Mana talents are advanced mana-based gimmicks that require intense dedication and training to properly develop and learn. Unless otherwise noted, mana talents only affect the character’s pseudophysical form (in a Dreamworld or on a dream island) and are a direct result of the Dreamwalker finally being able to convince his subconscious mind that he is in a dream.

Mana talents are only available to characters possessing the mana aspect, and are available to the character whenever he is in the dream state. Within his own Dreamworld, a lucid Dreamer (including Dreamwalkers) may manifest any mana talents just by spending one point of discipline or luck. Outside of one’s own Dreamworld, mana talents must be purchased with experience points.

Mana talents, especially major ones, should be rare and powerful. When a character acquires a mana talent, he should feel like he has earned it. Directors are encouraged to develop additional mana talents (perhaps modeling them after other gimmicks or powers (such as natural armor, immunity, etc.) to suit their own games.

There are two types of mana talents—minor and major. Minor mana talents may be gained by expending 60 experience points, while major ones require the expenditure of 80 experience points. These experience points may be taken from any skill. A character must have at least two minor mana talents for every major mana talents he possesses. Certain mana talents may be taken more than once, increasing its effects each time. Most mana talents were developed by Mystics and thus many have prosaic names.

It should be noted that the experience point costs for purchasing mana talents is intentionally high. Characters, even beginning ones, are extremely formidable when encountered inside the Dreamworld. They have already mastered a vast array of mana powers enabling them to alter the dream or themselves in a variety of ways. Mana talents, especially major ones, can dramatically alter the dynamics of an adventure, not to mention a long term campaign. They should therefore be something that is aspired to achieve rather than something that is acquired every few sessions.

*Note: Mana talents denoted by an asterisk were developed by the Sword of Gaia and are unavailable to members of other Dreamwalking groups. The experience point cost for learning these mana talents is the same however—a character must first have someone teach him the mana talents before it can be purchased.

Minor Mana Talents

Chameleon Skin
Chameleon Skin enables a character to appear as one of the Unreal, no matter who he Possesses or what form he takes in the dream. In the Dreamworld, it hides the character from the Taenia (or other Dreamwalkers) until he does something contrary to the nature of the Unreal within, such as manipulating mana in plain sight. This mana gimmick is of limited effect in the Periphery.

Combat Focus
A character with Combat Focus is able to center his mind entirely on the current combat. As a result, the character remains conscious even after sustaining five grades of fatigue. Additional grades of fatigue are applied as injury.

Divine Touch*
Divine Touch creates a minor spiritual disturbance in the real world. This enables a character to use up to 10% of his normal mana rating, rounding down (for example, if his mana rating is 20, he may spend up to 2 points of mana) for normal mana aspect powers (see Dreamwalker Diceless, pg. 19) while in the real world. The aspect replenishes itself once per day, as long as the character gets a good night’s rest. Note that certain mana powers, such as Possession, are unusable on non-Unreal, and that long standing effects (such as Aegis, Vigor and Forte) and altered items disappear during the character’s next period of REM sleep.

Destruction
A character with Destruction may increase the amount of damage done by his Mana Bolt by an additional +1inj per mana point spent. This mana gimmick may be purchased more than once.

Dreamcatcher*
The Dreamcatcher mana talent can only be used in the real world. Using Dreamcatcher, the Dreamwalker creates a spider web-like net of pure mana that ensnares a Broodking in the real world, rendering it immobile and incapable of any action. In order to escape the web, the enraged Broodking must return to the Empyrean. Dreamwalkers who complete a routine Creativity + Athletics task may follow the Broodking into the Empyrean as if he were using the Walk the Dream mana gimmick.

Gift of Sand
Dreamwalkers with Gift of Sand are especially proficient at Joining with the Dreamer and keeping him asleep. The character gains +2 effort to his joining task for purposes of Joining (as well as +1 effort to any resisted joining tasks vs. the Dreamer) and while Joined, the Dreamer may ignore up to one grade of dementia gain due to violence and Dreamer rebellion (see Dreamwalker Diceless, pg. 29 “Violence”).

Healer
Healers may increase the amount of damage healed by an additional two grades of fatigue or one additional grade of injury per mana point spent. This mana talent may be purchased more than once.

Intense Training
Intense Training permanently raises a character’s Fitness rating by +1 points (to a maximum of +5) and bestows expert skill level in any one Fitness-based skill. The character must decide whether or not he wants the Fitness increase to be visible when this mana gimmick is chosen. This mana talent may be purchased more than once. Once a character has achieved the maximum Fitness of +5, this gimmick bestows expert skill level in any two Fitness-based skills each time it is chosen.

Leap of the Grasshopper
This mana talent grants a bonus of +2 effort to all jumping-related Athletics tasks and doubles the normal distance jumped. Leap of the Grasshopper may be taken more than once, granting an additional +2 effort and incrementally increasing the distance each time. If the character cannot see where he is jumping, Leap of the Grasshopper does not guarantee a safe landing.

Lightning Reflexes
Lightning Reflexes enables the character to take an extra action in a turn. The action with the least amount of effort exerted is not counted when checking for fatigue due to overexertion. This mana talent may be purchased more than once.

Marksman
Marksmen receive +2 effort to all ranged attacks.

Mettle
Mettle adds strength and toughness to the character’s pseudophysical form. It effectively provides two (2) points of natural armor against fatigue and one (1) point against injury. This mana talent may be taken more than once.

Peripheral Vitality
Peripheral Vitality returns the character’s Fitness rating to normal while traversing the Periphery.

Pheromones
Pheromones grant the character a bonus of +2 effort to all social-related tasks. Members of the opposite sex who wish to attack the character must succeed at an initial challenging leadership task or suffer -2 effort to all attacks because of the intense and overwhelming feelings of passion and desire the character inspires. This penalty is reduced to -1 effort if the Dreamwalker attacks the affected creature. This gimmick is nullified by distance or if the Unreal in question has no sense of smell. The Taenia are susceptible to this gimmick although their gender (and sometimes the gender of the Dreamwalker) is dictated by their manifestation, rather than their natural form.

Quick Draw
A character with Quick Draw is able to draw a weapon with blinding speed. This grants him an extra attack before anyone else in the first turn of combat only, provided the character is not surprised. Thereafter, initiative is handled normally.

Scent of the Dream*
Dreamwalkers emit a very faint, but distinct, spiritual disturbance of their own, especially when they dream. Scent of the Dream enables a Dreamwalker to home in on this disturbance and locate other Dreamwalkers. In the Empyrean, the chance of locating a Dreamwalker is the same as that of locating a specific Dreamworld (see Dreamwalker Diceless, pg. 29). In the real world, the character must complete a successful improbable investigation task. Scent of the Dream has been known to react subconsciously, alerting the character to the presence of a nearby Dreamwalker through a combination of dreams, brief visions and/or odd series of coincidences (director’s discretion).

Spider Climb
Spider Climb allows a character to climb any type of surface, no matter how sheer, and he may even climb upside down, at his normal walking movement rate. The character must have his hands and feet free to climb in this manner, although he may still wear gloves, shoes, etc.

Spiritual Balance
This mana talent vastly improves the character’s sense of balance and body control such that while conscious, the character can never be knocked or thrown to the ground (the character somehow always manages to land on his feet). The character can also walk across or even fight upon the flimsiest of structures (such as ropes, tree branches, power lines, etc.) at normal speed, without fear of falling. The structure traversed must be solid (as opposed to gas or liquid) and capable of supporting at least 1% of the character’s normal body weight.

The Sight*
The Sight enables a character to detect creatures and anomalies native to the Empyrean. The Sight does not reveal the exact nature of the creature or anomaly viewed, but the character can certainly tell that something about it is abnormal. For instance, in the Periphery, the character may be able to see a slight disturbance in the waters where a hidden whirlpool has formed. In the Dreamworld, he may be able to realize that a Dreamwalker (or perhaps a Broodking) is posing among the Unreal using the Chameleon Skin mana gimmick. Other spiritual anomalies may also be detected, both in the real and the spirit worlds, at the director’s discretion.

Thief in the Night
Thief in the Night grants the character a bonus of +2 effort to all stealth-related tasks. The character appears hazy and insubstantial to those not looking directly at him.

Whirling Dervish
With this mana talent, the character becomes a whirlwind of attacks, jumping around, doing flips and rolls, and attacking his opponents from strange and awkward angles. The character performs one melee or brawling task as normal, but the attack is applied to every adjacent opponent instead of just one target.

Wolf Senses
Wolf Senses grants a bonus of +2 effort to all Awareness-based tasks. This bonus extends to all the five senses—sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell and perhaps even beyond to the legendary sixth sense as the character may notice even subtle changes (such as tension) in his surroundings. This mana talent may be purchased more than once.


Major Mana Talents

Heart of the Beast
This mana talent enables the character to assume the form of any type of person, plant, animal, or creature. The character retains his own Awareness, Creativity, Reasoning, discipline, luck, gimmicks, aspects, and skills (usable at the director’s discretion) and gains the Fitness, natural armor, and other inherent physical gimmicks of the desired creature (such as a dragon’s fiery breath) again, at the director’s discretion. Use of this gimmick does not impart special abilities, non-physical gimmicks, aspects, or skills. Heart of the Beast cannot replicate an existing creature (such as a specific person) but can mimic different ages, genders, races, or types of creatures inherent to the Dreamworld (such as a fish-man in an underwater fantasy setting).

Partial transformations (such as growing claws or wings) and transformation into creatures larger or smaller than the character require at least a successful challenging Creativity + Athletics task. This task receives +1diff to +4diff depending on the difference in size between the character and the desired form (director’s discretion). Failure inflicts 1inj to the character. A calamity at this task means the character cannot use this mana talent again until his next period of REM sleep.

Crossing Over
With this mana talent, characters may choose to cross over from the real world into the dream and become a creature of pure spirit. When a character crosses over, he gains a bonus of +1 to his Fitness, and this ability may be increased to a maximum of +5. In addition, the character automatically gains one minor mana talent (his choice), and the ratio of minor to major mana gimmicks becomes 1:1 instead of the normal ratio of 2:1.

This mana talent is only available to Mystics and Naturals. The Dreamwalker’s physical body essentially dies, while his consciousness continues to live on in his own Dreamworld. A character who crosses over is considered to be a native of the Empyrean. The upside to this is that he becomes considerably more powerful. The downside is that when a character is killed in the Dreamworld, he is ejected into the Periphery. If killed in the Periphery or his own Dreamworld, he apparently ceases to exist.

Directors have the final say on whether or not a character may choose this gimmick and cross over. Dreamwalkers who cross over may continue to interact with those who have not for a time, but eventually they lose touch with those in the physical world.

Form of the Earth
This mana talent enables the character to assume the form of any type of nonliving, nonmagical, inanimate object. The character remains conscious and retains his own Awareness, Creativity, Reasoning, aspects, gimmicks, and skills (usable at the director’s discretion) while taking on the natural armor and possibly other inherent physical gimmicks of the desired object (also at the director’s discretion). This mana talent does not impart special abilities, aspects, non-physical gimmicks, or skills. Speech and movement are limited by the object in question and again, by the diirector’s discretion. For example, a car may drive around normally and speak through its radio or horn, but a refrigerator cannot speak (although it could conceivably communicate in code by opening and closing its door) and can only “walk” by rocking from side to side.

Partial transformation (such as a hammer hand or human legs on a refrigerator body) and transformation into objects larger or smaller than the character’s size requires at least a successful challenging Creativity + Athletics task. This task receives +1diff to +4diff depending on the difference in size between the character and the desired object (director’s discretion). Failure causes 1inj to the character. A calamity means the character cannot use this mana gimmick again until his next period of REM sleep.

Genesis
This mana talent enables a Dreamwalker to extend his alteration powers to include living Unreal. The difficulty and mana point cost are based on the Unreal’s size. Only normal Unreal or Unreal inherent to the Dreamworld (such as a troll in a fantasy setting) may be altered in this manner. Genesis does not bestow any particular loyalty to the character in question nor do Dreamwalkers have any control over the memories, personalities, or actions of fabricated Unreal, although this is often dictated by the Unreal in question (i.e. a newly Created British soldier will most likely fight Nazi Unreal on the battlefield). Genesis has no effect on the Taenia or other Dreamwalkers although larval hosts may be affected by alteration in this manner.

Long Arm
This mana talent enables the character to use alteration powers at a range equal to his Creativity rating in yards, provided he has a clear line of sight. The mana point cost increases by +1 for every yard after the first but otherwise is treated as if the character was actually touching the item or affected area. This mana talent may be taken more than once and doubles the normal range each time.

Mana Control
Mana Control allows the character to use mana and extraneous components even while in the Periphery. Fitness increases, new skills/skill increases, and altered items disappear once the character enters a Dreamworld or dream island.

Night Whispers
This potentially powerful mana talent is still being refined by agencies such as Project Dreamwalker and the Clinic. Night Whispers enables a Joined character to implant a command into the Dreamer’s subconscious mind with a successful challenging subterfuge task. This command must be carried out on the following day and must not go against the basic beliefs of the person in question. For example, a secretary will not kill her boss, but she may be convinced to forget to lock his office door at night, and a politician will not sign a bill to which he is vehemently opposed, but he may decline to speak out against it, at least for a day, as long as (to his knowledge) his silence will not directly affect the outcome of the bill.

Whenever in doubt, have the Dreamer resist the character’s subterfuge using his own leadership skill. The Dreamer may receive a bonus of +1 to +5 effort or even higher when using the leadership skill to resist commands that are totally anathema to his beliefs. If the character loses the contest, he is automatically ejected from the body of the Dreamer and either receives one grade of dementia or is ejected from the Dreamworld as well (player’s choice).

Raven’s Wings
This mana talent enables the character to fly at a maximum speed up to twice the character’s normal running speed. In some cases, Raven’s Wings may add effort to stealth-related tasks for purposes of ambush or trailing (director’s discretion).

Soulforge*
Soulforge enables a character to invest his own mana in the crafting of permanent spiritual items. These items manifest along with the character whenever he enters the Empyrean. Additionally, a character with the Genesis mana talent is able to create permanent living creatures in the same fashion. These creatures are initially loyal to the character however, as they continue to develop and grow, the more intelligent creatures eventually choose to leave the character’s service. Items or creatures that are destroyed or killed anywhere in the Empyrean cease to exist. Soulforging is not undertaken lightly. In order to forge an item (or creature), the Dreamwalker must Create the item using mana points deducted directly from his mana aspect—this mana point loss is permanent. A Soulforger may also invest experience points to add mana talents to the item, giving anyone who possesses the item access to those mana talents. For instance, a Soulforged gold bracelet costs 2 mana points to Create. An additional 80 experience points invests it with Raven’s Wings so that whoever wears the bracelet gains the ability to fly. A forged creature may use any mana talents with which it has been invested, but its owner cannot.

Spirit Wind
This mana talent enables the character to automatically teleport himself and his belongings to any place within his direct line of sight or to any place within the Dreamworld that the character has previously visited, with a successful routine Creativity + Athletics task. The character never materializes into a solid object and may take others with him only if they are willing—he must complete at least a routine Creativity + Athletics task at +1diff for each additional person taken. Failure indicates only one half the distance is traveled and each character takes 1inj from the stress. A calamity indicates the character cannot use this mana talent again until his next period of REM sleep.

Totem*
Totem enables a character to become in tune with his own animal spirit or guide. Once per dream, this guide may be called upon to manifest and grant the character the ability to use any mana talent for a brief period of time, usually until the completion of a single task (director’s discretion). The totem animal disappears once the task is completed.

While present, the totem animal can be helpful, but it is just as often rude, fickle and vain. It occasionally makes demands upon the character (which might actually provide a hook to future adventures) and it expects the Dreamwalker and his companions to treat it and others of its kind (both in the real and spirit worlds) with respect and dignity. If not, the totem refuses to answer the Dreamwalker’s calls until he atones in some way (director’s decision, depending on the degree of insult). It should be noted that despite its pseudophysical manifestation, the totem animal is not an actual creature, but rather a manifestation of the Dreamwalker’s own subconscious mind. It is unclear what this says about the totem’s behavior, but many theories abound.

The player does not get to choose his character’s totem animal. Instead, he should consult the list below, determine three animals whose traits best fit the character’s behavior, and write these animals onto a folded scrap of paper. The director should then do the same. Once six animals have been chosen, the player should choose from the scraps of paper to randomly determine which totem animal answers his call. The list of animals can be expanded if the director approves.

Animal		Trait
Ant		patience, hard work
Bear		power, introspection, wisdom
Cat		independence, cleverness, curiosity
Dog		loyalty, honesty, friendship
Eagle		the sun, clear vision, health, truth
Fish		water, life
Gorilla		family, strength, territorial, nurturing
Horse		steadfastness, loyalty, travel
Iguana		patience, stealth
Jaguar		night-time, fearlessness, hunting
Kangaroo		family, survival
Lizard		rebirth, stealth, perception
Mouse		order, wariness, stealth
Narwhal		individuality, protection, innocence
Otter		playfulness
Peacock		beauty, self confidence
Quail		sacrifice, stealth, family
Rat		fertility, stealth, intelligence
Snake		growth, knowledge and learning
Tortoise		practicality, self- preservation, reliability
Unicorn		virginity, innocence, goodness
Vulture		scavenging, patience, confidence
Wolf		free spirited, loyalty, family, courage
Yak		strength, warmth, helpfulness
Zebra		individuality, confidence

Walk the Dream*
Walk the Dream enables a person to physically enter and exit the Empyrean. This enables Dreamwalkers to cover vast distances in the real world. To use this mana talent, the character must be either asleep or in an advanced state of meditation and/or concentration.

The character may traverse the Empyrean as if he were in his spiritual form. His physical body actually leaves the real world and enters the world of spirit. However, exiting the Empyrean is somewhat tricky—the character must enter the Dreamworld of another person and essentially ride that Dreamer’s consciousness back into the real world when the Dreamer exits REM sleep. The Dreamer does not automatically awaken when this happens although this is always a possibility.

Other problems may certainly arise—for instance, if the Dreamwalker exits into a prison cell, someone’s bedroom, aboard an airplane, etc. These situations must be roleplayed accordingly. Given time, the Dreamwalker may be able to discern the Dreamer’s physical whereabouts via Joining or by investigating fluff via sleuthing (director’s discretion).

The geography of the Empyrean roughly correlates to that of the real world. The director should use the rules for locating a specific Dreamworld (Dreamwalker Diceless, pg. 29) as a guide to determine whether or not the character comes close to his desired real world location. Navigating the waters of the Periphery in this manner is not only difficult, but hazardous as well—if the character dies in the Empyrean, he ceases to exist.

©2004 Lucid Entertainment and Politically Incorrect Games. All rights reserved. Dreamwalker is a trademark of Lucid Entertainment.