In my campaign one of the characters has an identical twin that they don't know about since their assassin parents had to seperate them for protection. Her twin is a performer in a travelling circus troupe. Each long rest I have the PC roll to see if they have any dreams, the dreams are visions taken from their twins life, thus the title of this thread.
I'm also going to use this mechanism to throw give hints about a villian building an undead army or ransacking villages.
what a lovely idea... I guess it would help and probably become necessary should the siblings ever meet... to decide what kind of performer the twin is Trapeze artist, magician or magicians assistant exetra as this would influence the dreams ie rotating on a disc and having knives thrown at one or doing the knife throwing, flying through the air and being caught by firm hands or someone letting you go and just catching a swinging rope. really like your idea sounds like a load of fun
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“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Dreams could be of circus life downtime activity. Walking through a village of wagons. Playing dragonchess with a bearded lady. Feeding monsters. Pitching a tent as big as a mansion.
That's true @justinDarkness. The PC is a very acrobatic monk so I was thinking of something along the lines of a Chinese style circus acrobat. Some trapeze memories would be interesting to.
@kcbcollier, downtime activities sound like a great way to plant some seeds for later quests. I envision them as identical twins and she'll be recognized when she visits some of the same locales but won't really know what's going on.
Also be sure to make the dream detailed enough that it feels real, but also vague enough on certain details that the character will have to spend time thinking about it afterward.
For example, while the character is taking a long rest you could say to the player, "During the night, you feel a wave of vertigo wash over you. You feel weightless, as if you're flying... and then spinning... and then falling... Everything around you is a spinning blur of bright lights, you can't even tell which way is up. You feel yourself falling, you instinctively reach out your hands to find something - anything - to grab hold of to break your fall... At the last moment a pair of strong hands grab your wrists and you feel yourself swinging to safety. The air around you is shattered by a thunderous.... applause." And then they wake up.
Or maybe you could throw in a clue even when the character is awake. Maybe the party has to hide from someone, and that character finds a make-up kit, and despite never having used such a kit before, and despite not having proficiency in such a kit, they find their own hands suddenly just calmly going through the motions of muscle memory and applying the makeup expertly to their own face. No explanation given.
Or maybe an NPC mistakes the character for their twin. Maybe the NPC knows (or knew) their twin and just strikes up a conversation in a tavern and the player has to decide how to react. Maybe the player even finds their character giving some responses that they (the player) didn't even know that their own character knew.
It's a great idea for a backstory hook. I hope it works out for you!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Circuses have their own distinct culture. By that I mean that they have have their own slang and hierarchies of status that differs a little from life outside the circus. Spectators were/are often regarded as people to be tricked out of their money ("Look at those rubes!"). Many circus games were/are setup to make it impossible to win the big prizes for this same reason. Circuses were about making as much money as possible for most of the people involved.
Circuses have their own distinct culture. By that I mean that they have have their own slang and hierarchies of status that differs a little from life outside the circus. Spectators were/are often regarded as people to be tricked out of their money ("Look at those rubes!"). Many circus games were/are setup to make it impossible to win the big prizes for this same reason. Circuses were about making as much money as possible for most of the people involved.
I think you’re getting circus and carnival mixed up a bit and then applying some tv stereotypes.
I think you’re getting circus and carnival mixed up a bit and then applying some tv stereotypes.
No, circuses and carnivals have a lot in common. Check on some books on the subject and you'll see what I mean. Not just the ones made by the famous circuses, but also the ones that show the intimate lives or portions of the inner workings of circuses.
If it were me, and it may not fit what you're trying to do, I would have the dreams be impactful (in some way) and this is what gives them the strength of emotion to push through to their twins subconscious. So things like: An accident. Someone falling from a trapeze, lion tamer getting eaten, fire breather getting burned, animal getting loose and into the crowd. An affair. Circuses travel together for long stretches, and an affair could be quite dramatic in such a tight group. Wagons breaking down while travelling. Heated dispute with city officials about payment or land use etc. Bad storms forcing cancellations and damaging the tent. Animal activists setting animals free. Someone from the circus being assaulted in the city while promoting the night's event.
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In my campaign one of the characters has an identical twin that they don't know about since their assassin parents had to seperate them for protection. Her twin is a performer in a travelling circus troupe. Each long rest I have the PC roll to see if they have any dreams, the dreams are visions taken from their twins life, thus the title of this thread.
I'm also going to use this mechanism to throw give hints about a villian building an undead army or ransacking villages.
what a lovely idea...
I guess it would help and probably become necessary should the siblings ever meet... to decide what kind of performer the twin is Trapeze artist, magician or magicians assistant exetra as this would influence the dreams ie rotating on a disc and having knives thrown at one or doing the knife throwing, flying through the air and being caught by firm hands or someone letting you go and just catching a swinging rope. really like your idea sounds like a load of fun
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Dreams could be of circus life downtime activity. Walking through a village of wagons. Playing dragonchess with a bearded lady. Feeding monsters. Pitching a tent as big as a mansion.
That's true @justinDarkness. The PC is a very acrobatic monk so I was thinking of something along the lines of a Chinese style circus acrobat. Some trapeze memories would be interesting to.
@kcbcollier, downtime activities sound like a great way to plant some seeds for later quests. I envision them as identical twins and she'll be recognized when she visits some of the same locales but won't really know what's going on.
Also be sure to make the dream detailed enough that it feels real, but also vague enough on certain details that the character will have to spend time thinking about it afterward.
For example, while the character is taking a long rest you could say to the player, "During the night, you feel a wave of vertigo wash over you. You feel weightless, as if you're flying... and then spinning... and then falling... Everything around you is a spinning blur of bright lights, you can't even tell which way is up. You feel yourself falling, you instinctively reach out your hands to find something - anything - to grab hold of to break your fall... At the last moment a pair of strong hands grab your wrists and you feel yourself swinging to safety. The air around you is shattered by a thunderous.... applause." And then they wake up.
Or maybe you could throw in a clue even when the character is awake. Maybe the party has to hide from someone, and that character finds a make-up kit, and despite never having used such a kit before, and despite not having proficiency in such a kit, they find their own hands suddenly just calmly going through the motions of muscle memory and applying the makeup expertly to their own face. No explanation given.
Or maybe an NPC mistakes the character for their twin. Maybe the NPC knows (or knew) their twin and just strikes up a conversation in a tavern and the player has to decide how to react. Maybe the player even finds their character giving some responses that they (the player) didn't even know that their own character knew.
It's a great idea for a backstory hook. I hope it works out for you!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
People who spend time around circuses inevitably see people tending to animals (shoveling $|-|!+, carrying feed/water, etc.)
Crowds, lots of crowds.
Clowns.
Circus food smells and the smell of animals.
the sounds of cheering and applause.
Nothing sells “realism” better than describing sounds and smells along with the sights.
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Circuses have their own distinct culture. By that I mean that they have have their own slang and hierarchies of status that differs a little from life outside the circus. Spectators were/are often regarded as people to be tricked out of their money ("Look at those rubes!"). Many circus games were/are setup to make it impossible to win the big prizes for this same reason. Circuses were about making as much money as possible for most of the people involved.
I think you’re getting circus and carnival mixed up a bit and then applying some tv stereotypes.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
No, circuses and carnivals have a lot in common. Check on some books on the subject and you'll see what I mean. Not just the ones made by the famous circuses, but also the ones that show the intimate lives or portions of the inner workings of circuses.
If it were me, and it may not fit what you're trying to do, I would have the dreams be impactful (in some way) and this is what gives them the strength of emotion to push through to their twins subconscious. So things like:
An accident. Someone falling from a trapeze, lion tamer getting eaten, fire breather getting burned, animal getting loose and into the crowd.
An affair. Circuses travel together for long stretches, and an affair could be quite dramatic in such a tight group.
Wagons breaking down while travelling.
Heated dispute with city officials about payment or land use etc.
Bad storms forcing cancellations and damaging the tent.
Animal activists setting animals free.
Someone from the circus being assaulted in the city while promoting the night's event.