An Immersive Story Building Game

An imagining Games Publication

imagininggames.com
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Design, Art Direction, Writing, and Original Layout

Pete Petrusha

Editing
Jeremy Morgan

Layout Development
Nathan D. Paoletta

Original Artwork
Russell Goh, Steve Stark, Sarayu Ruangvesh, Pui Che, Kiendo, Vincent
Lefevre, Filip Storch, Chris Cold, Jimmy Ling, Dominik Mayer, Pavel
Kolomeyets, Carlos Jobani, Daniel Bogni, Imad ud Din, TJSGrimm, and
Juan Carlos Alegre Herrera

Additional Development
Jim Dagg

Proof Reading
Kevin Innarelli, Bill Kane, Menachem Cohen, Jason Brannen, Curtis
Hooper, Dan Long, and Carly Petrusha

Special Thanks
Carly Petrusha, Jim Dagg, Soutalgon, Russell Goh, Mike Brodeur, Kevin
Smith, Pui Che, We Hate Bards, Fear the Boot, Gamerstable, The RPG
Academy, The Bodhana Group, Our Personal Interests, T. Julian Bell,
Oliver Shead, Games Inn, CAGWIC, Matthew Tarulli, Bill Wearne at
Thomson-Shore, and the IGDN

Dreamchaser: A Game of Destiny

©2017 imagining Games, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
Hardcover Product Code: IGG0001. ISBN:978-0-9992179-0-0
Softcover Product Code: IGG0002. ISBN:978-0-9992179-1-7
 Table of Contents
Why Play Dreamchaser? … 4
Why Game Master Dreamchaser? … 5
Welcome to Dreamchaser …...... 6
What You Need to Play … 9
Basics of Play … 10
Belief … 14
Dream Mapping …..................... 18
What's Your Dream? … 22
What's Your Role to Play? … 25
What Do You Want to Experience? … 28
Completing the Dream Map … 31
Character Creation …................ 32
Tags … 36
Strategies for Success … 39
Soul Skills … 41
Health … 42
Relationships … 44
Belongings … 47
Play ….......................................... 50
Vision Rolls … 54
Set the Scene … 56
Introducing Problems … 57
Challenges & Conflict … 58
Selling Milestones … 64
Character Growth … 65
Gratitude … 67
Guiding Games …...................... 68
Being the Guide … 70
The First Session … 71
Guiding Advice … 78
Creating Challenges … 83
Myths … 86
Allies … 100
Afterword … 102

Playtesters … 103
Kickstarter Backers … 104
Index …...................................... 106

1
You have to dream
before

2
 your dreams
can come true.
-APJ Abdul Kalam

3
 Why Play Dreamchaser?
G o Anywhere, Do Anything
Dreamchaser gives players the opportunity to play out whatever
fantasy we choose. Genre, setting, and character roles are creat-
ed in response to the goal of our game—our story. We start with
the question, what do you want to achieve? Then work out the
details from there. Dreamchaser builds on our story (not just the
Game Master's) and adapts to our dream, wherever it takes us.

P lay the Story We Want to Play

As players we work together to create an ultimate goal—our
dream. We map how to get there by plotting character mile-
stones along the way. This creates a sort of road map called the
Dream Map. It ties our player characters together in important
roles. It inspires collaboration giving each of us creative control.
Character milestones ensure that we get the character experi-
ences we want most and that they're a focal point of our game.
Dream Mapping fosters player investment in our game and in
our mutual success.

B e the Characters We Want to Be

Imagine the character you want to play. Tell us how that charac-
ter looks, acts, and feels. These descriptions reinforce your char-
acter's advantages when the dice don't pan out and keep them
honest when their descriptions work against them in a situation.
Imagine strategies for how your character succeeds in the world.
Immerse yourself in these new outlooks. Players are encouraged
to imagine Tags or descriptors that better fit characters as they
play. Play constantly develops characters for an immersive role-
playing experience.

T he Dice Are in Your Hands

All dice rolls are made by the players and from the player’s per-
spective. Lady Luck is in your hands! Characters earn Belief to
spend on altering outcomes for the experience you want. Every
roll moves the story forward with an actionable outcome. This
inspires interesting gameplay that rolls with the punches. Have
fun and take chances!

4
 Why Game Master Dreamchaser?
B uilt-in Session Guide
Players create a Dream Map that is a session guide for you (the
Game Master). The Dream Map is made up of character goals or
milestones that prepare the characters to achieve their ultimate
goal—our dream. Use them to craft sessions around or run them
as a sequence of events in a single session.

L ittle to No Preparation
Use Vision Rolls to help prepare your games. At critical moments,
players are encouraged to think aloud. What's stopping the
characters from achieving their next goal? How would a player
character solve the problem at hand? Use their answers to elimi-
nate the guesswork! They create fuel for plot, suggest problems,
and help gauge player expectations.

C reate Challenges, NPCs, and Allies Spontaneously

Anyone or anything that can challenge a character can fit into
just 3 ratings and just 3 Tags. A simple 1-10 scale allows you to
assign ratings quickly and intuitively. Have a new person at the
table or a guest in town? Whip up an Ally character in minutes!
Focus on what’s important: delivering a deeply engaging expe-
rience and moving the story forward.

W elcome New Players to Roleplaying Games

Dreamchaser works on a scale of 1-10 that is easy to under-
stand and relate to. Have a first-time player? Game complexity,
excessive reading, and complex math will no longer deter new
players. Participation and imagination are all that are required to
play. Enjoy a collaborative Character Creation process that pro-
motes creativity and builds a story!

W ork Less and Play More

Players practically hand you what they want to experience! They
create characters that are tied together and tied to the story.
The Dream Map eliminates guesswork by producing achievable
goals while building player investment. Vision Rolls create prob-
lems for those goals. Eliminate Game Master burnout with less
prep before the game and a definitive end in mind! Each jour-
ney can be new for you, as well as your players.

5
 Chapter 1
Welcome to Dreamchaser
If you could live out any story, any moment... what
would you experience?
If you could share that journey with friends, what
would you achieve together?
Dreamchaser is a game of destiny! Your character has a moment, a chal-
lenge, a purpose waiting for them.

Will you chase it?

Will you realize your dream?

G ather your friends and family to embark on a journey of your own
design! Collaborate to build a story uniquely your own. Each game
begins with your dreams and aspirations for the game before you.
Where will they take you?

What do you want to experience

in your story?
We build characters on a path to achieve a dream. We play in the setting
that the dream demands. A setting that spawns naturally out of charac-
ter creation. Maybe you want to save the world, maybe you want to find
your lost love, or maybe you want to discover the Lost City of Atlantis...

The dream is for the players to decide.

 Dreamchaser: A Game of Destiny

D reamchaser is a collaborative story building game. Players imagine

a story out loud by having a conversation. One person will act as
a Guide or Game Master. The Guide should be familiar with this book
ahead of time and use it to help the players create characters, create
stories, and create memories. The players will play characters in the sto-
ry. They will try to imagine and live out the lives of their characters. The
Guide will act as the rest of the world and all of its magnificent charac-
ters. Players talk as their characters and they talk about how their char-
acters interact with the world—with our story. The goals of our game will
guide us and give our characters purpose.

Just imagine all that we can achieve together...

Our game will be uniquely our own. A story lived in the theatre of the
mind. A story shared by us—experienced by us. The goal is to have a sto-
ry that we will enjoy and fondly remember.
Live out your dreams! Live out the coolest experiences you can imagine!
Do it from the safety, comfort, and pleasure of your home, local game
store, or anywhere else you like to play games.

Chase Your Dreams!

Terms to Know
The Game Master is the Guide to playing our games. The Guide reads the
rules ahead of time, helps the players Dream Map, create characters, and
play the game.
Players are the people playing their own player characters in our game.
The Guide is not considered a player.
Player Character(s) or PC(s) are the characters that the players design and
play as. They are the stars of our story! Who they are and what they do will
be the focus of our games.
Dream Mapping is the process of imagining our Dream and mapping out
how we get there. The finished product is our Dream Map.
Milestones are player goals within our story. They act as session goals for
our games. Players design them for their character with a specific experi-
ence or cool moment in mind.
Vision Rolls help us explore what the journey to the next Milestone may
have in store for our characters. Vision Rolls help the Guide imagine
possible problems to achieving Milestones. They give players a chance
to influence the Guide and ultimately our story.

8
 What You Need to Play
You Need:
¤¤ A Guide and 1-4 players.
¤¤ Dreamchaser (this book), a stack of notecards. and pencils.
¤¤ A Dream Map, Character Sheets, and a Guide Sheet.
¤¤ Two 10-sided dice, preferably of two different colors.

How Long Do You Want to Play?

Decide how many character Milestones you want per player. More Mile-
stones means more game sessions!
Aim for sessions as long as a movie or 90 minutes to 3 hours.
¤¤ For short games of 1-2 sessions, aim for 1 Milestone per character.
¤¤ For longer games of 3-6 sessions, aim for 2 Milestones per character.
¤¤ Anything longer than that, aim for 3 Milestones per character.

The First Session

There are two ways to run the first session. Play on the fly (option #1) if
you want to get started right away. Prepare for the next session (option
#2) if you don't have enough time to play or just want more time to di-
gest the information.
1. Play on the Fly
¤¤ Dream Mapping (10-20 Minutes)
¤¤ Character Creation (20-30 Minutes)
¤¤ Play (1-3 Hours)
2. Prepare the Next Session
¤¤ Dream Mapping (10-20 Minutes)
¤¤ Character Creation (20-30 Minutes)
¤¤ Vision Rolls (5-10 Minutes)

9
 Basics of Play
T he Guide is responsible for roleplaying the world and everyone be-
sides the player characters. They will also set scenes, craft Challeng-
es for the player characters, and explain the rules as needed.
The players are responsible for roleplaying their characters, keeping in
mind who they are and what they want.

Flow of Play
We start with the players imagining a Dream for their game by suggest-
ing mutual goals written on notecards. Players vote on the Dream they
want to play. Once we know what the story is about, we can imagine
Roles to play. We further define the Dream by adding in character mile-
stones or defining moments written on additional notecards. These no-
tecards create a session guide called the Dream Map. Players use their
characters to work toward Milestones like chapters in a story, ultimately
chasing our Dream.

Characters have each of the following:

¤¤ A Role (their significance to the story).
¤¤ Milestone(s) (a defining moment or experience).
¤¤ Tags (short descriptive phrases that reinforce who a character is).
They help a character succeed when it looks like they'll fail.
¤¤ Strategies (skills, abilities, powers, magics, tools, or whatever else
they use to succeed in life). They are the perspectives a character
approaches all their problems with.
¤¤ Belief (how they view the world). Belief will rise and fall as players
complete Milestones. Players can spend Belief to take creative
control and choose when their character needs to succeed.
¤¤ Health (a measure of the character's physical, mental, and spiritual
well-being). Health is separated into Mind, Body, and Spirit.
¤¤ Soul Skills (how they use their Strategies) Reason for when you use
your Strategies directly; Imagine for when their use is a bit of a stretch.
¤¤ Relationships(people, places, etc. that keep the character going
when things get tough).
¤¤ Belongings (iconic items of interest).

Strategies, Belief, Health, and Soul Skills have ratings from 1-10.

10
Ratings
All ratings in Dreamchaser use a 1-10 scale. Players roll under their rat-
ings to succeed. In fact, you'll always have two different ratings to roll
under on 2 ten-sided dice. Strive for two successes in everything you do!
In Dreamchaser, we believe your best self can achieve anything you can
envision with your Strategies. Unleash your creativity!

Rating Scale
1. The Worst 6. Gifted
2. Horrible 7. Extraordinary
3. Lousy 8. Legendary
4. Average 9. Mythical
5. Good 10. Godlike

When we need to know the outcome of something, we roll the

dice. Doing anything important in the game requires a dice roll.

Rolling the Dice

Visualizing success is what Dreamchaser is all about. With every roll, the
player imagines an action for their character with an outcome in mind,
an idea of how events could play out. Each roll represents the visual-
ization of what your character intends to do, not the act itself. The dice
determine the result.
As a PC, you are your own worst enemy. Dreamchaser assumes your
character is strong enough to accomplish their goals, but can your char-
acter live up to their potential?
¤¤ Players roll all the dice in the game.
¤¤ Every dice check is from the player character's perspective.
The difficulties ahead will be won by succeeding against the adversity of
your own PC's ratings, not the lucky rolls of the Guide. There are no situa-
tional modifiers or target numbers, only rerolls. The characters are tested
by their choices as the players are by the ratings on their Character Sheets.
Only players roll dice in Dreamchaser. This is because each roll is from a
player character's perspective. They act, they roll the dice. If something
else acts and requires a response, they roll to respond (assuming we
need to know the outcome).

11
Doing Things & Dice Checks
1. Using a Strategy, describe what you intend to do.
2. The Guide will tell you which Soul Skill to use, Imagine or Reason.
3. Roll both ten-sided dice, one under the Soul Skill and another un-
der the Strategy rating.
4. Total your successes. How did you do?

Rolling Under a Rating is a Success.

¤¤ 2 successes (Double Success) is amazing! Everything happens
just as you imagined for your character!
¤¤ 1 success (1 Success, 1 Failure), you succeed but with a catch
¤¤ No successes (Double Failure) something went terribly wrong!

5. Want to challenge your result? Justify a Tag to reroll 1 failed die!

Your most recent roll stands. To apply a Tag, redescribe what you
intend to do but justify how that Tag helps you. You can reroll with
Tags as many times as your Belief allows.
6. Beware! The Guide can also use Tags against you, forcing you to
reroll your successes. Yes, even both of them!
A roll of a 1 is always a success and a roll of a 10 is always a failure.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our

deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."
-Marianne Williamson
Visualizing the Task
When a player makes a dice check, have them visualize a goal for their
character. That dice check is to see if what they imagined takes place.
Did it all go as planned? Maybe something happened—something un-
foreseeable! Maybe what you set out to do just went horribly wrong. In
Dreamchaser, each outcome of the dice moves the story forward. For
better, worse, or somewhere in between, we keep the story moving.

Empowered by Belief, the characters can achieve anything.

12
Rolling Doubles & Critical Rolls
Rolling the same number on both dice (doubles) creates a near perfect
version of whatever outcome is rolled. These are called Critical Rolls.
¤¤ A Critical Success is when you roll doubles and both dice are
successful. The Guide asks the players, What's the best possible
thing that can happen right now?
¤¤ A Critical Failure is when you roll doubles and both dice are
unsuccessful. The Guide asks the players, What's the worst possible
thing that can happen right now?
¤¤ A Critical Both is when you roll doubles and one die succeeds
while the other die fails. Ask the players both questions above. Make
the outcome both the best of times and the worst of times!
Critical rolls cannot be rerolled with Tags and cannot be changed by
spending Belief. The universe has its ways...

13
Belief
Belief reflects the confidence a character has in themself and how they
see the world. Each player character starts with a Belief rating of 4. It will
rise and fall as we progress toward our Dream. Players can use any abil-
ity on the Benefits of Belief chart to influence a roll (or a scene) if their
character's Belief is high enough.
¤¤ Working toward and achieving Milestones raises your PC's Belief.
¤¤ Character hesitation, setbacks, and failure can lower Belief.
Achieving the Dream
There is a momentum that builds as a character's Belief grows. Higher
Belief unlocks increasingly powerful benefits for the players to use. That
power will bring a character and their goals ever closer. The pace toward
our Dream will accelerate as player characters begin to believe in their
own capability. The lower the Belief, the more work there is left to do.
¤¤ Spend 2 Belief to use Hope, Faith, or The One, as seen below.
¤¤ Tag-related benefits do not cost Belief to use.
¤¤ A Belief rating of 0 is possible if all Belief has been spent.

The Benefits of Belief

Belief Ability Cost Action
Narrate Your Actions for a Scene!
10 The One 2 Belief No dice rolls necessary!
9 3 Tags Free Reroll 3 Failed Dice with 3 Tags.
6 Faith 2 Belief Create a Critical Success!
5 2 Tags Free Reroll 2 Failed Dice with 2 Tags.
2 Hope 2 Belief Create a Double Success!
1 1 Tag Free Reroll 1 Failed Die with 1 Tag.

"And, when you want something, all the universe

conspires in helping you achieve it."
-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

14
How Do Tags Work?
Belief limits the number of Tags that can be used to alter any one dice
check. To use a Tag, the player or Guide must first describe how the Tag(s)
applies to the situation. Describe how the Tag would influence your char-
acter or the situation differently. Tags then justify rerolling the dice to alter
the outcome. Reroll one die at a time, watching for critical rolls. Tag use
nudges players to further describe what's going on and why.

Spending Belief
Players can spend Belief to take creative control of our story, removing
the dice rolls when the story they desire demands it. Spend Belief to
force your will upon the story. Bored of the situation? Tired of failing?
Know what you want for you character? Spend Belief and the universe
will bend to your will. Belief can be spent after a roll is made but not
after a critical roll. You're stuck with a critical roll. For better or worse!

Belief Is Earned
Belief is not purchased at Character Creation. It starts at 4, which is aver-
age. When you complete Milestones or the session ends, the Guide will
help you evaluate your character's Belief. Belief is the only rating a player
cannot raise during Character Creation or Character Growth.

15
Challenges
When the story demands more drama than a single dice check can
provide, we face a Challenge. Any obstacle, problem, or adversary that
stands in the way of a player character and their goals can become a
Challenge. Succeeding at Challenges helps characters to progress the
story and achieve Milestones.
Challenges have Health and Tags like player characters. They are defeat-
ed by losing all of their Health in any 1 Health rating (Mind, Body, Spirit).
When facing a Challenge, every success rolled against it damages it.
Every failure hurts the PC. Damage is targeted toward 1 of the Health
ratings, if a PC is hurt, then it is hurt in the same rating. Criticals deal
double damage.
A Challenge's Tags show its strength or advantages against the PCs. A
Challenge's Tags can be used by the Guide to force players to reroll their
successes when justified. This incentivizes players to work around them.
Each time a double success or a double failure is the final outcome of a
Challenge, Tags change. When a player gets a double success, they may
add a Tag to the Challenge for the players to take advantage of or they
may remove a Tag from the Challenge. When a player gets a double
failure, they are assigned a Negative Tag by the Guide.

Negative Tags
When a PC is dealt a serious blow in a Challenge, they are assigned a
Negative Tag. These stick with you beyond the Challenge. Health can
come back quickly but Negative Tags last until voted off with a Tag Vote.
Negative Tags remove the use of one of the PC's valuable Tags. Until
removed, the player cannot use the Tag to the left of the Negative Tag.
Negative Tags last as long as the Guide and players feel appropriate.

Dream Mapping
In the first session, players imagine a goal for their game (Dream), Roles
for them to play, and the experiences they want to get out of our story
(Milestones). We do this by writing objectives on notecards and select-
ing our favorites. The Dream is a mutual goal while Roles and Milestones
are up to each player. We get a say in what we want the story to be about
but you (the player) get to say who and what you want to get out of it.
Milestones act as session goals or chapters in the grander story.

16
Vision Rolls
Vision Rolls help the Guide prepare for the game session while giving
players a chance to influence the story. Players are asked questions by
the Guide to find out what problems might arise working toward the
next Milestone and what their character might do about it. PCs are re-
warded with temporary Tags called Vision Tags to reflect the insight sug-
gested by their player.
Vision Rolls are either the first thing we do in play or the last. If we plan
to play on the fly, we use Vision Rolls to get started. If we are going to
play later, we end with Vision Rolls to give the Guide more information
to work with.

Tag Vote
Anyone can suggest Tags to add to player characters other than their
own. If the PC displays the trait in gameplay, say "I think your character
is (trait)" to initiate a vote. The Tag Vote has to be unanimous and quick
(minus the player whose character is involved). Otherwise, try again later.

Character Growth
Players are rewarded for setting goals (Milestones) and achieving them.
Characters add new Strategies, Relationships, or upgrade ratings for
achieving Milestones. Rewards are better if it's your character's Mile-
stone. Belief is rewarded at the completion of Milestones or the end of
a session. Characters that learn to believe in themselves and accomplish
Milestones will see their Belief grow. Characters defeated by Challeng-
es will see their Belief stall or dwindle.

Flow of Play
We Dream Map to create goals. We Vision Roll to create problems for
those goals. We create characters to experience the story. We roll dice
and spend Belief to discover the outcomes. Where will the story take us?
Like watching a movie trailer, you know some of what's to come, but not
the whole story.

Enjoy the show.

17
Dream Mapping
Chapter 2

18
19
 Dream Mapping at a Glance
Our Dream
1. Place the Dream Map, notecards, and pencils where players can
reach them.
2. Ask the players to each imagine 1 or more goals for our game.
Have them write each in a few words or a short sentence on a
separate notecard.
3. Have them take turns suggesting 1 of their goals.
4. The players vote on their favorite. Tally the cards if it helps.
5. Choose the notecard with the most votes. Guide, you break ties. Place
the chosen Dream in the center of our Dream Map.
This is our Dream.
Roles
6. Ask the players to each imagine a fun and crucial Role to play
in our story. Have them write each in a few descriptive words.
7. Have them take turns suggesting their Roles.
8. Each player decides on their Role and shares it out loud.
This is your Role.
Milestones
9. Now that the players know their Roles and the aim of our story. Ask
them What do you want to experience in our story?
10. Ask the players to each imagine something their character needs
to experience, acquire, or achieve to fulfill their Role. What is
the coolest moment you want to have with your character?
11. Have them write each goal in a few words or a short sentence
on a separate notecard. (The number of Milestones depends on
the length of the game. See page 9.)
These are your Milestones.
Completing the Dream Map
12. Gather all the Milestones together.
13. Have the players work together to create a sequence of Milestones
from start to finish on the Dream Map.
14. Write down the road map that has been created on a Guide Sheet.
This is our Dream Map.

20
Terms to Know
Our Dream is the goal of our story. Each player will suggest one
but we'll choose our Dream together. Our Dream is a mutual goal.
Your Role is a description of who you'd like your character to be in
our story. Describe a person in 2-3 words or a short phrase.
Milestones are player goals within our story. They act as chapter or
session goals for our games. Players design them for their charac-
ter with a specific experience or cool moment in mind.
Dream Mapping is the process of imagining our Dream and map-
ping out how we get there. The finished product is our Dream Map.

21
 What's Your Dream?
O ur Dream will unite us and set us on a path. It will ignite our imagi-
nation into a brainstorm of ideas! Listen to each Dream as they are
shared aloud. Share the thoughts that they inspire. Explore them if you
feel the urge. Let them sway who you want to play and what you want
to experience. Let your characters unfold and watch as a setting begins
to seed.

Just imagine all that we can achieve together!

22
 Examples Discover the Secret of Survive the War
Create Camelot El Dorado Survive Until Help Arrives
Race to the Moon Pen the Perfect Song Free an Innocent Man
Discover Alien Life Craft the Next Battery Earn Your Freedom
Get Published Start a Trend Learn to Control Your
Pull the Sword from the Play in the Afterlife Powers
Stone Migrate to a New Find the Meaning of Life
Put Lex Behind Bars World Crack the Code
Start a Business Birth Synthetic Life Ride a Dragon
Eradicate Cancer Win Office Ask the Moon for a Favor
Establish the Isle of Convert a Zealot Go on Tour
Utopia Climb Mt. Olympus Get the Girl
Solve the Energy Crisis Win the Gold Fly a Giant Mech
Regain the Helm Defend your Belt Release the Hounds
Remove the Were- Unite the Nations Swim to Alcatraz
wolves from Power Incite a Revolution Save a Friend
Collapse the Financial Sit in the Big Chair Become Young Again
Markets Become the Richest Fall in Love
Get a Job Fly a Car Restore Faith in Humanity
Speak with Animals Find My Kindred Soul Rally the Troops
Escape the Paparazzi Kill the Unkillable Find Dad's Pants

Instructions for the Guide

1. Place the Dream Map, notecards, and pencils where players can
reach them.
2. Ask the players to each imagine 1 or more goals for our game.
Have them write each in a few words or a short sentence on a
separate notecard.
3. Have them take turns suggesting 1 of their goals.
4. The players vote on their favorite. Tally the cards if it helps.
5. Choose the notecard with the most votes. Guide, you break ties.
Place the chosen Dream in the center of our Dream Map.
This is our Dream.

No Dream is too big or too small.

No Dream is stupid.

23
Make It Achievable
Dreams are goals. How can we accomplish something if it isn't ac-
complishable? Write Dreams that can be achieved. Even if our Dream
doesn't come true, our story is about pursuing it.

Be Vague
Each Dream is written on a notecard in a few words or a short sentence.
While some players will know exactly what they want, challenge them
to be vague in their choice of words. Take a look at the examples on the
previous page. Vague answers are less restrictive and allow room for
interpretation. Some of the best endings come from a play on words!

Having All the Answers

Players shouldn't concern themselves with how or why a Dream will
happen. Let that come out organically through the process. The Guide
can work out what's left.

Share Your Dreams

One at a time, the players take turns sharing their Dreams aloud. When
everyone's finished, the players take turns voting on a Dream they would
like to play. Guide, you break ties.
¤¤ Play out the game you've always wanted!
¤¤ Participate in the story you've yet to see, yet to experience.
¤¤ Achieve the goals that interest you in real life or in a story.
¤¤ Decide by your mood! Save the other Dreams for next time.

There's no wrong way to decide.

Thinking Outside the Box

Some players struggle with this kind of open-ended thinking and
that's ok! Help people engage with their entertainment in a proac-
tive way. Give people an opportunity and an outlet to be creative
and express themselves. There's no wrong way to dream! Encour-
age player creativity and praise their ideas. Watch them flourish
with practice.

24
 What's Your Role to Play?
N ow that we know what our Dream is, we can explore who we want
to play! Who do you want to be in our story? Imagine someone
fun to play—another life to experience! Imagine someone critical to our
story—someone essential! No matter who or what you choose, you'll be
a star in our game either way.

25
 Examples Injured Olympic Athlete Unwilling Unwanting
Idealistic Visionary Climbing Apparel Heroine
Posterboy Astronaut Store Owner Successful Musician
Daring Archaeologist Ambitious Gym Scorned Husband
Wannabe Superhero Manager Bored Wizkid
Desperate Researcher Unlikely Slave Laborer Immortal Watcher of
Know-It-All Philosopher Depressed Dictator Worlds
Energy Engineer with Smooth Rebel Pestering Turtle
the Plan Diligent Mail Clerk Mute Dragon
Inspirational Child Used Engineering Robot Pantomime
Leader Romantic Painter Twitchy Kid
Charismatic Anarchist Attorney with a Petty Swashbuckler
Relentless Conquistador Heart of Gold Wildly Obsessed Primitive
Traumatized Songwriter Confused Witness Empathetic Game
Total Package Performer Perfect Assassin Store Owner
Meticulous Scientist Conniving Kingpin Illusionary Pin Up Girl
Brilliant Hobbyist Father Tired Prisoner The Last Guardian
Crackpot Political Writer Resilient Gladiator Extradimensional
Outspoken Missionary Disbelieving Apparition Space Slug

Instructions for the Guide

1. Ask the players to each imagine a fun and crucial Role to play
in our story. Have them write each in a few descriptive words.
2. Have them take turns suggesting their Roles.
3. Each player decides on their Role and shares it out loud.
This is your Role.

Think of each Dream like a movie.

Who do you want to be in that movie?

26
Describe a Role
Imagine a Role in a few words or a short phrase. Don't settle for just a
profession. Add an adjective or two to give us an idea of who you really
want to play in our story.

Share Your Role

Players take turns sharing their Roles out loud. The Dream gets us think-
ing about the kind of story we'll have, but our Roles help us visualize it.
Listen to what Roles the other players imagine and feel free to change
your mind. This is a collaborative process.

Playing from Afar or Playing Together

Looking at the Roles, will players be able to share a lot of screen time
or are we looking at a game of mostly individual player turns? The latter
will give each player more down time at the table between turns.
For example, what if each player is a Mob Boss or a Queen with territory
and loyal subjects that depend on them? What if each player is a spe-
cialist like a Fixer or a Hacker? If one player is a Boss will they be hands-
on or remotely giving orders? Each Dream will lend itself to a different
story and different perspectives. Find your fun.
A game of individual player turns should be discussed so that players
can consider if that's the kind of game they want to play.

27
 What Do You Want to Experience?
M ilestones help us build our story and guarantee each player de-
fining moments or character experiences. Milestones are player
goals within our story that act as session goals for our games. We know
what the goal of our game is and who our stars are. It's time to see what
the players want to get out of their game.

¤¤ What made you choose the Role you did?

¤¤ What did you imagine your Role doing in our story?
¤¤ Where did you see your character in our story?

This is your opportunity to imagine a defining moment for your charac-

ter. To create a defining moment in our story—a Milestone. What experi-
ence do you want to get out of this Dream?

Examples Stumble upon Evidence Wield Kryptonite

Join the Knights of the Perform in Front Respect My Peers
Round Table of a Talent Scout Put Together a Team
Build a Rocket Ship Learn to Dance Come up with an Exit
Uncover Evidence of Seize a Rare Opportunity Survive the Wilds
Alien Life Have the Will of the People Find Shelter
Triangulate the Map Have Investors Knocking Earn My Freedom
Outsmart a Genius Down My Door Recite the Tale of the
Isolate the Regenera- Inspire a New Sword from the Stone
tive Mutant Genome Political Party Drill a Hole on the Moon
Believe in a Nation Again Win a Spirited Debate Blackmail the Police
Earn the Trust of a Afford the Best into Cooperation
Government Insider Climbing Gear Get Just Enough Money
Surround Myself with Meet the Right Coach Let Go of the Past
Friends Get Signed by the NFL Power the Generator
Believe Like My Hire a Workforce Send the Message
Followers Believe Attend a Summit ...in Time
Dig up an Ancient Mound Witness a Riot Don't Let Him Fall
Be the Only Survivor Work for the Man Hold the Door
Have a Lucky Moment Trust Again Sneak in to the Ball
Acquire a Workshop Get the Last Laugh

28
Instructions for the Guide
1. Now that the players know their Roles and the aim of our story. Ask
them What do you want to experience in our story?
2. Ask the players to each imagine something their character needs
to experience, acquire, or achieve to fulfill their Role. What is
the coolest moment you want to have with your character?
3. Have them write each goal in a few words or a short sentence
on a separate notecard. (The number of Milestones depends on
the length of the game. See page 9.)
These are your Milestones.

29
Like a Dream
We write each goal just like a Dream. On a notecard write your Mile-
stone in a few words or a short sentence. Be vague or be a bit more
specific, just keep it short!
This Milestone is about what YOU want to experience with YOUR char-
acter in our story. No compromise this time! Get what you want out of
your games.

If this was a movie, what would be the coolest thing

your character could do in that movie?

Share Your Dreams

Players take turns sharing their Milestones aloud. The number of Mile-
stones is determined by the length of the game we want to play. The
more Milestones the more game sessions we need. (See page 9.)

30
 Completing the Dream Map
W ith the defining moments of our story in hand, we now order them
to make up the chapters of our story. The order may surprise you.
Each sequence could make for a completely different pursuit of our
Dream. Embrace the possibilities!

Instructions for the Guide

1. Gather all the Milestones together.
2. Have the players work together to create a sequence of Milestones
from start to finish on the Dream Map.
3. Write down the road map that has been created on a Guide Sheet.

This is our Dream Map.

Too Many Milestones?
The Dream Map has four slots. Stack further Milestones until they have
all been placed in order. Jot down a number on each Milestone so you
can figure out their order again in the future. Write a "D" on the Dream.

31
 Chapter 3
Character
Creation

32
33
 Character Creation at a Glance
The character sheets have step-by-step instructions. With Dream Map-
ping complete we move on to step 4.
4. Tags
• Describe your character with 3 Tags.
5. Strategies
• Imagine 3 Strategies below Legend (8).
6. Soul Skills
• Assign 10 points among Soul Skills (Imagine and Reason).
7. Health
• Assign 12 points among Health (Mind, Body, and Spirit).
8. Relationships
• Imagine 3 Relationships with a Tag for each. One must be
another Player Character. (Just use their Role for a name.)
9. Belongings
• Imagine up to 3 Iconic Items.
10. Name
• Name your character.

1 ouR DReaM Name: aJ STEP 1 Pitch a Dream.

STEP 2 Imagine your Role.
My Role 2 STEP 3 What do you want to experience?
STEP 4 Describe your PC with 3 Tags.
STEP 5 Imagine 3 Strategies below Legend.
STEP 6 Assign 10 points among Soul Skills.
5 sTRaTegies My MilesTones 3 STEP 7 Assign 12 points among Health.
Legend 8 1. STEP 8 Imagine 3 Relationships with a Tag.
STEP 9 Imagine up to 3 Iconic Items.
The Best 7
STEP 10 Name your character.
Expert 6 2.
Strategy
Skilled 5 7 healTh
3. Mind
Beginner 4
Body Max Current
Spirit
Tags 4
6 soul skills Negative Tags 8 RelaTionships
Imagine True Love
Reason
Soul Skill Tags

Intimate
Tags
Vision Tag Close
Tags
Belief The BenefiTs of Belief Casual
Belief Ability Cost Action Tags
Narrate Your Actions for a Scene! Contact
10 The One 2 Belief No dice rolls necessary!
Tags
9 3 Tags free Reroll 3 Failed Dice with 3 Tags.
Belief 6 Faith 2 Belief Create a Critical Success!
9 Belongings
5 2 Tags free Reroll 2 Failed Dice with 2 Tags.
2 Hope 2 Belief Create a Double Success!
1 1 Tag free Reroll 1 Failed Die with 1 Tag.

34
Terms to Know
Tags are adjectives or short phrases that describe player characters,
Relationships, and Challenges. Tags can challenge failure when used
by the players or challenge success when used by the Guide.
Strategies are the skills, abilities, powers, magics, tools, songs, or
whatever else you use to succeed in life. They will provide the per-
spective you approach nearly all of your problems with.
Relationships are the people, places, and things that keep us going.
They are there for you when you need help and the going gets tough.
An Organization is a Relationship with more than 1 person, place,
or thing.

Soul Skills
Reason is a Soul Skill rating and is used whenever the Strategy ap-
plies directly to the situation. Your character has enough time, the
appropriate tools, and the correct circumstances.
Imagine is a Soul Skill rating and is used when the Strategy is a bit
of a stretch, requires some creativity, or isn't quite applicable.

Health
Mind is a Health rating and the amount of damage your charac-
ter's psyche can endure versus mental Challenges.
Body is a Health rating and the amount of damage your charac-
ter's physiology can endure versus physical Challenges.
Spirit is a Health rating and the amount of damage your character's con-
fidence can endure versus fear, manipulation, and social Challenges.

Optional Rule: Character Sheet Circles

Use the Strategy and Soul Skill circles on your sheet to
keep track of your dice rolls.
Consider using poker chips, tokens, coins, or counters
for your character's Belief and collecting them in the
Belief circle. It'll be a constant reminder of the Belief
you have to spend.

35
 Tags
Imagine the character you want to play. How would you describe that
character? How did you describe your Role?

Things to Consider:
¤¤ What does your character look like? How do they sound? How do
they feel to be around? Do they have a presence?
¤¤ What mental, physical, or social traits does your character use to get
what they want?
¤¤ How do they act? How do others perceive their attitude?
Play the Character You Imagine
Tags describe your character, and therefore, help to describe your ac-
tions. They can describe how your player character looks, acts, and fits
in our story.
Reinforce Who You Want to Be
Tags help us explore our characters by gathering insight into what they
do and why. They help us find the value in our Relationships and can
even help define our Challenges.
Tags help players challenge failure when a Tag justifies success. They
also help the Guide challenge player characters when Tags dictate diffi-
culty or trouble.

36
Examples Neutral Leathery Goal Aura of
Realist Storyteller Like a Rock Oriented Grace
Angry Hot Steadfast Professional Empowering
Whiny Smiling Giving Smooth Dirty
Happy-Go- Reluctant Politically Quick Study Unkept
Lucky Frugal Correct Accident Disheveled
Cowardly Punctual Offensive Prone Primitive
Strong Mellow Rude Dumb Luck Naive
Fast Curious Odd Ladies' Man Gullible
Selfish Bold Tiny Clumsy Detail
Dim-Witted Zealous Large and in Insecure Oriented
An Animal Delusional Charge Been Around Childish
Comical Rigid A Dragon the Block Destructive
Confident Resourceful Indian Giver Impulsive Handy
Zoned Out Courageous Graceful Average Social
People Valiant Harmonious Unassuming Chameleon
Pleaser Masochistic Raw Monstrous Athletic
Buff Hurt Rebellious Spunky Iron Will
Luck of the Tired Timid Ambitious Tainted
Draw Depressed Hesitant Tyrannical Battle Ready
Impractical Sappy By the Book Greedy Gracious
Manic Wild Angelic Ignorant Persistent
Joker A Fairy Draconic Hungry No Quit
Sympathetic Rash Alien Annoying Relentless
Jovial Mad Furry Disgraced Wise
Crazy Sad Massive Hot Headed Physically
Perfect Holy Pragmatic Regenerative Gifted
Large Honest Empathic Winged Defiant
Psycho Original Smart-Ass Four Armed Daredevil
Organizer Dexterous Strategic Gills Mousy
Overly Ambiguous Disoriented Skeptical Unforgiving
Enthusiastic Ambivalent Drugged Spiritual Tyrannical
Elitist Ruthless Malevolent Devout Mighty
Pacifist Conniving Benevolent Peaceful Weird
Orderly Authoritarian Funny Vengeful Unpredicat-
Chaotic Soft One Upper Intimidating able

Overused Tags
Skilled, Gifted, Talented, Lucky, or any Tag that is far too broad can be
fixed by making the Tag more specific. Have the player add a word or two
to the Tag, like Gifted Musician, Physically Gifted, or Artistically Talented.

37
Tag Limits
PCs are limited to 5 Tags from Character Creation and Tag Votes.
The Character Sheet has 2 columns for Tags.
¤¤ Use the left column for Tags earned in Tag Votes and Character Creation.
¤¤ Use the right column for Tags earned by Vision Rolls and Negative
Tags gained in Challenges.

Negative Tags
When a PC is dealt a serious blow in a Challenge, they are assigned a Neg-
ative Tag. These last until voted off by a Tag Vote. Negative Tags reflect the
trauma, pain, or negative qualities a Challenge has impacted your charac-
ter with—the ways that a Challenge has changed your character.

Negative Tags occupy a Tag space on the right column of your Character
Sheet. The Tag to the left of the Negative Tag is no longer useable until
the Negative Tag has been removed.

Tag Placement
When a Negative Tag or Vision Tag is acquired by a character, the player
chooses which row on the right column they want to place it. Consider
using your Vision Tag to safeguard your character's most vital Tag.

38
 Strategies for Success
S trategies are the skills, abilities, powers, magics, tools, reputations, looks,
songs or whatever else you can use to succeed in life. Every character
tries to get their way somehow. Strategies tell us how. They provide the
player with the perspective through which a character approaches nearly
all of their problems with.

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

-Abraham Maslow
There Is No Strategy List
Each player decides what fits their character. You decide what'll make
the story more fun for you to play. The way that you go about finding
success is what makes you interesting. Challenge conventional wisdom
and find success in strange places.

Choose a Rating for Each Strategy

¤¤ Untrained (3) ¤¤ Expert (6)
¤¤ Beginner (4) ¤¤ The Best (7)
¤¤ Skilled (5) ¤¤ Legend (7)

Strategies Are Not Passive

Strategies like Perception, Awareness, or Danger Sense are only useful
if you know what you're looking for. Instead, players should create Strat-
egies that they can actively use.
For example, a character with the Strategy of Ghost Whispering may be
aware of what happens in the spirit realm because they can communi-
cate with ghosts to gather information. Players should try to imagine
what their characters may notice or know from their Strategies.
The Guide will tell players when their Strategies and the story demand
that their character know things. Though, it never hurts to ask!

39
 Depth of Knowledge
Strategies are the topics your character knows about and the tasks they
know how to perform. How much do they know? Here's a rough idea.

¤¤ beginner: High School Education

¤¤ Skilled: Some College
¤¤ Expert: Post-Grad or Professional Experience
¤¤ The Best: Among the best of experts!
¤¤ Legend: Among the best ever!

Examples Linguist Boxing Kendo Forest Magic

Mooching Engineering Gambling Cosplay Being Ignored
Ray of Light Dark Pact Speak with Mecha My Accent
Inspiring Stories Body Guard Nature Machinery Landscaping
Robotic Arm Well Known Lying Piloting Retail
Rocket Pack Harpoon Organizing Telepathy Matchmaker
Sumo Wrestling Being Likeable Empathy Puzzles Voices in My
Arguing Charge Evil Potions TV Shows Head
Botany Calm Building Creating Parkour
World Building Sleuthing Solutions Distractions Reading
Painting Know A Guy Unstable Oc- Body Art People
Soldier Flight cult Powers Storytelling Tinkering
Heart Surgery Listening Demolitions Babysitting Shadow
Scrapbooking Soothing CCG Strategy Visual Art Magic
Moon Based Platitudes Appraising Looking Pretty Nerding Out
Laser Horseback Taking Chemistry The Many
Selling Yourself Riding Damage Magic Sword Uses of
Tailing Enchant Megaloma- Hypnotism Lemons
Politics Order niac Super Speed I'm Rich
Oratory Swashbuckling Opening Articulate Tail Smiling
Wolf Pack Bumbling Portals Four Arms Ethics
Threats Physics Play the Drones Random
Prestidigitation First Aid Crowd Autopsy Facts

40
 Soul Skills
E very character has two Soul Skills: Imagine and Reason. Every die roll
in the game uses one or the other Soul Skill. When a player rolls to
use a Strategy, they roll a Soul Skill for how they use that Strategy.
1. Use Reason whenever the Strategy applies directly to the situation.
Your character has enough time, the appropriate tools, and the cor-
rect circumstances.
2. Use Imagine if using the Strategy is a bit of a stretch, requires some
creativity, or isn't quite applicable.

What Does a Die Roll Represent?

Every dice check represents the thoughts of their character; what to do
when faced with a problem. Soul Skills represent the thought process be-
hind how a character uses their Strategies—how they visualize them.

Examples
Rocket Pack, Hang Gliding, Wings, Thrusters:
¤¤ When you are fueled up, not in danger, or in the open sky use Reason.
¤¤ When you have to fight while flying, pilot a plane, or need to
catch someone falling through the air, use Imagine.
Guns, Archery, Darts, Shooting, Marksmanship:
¤¤ When you shoot a target with a gun you are familiar with, have a
perfect shot, or have auto-targeting equipment, use Reason.
¤¤ When you want to dodge a bullet, throw a grenade, or get in a fist
fight, use Imagine.
Looking Pretty, Disguise, Acting, Seductive, Golden Boy:
¤¤ When you are dressed up, in your element, desirable, or
surrounded by admirers, use Reason.
¤¤ When you are trying to persuade, educate, or manipulate
someone that thinks you're hideous or out of place, use Imagine.
Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Business, Finance:
¤¤ When you need to know something of your trade, use common
knowledge, or have the materials you need, use Reason.
¤¤ When you are trying to impress someone with your knowledge or
delving into a specialized field, use Imagine.

41
 Health
M ind, Body, and Spirit ratings act as Health. Just how much damage,
pain, or adversity can a character or Challenge endure before
defeated? That's your Health. Lose all your Health in any 1 rating and
face defeat.

Terms to Know
Mind represents the amount of damage a character's psyche can
endure versus mental Challenges.
Body represents the amount of damage a character's physiology
can endure versus physical Challenges.
Spirit represents the amount of damage a character's confidence
can endure versus fear, manipulation, and social Challenges.

Fight Your Fight

In whatever way you choose to defeat a Challenge, you can be beat in kind.
¤¤ If wrestling, you can get tired or out-wrestled.
¤¤ If solving a puzzle, you can get weary or lose your train of thought.
¤¤ If selling, you can lose your motivation or your self -confidence.
¤¤ If intimidating others, you too can become intimidated.

When facing a Challenge, the player imagines an action that helps to

overcome the Challenge's Mind, Body, or Spirit. We frame that action
into a dice check and the player justifies how their character's action
targets the Mind, Body, or Spirit of the Challenge.
¤¤ Successes rolled against a Challenge damage it.
¤¤ Failures rolled against a Challenge harm the player's character.
¤¤ Both damage the same Health rating the player chose to target.

42
Healing
PCs regain all of their lost Health in the next scene unless the Guide
says otherwise. Healing should reflect the demands of the story more
than the amount of time that passes. Negative Tags persist to reflect the
wounds, trauma, and repercussions of dealing with Challenges.

What About When I Run Out of Health?

¤¤ Dealingthe last point of damage in a physical way can result in
maiming, knockout, exhaustion, or death. You as the player choose.
¤¤ Dealing the last point of damage against Mind or Spirit Health results
in a mental, social, or will related way results in defeat too! This may
include pain, exhaustion, or knockout, but is not limited to these.

43
 Relationships
R elationships are the people, places, and things that keep us going.
They are there for you when you need help and the going gets tough.

Choose a Rating for Each Relationship

Each Relationship is labeled by the closeness of that Relationship: Con-
tact, Casual, Close, Intimate, or True Love. Each represents a level of
trust that you share or the feelings of one toward the other. The more
intimate the bond, the more likely the relation will risk their neck for you.

¤¤ Contact: Acquaintances • References • People You Can Reach

¤¤ Casual: Coworkers • Situational Friends • Extended Family
¤¤ Close: Friends • Family • Invested Casual Relationships
¤¤ Intimate: Partners • Best Friends • Companions • Significant Others
¤¤ True Love: Friend Like No Other • Soul Mate • Person Who Would
Sacrifice Everything for You

Tagging Relationships
Each Relationship is assigned a Tag to describe the value of that Rela-
tionship to the character in question. Players imagine a Tag to describe
what their PC gets out of their Relationship, why it's useful.
Write Tags that characters can benefit from! If you can justify how the
Tag can help, you can use it like any other Tag. It's also a fun way to in-
volve more facets of the character in game play.

Who's Important to Our Story?

Relationships tell the Guide who or what each player wants to be im-
portant in our story. With a Tag, the player has even explained why. May-
be a character is the last good cop in a city of rotten criminals. Do you
want the Mob Boss or Criminal Kingpin as a rival? Make the Relation-
ship! Maybe a character has a secret admirer who "True Loves" her but
not the other way around. Use Relationships to help craft the character
experience you want.

44
A PC Relationship
Choose another Player Character as a Relationship. You've heard a lot
about them already. Pick one and give them a Tag. Don't worry about
explaining the Relationship. The Guide can do that! Use their Role as a
name for now.

Using a Relationship to Restore Belief

Spending a little time in game to rest and relax with your Relationships
can rebuild your Belief back up to a rating of 4.
¤¤ For each day spent, regain 1 Belief.
¤¤ You can benefit from 1 Relationship per day in game.
¤¤ To benefit, the Relationship must be available to spend time with
your character.
¤¤ Expect your character to be busy when occupied with a Relationship
in this way. The PC needs time to recover. Usually a few hours in
game time will do the trick. This can be narrated or roleplayed if
more fun. Just don't leave the other players hanging!

Examples
Label Name Tag
Casual Molly the Pet Store Worker Normal
Close Quai, My Spirit Guide Spirit Info
Intimate My Badge Pride
Contact Larry in Accounting Numbers
Intimate Down by the River Dreaming
Close Terry My Graphic Designer Art
Close The Round Table Order
Intimate My Virtual Butler Geraldo Supplies
True Love Lonnie, My Boyfriend Scapegoat
True Love T-Bone, My 67 Chevy Go Fast
Casual Lily the Painter She's Hot
Close Lucille, My Louisville Slugger Authority

45
Organizations
An Organization is just a Relationship with more than 1 person, place,
or thing. An Organization costs 2 Relationships to create. Purchase an
Organization or evolve a Relationship into an Organization after com-
pleting a Milestone (See page 65).

"A small group of thoughtful people could change

the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead

Examples The Employees of Town Council of Hoko

Chess Club Store 543 Mydarian Parliament
Monday Night AA Cult of Agatha Trans Trade Union
The Neighborhood Road Rider Gang Simko Securities
Association The Demolition Crew The Dream Team
Trees of St. Meyer Mandarin Syndicate Residents of Limbo

46
 Belongings
W hat items make your character's life better? Do they have any
sentimental or prized possessions? Maybe they inherited an heir-
loom or better yet—an artifact! Each player imagines up to 3 Belongings
for their character to have.

Stand Out
Belongings are the interesting, useful, and iconic possessions of a char-
acter. What makes your character stand out in our story? What would
your character never leave home without?

Where Are We Now?

Belongings can define and alter the setting of our story. Technological,
supernatural, and magical items will say a lot about what our world has
in store for the characters. Players are encouraged to use Belongings to
help influence the setting or technology level.

Not Your Everyday Items

It is assumed your character has access to all the everyday items and
general equipment they need. These items or equipment might be at
home or at work but characters can get to them if they have the time. If
there's nothing going on, they can find what they need or know where
they can use the right equipment.

What Do Belongings Do?

Belongings exist in Dreamchaser to give the players an opportunity to
add items of interest to their characters. We assume they have access to
the everyday items they need, but Belongings tell us what unique items,
cherished treasures, or uncommon goods they possess. While Belong-
ings do not have their own mechanical benefit, they enable character
options that may otherwise be impossible. For example, a player may
imagine a skeleton key that unlocks any door within a specific building.
That character doesn't need some kind of lockpicking Strategy because
they have a skeleton key.

47
Examples #1 Dad Painkillers Squirt Gun Bank Vault
A Black Hoodie Coffee Mug Mistletoe Blue Blanket Schematics
Patriotic The Master Her Gift Nose Spray The Witch's
Umbrella Sword Wedding Ring Schwinn Bike Broomstick
Rabbit's Foot Crayons Mother's Locket with Basket Dad's Golf Cart
Holy Book The Data on a Academy Laser Pen My Demo
Personalized Jump Drive Award Talking Puppet The Message
Pen Magic Wand Bobby Pins Fido Worn Jeans
First $1 Earned Shelby Cobra Monster Stress Ball Favorite Shirt
Flipping Coin "Rex" a Headphones Nunchuks Friendship
Golden Zippo Mini Raptor Red Hood Trained Falcon Bracelet
Family Photo Nude Pictures $2 Million A Van Gogh Geiger Counter
Antacids Magic Bag Blind Trust Dream Well AI Interface
Stuffed Animal Red Stapler Leather Duster Hackysack Turnips
Black Lotus Fender My Memoir Napkin with Pocket
Magic Card Stratocaster Glass of the Digits Monsters
Mother's Urn Jar of Fireflies Sweet Tea Skeleton Key Parachute
Diet Coke Baseball Utility Belt Evidence Bag Hand Sanitizer
Perfect Rug Cleats Can of Sardines #2 Camel

48
 Optional Rule: Neighborhoods

P laying more than one session? Want to know more about where the
PCs live and how they get around? Write the answers to the follow-
ing questions on the back of the Character Sheet or on a notecard.

Home
1. Where does your character live?
¤¤ Assign a Tag that describes the neighborhood.
2. Who else lives with them?
3. What does your character value about their home?
¤¤ Give it a Tag.
4. What's missing, annoying, or unlikeable about the home?
¤¤ Give it a Negative Tag.
Getting Around
5. Does your character drive, take public transportation, or walk?
6. If they drive, what do they drive?
7. What does your PC like about it?
¤¤ Give it a Tag.
8. What sucks about it?
¤¤ Give it a Negative Tag.

49
Chapter 4
Play

50
51
 Play at a Glance
Vision Roll
1. Roll under your Imagine and Reason, and each die can succeed.
2. Take turns from least successes to most. Go clockwise on ties.
3. Guide, ask the player, Why can’t we achieve the next Milestone?
What's stopping us?
4. Guide, ask the player, How would your character try to solve the
problem?
5. Imagine a Vision Tag for the character.
¤¤ On 2 successes, the player imagines a Vision Tag.
¤¤ On 1 success, the other players imagine a Vision Tag.
¤¤ If both dice failed, the Guide imagines a Vision Tag.

Setting the Scene

6. Set the Scene
7. Introduce Problems
8. Challenges & Conflicts
9. Sell Milestones

Milestone Complete
10. Character Growth
11. Gratitude

The Cycle Continues

12. Repeat steps 1-11 un-
til all Milestones have
been completed.
Terms to Know
Vision Rolls help us explore what the journey to the next Milestone
may have in store for our characters. Vision Rolls help the Guide
imagine possible problems to achieving Milestones. They give play-
ers a chance to influence the Guide and ultimately our story.
Scenes are like scenes in a movie. They are just a generic term for a
section of our story.
A Challenge can be anything that stands in the way of a player char-
acter getting what they want. Challenges help create tension when a
single roll of the dice will not suffice.
A Tag Vote is a vote by the players and Guide to add or remove a
Tag to a PC. The vote must be fast, unanimous, and not include the
player of the character in question. These reflect character growth as
we play.
Gratitude is an opportunity at the end of each session for players to
share their favorite moments and who gave them to us! Guide, this is
a chance for players to recognize other players.

53
 Vision Rolls
V ision Rolls help the Guide brainstorm what the Milestone's journey
may look like. The next Milestone is our session goal. With the use of
2 questions, Vision Rolls encourage players to share foreseeable prob-
lems and likely character responses to the journey ahead. The questions
help a player get into the headspace of their character while influencing
the story at the table. The Guide uses each player's vision to gauge their
interests and to imagine what problems may arise.

Players Explore the Future

Vision Rolls help players to explore what their character's future holds.
The Guide asks each player, Why can't we achieve the next Mile-
stone? This question encourages players to consider what problems
may arise. These problems help a player get into the mindset of their
PC with the second question, How would your character try to solve
the problem? The question helps them think about how their character
deals with problems. That insight will help them make character choices
later, particularly if their vision comes to pass.

Influence Our Story

Vision Rolls also give players an opportunity to influence our story. If
all they talk about is investigating, then the Guide should build up to a
Challenge that will give them that opportunity. If all they talk about is
persuading people or espionage, then the story should take that road.
Indirectly, the answers to the Vision Roll questions gauge the players'
mood and interests. They are telling us what they want.

Vision Tags
Tags from Vision Rolls are meant to reflect the vision of the player and
how their character will try to solve the problem. A character's Vision
Tag is written on the right column of their Tags on their Character Sheet.
It does not block the use of the Tag to its left on the Character Sheet.
Vision Tags are temporary and last until a new Vision Tag replaces them.

54
Vision Roll
1. Have each player roll 2 ten-sided dice. They want to roll one die un-
der their PC's Imagine rating and another under their Reason rating.
Each die can succeed.
2. Players total their successes, and the player with the least success-
es starts. Then we go from least successes to most. In case of a tie,
work your way clockwise.
3. On each player's turn, the Guide will ask, Why can’t we achieve
the next Milestone? What's stopping us? The Player envisions a
problem and shares it out loud.
4. The Guide then asks the player, How would your character try to
solve the problem? Take up to 30 seconds.
¤¤ 2 successes, the player imagines a Vision Tag.
¤¤ 1 success, the other players imagine a Vision Tag.
¤¤ No successes, the Guide imagines a Vision Tag.
5. Create a Vision Tag for that player's character. It should reflect how
that character will try to solve the problem. The Tag lasts until we
achieve the next Milestone.

Your visions have influenced the Game Master; they

have influenced the story ahead.

55
 Set the Scene
T he Guide starts each player character somewhere interesting. Then
asks each player what they want to do there, giving them something
to respond to—to react to.
Each Player needs to imagine how their character would act in that situ-
ation. Have them describe what their character does in that space. They
need to think about how their character uses their Strategies to get what
they want in the world.

We Have a Goal
Players always know the next Milestone of our story. With that in mind,
they need to work their respective characters toward the next Mile-
stone. This is our story afterall, and the Milestones are our goals. Each
of us should help get the other players involved so that we can all play
together. We have a story to tell—a story to experience!

56
 Introducing Problems
E ach game session begins with a Milestone in mind. Something for the
player characters to achieve or accomplish. In their pursuit of that goal
there must be problems, obstacles, or adversity. If not, where's the story?

Finding Problems
First things first, there should be some possible problems already. What
problems did the players suggest in their Vision Rolls? How did those
problems influence the Guide's notes? Is there something there to stand
in the way of the players and their Milestones?

Problems Finding You

Once characters are moving around in the game world, their actions
and dice rolls will help to shape events.
When we need to know the outcome of something, we roll the
dice. Doing anything important in the game requires a dice roll.
Each roll is designed to help move the story forward. This will help iso-
late what is going right and what is going wrong. Failures on the dice
will breed problems if not Challenges.

Problems Must Have Consequences

If a problem isn't worth dealing with, the PC may just avoid it. Problems
must be connected with character goals, motives, and Relationships. Ev-
ery problem should have a reward and a consequence.
When a problem escalates to something with major consequences, be-
comes Milestone-related, or demands tension, create a Challenge!

57
 Challenges & Conflict
D ramatic situations have high stakes and breed tension. When the
story demands more drama than a single dice check can provide,
we face a Challenge. Any obstacle, any problem, or any adversary that
stands in the way of a player character and their goals can become a
Challenge. They help us create the back-and-forth dueling nature of dra-
matic situations. They crank up the tension and make the player charac-
ters earn their keep.

All Shapes & Sizes

Anything can be a Challenge given the right situation; Challenges come
in all shapes and sizes. Remember, we call them a Challenge because
each is a dramatic situation for the PCs involved.

When Do Challenges Arise?

¤¤ When things go terribly, terribly wrong, like rolling no successes
even after using all of your Tags.
¤¤ To complete a Milestone or to overcome whatever's stopping the PCs!
¤¤ When a dramatic situation needs a time limit. Challenges force outcomes
and let us know when a scene or situation should end.

Health in Challenges
Health ratings determine how much damage a PC or Challenge can endure.
¤¤ Mind relates to all things mental, like outsmarting another.
¤¤ Body relates to all things physical, like running a race.
¤¤ Spirit relates to all matters of personality. This includes social
interaction, manipulation, coping with fear, will, and morale.

Pain is just one way to take damage. Exhaustion can set in. Fatigue can
be overwhelming. Fear can become crippling. Advances can be stalled,
slowed, or stopped. The loss of respect, influence, or anything precious
can hurt.
Damage represents any success against a Challenge.
To be defeated, the Challenge has to lose all Health in Mind, Body, or
Spirit. Any one rating will complete the Challenge!

58
The Approach
Each player decides how they want to approach defeating the Chal-
lenge. Each approach is framed into a dice check. The player justifies
which Health rating they want to target with their action.
Look at each Challenge through the eyes of your character. Given the
situation, do what makes the most sense for your character or the story
you want to see unfold. Your Strategies are how your character gets what
they want out of life. Use them to your advantage against the Challenge.
Fight your fight!

The individual enemy will change

but the true enemy never changes
 Combating a Challenge
Roll 2 ten-sided dice using a Strategy to describe what you intend to do.
The rolls are player-oriented, so only the player rolls. All rolls are framed
from the PC’s perspective.
1. Guide, create the Challenge aloud. Is there a goal? Players should
know the Challenge's Health ratings and Tags.
2. If a PC initiated a Challenge, start with that player. Otherwise, start
to your left and go clockwise.
3. On their turns, give each player the opportunity to visualize how
they would like their character to tackle the problem.
4. Using a Strategy, frame the action into a dice check. The player tells
the Guide what Health rating they want to target.
5. Roll the dice and total your successes. If there are any failures, ask
the player Can any Tags help you? They are free to use any Tags
they can justify. Tag use is governed by Belief and each Tag may
only be used once per turn.
6. After the player rolls 1 or more successes, the Guide can challenge
their successes with 1 of the Challenge's Tags. Challenging suc-
cesses forces the player to reroll their successes, possibly causing
their character to fail. The Guide must justify how the Tag compli-
cates the situation!
7. The player can accept the result or use more Tags if Belief permits.
8. Assign damage and Tags.
9. Repeat Steps 2-8 until the Challenge or all PCs are defeated.

Visit imagininggames.com for examples of actual play in text and video.

60
Dealing Damage, Dealing Tags
To defeat a Challenge, you must deal enough damage to eliminate one
of its Health ratings.
¤¤ Each success counts as damage toward the Challenge.
¤¤ Each die that is unsuccessful damages your PC.
¤¤ Critical rolls deal double damage!

The Challenge's Tags change when both dice in the dice check come up
successful. The PC's Tags change when both dice come up unsuccessful.
¤¤ A Double Success (2 Successes) grants the player the option to add
a Tag to the Challenge or to remove one. It also deals 2 damage to
the Challenge.
¤¤ A Success with a Catch (1 Success) deals 1 damage to both the
PC and the Challenge. A critical roll or Critical Both combines the
effects of a Double Success and a No Success outcome, applying
both results and doubling damage.
¤¤ A Double Failure (No Successes) harms the PC by empowering the
Challenge with a new Tag or by placing a negative one on the PC. It
also deals 2 damage to the PC.

Examples Resisting Peer Pressure Preparing Thanksgiving

Disarming a Mugger from Your Only Friend Dinner for 40
Crossing a Floor Climbing the Cliff Isolating the Genetic
Covered in Tacks Debating the Status Quo Mutation in the
Persuading the Secre- Standing up for What Genome
tary to Pencil You In You Believe In Hacking a Supercomput-
Getting Your Boss to Give Getting Home Before er Before It Hacks You
You the Promotion Nightfall Believing in Yourself
Defeating the Marauders Running the Boston Despite Your Age
Answering the Riddle Marathon Reminding the City's
Beating the Final Level Hiding Without a Trace Citizens of Their Own
of That Stupid Game Getting to Bed Greatness
Catching a Marlin Provoking a Playing an Epic
Overcoming Nighttime Horror Guitar Solo
Crippling Doubt Collecting Debts Holding off a Dragon

61
Visualizing Turns
Challenges are designed to be cinematic. When a Challenge occurs,
each player gets a chance to tackle the Challenge in their own way.
Think of each Challenge like a scene in a movie. You should interact and
explore the most interesting parts of your character.
Don't be afraid to mess with the chronological order. Maybe you want
a flashback scene where you prepared something ahead of time. May-
be you want to skip an hour and do something that effects the Chal-
lenge then. Nothing says a Challenge can't span days or even weeks.

Using the Challenge's Tags

In a Challenge, the Guide aims to use 1 of the Challenge's Tags against
each player when they successfully make a dice check. Whether 1 suc-
cess or both, the Guide will try to justify 1 of the Challenge's Tags to
force the player to reroll all of their successes. This happens as soon as
the player has rolled at least 1 success (Tags or no Tags).
The Guide has to be able to explain why a Tag complicates a player's
action. If a Tag does not apply, the Guide should not force it to! Players
should be rewarded for avoiding the advantages of a Challenge.

Using Tags as a Player

Players can use any Tag they can justify. If they visualize how a Relation-
ship's Tag helps or how another's PC's Tag helps, more power to them!
They are free to use any of the Challenge's Tags against the Challenge
as well. Players often remove the Challenge's Tags as they defeat the
Challenge. This makes it harder for the Guide to challenge their success-
es. Sometimes, they will add new Tags to the Challenge. This is a way to
create their own advantages. Guide, you can use these too.

Negative Tags
When a PC is dealt a serious blow in a Challenge, they are assigned a
Negative Tag. These stick with you beyond the Challenge. Health comes
back quickly but Negative Tags last until voted off by a Tag Vote.

Negative Tags are written in the right Tag column of the

Character Sheet. Expect the Guide to challenge your
successes with Negative Tags frequently or work around
these disadvantages.

62
Healing
PCs regain all of their lost Health in the next scene unless the Guide says
otherwise. Healing should reflect the demands of the story. Negative Tags
persist to reflect the wounds, trauma, and repercussions of Challenges.

What about When I Run out of Health?

¤¤ Dealingthe last point of damage in a physical way can result in
maiming, knockout, exhaustion, or death. You as the player choose.
¤¤ Dealing the last point of damage against Mind or Spirit Health results
in a mental, social, or will related way results in defeat too! This may
include pain, exhaustion, or knockout but is not limited to these.

Optional Rule: One Shot

If the first roll in a Challenge is a critical, the Challenge ends! The re-
sult exemplifies the entire situation. Succeed, and deliver a blow that
could not be recovered from. Fail, and you were mortally wounded or
removed from the situation entirely. A Critical Both, and well, the Chal-
lenge ends dynamically! You probably got everything you wanted out
of the situation, but at a price you never wanted to pay.
 Selling Milestones
P layers create Milestones to have cool experiences or defining mo-
ments with their character. They want to see their characters accom-
plish something or feel for a moment what an accomplishment is like.
The Guide works to provide opportunities for a player to shine with their
Milestone. This may be added spotlight or attention to the character
in the game session or it may be by pouring on description when the
experience is met. The Guide should try to make that character more of
a focal point for that session or pursuit of a Milestone. Sometimes, the
universe has other plans and that is just not possible.

The show must go on!

Defeat
Even though it's a character's Milestone, sometimes the dice don't let
the player get there. Just because it's your character's Milestone doesn't
mean your character will succeed in a Challenge.

Story Direction
Given enough time to play, most Milestones can be reached with the
character in question. Sometimes, we won't have that luxury. One-shot
games need to keep moving. Expect more surprises and creative solu-
tions to how a Milestone is completed in these cases.

64
 Character Growth
C hasing your Dream will not be easy. Any journey worth taking will
test you—will test your character. Whether Milestones or our Dream,
we've set goals and we'll visualize success until we achieve them. Char-
acters are rewarded when we accomplish what we set out to do.

The Tag Vote

The Tag Vote is the most frequent form of character growth. Anyone can
suggest Tags to add to characters other than their own.
To vote to add a Tag to a character, the PC must display the proposed
trait in gameplay. Say I think your character is... to initiate a Tag Vote.
The Tag Vote needs a unanimous vote, minus the player in question, to
add or remove a Tag from their character. This is meant to further define
your character as you play. This should be entertaining and maybe even
enlightening. Player characters are limited to 5 Tags from character cre-
ation and Tag Votes.

The Tag vote needs to be unanimous and immediate.

Milestone Rewards
When the first Milestone is complete, players pick 2 rewards from the
lists below, not 1. If you created the completed Milestone, pick 1 from
each list. For each Milestone after the first, players pick 1 reward from
the appropriate list.

When you accomplish 1 of your Milestones, pick 1 of the following:

¤¤ Raise any Health, Soul Skill, or Strategy rating by 1, up to a max of 8.
¤¤ Add a new Relationship or change one into an Organization.
¤¤ Add a new Strategy at Beginner (4).

When you help another player accomplish a Milestone, pick 1 of the following:
¤¤ Raise any Health, Soul Skill, or Strategy rating by 1, up to a max of 7.
¤¤ Add a new Relationship or change one into an Organization.
¤¤ Add a new Strategy at Beginner (4).

65
Belief Is a Confidence Game
At the end of each game session, determine how the story has affected
each player character's Belief.
1. Closer to your Dream? Apply the greatest gain in Belief:
¤¤ Gain 1 Belief if you can say your PC is: feeling truly alive,
challenging themself, standing up for what they believe
in, or being the person they want to be.
¤¤ Gain 2 Belief if you accomplish a Milestone.

2. Farther from your Dream? Apply the greatest loss in Belief:

¤¤ Lose 1 Belief if complaining, inaction, or frustration has set
in for your character, especially if it's inescapable.
¤¤ Lose 2 Belief if your PC is defeated in a Challenge.
Gain the greatest benefit AND subtract the greatest loss that
applies. Sum them up and update your Character Sheet.

66
 Gratitude
End each session with each player (not character) sharing what they're
thankful for. Simply share what another player did in game that made
your experience better. Try to pick someone different than the last person.

Share Your Joy

Take the time to recognize what another player did to make your expe-
rience more enjoyable. Not only will this support them and make them
feel good about their actions, it'll share more about what makes the rest
of us happy too.
These moments of gratitude remind each of us of the precious time we
share with friends. They remind us of what we did that other people en-
joyed. They remind us of how much we enjoy playing together.

They remind us.

67
 Chapter 5
Guiding Games
68
69
 Being the Guide

As Guide, you are a director, the game master, and your

players’ biggest fan!
Y ou read the book ahead of time

You guide the players

through the Dream Map
and get familiar with it.

and creating characters.

Y ou help the players start their
first scene with their charac-
You direct them toward
their next Milestone
ters in a setting that is com-
fortable to them.
with something com-
pelling and exciting but
stand out of their way
when they're having fun.
Y ou guide the PCs to interact
and work together, to share
their time actively playing.

T ogether, the Guide and players tell the story. It may fo-
cus on one character or one player from time to time, but
it isn’t a story about one character or one player.

T his is our story… Encourage the

players to work together to entertain
and fulfill everyone’s experience.
 The First Session
H ere’s a walkthrough to help you through your first session. Give it a
read before you use it word for word! After you’ve used this a cou-
ple times, you'll get the hang of it.

A Few Pointers
Guide the players through Dream Mapping and Character Creation. Offer
ideas when they need help but try not to influence them too much. This
is their chance to create the game they want to play. Your reward is their
investment and enthusiasm!
Pull out the Guide Sheet and write down the Dream and Milestones.
Throughout Character Creation, listen to the players and jot down some
notes of what the journey towards the first Milestone might look like (a
bulleted list is fine). Add to it as players imagine their characters. Ask
probing questions if something interests you.

Run with your best ideas and don’t second-guess yourself. The players
will help you get started with Vision Rolls anyway.

Dream Mapping
1. Place the Dream Map, notecards, and pencils where players can
reach them.
2. Ask the players, What do you want to accomplish in your game?
What do you want to achieve together?
3. Have each player write 1 or more goals for our game. Write each in
a few words or a short sentence on a separate notecard. They must be
achievable! Vague is good!
4. Have players share their Dreams one at a time. Start with the person
having the easiest time. Then go clockwise. Be positive and rein-
force their good ideas!
5. Ask them What story do you want to play today?
6. Have them vote on which Dream they want to play. Tally their votes
on the Dream notecards. Break ties if necessary.
7. Place our Dream notecard at the center of the Dream Map.

71
Roles
1. Ask, In a story about (Dream), who do you want to be?
2. Their answers should be 2 to 3 words or a short phrase. Not just a
profession but with an adjective or two as well.
3. Have players share their Roles one at a time. Push them to be the
most important or essential roles in our story.
4. Guide, write these down on your Guide Sheet. You can remind the
players of what they came up with in a minute.
Character Milestones
1. Hand the players 1 notecard per Milestone. A short game will have
1 Milestone per player while a longer game will have 2 or more.
2. Ask, What do you want to experience in our story? Each Milestone
should be written just like the Dreams from earlier.
3. Repeat the Dream aloud. Say, This is our story.
4. Have the players share their Milestones one at a time.
Completing the Dream Map
1. Gather all the Milestones together and pass them clockwise.
2. Say Since this is the Dream, what happens first in our story? Go
clockwise, letting each player have their vote.
3. Insert the Milestone notecard they select into the first slot of the
Dream Map. Guide, you break ties.
4. Ask What happens next? Go clockwise as before.
5. Put the Milestone they select on the second slot.
6. Continue in this fashion until all the Milestones are ordered.
7. Write down the road map that has been created.
This is our Dream Map!

74
Character Creation
The Character Sheets have step-by-step instructions. Pull out a Charac-
ter Sheet for reference and guide the players along.
We already completed steps 1-3, but have the players copy their
Dream, Role, and Milestones onto their sheet.

Step-by-step Pointers
Guide, say each of the step-by-step instructions out loud as we
move through the process.
4. Describe your PC with 3 Tags.
Say, Tags reinforce the character you want to play. They will help
you succeed when it looks like you'll fail.
¤¤ Tags are 1-3 words or a short phrase.
¤¤ The exact wording of a Tag isn't as important as what it
means to the player. Ask the player if you need clarity.
¤¤ Don’t let any one Tag be a catchall. Tags like lucky, talented,
or skilled can be used in most situations. Add an extra word
or adjective to narrow it down!

5. Imagine 3 Strategies below Legend (8).

Say, Strategies are the skills, abilities, powers, magics, tools, or
whatever else you use to succeed in life. They are the perspec-
tives you approach all your problems with.
¤¤ Strategies are placed at labels. Each label has a rating
to indicate how good your PC is with that Strategy. You
can choose the labels you want (below Legend) but are
limited to the slots available on your sheet.
¤¤ Like Tags, the exact wording of a Strategy isn't as
important as what it means to the player.
¤¤ Strategies can expand the possibilities of our game
world. Want magic, super powers, or a robotic arm?
Imagine Strategies that reflect the special talents or
equipment you want.
¤¤ Have each player share the Strategies they create. Players
need the opportunity to adjust their character if super
powers or supernatural abilities have been introduced.
¤¤ Make sure no one PC's Strategies are too similar. If they
are interchangeable in play it will make the character less
able to succeed against a variety of Challenges.

75
6. Assign 10 points among Soul Skills (Imagine and Reason).
Say, The Soul Skills are the most important ratings in the game.
One is used in every roll.
Use Reason whenever the Strategy applies directly to the situa-
tion. Your character has enough time, the appropriate tools, and
the correct circumstances.
Use Imagine if using the Strategy is a bit of a stretch, requires
some creativity, or isn't quite applicable.

7. Assign 12 points among Health (Mind, Body, and Spirit).

Say, Every rating in Dreamchaser is on a 1-10 scale. 4 is average,
10 is godlike. Your Health ratings are how much damage you
can take before you are defeated in a Challenge.
¤¤ When you attempt to do things and fail, your character
will take damage to the rating that corresponds to your
approach. If your Strategy for success is mostly mental,
have a Mind to match. Mostly social? Have a high Spirit!

8. Imagine 3 Relationships with a Tag for each.

Say, Relationships are the people, places, and things that keep
us going. They're there for you when you need help and when
the going gets tough.
One Relationship must be another PC (use their Role for a name).
¤¤ Players are free to choose what label fits the Relationship
they want to have.
¤¤ Each Relationship starts with a Tag to indicate its value.
Your PC can use them just like any other Tag.
¤¤ Relationships tell the Guide who and what you want to
be important in your game.
¤¤ Spend 2 Relationships to create an Organization or a
group of people at a Relationship level.

9. Imagine up to 3 Iconic Items.

Say, Think of up to 3 items that are important to your character
but assume your PC has access to all the basic gear they will need.
¤¤ These Belongings can also introduce new levels of
technology into our story. Go ahead and share what items
you have with the other players.

10. Name your Character.

76
Time for a Break?
Now's a good time for a short break. Take 5 or 10 minutes to let players
get drinks, use the bathroom, check their phone, etc.
If a player struggles with coming up with a name, have them name their
character when they return.
While the players break, you can complete your notes on the Guide
sheet. Did you forget about that? Go ahead and catch up now.

Catching up on the Guide Sheet

Jot down your bullet points on what the first Milestone may have in
store for our characters. You need to consider what problems the PCs
may face. Who's behind them? Why?
Run with your best ideas and don’t second guess yourself!

Time for Vision Rolls. Have a great game!

77
 Guiding Advice
W hile guiding the players through Dream Mapping and Character
Creation, listen to their responses and get familiar with what the
players are creating. What are the players looking forward to? Did they
talk about where they want to start? Get a feel for where they want their
game to go and not go. Plan for the stuff they like and skip over the stuff
they don’t.
Use the Guide Sheet to take note of names, Belongings, and Relation-
ships to incorporate them into the story. Noting Tags and Strategies may
help you prompt new players in play. Write the Dream and the first few
Milestones on your sheet. Throughout Character Creation, write down
some bullet points of what you imagine for the first session.
Notes for Bullet Points:
¤¤ What’s stopping the PCs from achieving the next Milestone? What's
the problem?
¤¤ Who's behind the problem? Why?
¤¤ What Relationships will make the story more compelling?
¤¤ What Belongings will make the story more compelling?

78
Vision Rolls
What do the players have in mind for our next Milestone? What prob-
lems do they suggest? What can you take from their suggestions? Do
they want combat, negotiations, legwork, or investigation? Do their vi-
sions talk about action, adventure, drama, romance, horror, or noir?
Each player's vision is a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical situation.
Use as much or as little of their suggestions as you want! These are
meant to supplement your own ideas. Often, they'll supply all you need
to get your game session rolling!

Revealing Visions
Visions reveal more than just story possibilities, they tell the Guide what
the players want from their experience. Encourage players to speak
their mind, there is no right or wrong answer, so don't let it feel that way.
¤¤ Limit each vision to about 30 seconds or a minute for time's sake.
¤¤ Vision Rolls are intended to jump-start a session with possible
problems or to fuel the Guide with more ideas for a future session.

Take Notes
Use the Guide Sheet to record their answers. These will come in handy if
you want to prep between sessions or need to revisit a suggestion later.

More Heads Are Better Than One

Use player visions to get an idea of what the players are gravitating to-
wards. You can gauge a lot about their expectations and interests from
their answers. What do their visions tell you about the actions they want
to take with their characters? What about their mood? Apply this infor-
mation to your own notes and use the best ideas for the session. Take
advantage of our collective thoughts as opposed to just your own.

But They're Only Suggestions

Everything the player tells you in a Vision Roll is a suggestion. A hypo-
thetical situation, a possible route, but you make it a reality! Mash to-
gether the coolest combination of your ideas and theirs to create an
epic session!

Optional Rule: 1 Success, No Tag

Have a lot players? Make the result of 1 success in a Vision
Roll provide no Tag. It'll speed up the process!

79
Thoughts on the First Session
The Dream Map’s Milestones and the players' visions will give you goals,
problems, and who to focus the session on.
Our Dream is the story we are trying to tell. The first Milestone is where
we need to go. Put the players on a path toward it.
¤¤ Imagine a situation that grabs the characters and puts them on a
path to achieving that goal. Use their visions to help you!
¤¤ Start the players close to the action. Give them a chance to feel out
their characters but have it ready right around the corner. If the players
do not jump to action, the problem is right there to jump at them.

Run with your best ideas and

don’t second-guess yourself.
Getting the Ball Rolling
As the Guide, you can start the player characters anywhere you want,
with anything you want—doing whatever you want. Use this power to in-
troduce players to our game world and to set their characters on a path
toward the next Milestone. The players know what the next Milestone
is but their characters need a reason to pursue it. Give them a reason, a
motive, a goal. Tie characters together with a problem or a mutual goal.
The game world is wherever you think they need to be for our story. It
might be after-hours in an office building, summoned to the King's deep
cavernous castle, or crash-landing in their super secret military ship on
an unknown world. Consider the information you have gathered about
the characters and their players' interests so far, and place them some-
where interesting. Describe that place to them.
Start PCs together or introduce them through play. Either way, get them
together fast! Giving each PC some build-up can make their entrance
into our story more compelling. It gives the other players watching a
chance to build an opinion of each character before they're also trying
to juggle their own.
On the other hand, starting the PCs together puts them all in the spot-
light instead of someone waiting for their turn. You know their Dream,
what the next Milestone is, and who their characters are. Make the
choice that you think is best.

80
Introduce a Tag Vote
Initiate a Tag Vote to introduce the concept to the players. Say, I think
your character is (proposed Tag). Ask the other players if they feel the
same. If there is any hesitation, explain that things change only in the
case of a unanimous vote. Try having players vote with a thumbs-up or
a thumbs-down.
Give the first player to initiate a Tag Vote a free Tag or Belief point. These
can also be good incentives to have players help introduce their charac-
ters or the other PCs into our story.

Optional Rule: Significance

Offer players a token when they help introduce their character or
another Player Character into the story! They can trade in that token
to deem something or someone significant to our game—to our story!
Guide, take a hint and have fun with our new plaything!

The First Milestone Can Be a Long One

If you play immediately after Character Creation, you may not complete
the first Milestone. If you don’t, try to end on a cliffhanger or point of in-
terest. You want a situation that compels the PCs to pursue the Milestone.
Know that the first Milestone is generally the longest in a short game.
Getting players acclimated, their characters together, and everyone on
the path may take corralling. If you have a new group of players there'll
be more of a feeling-out process. It's better to know that going in.

Ending the Session

Did they complete a Milestone? Did you find a satisfying cliffhanger?
Keep an eye on the clock and end with about 15 to 20 minutes to spare.
We want to make sure we have time for character growth, gratitude, and
Vision Rolls (If necessary).
1. Character Growth: PC's Belief will change and if a Milestone is
completed there'll also be character ratings to raise.
2. Gratitude: Give each player the chance to share what game moment
they enjoyed most and the player that gave it to them.
3. Vision Rolls: If you completed a Milestone and want to prepare for
the next session, finish with Vision Rolls. They'll help you focus your
prepwork for next time.

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Finding Problems
Guide, you listened to Character Creation, observed the Dream Map-
ping, and heard their Vision Rolls. What problems do we have?
Each problem needs to stand in the way of the next Milestone and
threaten a player character's goals or wellbeing. The more PCs it af-
fects, the quicker it is to get everyone on board. Otherwise, you'll need
to spend more time in-game setting up the problems and getting PCs
invested. The more time you have to play the game the less of a prob-
lem that is.
With every problem there is always a who and a why.
¤¤ Who is behind the problem or what makes it a problem? If there is
someone or something, you are going to have to figure it out and
give it a name.
¤¤ Why is it a problem to the characters? Because it thwarts the next
Milestone. Give each character a reason to want the next Milestone
to occur.

Why Did the Problem Become a Problem?

Money Manipulation Values

Greed Respect Higher Calling
Power Honor Because
Love Tradition Somebody Had To
Lust Progress Space
Pride Gain Limited Resources
Ideology Prevent Loss Natural Causes
Necessity Safety Mother Nature

Every problem should have a reward for completing it and a

consequence for not. Otherwise, it's not a PC problem.

Dice Problems
Once players start rolling the dice, there are going to be rolls that suc-
ceed with a catch and rolls that utterly fail. A success with a catch is go-
ing to create a problem. A double failure is going to create a problem if
not a Challenge. Each double failure outside of a Challenge is an open
door to escalate the problem or current situation negatively for the play-
ers. In fact, a conflict can always escalate into a Challenge if you feel that
time permits.

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 Creating Challenges
Challenges are made up of Health ratings and Tags just like PCs. They
are quick and easy to create.

Create a Challenge on the Fly

1. Consider the situation. What are the PCs trying to achieve?
2. Define the Challenge aloud with 3 Tags; each should represent an
advantage it has on the player characters.
3. Assign a Mind, Body, and Spirit rating that fit the situation. You are
estimating here. Don't bother with perfection!

Like real life, anything can be a Challenge under the right circumstances.

Tagging a Challenge
A Challenge’s Tags need to describe what advantages it has on the players.
The advantages may be physical, mental, spiritual, magical, environmental,
you name it! These are used by the Guide to challenge the players' dice
rolled successes.
Try to avoid Tags that may become a catchall! You want them to give the
players something to work with, or better yet, to work around.

Assigning Ratings
If you have difficulty justifying a rating or another Tag for the Challenge,
it probably doesn’t need it. If you need one later, make it up then.
Health ratings are easy to create on the fly! Remember our 1-10 scale?
If 4 is average and 10 is godlike, where does your Challenge fall in be-
tween? Consider who is dealing with the Challenge. Is it harder for that
character to deal with? Does it deal with their fears or insecurities? Some
Challenges are harder for some people!

Examples
¤¤ Getting out of work early with my boss breathing down my neck.
Tags: Deadlines • Poor Work • Bully
Mind 5, Body 5, Spirit 6
¤¤ Stopping a Riot.
Tags: Violent • Fires • The Disenfranchised
Mind 5, Body 6, Spirit 7

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Examples, Continued
¤¤ Disarming the bomb before anyone gets hurt.
Tags: Delicate • Ticking • Where is it
Mind 7, Body 7, Spirit 6
¤¤ Finishing your research paper while babysitting.
Tags: Crying • More Data • Due Tomorrow
Mind 6, Body 5, Spirit 4
¤¤ Acing the big interview.
Tags: Gender Bias • Disheveled • Exhausted
Mind 6, Spirit 6
¤¤ Getting her phone number.
Tags: Too Pretty • Doesn't Know I Exist • Out of My League
Mind 5, Body 6, Spirit 6
¤¤ Catching a runaway.
Tags: Fast • Dirty Tricks • Has Good Aim
Mind 6, Body 6, Spirit 5
¤¤ Whodunit?
Tags: Prepared • Dangerous • Mastermind
Mind 8, Spirit 7
¤¤ Escaping the Labyrinth.
Tags: Sound Proof • Stone Walls • Maze
Mind 7, Body 7, Spirit 7
¤¤ Landing a malfunctioning airliner!
Tags: Hysterical Passengers • No Radio • No Pilot
Mind 7, Spirit 8
¤¤ Cornered by starving vicious predators.
Tags: Hideous • Vicious • No Where to Run
Mind 5, Body 7, Spirit 7
¤¤ Convincing ancient Tormiek to change his ways.
Tags: Heard It All Before • Dragon • Fueled by Hate
Mind 9, Body 10, Spirit 7
¤¤ Finding a clue in the haunted halls.
Tags: Horrible Visions • Unearthly Sounds • Past Regrets
Mind 6, Body 5, Spirit 7

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Using Challenges
Challenges focus the spotlight on critical moments, tense moments, im-
portant moments. The outcomes of Challenges complete Milestones or
defeat player characters. Challenges are the moments that help charac-
ters realize their grit. Pour on the description and help players immerse
themselves in their characters and the situation at hand.
Encourage players to describe their action in whatever way excites
them. You're going to frame their action into a dice check. If they want
to jump 10 feet in the air or need a chandelier to swing from, let them
have it! Dreamchaser encourages the players to do cool things by not
making them harder to do.

Getting to the Milestone

Some Challenges are just about getting PCs to the Milestone. Want to
sum up all the legwork or research? Create a Challenge to Get to the
bottom of it or to Discover the cure. Want to fast forward the events of a
hospital assault or a car chase? Create a Challenge to Survive the hospi-
tal assault or Stop that car. Have a goal but don't quite know how to get
us there? Create a Challenge.
Challenges can only take so much damage. This inevitably will create an
end to the Challenge. The actions during it will tell us what happened
and when the Challenge must end. As damage draws closer to defeating
the Challenge, describe how the player characters are winning. When
it's over, describe how it ends due to the last actions that defeated the
Challenge. Ask the players for input! This lets them have ownership of
what they've accomplished.

Flow
Let each Challenge be whatever they need to be! Go play-by-play or
bounce from scene to scene to capture only the most interesting parts.
Help Challenges be cinematic for the players by describing how their
actions effect the Challenge. Give each scene drama and tension with
your descriptions. Embrace the players' creativity!

85
 Myths
E very great story has Challenges. They make us stronger. They place
value in adversity. Each Milestone represents a building block nec-
essary for a character to rise to the occasion. The Challenges that Mile-
stones present prepare the characters to do the impossible and meet
their Dreams head on. On the path of every Dream are defining mo-
ments. Myths breed defining moments. Myths are those impossible sit-
uations. Myths are the hardest Challenges.
Not everyone gets to the end of the road. The universe puts Myths in
front of us to test our mettle—our preparedness. It may be a mighty ad-
versary, an extraordinary circumstance, or a point of no return.

Defining Moments
Myths represent the special Challenges that arise to give us defining
moments. To give us our stories—our lore. It has been said that anything
worth doing is worth fighting for. Myths encompass the moments that
bring the best out of us—that define us.

Harder Challenges
Myths are Challenges with more risk and more reward. Each is a special
Challenge that affects a certain type of Milestone or situation. Myths
are difficult, requiring defeat in 2 Health ratings and have 5 Tags. The
Dragon can even apply 2 Tags to challenge player successes. Each Myth
grants rewards for character growth. Some raise ratings (even beyond
Legend). Some offer Belongings with a Relationship. Others provide
powerful new Tags.

Make Your Own

If you need a Myth and don't find one that applies, make your own!
Each needs 5 Tags, defeat in 2 Health ratings, and a reward. Use Myths
when you need a lot of tension and a lot of difficulty. Use them sparing-
ly though, the Myth may win.

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The Black Knight
The Black Knight is a Challenge of preparation or leadership. Like the
Knight, can the PCs stand firm in their conviction. Are they ready and
capable for a quest—for a cause?
The Black Knight affects Milestones that ready a character for our
Dream. This may be about equipment, facilities, or putting together a
team. Challenges within this Milestone have added difficulty in suffi-
ciently gathering what the Milestone requires, more obstruction. A new
challenger may arise and soon, run them out of business.
Defeat the Knight to gain an Organization!

Timing
The Black Knight generally tests a PC when preparation seems to be
going well or easy. The Knight sees no value in testing the completely
unprepared. Where's the sport in that?

Examples Your Apprentice Sab- The Board of Direc-

Hurricane Weather otages Your Design tors Try to Oust You
Threatens to Shut Sickness before the A Rival Company
down the Plant Olympic Tryouts Tries to Buy a
The Sensei Tests Your Winning an Elimination Controlling Stake
Abilities Against Tournament The Getaway Car
Your Entire Class A Bid War Erupts Won't Start

The Twin Giants

Two problems lay before you. You only have the time or resources to handle
one; the other will surely end in catastrophe. Choose, or lose both forever.
Defeat the Twin Giants to add or alter a Tag on your PC, add a
Strategy at Beginner (4), or to add a new Relationship.

Timing
The Twins arise when a question of two rival ideas must be conquered.
They force a character to choose between two maxims.

Examples Outrunning a Bear Defeating the Arena's

Surviving an Avalanche Escaping Prison Champion
Saving the One You Foiling a Villain's Trap Slaying the King
Love or Everyone Else Stopping a Rebellion Taking the Job
Freedom from Slavery Making a Sacrifice Building the Bomb

87
The Haunt
The Haunt represents that which holds us back. The loss that a character
cannot get past. The hardship a PC still hasn't forgiven themself for. The
loved one they cannot forget. The pain that just won't go away. The code
that you betrayed. Some things we regret. Some things haunt us.
Defeat the Haunt to raise your Spirit rating by 2, gain a Relation-
ship, or raise your Belief by 2.

Timing
The Haunt arises when a PC is alone. It creeps under their skin when they
are about to rise to the occasion. It cripples them with doubt and holds
their self-confidence at bay. It seeks characters out when they have cast
away their friends. It cripples them when they are brash. It gets them
killed when they are weak.

Examples Unraveling a Self- Forgiving a Lapse in

Saving Face as a Traitor fulfilling Prophecy Judgement
Recovering from a Resolving a Dispute of Winning Respect
Vengeful Betrayal Greed over Loyalty Making a Sacrifice
Fighting Temptation Getting over a Mistake Saving Another from
Living up to a Code Your Demons

88
The Unicorn
The Unicorn represents a special Challenge particularly suited for one
PC. This Challenge will test you and only you—to your limits. The Unicorn
is almost always a prize, a reward. It taunts the PC, tempts them. Not to
say it wouldn't challenge others, but it's an epic personal challenge for
one PC in particular. Who will it choose? Every character innately knows
the Challenge of the Unicorn, the difficulty it represents.
The Unicorn Challenge may be completed on a solely individual player
basis or with the help of other players. While the other players cannot
physically deal with the Challenge, they can use their turns to take ac-
tions against the Challenge's Mind or Spirit. They can do that by imagin-
ing actions on their turn that support the PC in question. Maybe a flash-
back scene of moral support or a lesson learned. Possibly a redundancy
plan in case of emergency.
Defeat your Unicorn to raise a rating by 1, to a max of 9.

Timing
The Unicorn is elusive often appearing for a glimpse at a time. A distant
shadowy prize beckoning a PC to chase. The Unicorn can appear at any
time but appears most frequently when a character is preoccupied. It
knows the best time to graze.

Examples Becoming Employee Recovering

Eleanor...Stealing the of the Month When from Amnesia
One Car That Has Everyone Suddenly Getting Your Demo Lis-
Your Number Steps up Their Game tened to by Your Idol
Winning over the Big Winning over the Winning the Big One
Client That Ignores Girl of Your Dreams Crafting the Cure
Your Firm Restoring the Magic Finding Hope

89
The Dragon
The Dragon is the ultimate Challenge. It's the boss at the end of your
Milestones. It waits there among them; enter its lair and let the final bat-
tle for your Role, your duty, begin. The Dragon will force you to confront
your greatest weakness or challenge your greatest strength. Fight it for
all the marbles. Fight to prove you belong.
The Guide can challenge players with 2 Tags on their turn instead of 1.
Defeat your Dragon to become truly legendary at any 1 Strategy or
Health rating. Raise a rating by 1 up to a rating of 10.

Timing
It waits for you. It has always been waiting for you. Enter its lair and let
the final battle for your soul begin. The Dragon is generally best suited
for longer games instead of one-shots. Sessions with Dragon Challeng-
es are generally deserving of their own session. They can run long if
players don't spend Belief to deal with them.
Each player has a final Milestone. In a long game, it waits for each player
character there. In a short game, it may come in the final Milestone or
wherever the Guide sees fit.

Examples Defending Your Title Mustering the Courage

Eliminating a Traitor from the Greatest to Get on Stage
Who is Also Your Challenger Eliminating All Doubt
Best Friend Besting the Best Accepting Fear and
Rebounding from Recovering from Finding the Strength
the Death of Your Paralysis in It
True Love Finding the Will to Controlling Your Powers
Fighting the Fight of Survive When All Escape the Horde
Your Life Hope Is Lost Trial by Combat

90
Planning Beyond the First Session
The Dream Map will make your life easy! The pursuit of Milestones acts
as plots directly, inspires plots indirectly, and helps guide the players
toward our Dream.
If you like to improvise, write up a few bullet points when you come to
each game session and work off of the Vision Rolls. If you'd rather plan
ahead, enjoy the ease and minimal time spent preparing for your next
game. Dream Map, make characters, and Vision Roll on the first session.
Use the gathered information to fuel your next session and inspire your
players to think about what's to come!
After the first session, you'll have a lot more to work with. Problems will
be established. Characters will know each other. We'll see how their Re-
lationships work together. Their journey so far will begin to foreshadow
things to come. Problems will create adversaries. Character's Strategies
will tell you how they like to solve problems and beat Challenges. Future
Milestones will begin to take shape.

What to Figure out for the next Session

¤¤ What’s stopping the PCs from achieving the next Milestone? What's
the problem?
¤¤ Who's behind the problem? Why?
¤¤ What would be a compelling way of introducing Challenges to really
engage the players?
¤¤ Considering the PC Relationships, who may be involved and how?
¤¤ What interesting environments will the characters explore?
¤¤ What Belongings will make the story more compelling?

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Performing
Have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff! The players want you to suc-
ceed. If you run into a problem, the game stalls, or you could just use
an idea, ask the players! This is a collaborative storytelling experience
for the enjoyment of everyone at the table. Don’t pressure yourself into
being the sole entertainer. Involve as many players as you can, as fre-
quently as you can.

Coming up with People and Places

Each of us is inundundated with stories and characters thanks to all the
different forms of media vying for our attention. There's no shame in
copying or imitating characters or places for use in your own games.
Pull ideas from the shows you watch, stories you read, and situations
you hear about. Imitate the mannerisms and accents of people you
know. Recollect and share the memories of places you've been. All of
your experiences can be used to express our story world.

Where Am I?
Set the players up for success! When they arrive in a new scene or place,
engage their senses. Take some time and tell them what they see there,
how it smells, what sounds are being made. Don’t spend more than a
minute on this, though. Being concise leaves more to the imagination.
You just want to lay kindling and spark their imagination.

Roleplaying Non-Player Characters

You'll play a lot of different characters. Make them interesting! Use voic-
es, give them mannerisms, and let them be quirky. Most of all, don’t be
afraid to try things out. You're doing it for the betterment of everyone
at the table and no one can do it all. Not to mention, NPCs are normal
people too. They don’t have perfect accents, aren’t always understood,
or act exactly the same.
You'll do a lot to set the tone for your game, so have fun, relax a little,
and take some chances. Let the players embrace their characters and
show them how with your NPCs.

Criticals Are Powerful

Whether successful or unsuccessful, critical rolls demand great rewards
or terrible results! Show the players that they mean something. Give
them what they want when they succeed and don't pull your punches
when they fail.

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Envisioning a Perfect Success
Have fun with the excitement and energy that rolling doubles can have
on your game. Get the players involved on creating the possible out-
comes! Use the following questions.
¤¤ What's the best possible thing that can happen right now? (Success)
¤¤ What's the worst possible thing that can happen right now? (Failure)
Ask each player the appropriate question, side more with the player
who rolled the dice when coming up with the Critical Success outcome.
Side more with the other players when coming up with the Critical Fail-
ures. A Critical Both will require a mix of both the best of times and the
worst of times. Descriptions should be elaborate and amazing! Share
that fun with the players.

Spending Belief
Players can spend Belief to buy success for their characters. Use of Hope,
Faith, and The One give players the opportunity to take chance out of the
question when they really want something to happen for their charac-
ter. Hope buys a Double Success. Faith buys a Critical Success. The One
grants the player the ability to dictate a Double Success, Success with a
Catch, or a Double Failure as needed during a scene or its Challenges.
Players can spend Belief at any time they need an outcome, even after
a roll, but before an outcome is stated. Critical rolls always stand, even
blocking the use of Belief.
Trouble getting players to spend Belief? Give them poker chips, tokens,
coins, or counters to represent their Belief. Have them place the stack on
their Belief circle. When they have the Belief just sitting there, they won't
forget about it and will be more likely to spend it.

Using Tags
Tags are designed to describe a character for better or worse. Use them
to help players immerse themselves in a character. Tags can remind us
of who we want our characters to be. They can also reflect the difficulty
and trauma that limits us. Use the bad times to help the good times
shine. Without tension, where's the excitement?
When using Tags, have the player reroll each die individually. Each reroll
is another chance for a critical roll, as players grow accustom to this, it
will drive tension as well.

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Challenging Success
Whenever a player rolls a dice check and gets successes, you can have
them reroll their successes due to a Tag that hinders their action. Outside
of a Challenge, don't feel like you have to hold Tags against the players.
Use this tool when the player imagines an action their character isn't fit
for. Use it to help them get more into their character's headspace. Who
is their character and what would their strategy for success be?
The exceptions to this are Negative Tags. Similar to a Challenge, the
Guide is actively encouraged to hold a player's Negative Tags against
them. Like a Challenge, the player knows this and is encouraged to work
around their character's difficulties or to embrace them.

Optional Rule: Title Tags

After the first game session, we'll list the Tag a PC uses the most after
their name (like a Title). The Guide should always try to hold the Title
Tag against the PC when it applies. Play too strongly to one Tag and
the Guide will try to show you the bad with the good!

94
Play Structure
If you are new to being the Guide, try out the 3-Act Structure. This should
look familiar from the advice so far.

3-Act Structure
1. Introduction and Inciting Incident
2. Rising Action, Montage, Improvement, or Acquisition
3. Climax or Resolution

Act 1: An Inciting Incident

You're going to set the scene. If it's the first session, give the players an
opportunity to feel out their characters. Considering the next Milestone,
you'll want to propel them toward it with a problem, opportunity, or
event that requires action—an inciting incident. If the players are already
doing something fun and interesting, go with it! See where it leads.

Act 2: Rising Action

Act 2 is about getting to the root of the problem. If Act 1 told us what the
problem is, Act 2 is about finding ways to deal with it. Act 2 is the rising
action that prepares the characters for the climax of our session. Players
must be creative as their characters deal with adversity. Any Challenges
lead up to their ultimate Challenge or whatever is stopping them from
achieving their Milestone.

Act 3: Resolution
Shit goes down. The moment we've all been waiting for is at hand. This
should be exciting, enjoyable, and rewarding. Think cinematically and en-
gage the players senses with your descriptions. Each player should have
an interesting part to play. When it's over, the Milestone will have been
achieved or failed. Failure should send the characters back to the drawing
board or worse. Success should be sweet with the spotlight on the charac-
ter whose Milestone was achieved.

As the Guide, you tell players what their character knows,

what they see, or what they find. Give PCs the informa-
tion they need to move the story forward. Consider their
Strategies when dealing out information and provide it
to whom makes sense to you and the situation.

95
Pacing
The fewer players in a scene, the shorter the scene should be.
¤¤ Don’t play 5 minutes without involving at least 2 players.
¤¤ Don’t play 10 minutes without involving all the players.
Don’t waste time on boring activities or routine procedures unless the
players enjoy it. Skip time or fast-forward day-to-day activities and un-
eventful travel. If you need to know an outcome in that time, have a
player make a dice check and let them describe it.

Successes & Failures

When we need to know how an outcome will affect our story, we have a
player roll the dice. Overall, if they succeed, the story is going to move
along smoothly. If they roll poorly, things will go wrong, and more ob-
stacles will get in their way. Depending on how the players roll in a ses-
sion, there may only be one or two Challenges. Some Challenges come
about because of a Double Failure or a Critical Failure roll. Many come
about because they fit the needs of our story. Aim to place a Challenge
in the last act of achieving every Milestone but know that good rolls on
the part of the players may warrant otherwise.

Doing the Math

If we have four Milestones to complete, it makes a big difference wheth-
er we have 1 three hour session to play or 4 two hour sessions to see it
through. Do the Math once you know what kind of time you are working
with, and then split it accordingly. Any Milestone that has 45 minutes or
less to complete will need to focus directly on the Milestone at hand.
What's the problem? Frame a Challenge to get the players through it.

Fast-forwarding via Visions

Love a vision put forth by a player's Vision Roll? Short on time? Use vi-
sions to throw PCs into the action and intrigue. Movies allude to scenes
and then jump right in all the time. This is an excellent tactic when you
want to speed things up or break up the monotony. Try this tactic in a
short game when the next Milestone is already in sight.

Our Story
Let players explore what they want to explore with their characters. If
one player is taking something too far, ask them where they're going
with it. Let the players decide if that character’s actions are creating a
more entertaining story or needs to be reined in.

96
Setting
"Our world is a shared experience fractured by
individual perspectives."
-Brian Miller
In Dreamchaser, the setting doesn't limit our Dreams, it fits to them.
There's a reason we don't start with a setting. There's a reason we start
with a Dream. Let the Dream be paramount and the setting whatever
makes for the most interesting story. Some Dreams imply a setting; take
the opportunity to use it or imagine something different. Each Milestone
will begin to detail a setting in our minds. Your PCs' Strategies, Relation-
ships, and Belongings will further influence the setting. Let the game
help you create the setting you need.
The setting's a back drop, an environment, a sand box to play in. It's an
imaginary stage where scenes are set and characters are used to build a
story. Dreamchaser is a game about dreams and the characters that pur-
sue them. Dreams may take you to other worlds, other times, other di-
mensions, or just past the next door. Let the setting work for your game
and not the other way around. If you want to create a setting, create only
what you need for your story or what fits the scope of the Dream Map. If
it doesn't add fun to the chase, what's the point?
Let the setting be vague; it leaves more to the imagination. Good ideas
are easier to introduce because there are not as many facts to consider.
Many details can create unnecessary roadblocks in your head. The more
unnecessary information you establish in your setting, the more there
is to consider and remember. Don't box yourself in! Save that precious
processing power for improvising. Players benefit too! They can spend
less time hesitating over questions of realism and more time playing.

Making Choices
Sometimes, you'll have to make choices on what the setting is and what
it isn't. Some games will be hard-pressed to define a setting throughout
Character Creation. If that's the case, probe your players a bit. Pose your
thoughts of what the setting seems like. See what interests them and
then run with it.

97
Thoughts on Setting
Modern/Near Modern: The easiest introductory setting would be here
and now. The modern time is a setting you know more completely than any
other. You are prepared to offer that to your players at a moment's notice.
Maybe you have a time or setting that you prefer. The 80's were be-
fore widespread Internet and cellphone use. The 90's were before smart
phones and before apps became a thing. Your unique take on the world
is what makes the modern setting new and interesting to players. Don't
be afraid to exaggerate your perspective or change a significant mo-
ment in history, just to spice it up. The masses could be cynics in a dark
world or fanatic positive enthusiasts. Politics can be corrupt and tyran-
nical or a just and fair system in the best interest of the people. Your
perspective of the world is your own, no matter the setting, bring it to
the game world.
Players' Favorite: What setting do your players love? Do you share a
favorite TV show or book series? Have a favorite video game? This game
is about dreams and the characters that pursue them. The setting is only
as fun as it pertains to the Dream or to the players. Pick one that adds a
twist or element that will liven up your game. Using a favorite setting is
a great way to introduce new players to the game.

98
 Optional Rule: World Tags
Have a setting in mind? Do we know things about the game world?
Are there certain inalienable truths?
Explore World Tags...
A World Tag describes the game world just like a Tag describes a char-
acter. World Tags are setting Tags that are readily available to use. May-
be Heroes never die. Maybe all major characters can leap buildings in
a single bound. Maybe there's no gravity in this world—maybe there's
no love.

Optional Rule: Session Tags

Is there a theme to your next game session? Has a theme mani-
fested in play that everyone is head over heels for? Introduce a
Session Tag for that session or the pursuit of a Milestone.

Examples Dystopian Malleable Physics

Well-funded Government Fantasy Avatars
Government Allies State-of-the-Art Should Have Said It
In the Shadows Surveillance Sooner
Always a Bigger Code of Honor The Little White Lies
Weapon Always a Way Out We Tell
The Past Returns with Good People Go Hard Choices
a Vengeance Bad Wrong Things Feel
Corporate Armies Shrouded in Secrecy So Right
I Know Kung Fu Augmented Constantly
Running from the Operatives Interrupted
Past Portent of Doom Worst Day Ever
A Better Tomorrow Deadly Traps Eat the Food

Optional Rule: What Have We Learned

Another way to institute World Tags is to implement them after
character creation and after each Milestone. Ask the group as a
whole, What have we learned about the setting or the story so
far? Can we Tag it?

99
 Allies
D reamchaser is designed to entertain 2-4 players. Have more play-
ers? Don't let that discourage you! Just add Allies!

Who You Know

The players have Relationships and those people will be around from
time to time. These Relationships can come to life in the hands of a play-
er! They're already tied to our story with a PC and can easily revert back
to an NPC if the player is just a visitor.

To Bring a Relationship to Life:

¤¤ Guide, assign the Ally's Health and Soul Skill ratings.
¤¤ Have the player imagine 2 Tags and then 2 Strategies (with ratings
below the Best (7).

Purpose
Allies are usually around for some reason. Tie the Ally to the current
Milestone or have them show up to lend a hand.

A Good Impression
Just like any other PC, give the Ally a time to shine. It may make enough
of a good impression on that player to add them to the fold! Allies are
great characters for first time roleplayers or guests. A recurring role from
a routine guest may lead to an expanded role like having a Milestone
or two of their own. Just have the players fit them into our Dream Map.

100
101
 Afterword
Who We Are
Our dreams give us purpose but just because you know your character's
purpose doesn't mean your character does. Maybe she did as a child
or for the span of a daydream until it escaped her. Maybe it's what she
always wanted, even dreamed about, but learned the pay was too small.
Heard the rewards were too few. You the player know that purpose.
Belief makes us strong, brings our dreams into focus, and even bends
the boughs of the world in our favor. Use the Dream Map to lead your
character to their greatest potential but please, don't forget to enjoy
the journey. Chasing your dream will be a rollercoaster, a ride of ups
and downs, that tries to scare you around every corner. In our difficult
moments we learn the value of our triumphs.

Do enjoy the ride!

You will create so many wonderful stories to share! These are the stories
we experience together and remember together. Play many characters,
and see where they take you. Use this game to explore some of your
own potential too. Take a stab at a few of your own passions in life and
enjoy the ups and downs of what could have been or could yet be. Even
if you don't know what those passions are or where to begin, just start
with a goal you enjoy and see where it takes you. Even a step in the
wrong direction will get you where you're going faster than standing still.

Chase Your Dreams!

102
 Playtesters
Thank you to the 107 Playtesters whose names I remembered to gather
and to the many others that I may have missed. Dreamchaser is a better
game because of you and I have been enriched by your stories.

Soutalgon Matt Jackson Sean Mathis

Jim Dagg Genevieve Tocci Carly Petrusha
Heather Brooks Carrie Ulrich Taylor Hall
Matthew Neymeiyer Annette Perkowski Margaret Hewitt
Mike Caldwell Andrew Finn Elizabeth Ladan
Luke Zondervan Richard Thomas Dennis Moore
Dan Suprenant Mike Riegel Sarah Smith
Kevin Smith Quinn Wongkew Eric Ausley
Michael Parker Jacqueline Judith Shannon Steele
Kevin Innarelli Zeke Brock Brent Severance
Chris King Riley Bowman Mike Carlson
Vincent Baptiste Emile Mulder Andy Lord
Dylan Herrell Richard Wells Johnathon Lugg
Bruce Meyer Ben Curtis Libby Martin
Richard Maslin Cris Frank David Hagy
Mike Persin Gage Ringer Nathaniel Reeser
Joe Kawano Benji Colon-Hellstrom Patric Nuttall
Kevin Green Noah Colon Chris Castle
Joe McCullough Tristan Strickley Jason Cox
Lindsey McCullough Devin Smitka Aaron Sturgill
Mark Goetzinger Nolan O'Brien Nikki Lewandowski
Joann Eyster Michael Ross Teagan Mcfarland
Lynn Carmichael Caleb Gillombardo Ben Snyder
James Scott Ares Marks Jon Diemunsch
Tasha Robinson Stephanie Korte Maxx Day
Micah Altenhofer Jessica Rust Charles Warrington
Caius Wallen Ryan Rust Joe Lamy
Boiko Boichev Emily Dwyer Jesse Hudzik
Ninotchka Dennis Thornberry Duane Budd
Mantrom-Hornemann Chris Barnitt Jeffrey Hosmer
Mike Sergio Angela Hughes Gary Gin
Justin Cummings David White Jessica Miller
Eric Jeppesen Jason Saklak Aaron Shipman
Geoff Bottone Matt Franklin Josh Meucci
Kelly Johnson Zack Stevens and Mike Brodeur
Jason Tocci Nikki Jackson
Will Hindmarch Terry Brandush

103
 Kickstarter Backers
Thank you to all of the 309 Kickstarter Backers who helped make Dream-
chaser possible! You've helped my dreams come true.

Boyko Boychev Davae Breon Jeffrey

!? Flint M. Olsen,
Bradley Hawkins Jackson (DBJ) Hosmer
@TheScando PE, QSD
Bret Short David Edward Jeffrey Lowe
Aaron Enskat Garthenkill
Brett Keizer Gilmore, Jr. Dunker Jeremy
Aaron M. Sturgill -Forester and “Shade“
Brian Allred Gary Anastasio
Aaron Trusgnich Roleplayer Mackey
Brodeur Genevieve &
Adam Davis David Walker Jesper Lund
Bruce Curd Jason Tocci
Adam Longley Dawid Jesse Roberge
Bruce Meyer German
Adam Ness Wojcieszynski Jesus Morales
Carl G-pop Sanders
Adam RKitch DJ Ludwig Jim Dagg,
Cabanas III Gilbert
Adam T Domonique DuRapau Jr. Renegade
Carly Sue
Alexander Elliott, designer Designer
Petrusha Gilly
Aden Murtagh Dr. Brian Jimmy
Molly Keenan Grant
Adumbratus Quinones Mitchum the
Carrie Ulrich Huelskamp
Alden Strock Dragonsarge Penguin
Charles Wells Guy Edward
Alex Kuhlman Duncan Jimmy
Chef Craig Larke
Alex Prose McNulty Ringkvist
Chester Hsu Half Blood
Alexander Dustin Headen Joe Kawano
Prince
Chino Finelli E.B. Hunter -Launch
“Lxndr“Cherry Hao Zhang
Chiu, Sage of YourUniverse
Alphabear Heather N R
Chen-Hsun Brewing .com
Amy Brighter Johnson
Chris Bradshaw Ed Joël Marco
Andrew James Heather R
Chris Vogler Kowalczewski John
McDole McDonald
Christa Speers Eden 'Raven' Kormpopoulos
Andrew High Paladin
Christopher Cohen John Wells
MacLennan Mike Maxson
Grey Edouard Jon Smejkal
Andrew Hoff
Christopher T. Contesse Jonathan
Peregrine Ian McFarlin
King El Sobrino Villalobos
Andrew Perez Ian A.
Cinemancer Emile Mulder Jordan Lee
Andrew Pickard Richmond
Claire Main Eric Ausley MacCarthy
Andrew Wilson J. Michael
Clark Annable Eric Roades Jordan White
Andy Kitkowski Bestul
Colin Kyle Eric Simon Jordi Rabionet
Andy Wilson Jack Gulick
Courtney Eric Stevens Joseph “Darth
Angel Garcia Jacob Smith,
Henson Erik “Shrimpi- Xentus“ Lamy
-from Hijos del Edgeland
Curtis C. clese“ Taylor Games Joseph Le May
Rol
Hooper Erik James Allen Josh
Anon
Dan Christiansen James Estes Josh Rensch
Anthony Mc
Cruickshank Evan Hawker Judd M.
Namara James Troxell
Dan Feerst Eversong the Deathbird Goswick
Austin Loomis,
Dan Fabri Jamie Julian H.
dreamdweller
Helderman Mafessoni Justin Delaney
Balevala Jason Brannen
Daniel Fear the Boot, Kaitlyn “ The
Bill Dorsch Jason Pitre
McNamara RPG Podcast Kat “ Kalmas
Bill Kane Jayson W. King
DanJamesP Fenris Kate the Great
Borc Kinslayer JD Reid
Dany Dederichs Marrodane Katelyn
Boss Trojan Jeff Stevens
Dave Kopchick Fred Schwerdt Cameron

104
 Kevin Henley Matthew Paul Yu Simon TheDonnie
Kevin Innarelli McFarland Peiblit “smescrater“ Tim “Kleehv“
King Anwar Matthew Ryan Petri Leinonen Carter Shirk
Avasi Shoemaker Phillip Bailey Sir Jason of Timothy
Kisa Gryphon Maurizio the Azure “GMT“ Grant
Quasi
Locusti Hills Todd Zircher
Kite Winters Quinn
Melvin Smif Sir Wade Toju Xinshu
Korean DC in- Wongkew
side Dreamer Menachem SkavmeisterC Tom Jones
Ricardo Ochoa
Kyle Simons Cohen Snowren Tony E.
Rich
Merry Crystal Featherfall Calidon
Kyle Urban Lescouflair
Michael A Soutalgon Topher 009er
Lady Perker Richard
(@alperkow) Persin Kreutz-Landry Space Tracy Murray
Lakshman Michael Riley Bowman Stephanie Tricia Victor
Godbole and Brian Bryant
RnJ Rust Trip
Goubeaux Stephen Space-Parasite
Laura Rob Abrazado
Järvenpää Michael “Shmoo“ Gill
Rob Vicki Hsu
Bridges Steve Lord
Lester Ward Donoghue Vincent
Michael Feir Steven K. Baptiste
Liam Murray Rob Onofrey
Michael Watkins
Lisa “Dr. Rob Winkler Vincent
Holland Storycomic. Eaton-
Cthulhupunk“ Robert and
Padol Michael com Valencia
Amanda
Merlan Stras “The Vladimir
ljtrigirl Daley
Michael Parker Dreamer“ Filipović
Lord Robert Carnel
Michael Acimovic
VonHooton Rod Meek We Hate Bards
of ApplesVale Pietrelli Svend
Romain Whingknütt
Michael Pureka Andersen
Lucas Bell _the Seer Will
Michael van T. Julian Bell
Lucy Ron “Khaalis“ William
“wyrdness“ der Woude Tara Zuber
Owen Hedden
Fletcher Mikailos -Keeper of the
Ron Windauer William Paul
Luis Felipe Mike Nachtigal Autumn Clock
Ronald Pyatt Sanford
Takano Morgan Weeks Tayler Stokes
Rorythicus William Scott
Luis Gomez Mr. Kyle Teaser & Palmer II
Russ Brown Firecat
Lyn Rogers Vafiadis Willy Kaceres
Ryan Fraedrich (Katja and
M. Murphy Naepta Wright S.
Samwell Quinn Ulrike)
M. Trout Nespress Johnson
Thomas Terry J
Mad King Nicholas W. Zach Rockwell
Sarbin Brandush
Christopher Peddicord Zikkurat
Scott Hillier Thaddeus
the First Nick
Sean McHale Ryker
Madelyn C “The Guru“
Mendez Sean Paul The
Malcolm Coull Daimadoshi
Noralie Petrusha
Marcus Flores The
Oliver Peltier Seth Surber
Marcus Ilgner Freelancing
Oliver R Shead Shahazadei
Marissa Kelly Roleplayer
Our Hero Andy Shane
& Mark Diaz The
Bearden
Truman Patricia Arce McAwesome
-Magpie Shannon!
Patrick & McCulloughs
Games Samantha Shinya
The Pastor
Mark Butler Harris HANATAKA
Sam Hershey
Matthew C Paul Sir Dennis A.
The Rosenthal
Franklin Lukianchuk Thornberry
Family

105
 Index
Allies 100-101 Mind 35, 42, 58
Belief 10, 14-15, 66, 93 Myths 86
Benefits of Belief 14-15 Black Knight 87
Spending Belief 14-15, 93 Twin Giants 87
Tags 14-15 Haunt 88
Belongings 10, 47-48, 76 Unicorn 89
Examples 48 Dragon 90
Body 35, 42, 58 Neighborhoods 49
Challenges 16, 53, 58-63, 83-86 One Shot 63
Create a Challenge 83 Organization 35, 46, 76
Combating 61 Players 8
Dealing Damage 61 Player Characters (PC) 8
Dealing Tags 61
Problems 57, 82
Examples 61, 83-84
Examples 82
Health 58
Using Tags 62, 83 Ratings 11
Character Creation 34, 75 Reason 35, 41, 76
Character Growth 17, 65-66, 81 Relationships 10, 35, 44-45, 76
Examples 45
Character Sheet 34 Labels 44
Critical Rolls 13, 61, 92-93 PC Relationship 45
Critical Both 13 Restore Belief 45
Critical Failure 13 Tagging Relationships 44
Critical Success 13
Role 10, 20-21, 25-27, 72
Damage 16, 42, 58, 61 Examples 26
Dice Check 12 Scenes 53
Rolling Dice 11
Session Length 9
Double Failure 12, 61 Ending the Session 81
Double Success 12, 61 Significance 81
Dream 20-24, 71 Spirit 35, 42, 58
Vague 24
Soul Skills 10, 41, 76
Dream Map 20-22, 31, 71 Examples 41
Examples 23
Strategies 10, 35, 39-40, 75
Dream Mapping 8, 12, 16, 20-21, Examples 40
31, 71-74 Labels 39
Gratitude 53, 67, 81 Success with a Catch 12, 61
Guide 8, 10, 70, 78 Tag Vote 17, 53, 65, 81
First Session 71
Performing 92 Tags 10, 15, 34-38, 75, 93, 99
Planning 78-81, 91 Challenge's Tags 16, 62
Play Structure 95 Challenging Success 16, 35, 93
Pacing 96 Examples 37
Setting 97-98 Negative Tags 16, 38, 62
Overused Tags 37
Guide Sheet 71, 77-79 Tag Limits 38, 65
Health 10, 42-43, 58, 76 Session Tags 99
Healing 43, 63 Title Tags 94
Imagine 35, 41, 76 Vision Tags 38, 54-55
Milestones 8, 20-21, 28-30, 66, 73 World Tags 99
Examples 28 Vision Rolls 8, 17, 52-55, 79, 81
First Milestone 81 1 Success, No Tag 79
Too Many 30

106
1 ouR DReaM Name: aJ STEP 1 Pitch a Dream.
STEP 2 Imagine your Role.
My Role 2 STEP 3 What do you want to experience?
STEP 4 Describe your PC with 3 Tags.
STEP 5 Imagine 3 Strategies below Legend.
STEP 6 Assign 10 points among Soul Skills.
5 sTRaTegies My MilesTones 3 STEP 7 Assign 12 points among Health.
Legend 8 1. STEP 8 Imagine 3 Relationships with a Tag.
STEP 9 Imagine up to 3 Iconic Items.
The Best 7
STEP 10 Name your character.
Expert 6 2.
Strategy
Skilled 5 7 healTh
3. Mind
Beginner 4
Body Max Current
Spirit
Tags 4
6 soul skills Negative Tags 8 RelaTionships
Imagine True Love
Reason Tags
Soul Skill Intimate
Tags
Vision Tag Close
Tags
Belief The BenefiTs of Belief Casual
Belief Ability Cost Action Tags

The One 2 Belief Narrate Your Actions for a Scene! Contact

10 No dice rolls necessary!
Tags
9 3 Tags free Reroll 3 Failed Dice with 3 Tags.
Belief 6 Faith 2 Belief Create a Critical Success!
9 Belongings
5 2 Tags free Reroll 2 Failed Dice with 2 Tags.
2 Hope 2 Belief Create a Double Success!
1 1 Tag free Reroll 1 Failed Die with 1 Tag.
 Challenges More
Mind Body Spirit 3 Tags PC 1:
Strategy
Strategy
Strategy
Tag
Tag
Tag
PC 2:
Strategy
Strategy
Strategy
Tag
Tag
Story Tie-Ins Tag
PC 3:
Player Name: PC 1 PC 2 PC 3 PC 4
Strategy
Character: Strategy
Relationship Strategy
Tag
Tag
Tag
Relationship
Tag
Tag PC 4:
Relationship Strategy
Tag Strategy
Strategy
Belonging
Tag
Belonging Tag
Belonging Tag
 Our Journey
Milestone 1: Milestone 4:
Character Creation Notes: Vision Roll Notes: Character Creation Notes: Vision Roll Notes:
• Q1 • Q1
Q2 Q2
• •

• •

• •
ouR DReaM
• •

Milestone 2: Milestone 3:
Character Creation Notes: Vision Roll Notes: Character Creation Notes: Vision Roll Notes:
• Q1 • Q1
Q2 Q2
• •

• •

• •

• •
 Visit imagininggames.com for
downloadable character sheets,
guide sheets,
examples
and more!
 If you could live out any story, any
moment—what would you experience?
Before you is the Dream Map and with it—a
path to destiny. We all have a purpose, a
duty, a dream. Will you pursue it?
Will you chase your dreams?
Dreamchaser adapts to your needs, not
the other way around.
¤¤ Dream Mapping tailors each game to what the players
want to play—the story they want to experience.
¤¤ The Guide (Game Master) creates any story character
or challenge they need on the fly. Spend your time and
attention engaging player characters and driving the
story forward.
¤¤ Use Vision Rolls to inspire immediate play or to fuel
future play.
¤¤ Character Milestones break stories into short sessions
or chapters. Play them consecutively or fit them into
busy adult schedules.
¤¤ Collaborative Character Creation that empowers player
creativity, spawns immersive characters, and sets them
on to a mutual goal.
¤¤ Game play that gets players in the head of their character
with every roll—drives the story forward with every roll.
¤¤ Simple rules that empower players to create their
own strategies for success and allow them to defeat
challenges in whatever way fits the story they want to
tell. Dreamchaser is fueled by your imagination!

Share a Dream Together and Achieve!