The Three Heroes: Classes in the Dream
Beyond origins and backgrounds, adventurers all develop the skills and techniques to challenge the world that challenges them. As their star rises, their power follows, and the impact they have upon the Dream expands. Classes provide a shape and texture to those ripples, naming and sorting their talents. Characters who wander into the Dream have fates and paths of growth that resemble their original plane, but most natives to the Muses’ lands walk different, broader paths towards their destinies.
In much of Galasteri lore, and in many lands beyond, students of legends may speak of three great heroes. The paragon is the warrior who sees what came before, standing on the foundations of common history to defend proven, powerful ideals. The adept is one of many who look ahead, willing and able to transgress, grow, and carve out new paths for all heroes to follow. The sage walks apart from us, one who sees what lies beyond, forming practices of power around vast, primal energies. These three heroes write the legends of the world. Where they clash, the Muses walk. Where they unite? All follow.
Boons
Boons as presented in the Dungeon Master’s Guide cover epic gifts of knowledge or ability. The boons available in the Dream are less potent, but still represent a manifestation of greater powers upon a soul. By training, living according to certain conventions, or just random happenstance, you can draw the eye of the Muses themselves and be shaped by their hopes, expectations, and perhaps even by their fears.
At certain levels, the classes below give access to boons. You may use one of your Ability Score Improvements to purchase additional boons in exchange for one of your two ability score increases. You may only gain one boon per Ability Score Improvement feature, and cannot exchange ability score increases from a feat for a boon as well.
Each of the three classes of the Dream also has access to a Bonus Feat boon, which offers a discount on certain feats for that class, allowing you to take a feat as a boon instead. Bonus Feats do not increase your ability scores, even if the feat description states otherwise. You may only take a feat once unless stated otherwise, even if purchased as a bonus feat.
Lastly, boons may be granted by the DM as rewards for appropriate quests, so long as the character(s) receiving the boon meet all of the boon's prerequisites.
Bonus Feats
Adept. (Applies to Artificers, Bards, and Rogues)Defensive Duelist, Dungeon Delver, Inspiring Leader, Lightly Armored, Magic Initiate, Mobile, Moderately Armored, Skulker, Weapon Master
Paragon (Applies to Barbarians, Fighters, Monks, Paladins, and Rangers). Alert, Charger, Defensive Duelist, Grappler, Heavily Armored, Magic Initiate, Martial Adept, Medium Armor Master, Mobile, Mounted Combatant, Savage Attacker,
Sage. (Applies to Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, and Wizard) Alert, Elemental Adept, Healer, Lightly Armored, Moderately Armored, Observant, Ritual Caster
In addition, regional boons available to other heroic classes can also be purchased if you meet the multiclassing prerequisites of that class, listed above. Such boons may be taken of characters from other regions where they make sense, with DM approval - "Cultured" heroes may arise from the wealthy city of Ven Draria in the Bones, for example.
Classes In the Dream
Familiar paths take on unique elements in the Dream. When using the classes presented in the Player’s Handbook, here are some tips for building stories around those character classes.
Adepts By Any Other Name
Artificer. Craftsfolk, artisans, and geniuses of magic are not in short supply in the Dream, especially among the Galasteri and gnomish traditions. Every people has masters of artifice, as all people value crafts suitable to their lives.
Bard. Those who dedicate their lives to art draw the eyes of the Muses. Coincidences and oddness follow bards. Despite their arcane ties, they’re the most popular mages.
Rogue. Those who wander the shadows can find themselves under spotlight. Outlaws are celebrated for their cleverness, even as their executions are a popular spectacle. More than Muses watch them run.
Paragons of Battle
Barbarian. Fate favors those who open their souls to greater might. Children - especially orphans - are sacred to many cultural traditions. Orphans or foster captives are common vanguards, spirit warriors, or ragers. The term 'barbarian', however, is only reserved for those who reject all tradition and progress to predate on city or nomadic folk alike.
Fighter. Even in a world of magical dreams, martial prowess goes a long way. Talented warriors find themselves at the heart of all conflicts. To some, mastering a weapon is “begging for trouble”, to others? It’s a way of life.
Monk. Monk often attempt emulation of a Muse to attain lucid awareness of the Dream. As they grow, they become both more and less. Others seek wholeness of being, pursuing a true sense of “reality”.
Paladin. Many paladins operate as independent agents. Loose orders of paladins stand in an almost-romantic service to their ideals for their own sake, often without ties to any one god or spirit.
Ranger. Rather than wander, most rangers serve as border wardens or guides to nations. They preserve beneficial fauna, handling problems with quiet resolve. Some threats are better off extinct.
Sages of Another Kind
Cleric. Divine orders glorify great ancestors, local gods, or patron spirits, while shamans or holy people serve in solitude. Some cults praise the Scions or Muses, though these are met with suspicion at best.
Druid. Druids rarely involve themselves in the densely populated hubs, but take a hand in balancing the mystery of wild lands. Vagueness protects sites from intruders, while vivid stories stabilize rare locales from being forever lost.
Sorcerer. Sorcerers are met with fear. Dragon’s blood can terrify. Wild magic resembles the instability of a nightmare. So long as a few revel in horrors, mistrust remains. Surely they’re the least popular mages.
Warlock. Warlocks are met with mistrust. Pacts have limits, but few know that. Most folk see them as anchors binding evil to the Dream, or worse? Keys to open doors. Surely they’re the least popular mages.
Wizard. Wizards are met with doubt. By committing the Arcane to memory, they stabilize all magic. Whether this blocks or aids the horrors beyond is an open question. Surely they’re the least popular mages.
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