Illusionary Reality + Dream

[Aquillion]

Illusionary Reality says:


When you cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose one inanimate, nonmagical object that is part of the illusion and make that object real. You can do this on your turn as a bonus action while the spell is ongoing. The object remains real for 1 minute.

Dream is a 5th level Illusion spell that says:


You, or a willing creature you touch, enters a trance state, acting as a messenger. While in the trance, the messenger is aware of their surroundings, but can’t take actions or move.

If the target is asleep, the messenger appears in the target’s dreams and can converse with the target as long as it remains asleep, through the duration of the spell. The messenger can also shape the environment of the dream, creating landscapes, objects, and other images.

Can you use Illusionary Reality to make the objects from Dream real? Or in some situations parts of the landscape, since eg. making a bridge real is one of the examples for Illusionary Reality? If so, where do they appear?

Obviously this has limited utility because in most situations the creation will vanish before the target wakes up, and cannot be used to harm them directly. But it's still an interesting combination in that it allows you to briefly create material things at any range provided you know someone sleeping there. If you time the dream for when they wake up, you can also use it to send an additional message, ie. they have a horrifying dream of being stabbed and then wake up to find a bloody dagger lying across their chest (albeit a harmless one.)

Note that because the messenger can't take actions, you will have to use someone else as the messenger in order to be able to take the bonus action needed to use Illusionary Reality; fortunately, this is specifically allowed, and nothing in Illusionary Reality specifies that you have to see what you're making real, so it should work as long as you agree with the messenger what they'll create - after all, the spell is still your ongoing spell, even if you've given them control of the dream.

This also works, sort of, with Project Image - you can't make the entire image real because it's a creature, but it's implied to have illusionary copies of your clothes and equipment and such, allowing you to make briefly physical non-magical copies of those things at extreme range.

[JNAProductions]

The object would be real, but inside that person’s head. Where it’s real already. You cannot make it outside their head.

[JLandan]

While Dream is a spell of the illusion school, its description says nothing about creating an illusion, only about shaping the dream.

As DM, I would rule no. Others may differ.

The Projected Image would absolutely work though.

[Segev]

Disguise Self is also good for Illusory Reality.

Note, too, that Malleable Illusions will let you change an illusion so you can get whatever you want in it to make real, and you can use Illusory Reality up to once per round, even on the same illusion.

Project Image is particularly good because you can hand things to people from a dist. Sure, those things turn illusory again after a minute, but that can be long enough to convince somebody you have given them a bag of gold or a magic item. Or just that you're really there, by poking them with it.

You can even take bonus actions without interrupting long casting-time spells, so you could theoretically make an illusion of your spellbook if you don't have it on hand and use the made-real spellbook to cast rituals.

[No brains]

I believe according to the default cosmology, illusory objects made real within a Dream spell would become real inside dream bubbles on the Astral Plane. This could have some peculiar implications for anyone travelling through a dream bubble up there.

[Segev]

This would be very much up to DM discretion, but I could see a dream wherein the messenger has a delivery for somebody that they need to use immediately upon waking up, and the messenger thus hands it to them or insists they pick it up, then screams at them to wake them up. The dreamer - the target of the spell - then wakes up with a jerk, holding whatever it was the caster used Illusory Reality to make real. It then lasts for up to a minute, depending on how long it'd been since the caster made it real in the dream spell.

Not sure there are too many uses for that, especially since it can't be an effective weapon, but maybe the target could wake up with the key to his jail cell, assuming the caster knew enough about the cell the target is in to give him that key. Or a rogue could wake up with thieves' tools.

[Chronos]

Count me in for "it works because Rule of Cool". Just as soon as I figure out how it works.

[XmonkTad]

While Dream is a spell of the illusion school, its description says nothing about creating an illusion, only about shaping the dream.

Pretty much this. I would almost certainly rule 0 it in though.

[Sigreid]

The object would be real, but inside that person’s head. Where it’s real already. You cannot make it outside their head.

Create a real chasm spanning bridge in the person's head? FATALITY!! Illusionist wins D&D!