As a DM tool it can be useful. A vague dream that gives them a clue as to where to go next - or help them if they're currently stuck because they missed a clue or two.
A table can't really help with coming up with "prophetic" nightmares, because a generic table wouldn't know about what might happen in your world.
It depends on their class as to whether they are going to be really hampered by missing a long rest. If they aren't too badly affected by missing long rests then it won't really be a disbenefit to them, and so would be overpowered. If they also gain some ability (like from some types of warlock) to not need long rests, then it would also be overpowered.
If they lose the ability to benefit from long rests then they presumably won't be sleeping and so won't have nightmares.
If they have a nightmare that is prophetic then definitely make them miss the long rest (and unable to long rest until the following day - to avoid them simply starting a new long rest after the nightmare is over).
I would suggest caution when using this, as once a PC hits Level 3 Exhaustion, it becomes a death spiral. Maybe make an increasing scale for occurence of said dreams that resets upon an event. It might be weighted towards or away from the event happening depending on the events of the previous day. Good day, lean away from the event. Day full of triggers, lean towards the event. This gives the player the opportunity to provide input on the frequency, and allows them to maintain some agency. Dice rolls will be random enough, and the increasing scale should provide enough incentive to cause the PC to "confront their demons", so to speak.
I trust that the player has buy-in, as you've stated that they initiated this backstory conversation. I still recommend a cautious approach, as some IRL "demons" hide in dreams.
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“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Depending on impact to character, I would 100% go with this and implement by timing rather than a random table, if the character was heavily affected by missing LR (Caster anyone?) Random table might be ok for a pure melee, but unless the caster still has a lot of slots could be a BIG hit. Random table could upset your intended balance by crippling a key role in a fight or challenge, so having control over it yourself will better fit your intended narrative, and lower the risk of a TPK because dice gods said the Wizard got no spells back.
Prophecy-wise, I would use detriment/reward models where missing a first night might give them a hazy glimpse of something in their path. If the PC falls asleep the following night worrying about it, a more clear image or hint is revealed, leaving the 2nd level of exhaustion and maybe a second LR with no spells recovered. I agree to be wary of reaching 3, as it can be a challenge to overcome then, but all told, it offers you, the DM a marvelous bit to work with storytelling and a great method of dropping plot hooks or street signs any time you feel it might be due.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
The problem with prophetic nightmares/dreams is that you don't know what is going to happen later in the campaign, so how can you give them hints of prophecy? The Divination Wizard ability allows players two d20 rerolls to suggest insight into the future.
I would play this straight up as telling them "you wake from a dream, soaked in sweat. You recall..." [insert blurred ideas about upcoming dungeon]
I would not make it impact long rests. Character backstory should not have any mechanical impact on the game. It's there for role play reasons, not to give them added advantages or disadvantages. Leave it to the player to decide if they want their long rest to be spoiled - they can decide that they did not get a long rest benefit, if they want to, but otherwise this character becomes a major hindrance to the party.
Let's say you have a table to roll on, and one of the options is that they fail to rest. After 2 or 3 failed long rests, the party may well decide to leave the character at home and go adventuring without them. This is no fun for anybody. Let the character choose when to gain levels of Exhaustion if they want to.
If you really want a table to roll on and the player is down for it, then I'd do something like:
When sleeping, roll percentile dice. There is a 30% chance of a nightmare occuring. If so, roll 1d8:
1: Strong glimpse into the future. The player can reroll up to two d20s during the following 24 hours, and must abide by the new roll. 2: Glimpse into the future. The player can reroll one d20 during the following 24 hours, and must abide by the new roll. 3-6: The nightmares are bad, but no effect 7: The nightmares keep the character tossing and turning. The player takes a Short Rest instead of a Long Rest. 8: The nightmares prevent all rest.
I would also make the character take this as a Custom Feat.
I've used prophetic dreams in my games and have played characters who received them. I find it's best when the dreams are rare.
If it happens all the time, everyone comes to expect them and they lose their impact. Or, worse, they can become melodramatic and turn roleplay into a spotlight-hogging drama fest. However, it you space them out a lot and have them coincide with upcoming arcs, it can be very fun and impactful.
Regarding mechanics, I personally wouldn't introduce any. If the PC experiences a truly profound nightmare, perhaps they don't benefit from a long rest - but, like, once. Even if you aren't a caster, not having hit dice reset and having exhaustion levels start to stack makes the game anywhere from unfun to actually deadly. Until you have a cleric and a bunch of diamonds handy to cast Greater Restoration, it can be a pretty significant party liability to miss long rests.
If you really want to gameify the horror of the nightmares, perhaps do something more thematic and smaller-scale with them. Maybe hearing a wolf's howl causes them to dissociate for a bit (stunned for one round?) if they fail a charisma save as the memories wash over them. Maybe they wake up in the middle of the night and can't quite tell if they're still dreaming, so they make INT/WIS checks with disadvantage until they calm down. You can also introduce the Sanity score from the DMG if you and the player are interested in making it more of a long-term struggle across the campaign.
In the campaign I am running for our group, 2 of the players have had foresight type dreams. Very specific series of events, but an undetermined location. One was the subject of an event and the other was the "hero" who saves him in the visions. No impact to rest, but the players are aware of something they have now both experienced. The victim, if I recall, shared his story, while the other did not. Making for an interesting setup to the event I have planned, for it to come true.
If you really stir your creative juices, I am willing to bet you can introduce some "portent" type visions during sleep that will hint at things to come, without spilling the beans entirely. I have made notes on a separate area, to track the dreams my players have. I intend to bring several to fruition over the campaign, many, many sessions after they've had the visions.
I also note a lot of concern over spotlight stealing and the rest of the party getting fed up with a hindered member, ending up booting him. her. It makes me wonder what kind of folks people are stuck playing with, to be so selfish (stealing a spotlight for the whole campaign) or so intolerant (oh, Doug's tired again, screw him!) I sense a lot of folks on the forums seems to play with a lot of shitty people to have such fears constantly nagging at them.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
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So I have a player with the following...
Has continued nightmares, also prophetic in nature...
My player has suggested that this nightmares can be so bad, that it affects his long rests...
How would I implement his in the game...some sort of random table...but never seen anything like this, for rests or dreams
As a DM tool it can be useful. A vague dream that gives them a clue as to where to go next - or help them if they're currently stuck because they missed a clue or two.
A table can't really help with coming up with "prophetic" nightmares, because a generic table wouldn't know about what might happen in your world.
It depends on their class as to whether they are going to be really hampered by missing a long rest. If they aren't too badly affected by missing long rests then it won't really be a disbenefit to them, and so would be overpowered. If they also gain some ability (like from some types of warlock) to not need long rests, then it would also be overpowered.
If they lose the ability to benefit from long rests then they presumably won't be sleeping and so won't have nightmares.
If they have a nightmare that is prophetic then definitely make them miss the long rest (and unable to long rest until the following day - to avoid them simply starting a new long rest after the nightmare is over).
Xanathar's Guide has a small mechanic piece on sleep. Going Without a Long Rest.
I would suggest caution when using this, as once a PC hits Level 3 Exhaustion, it becomes a death spiral. Maybe make an increasing scale for occurence of said dreams that resets upon an event. It might be weighted towards or away from the event happening depending on the events of the previous day. Good day, lean away from the event. Day full of triggers, lean towards the event. This gives the player the opportunity to provide input on the frequency, and allows them to maintain some agency. Dice rolls will be random enough, and the increasing scale should provide enough incentive to cause the PC to "confront their demons", so to speak.
I trust that the player has buy-in, as you've stated that they initiated this backstory conversation. I still recommend a cautious approach, as some IRL "demons" hide in dreams.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” - Mark Twain - Innocents Abroad
Depending on impact to character, I would 100% go with this and implement by timing rather than a random table, if the character was heavily affected by missing LR (Caster anyone?) Random table might be ok for a pure melee, but unless the caster still has a lot of slots could be a BIG hit. Random table could upset your intended balance by crippling a key role in a fight or challenge, so having control over it yourself will better fit your intended narrative, and lower the risk of a TPK because dice gods said the Wizard got no spells back.
Prophecy-wise, I would use detriment/reward models where missing a first night might give them a hazy glimpse of something in their path. If the PC falls asleep the following night worrying about it, a more clear image or hint is revealed, leaving the 2nd level of exhaustion and maybe a second LR with no spells recovered. I agree to be wary of reaching 3, as it can be a challenge to overcome then, but all told, it offers you, the DM a marvelous bit to work with storytelling and a great method of dropping plot hooks or street signs any time you feel it might be due.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
The problem with prophetic nightmares/dreams is that you don't know what is going to happen later in the campaign, so how can you give them hints of prophecy? The Divination Wizard ability allows players two d20 rerolls to suggest insight into the future.
I would play this straight up as telling them "you wake from a dream, soaked in sweat. You recall..." [insert blurred ideas about upcoming dungeon]
I would not make it impact long rests. Character backstory should not have any mechanical impact on the game. It's there for role play reasons, not to give them added advantages or disadvantages. Leave it to the player to decide if they want their long rest to be spoiled - they can decide that they did not get a long rest benefit, if they want to, but otherwise this character becomes a major hindrance to the party.
Let's say you have a table to roll on, and one of the options is that they fail to rest. After 2 or 3 failed long rests, the party may well decide to leave the character at home and go adventuring without them. This is no fun for anybody. Let the character choose when to gain levels of Exhaustion if they want to.
If you really want a table to roll on and the player is down for it, then I'd do something like:
When sleeping, roll percentile dice. There is a 30% chance of a nightmare occuring. If so, roll 1d8:
1: Strong glimpse into the future. The player can reroll up to two d20s during the following 24 hours, and must abide by the new roll.
2: Glimpse into the future. The player can reroll one d20 during the following 24 hours, and must abide by the new roll.
3-6: The nightmares are bad, but no effect
7: The nightmares keep the character tossing and turning. The player takes a Short Rest instead of a Long Rest.
8: The nightmares prevent all rest.
I would also make the character take this as a Custom Feat.
I would definitely only have the prophetic nightmares occur intermittently, rather than every night.
I've used prophetic dreams in my games and have played characters who received them. I find it's best when the dreams are rare.
If it happens all the time, everyone comes to expect them and they lose their impact. Or, worse, they can become melodramatic and turn roleplay into a spotlight-hogging drama fest. However, it you space them out a lot and have them coincide with upcoming arcs, it can be very fun and impactful.
Regarding mechanics, I personally wouldn't introduce any. If the PC experiences a truly profound nightmare, perhaps they don't benefit from a long rest - but, like, once. Even if you aren't a caster, not having hit dice reset and having exhaustion levels start to stack makes the game anywhere from unfun to actually deadly. Until you have a cleric and a bunch of diamonds handy to cast Greater Restoration, it can be a pretty significant party liability to miss long rests.
If you really want to gameify the horror of the nightmares, perhaps do something more thematic and smaller-scale with them. Maybe hearing a wolf's howl causes them to dissociate for a bit (stunned for one round?) if they fail a charisma save as the memories wash over them. Maybe they wake up in the middle of the night and can't quite tell if they're still dreaming, so they make INT/WIS checks with disadvantage until they calm down. You can also introduce the Sanity score from the DMG if you and the player are interested in making it more of a long-term struggle across the campaign.
In the campaign I am running for our group, 2 of the players have had foresight type dreams. Very specific series of events, but an undetermined location. One was the subject of an event and the other was the "hero" who saves him in the visions. No impact to rest, but the players are aware of something they have now both experienced. The victim, if I recall, shared his story, while the other did not. Making for an interesting setup to the event I have planned, for it to come true.
If you really stir your creative juices, I am willing to bet you can introduce some "portent" type visions during sleep that will hint at things to come, without spilling the beans entirely. I have made notes on a separate area, to track the dreams my players have. I intend to bring several to fruition over the campaign, many, many sessions after they've had the visions.
I also note a lot of concern over spotlight stealing and the rest of the party getting fed up with a hindered member, ending up booting him. her. It makes me wonder what kind of folks people are stuck playing with, to be so selfish (stealing a spotlight for the whole campaign) or so intolerant (oh, Doug's tired again, screw him!) I sense a lot of folks on the forums seems to play with a lot of shitty people to have such fears constantly nagging at them.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.