The Dream Creatures of the Moonlands dwell primarily in the Dream Plane. Here, they live, grow, reproduce, and eventually die. However, the Dream Creatures can be brought into the physical world through the efforts of Magi. Magi are able to tap into the Dream Plane, providing energy to the various dream creatures. The Dream Creatures may then enter the physical world to help out the summoning Magi. When the creature exhausts the energy maintaining its physical form, it fades back to the Dream Plane - no physical traces remain behind.
While in the physical world, all Dream Creatures have a field of dream energy throughout their bodies. This energy maintains the creatures' physical existence, and sustains it in the physical world. This energy field is normally invisible, but can be perceived by other Dream Creatures. Some of the dream creatures are adept at manipulating dream energy, particularly some varieties of Hyren. Other Dream Creatures may expend it in unusual ways. However, the dream energy is capable of being disrupted.
Dream Creatures have been known ever since they were created by the ancients. The Dream Creatures can actually project themselves into the physical world without the help of magi. They probably do this out of curiousity, or perhaps to escape something in the Dream Plane. Before Agadon rediscovered how to summon Dream Creatures, the Moonlands inhabitants just thought of them as another creature (that disappeared if killed). But even today, it is not uncommon for a magi to discover a litter of balamant pups playing in a grove, or a young bisiwog exploring the physical world.
Many Dream Creatures in the physical world appear to be carnivorous. In actuality, these predatory Dream Creatures consume the Dream Energy used by their prey - rather than the creatures themselves. When a predatory Dream Creature attacks and consumes another Dream Creature, the prey will vanish to the Dream Realm as usual, and the predator will absorb the Dream Energy used by the prey. In this case, no Animite is left by the prey (its all absorbed by the predator).
All Dream Creatures will leave behind animite when they are defeated. For wild Dream Creatures, this takes the form of chips and crystals. Dream Creatures summoned by a magi focus most of the Dream Energy through their ring, and therefore do not leave anything more than Animite dust behind. This does not include Dream Creatures summoned by spell or Summoner's special abilities; those creatures are treated as wild for the purposes of their residual animite. To calculate the amount of Animite left behind by a Dream Creature when it is returned to the Dream Realm, use the following table:
| Size | Chips |
| Fine - Diminutive | 1d6 |
| Tiny - Small | 2d6 |
| Medium | 3d6 |
| Large - Huge | 4d6 |
| Gigantic - Colossal | 5d6 |
When rolling for the number of chips, add 1d6 per every 2CR of the creature (round down) to the dice for creature size, then roll. Any roll of 1 on a die indicates a crystal instead of a chip. For those creatures which automatically preserve part of themselves (such as Weebos), a d4 is used instead of a d6 to determine the animite left by the creature when it leaves
Example:
Cumula defeats a wild Furok while venturing in Naroom. The Furok is a Large, CR4 creature. Therefore, the gamemaster rolls 4d6 for the size, plus an extra 2d6 for the challenge rating (the furok is CR4). The dice read 1, 2, 3, 3, 5, 6 - yielding 1 Crystal and 19 chips.
She later encounters a wild weebo. After the weebo is defeated, the gamemaster rolls 3d4 for the animite left behind. The GM rolls 1, 3, 4 - yielding 1 Crystal and 7 chips - plus the weebo's body is preserved for her dinner.
An animite crystal has a 10% chance of being infused with the particular imprint of a Dream Creature. A ringsmith may use a crystal of infused animite to forge a creature ring (along with some non-infused animite). When a Ringsmith forges a Dream Creature Ring, the process requires at least one crystal infused with the imprint of the Dream Creature that the ring is designed for. If the forging is successful, a creature of the identical type is bound to the ring. This creature may or may not be the same Dream Creature that left behind the infused animite.
A magi who has befriended a particular wild Dream Creature may capture the imprinting of that particular creature. The Dream Creature may voluntarily return to the Dream Plane, releasing its energy into a shower of Animite; at least one crystal will be infused with the Dream Creature's imprint. If that crystal is successfully forged into a ring, the befriended Dream Creature will automatically be bound to the ring.
A magi may give a Dream Creature ring to another magi. The Dream Creature bound to the ring remains attached to that ring, even when summoned by the new magi. However, the Dream Creature may not initially take well to the new magi, and the new magi must befriend the Dream Creature. The process is made simpler if the original magi summons the Dream Creature, introduces the new magi, and then gives the Ring to the new magi. This is the way most apprentice magi gain their first Ring.
A magi may also dismiss a creature from service. To do so, the magi simply gives the creature its ring. When the creature returns to the Dream Plane with the ring, the animite contained in the ring will return to the Dream Creature, and it will once again become a Wild dream creature.
Occasionally, a magi will suffer some misfortune, and lose an animite ring. They may have discarded it intentionally, lost it by chance, or suffered a dire fate. Since the creature that is bound to the ring cannot summon itself, it is powerless to give the ring to another magi, or act in the real world in any way. Naturally, this is a state that Dream Creatures abhor.
When a lost ring is discovered, a magi may determine the creature's CR with a successful Appraise check. The magi may also determine if the ring contains a creature of their region, or if the ring contains a creature that could never be controlled by him (such as a Core creature). The magi cannot determine the actual creature contained in the ring without expending Dream energy.
A creature summoned from a Lost Ring will usually assume the worst about its former master. Its reaction to the new magi will generally be poor (+5 to the DC of any Diplomacy or Handle Animal checks). If the new magi is potentially hostile, the creature may even attack the summoning magi. Creatures from Lost Rings can sometimes be placated by returning their ring to them.
Magi frequently dream-summon Dream Creatures to fight for them, protect them, or even for companionship. To summon a Dream Creature, a magi needs a ring made of Animite, and empowered with the particular essence of the Dream Creature that is keyed to the ring. These rings are made by the Ringsmith of the magi's region. All magi will start with one Animite Ring with a creature appropriate to their region. A ring is keyed to a single dream creature; a Furok ring will always summon the same furok.
To summon the Dream Creature, the Magi merely wills it while wearing the appropriate ring. This is a standard action. The magi must also expend Dream Energy equal to 3 times the Dream Creature's CR. The Dream Creature appears at the end of the round, and may act normally on the following round. The magi may even summon the creature while under physical attack or after taking damage in the round; the magi must make a Concentration check with a Difficulty Class equal to 10 + the CR of the Dream Creature being summoned.
Once summoned, the Dream Creature is linked to the magi with an empathic link. This link allows the magi and Dream Creature to communicate; the Dream Creature is usually absolutely loyal to its summoner. Of course, the Dream Creatures do have personalities and mannerisms (GMs are encouraged to develop traits for their players' dream creatures). The Dream Creature will fight or use powers and abilities as directed by the magi. The Dream Creatures become quite attached to their magi, and generally adopt personality traits (as well as alignment, etc) of their magi.
A magi may use an animite ring to summon the same creature more than once per day. Each ring is linked to a specific dream creature, and the same creature will appear whenever the ring is used. Obviously, if the creature is already present in the physical world, it cannot be summoned a second time.
In some cases, a Magi may need to undream their creature, returning it to the Dream Plane. This allows the magi to regain some of the energy which is maintaining the Dream Creature in the Physical world. When a Dream Creature is unsummoned by its controlling magi, the magi regains Dream Energy equal to 1 point for every 10 hit points the Dream Creature has remaining. The creature must have been summoned with an Animite Ring. The energy regained MUST be less than the energy required to summon the creature - a magi cannot use summoning and unsummoning to regain Dream Energy!
Dream creatures which are not controlled by magi through the use of animite rings are considered Wild dream creatures. Wild dream creatures act according to their own desires and inclinations. Few will attack magi without provocation. Most wild dream creatures will rarely venture out of their own region.
Wild dream creatures may magine themselves into the physical world once a day. They appear from the dream realm fully healed, even if they were badly injured (or defeated) in the physical world on the previous day. A dream creature may also voluntaily return to the Dream Plane at any time. Transferring to or from the Dream Plane is a full round action; it may be done freely if not in combat. A creature trying to return to the Dream Plane while in combat must make a DC20 Concentration check (modified by any damage received during the round).
Any Dream Creature summoned by a summoning spell (as opposed to an Animite ring) is considered to be Wild. They are still under the control of the summoning magi. The extent of the magi's control varies according to the spell description. Wild Dream Creatures, even those that magine themselves into the real world, are considered Summoned creatures.
The creatures of the Core are generally evil minions of the corrupting energies of the Core. They are evil, and hostile to non-tainted magi. Even those magi who are tainted may not be able to control Core creatures easily - they simply do not want to deal with the magi of the upper world, and the feeling is generally mutual.
However, every so often, a rare Core creature is befriended by a non-Core magi. Invariably these creatures accept magi who are from a region where the Core Dream Creature feels at home. Thus, an Underneath magi may be able to befriend a subterranean Ugger, or an Arderian may be able to tame a Dark Ayebaw. The creature will never be totally at ease, and the magi's other Dream Creatures will initially dislike the Core creature. Some may even refuse to be summoned at the same time as the Core creature. Furthermore, the character's regional Ringsmith may not want to forge a ring containing a Core creature, and asking a Core Ringsmith is a good way for a magi to start down the one-way path to corruption. Core creatures that may be summoned by Non-Core magi are mentioned as such in their description.
Likewise, most non-Core dream creatures will have nothing to do with a Core magi (outside of combatting them). However, a few of the Dream Creatures have a nasty side that a Core magi may take advantage of. For instance, a Magma Jile has a bit of a mean streak, particularly when very hungry (which is almost always). While they will not willingly follow a pure Core magi, they are not bothered by a Calder who has dipped a bit too often into Core magics and become a Shadow Magi.
A magi will frequently come into contact with Dream Creatures. A magi may attempt to befriend, tame, or otherwise approach a Dream Creature in a non-hostile way.
All Dream Creatures are at least semi-sentient. Therefore, handling them like an animal does not help to befriend the creature. Instead a combination of Animal Handling and Diplomacy is required.
In order to befriend a wild Dream creature enough so that it would be willing to be a partner, a magi must first be on a friendly basis with the creature. Then the mage needs to succeed in either a Diplomacy check (if the creature us above 10 Intelligence) or a Handle Animal check (if the creature is of lower intelligence). Befriending a Dream Creature takes some time - dream creatures are not always willing to give up their freedom. The base difficulty for befriending a creature is specified in their entries under the Control heading. This difficulty is modified by the values in the table below:
| DC modifier | |
|---|---|
| Magi is the same region as the creature | 10 |
| Magi is of a different region | +5 |
| Magi is of a different region, skulking creature (overrides above modifier) | -5 |
| Creature's Challenge Rating (CR) | +CR *2 |
| Creature's Control value | +Control |
| Magi is tainted (per point of taint), non-Core creature without Shadow trait | +2 |
| Core creature with Shadow trait, Magi of appropriate non-core region (stacks with different region penalty above) | -2 |
| Magi is a Warden for the creature type | -4 |
| Magi already controls a creature of the same exact type (stacks with Warden bonus): | -2 |
| Creature is already Controlled, and being given to a new magi | -2 |
| Controlled Creature is summoned by unknown magi | +5 |
| Core Magi | +2 |
The table above also applies when a magi is given an animite ring with a creature in it (or finds one), and the modifiers (except for CR rating) are also used when trying to use diplomacy or animal handling on Dream Creatures. Universal creatures are always assumed to be the same region as a magi.
Example: Korall the Orothean Defender attempts to befriend a wild Orpus. The Orpus' CR is 3, and its Control value is -2 - a fairly easy creature to work with. His DC to befriend the Orpus is 10 + 3*2 -2 = 14. Korall successfully befriends the Orpus, which returns to the Dream Plane, leaving Korall with an infused animite crystal. Korall later has a ring forged for his new friend, who automatically is bound to the forged ring. Korall later discovers a lost animite ring deep below the sea. Summoning his courage, Korall uses his Dream Energy to summon the unknown creature. Unfortunately, the creature is a Tragan. Though the tragan is controllable by Orothe magi, Korall must first convince it that he wants to befriend it. Even if he's successful, the odds of Befriending the tragan are not good - 15 + 6*2 +0 (the tragan's control rating) + 5 (the tragan was summoned by an unknown magi), or 32!
Artificers are able to preserve components of wild Dream Creatures. This process requires the artificer to expend Dream Energy, and when the target Dream Creature returns to the Dream Plane, the fragments of the creature that have been preserved will remain in the real world. The process does not actually harm the Dream Creature, nor does it actually remove the part of the creature. Instead the artificer simply uses the Dream Creature as a template or framework - since the Dream Energy which makes up the creature's body is already in a stable form, the artificer simply adds enough energy to make the form stable without the rest of the Dream Creature.
When a creature has components preserved by an Artificer, none of the dream energy is left as animite.
Example: Flynt is a Kybarite Artificer who wants to fashion a Moga Fang Necklace. After tracking down a wild Moga, he Preserves the fangs of the Moga. With a whoop, he then summons his Giant Chogus to defeat the Moga. After the battle, only the teeth remain for his necklace.
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