey, state, or abilities anymore.

Unspent XP are saved for later, recorded on character sheets.

Every Conflict will Resolve in some way, either positively or negatively. This process is entirely narrative and is triggered when a Conflict reaches its end-state.

A Conflict Resolves positively if the Dreamers are victorious: their side is the last one standing in a Duel; the Effort’s Difficulty was reduced to 0 or less; their approach to the Sike succeeded.

A Conflict Resolves negatively if the opposite is true.

What this means is entirely up to the GM and table. The results should be comparable to the stakes of the Conflict, the NPCs involved, the enemies defeated or victorious, etc.

In addition to narrative consequences, each Dreamer Draws cards into their Present up to their Awareness, as if it were the end of their turn in Initiative. This ensures they are ready for whatever challenge next presents itself.

A player Reveals a card by showing it to everyone and making the card’s identity known.

A card is Scored by comparing it against another card and determining what score it receives, using the value and suits of the two cards to compare relative strengths.

You Score a Triumph if its value is equal to or greater than double the other card’s value.
You Score a Success if its value is less than double but still greater than the other card’s value.
You Score a Clash if its value is equal to the other card’s value.
You Score a Setback if its value is less than the other card’s value.
Your Score is changed to Countered if the other card’s suit counters yours: Swords counter Pentacles; Pentacles counter Wands; Wands counter Cups; and Cups counter Swords.

A card with no suit doesn’t cause anything to be Countered based on suit, and vice versa.

A player Selects a card by choosing it from their Present and indicating that the choice has been made, such as by holding the card up in front of them, placing it face-down on the table, or otherwise making it distinct from any other cards.

If the source of a Select operation is modified, such as Selecting from a Future or Past, then the person doing the Selection can look at all the cards in that source and choose freely.

A type of Conflict representing the sudden shifts, intrusive thoughts, or nonsensical logic threads that make dreams so disorienting. Spikes are resolved simultaneously for all Dreamers involved (use Narrative Positioning to determine).

Every Spike has a Difficulty, which defines how unsettling it is to the rational mind. The number determines how many cards a Dreamer can look at in order to find a matching card. Thus the larger the number, the less difficult the Spike.

Every Spike has a Consequence, which can take the form of any mechanical outcome. It is always bad.

Everyone involved in a Spike performs these steps simultaneously:

1. Describe your approach to overcoming the Spike. This is entirely narrative.
2. The GM assigns a suit to the described approach.
3. You attempt to Select & Reveal a card of the assigned suit from the top X cards of your Future, where X is the Spike’s Difficulty.
   1. If you can, Burn the Revealed card. Your approach succeeds.
   2. If you can’t, or choose not to, you suffer the Consequence.
4. Return the non-Burned cards from step 3 to your Future and shuffle it. The Spike is resolved.

For Step 3, if a player’s Future has fewer than X cards, pull cards at random from their Past, and then their Present, until they reach X. If X is still not reached, then the player must Select from however many cards they have access to.

Guides and Bonds cannot be Invoked during a Spike.

An arrangement of one or more tarot cards that provides structure, pacing, and meaning to the dream.

Stress represents the toll that conflict takes on the mind as it traverses the dream. Stress will always be dealt to you as a number greater than or equal to 1. Stress is bad, and whenever it happens you need to find a way to deal with all of it.

When you need to handle Stress, choose any number of the following options as many times as you need to absorb the amount of Stress being dealt to you:

• Flinch: Discard a card to absorb 1 Stress.
• Blink: Reduce your Awareness by 1 (to a minimum of 0) to absorb up to 2 Stress.
• Burn a card to absorb up to 3 Stress. If you have no Present, Burn a card in your Past instead.
• Blind Burn to absorb up to 4 Stress.

You must be able to complete the action described by the option you choose in order to gain its benefit. You can’t Flinch if you have no cards to Discard, for example.

Note that each method, aside from Flinch, says “up to” some amount of Stress. This is because you might be unable to use less severe methods of Stress absorption, forcing you to use more powerful ones even if the Stress you are taking isn’t substantial.

For example, you can absorb 2 Stress by Flinching twice, or by Blinking once. However, if your Awareness were already 0, then you would have no Awareness to lose, nor any cards in your Present to Discard. Therefore you couldn’t Flinch or Blink to absorb that 2 Stress. You would instead need to Burn a card from your Past. If you had no cards in your Past, then you would need to Blind Burn.

Every Minor Arcana card belongs to one of the four suits: Swords; Cups; Wands; and Pentacles. A card’s suit represents the approach - the “how?” - of that card in the narrative.

Swords correspond to those actions that are decisive, intellectual, and/or forceful. Swords counter Pentacles, for truth always slays a lie. They are countered by Cups as their power is easily understood. Swords contest with Swords & Wands to see whose will is greatest.

Cups correspond to those actions that are discerning, patient, and/or empathetic. Cups counter Swords as simple power is easily understood. They are countered by Wands, whose power defies understanding. Cups contest with Cups & Pentacles to see what the truth of the matter really is.

Wands correspond to those actions that are mysterious, chaotic, and/or fortuitous. Wands counter Cups, their power defying understanding. They are countered by Pentacles, who never let luck ruin a good plan. Wands contest with Wands & Swords to see who’s move is boldest.

Pentacles correspond to those actions that are subtle, deceptive, and/or cunning. Pentacles counter Wands since a good plan leaves nothing to chance. They are countered by Swords as lies always die to truth. Pentacles contest with Pentacles and Cups to see whose “truth” will survive.

All cards have a numerical value. The value represents the relative potency of actions or things that the card represents in the narrative. Two Swords cards can both represent a forceful action (see Suits), but the 4 of Swords is more forceful than the 2 of Swords.

For Minor Arcana cards, this is determined using their literal number or, in the case where they use a word instead of a number, the following:

• The Ace is numerically equal to 1.
• The Page is numerically equal to 11.
• The Knight is numerically equal to 12.
• The Queen is numerically equal to 13.
• The King is numerically equal to 14.

For Major Arcana cards, their value is determined using any number of context-specific methods. When in doubt, use the numerical value of their numeral (XII - Death has value 13, for example).