Manipulating Dreamscapes in 3.5

[Mr. Thomas]

Hi, I've been all over forums, and I can't find anything about this.

If you have a character (Psion/Beguiler) physically enter someone else's dream (with Dream Walk from Heroes of Horror for example) can you change the dreamscape with powers/illusions? Like, physically change aspects of the dream, such as using an illusion to make a tower or something. Does that tower become 'real' (as in, an object you can touch) or is it still just an illusion you can pass through?

And how would a telepathic power work? Could you use ego whip or mindwipe on some part of the land to affect the sleeping person? Could you control all the parts of the dream with dominate or something? Keep in mind that you are physically inside of that person's dream (and technically their mind).

Is there anything in the RAW about this that I haven't noticed?
Any help would be appreciated.

[Psyren]

Dream Travel means you're using the dreamscape rules from HoH - which means that a dreamscape functions like a demiplane, either totally isolated or connected to some central dream hub like MotP's Realm of Dreams.

Whether illusions can make real things there or cause lasting harm, are all questions for the DM. The rules do allow the effects of one spell to be swapped out for another in a dreamscape, even a higher-level one - so you could rule for instance that all Silent Images are X% real, functioning is Shadow Conjurations or Evocations instead. Or they could be just as insubstantial as they are in the waking world.

There aren't really any rules for affecting the dreamer by affecting the landscape either. Generally the dreamscape is seen as something separate from the dreamer (a place created by their mind for them to explore while sleeping, or even a place that already exists that they keep returning to,) but in the case of the former option you could easily form some kind of sympathetic link between the structures there and the dreamer's health or outlook. Or vice-versa - you could have things that happen to the dreamer in the real world affect the dreamscape, such as putting their hand in a bowl of water causing the dreamscape to flood.

Bottom line is that there are no hard and fast rules that say "this is how dreamscapes work for everyone" - it's all a bunch of guidelines and suggestions.

[atemu1234]

Dream Travel means you're using the dreamscape rules from HoH - which means that a dreamscape functions like a demiplane, either totally isolated or connected to some central dream hub like MotP's Realm of Dreams.

Whether illusions can make real things there or cause lasting harm, are all questions for the DM. The rules do allow the effects of one spell to be swapped out for another in a dreamscape, even a higher-level one - so you could rule for instance that all Silent Images are X% real, functioning is Shadow Conjurations or Evocations instead. Or they could be just as insubstantial as they are in the waking world.

There aren't really any rules for affecting the dreamer by affecting the landscape either. Generally the dreamscape is seen as something separate from the dreamer (a place created by their mind for them to explore while sleeping, or even a place that already exists that they keep returning to,) but in the case of the former option you could easily form some kind of sympathetic link between the structures there and the dreamer's health or outlook. Or vice-versa - you could have things that happen to the dreamer in the real world affect the dreamscape, such as putting their hand in a bowl of water causing the dreamscape to flood.

Bottom line is that there are no hard and fast rules that say "this is how dreamscapes work for everyone" - it's all a bunch of guidelines and suggestions.

Probably because the rules of dreams are themselves mutable.