The Dreams of Nighttime Animals
This is a daydream. It is a completely untested roleplaying game idea.
You and your friends are a human beings. When you fall asleep, you dream of being nocturnal animals.
Gather together with one or more friends. This game is best with three to five players. If you want to take notes or doodle your animal, you will need paper. You should also have at least two six-sided dice to share, though more is better if you want to have your own set.
One player is the Dream Weaver it's their job to ask questions and sometimes think of things that make life complicated or difficult for the other players. Sometimes they might also play other animals in your neighborhood.
The other players are responsible for playing a nocturnal animal and asking questions of their fellow players during play (including the Dream Weaver) to help everyone understand the neighborhood and each other.
If you aren't the Dream Weaver, choose a nocturnal animal that you would like to dream of being. Here are some examples: Badger, Bat, Capybara, Cat, Fox, Hedgehog, Mole, Opossum, Owl, Raccoon, Skunk, and Squirrel.
All of your animals are friends who live in the same neighborhood and each night they get into simple adventures.
Give your animal a name and tell the other players where in the neighborhood your animal lives.
When you dream of being an animal, you can do things that your animal can do but, also, you can talk to your friends and have big thoughts and go on little adventures.
When your human being falls asleep at the beginning of each game, the Dream Weaver asks one player to tell them about an little adventure that they would like to embark on. Here are some examples:
- They lost something and need to find it. What did they lose?
- They heard from the Robins that some humans left treasure in their backyard. What do they hope it will be?
- They want to get a friend that isn't with you right now a present. What do they think the present should be?
Now ask another player about something that makes this little adventure more complicated. Here are some examples:
- There is an unfriendly animal near where you have to go.
- You have to leave the neighborhood and go someplace you've never been before.
- There are humans around, making noise and making everyone in the neighborhood uncomfortable.
After these questions have been answered, begin playing with an establishing scene of the character who answered the first question gathering their friends for their adventure.
Most of play will be the characters interacting with each other and moving from scene to scene on their adventure. As each scene develops, the Dream Weaver may decide that there is an obstacle or complication that the characters must overcome. In that case, the characters must work to overcome the obstacle or complication.
Tell the Dream Weaver what you are doing to figure out the situation and then roll some dice to see if you succeed.
A player always gets to roll one die. If the player's animal has an ability that would be helpful in the situation, they may roll +1 die. And, if another player describes their character helping, the player may roll +1 die for character helping.
If any of these dice roll a 4, 5 or a 6, then the character succeeds and their player may describe how the situation is resolved. If none of the dice roll a 4, 5 or a 6, then the Dream Weaver tells the players how the situation is even more complicated or how they overcome the situation but are how they adversely effected in the process.
Continue in this way until this little adventure concludes.
Afterward, the players as a group (including the Dream Weaver) should talk about what they liked about the adventure and what they might like to see in future adventures.