Dreams that can be used as game ideas

Hey everyone,

If you're familiar with the discord, you might know that I often make weird dreams... It might be because of my medication... anyways, most of them are simply funny, silly, or just plain stupid, however, from time to time, I have a dream which would work well for an game element. so I thought I'd give you some of my dreams as ideas you can use in your own games...

The Holy Symbol in the Sky
Appropriate for: Magical, relatively low-tech.
Hook: In a world where religion of of great importance, the holy symbol of on religions famous but controversial saint/seer/prophet/whatever appears in the night sky. The phenomenon or celestial body which created this symbol is such that it can even be observed during the day.

The church of the saint/seer/prophet/whatever in question claim that this is the ultimate proof of his legitimacy and that further questioning is inconsequential or even down right heretical. However, critics still claim this proves nothing. Why did it took so long before this symbol appeared in the sky? Why is the symbol not oriented properly? Is it simply a case of pareidolia?

Eventually, the church of the saint/seer/prophet/whatever who's symbol appeared in the sky will discover something trouble about the phenomenon or astral body which created the holy symbol (their through powerful divination magic or telescopes that only they posses) which would not only put the legitimacy of the person's legitimacy in question again, but the entirety of that church's faith and dogma...


The Dream Sanctuary
Appropriate for: Any fantasy/magical post-apocalyptic universe.
Hook: Imagine a post-apocalyptic world where setting up camp for the night is not a mundane task, but an important ritual to be performed, because when you go to sleep, you transport your whole being into the dream realm for protection, so that you can be safe for roughly 8 hours each day.

This raises several important questions. Since you bring your body with you now when you dream, what happens to you when you die in your dream? Are you dead for real? If so, skills like lucid-dreaming and meditation would become extremely important in this world... If you're safe when you dream, why are people not trying to sleep and dream for as long as they can? Perhaps the food and drink in the dream realm are not nourishing enough, and you still need to hunt and forage for food and water in the real world? Same thing could probably also be said about exercise and sunlight... If the world is so dangerous that people have to leave it for about 8 hours each day when they sleep, what about the other roughly 16 hours of waking time they're stuck here? Perhaps the world, while remaining dangerous all day long, is only extremely deadly for that specific period of about 8 hours each day ("This is when they come out...")?

Bone Thief
Appropriate for: Any horror.
Hook: I have a recurring dream that something is stealing my bones. Often it is my teeth. Sometimes it is finger bones. Once I was sure in the dream that it was a rib or two that were stolen.

The structure of the dream is mostly the same. I wake up to find teeth or bones missing, and I have to go down to breakfast where my parents are going to be mad at me, or I have to go to class and I'm horribly embarrassed to be missing teeth or finger bones or something. This is my version of the "show up at school unprepared for the test" or "show up at work in your underwear" dream, I guess.

The last time I had the dream, I came down to breakfast with no front teeth and my mom yelled at me, "Did you sleep with the window open again? Didn't I tell you that bugs could get in and eat your teeth? I told you this would happen. Do you know how much it is going to cost to get your teeth replaced?" And so on. :-D

Occasionally I have sleep paralysis, and I've had it a few times with this dream. I've never seen what was stealing my bones, but I could hear it (them?) scurrying around my bed and on the pillow just out of sight, but I couldn't move to see what it was.

Sweetie, you really are crazier than a bag of cats.
Was it Hope or Brianne? That "cost" comment has my money on Bri. :-D

I'm an amateur lucid dreamer and from time to time, I get in trouble with a sort of dream police. One time, I was put into a dream prison in which it was impossible to wake up. I had to escape from there as I knew I would basically be in a coma in real life if I didn't manage to escape since my consciousness was trapped in that prison.
Something like that might make for an interesting adventure.

Alien Arm Syndrome
Appropriate for: Horror, Mystery, Coop/Betrayal games
Hook:
You wake up one day, and your arms are not your own. It's as if your arms were cut off, and a stranger's arms were seamlessly grafted in their place. You find that you no longer control these new arms. Instead, when you try to move them, you feel your original arms moving in some unknown space. Suddenly, your new arms begin to move, flailing about in a panic. Try as you might, you can't control them. If they keep flailing, you'll hurt yourself. You bite down on one of them to restrain it. The other arm flinches, then punches you in the jaw, causing you to let go.

You understand now.

You have Alien Arm Syndrome, a disease in which you swap arms with a stranger. The stranger control your arms now, and you theirs. How you handle this extremely odd situation is up to the two of you.

Can you live life with someone else controlling your arms?

You remotely control your original arms to try to find the person's neck. You end up nicking their chin a few times, but they try to bite your fingers off.

Can you communicate with the other person, perhaps finding some sort of mutual arrangement?

The stranger's arms are now trying to punch you in the face, bruising your eye and chipping teeth whenever their fists connect.

Unfortunately, you know the only way to regain control of your arms is to kill the other person.

You find their neck, latching on. You squeeze. Their blows become desperate, powerful. You bleed, your vision is going black. It's a battle of will now.

All other options are just delay the inevitable.

Slowly, you feel the feeling in your arms come back, as the blows slow down.

You know that a fair number of people try not to kill of course. They end up living very miserable lives. Moral, perhaps, but miserable. Constantly having to coordinate your actions with someone else. Not knowing what your body will do next. Not knowing if one day, in a lapse of morals, the stranger will rebel and kill you. You'll be stuck with a stranger dictating major parts of your life, and neither of you have a choice in the matter.

The punches weakens and turn lethargic.

Well... there is one choice.

The fists fall limp.

It's a choice between your convenience and your morals. You can only live with one.

You flex your new fingers. You've won. Although you'll have to get used to having a new set of arms, at least they're yours now. Tired and beaten, you pass out on your bed.

Seems like you chose your convenience.

It was Hope. Truly a nightmare.