PC Concept: Dream Walker

Overview

I've been developing this idea for a while, but a particularly excellent tweet by Todd Kenreck (@ToddKenreck) inspired me to finish the idea and post about it here.

The tweet was about the Horizon Walker Ranger, and the story potential that the class alone holds and I can't help but agree. Today, I want to create a Horizon Walker with ties to the Plane of Dreams because... what's cooler than a character that can walk through dreams and nightmares? An adventure stuck in a dream or nightmare? Sounds super fun to me!

Race, Class, Stats, and Background:

Obviously, we're going with Horizon Walker Ranger (Xanathar's Guide) for this build because that's the inspiration. These guys are plane-walkers or plane-guardians. Todd Kenereck's tweet, and other tweets in that same thread, give some excellent ideas and concepts. 

I want to focus on a Horizon Walker whose plane-walking knowledge is mainly about the Plane of Dreams. Now, this doesn't mean that Ranger is the only class we have to pick either. A "dream walker" could be any class affiliated with dreams. Multiclassing is part of what makes D&D so fun and customizable, and that's an additional route we could take. I could totally see a Circle of Dreams Druid (Xanathar's Guide) or even, if your DM allows Unearthed Arcana, a Seeker Patron Warlock. Both of those, to me, scream "dream walker."

Depending on what route you decided to take, your highest stat will probably be different. This is what I'd recommend:

- Just Horizon Walker, no multiclass: Dexterity is your highest stat, followed by Wisdom.

- Horizon Walker / Dreams Druid: Wisdom is your highest stat, followed by Dexterity.

- Horizon Walker / Seeker Warlock: Depends on what you want your main attack class and mode to be: Ranger or Warlock, weapon or spellcaster. If it's Warlock, highest stat should be Charisma, followed either by Wisdom or Dexterity. If it's Ranger, highest stat should be Dexterity followed by either Charisma or Wisdom. 

For me, race is an easy choice. Whenever I want to create a character with connections to a certain realm, I try to match their race and aesthetic to that realm. I'd make this character a kalashtar (Eberron - Rising from the Last War) because of their spiritual connection to the dream realm. According to the race description, kalashtar are a hybrid race - a combination of humans and spirits from the Plane of Dreams. Additionally, they get a +2 to Wisdom and +1 to Charisma, so those would be helpful for any of the classes I mentioned above. This could be something worth exploring in the game.

Background choice is a little harder. It could be anything really and I think that depends on the campaign setting and how exactly the player wants this character to be played. The Far Traveler Background (Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide) is one of my personal favorites because of its ability to be used in so many different ways. It's one of the few backgrounds that's really up for interpretation, and it allows for the player to choose why their character is leaving home. My other, personal choice, would be the Sage Background (Player's Handbook) but only if you really want this character to be actively learning about the Plane of Dreams. Maybe that was their area of study. I think this background also works better if you're also taking the Seeker Warlock route.

Roleplay / Story Potential:

There's so much here, I'm just going to do a bulleted list to show you what I mean. The amount of internal and external conflict that's available to you and your DM is endless.

- Let there be some kind of conflict between the kalashtar themselves and the dream spirit that makes up half of their entire being. There could be some roleplay between the two halves that make up the whole. And what does the rest of the party think about this conflict?

 - Better yet, take the dream spirit away for a while. Where'd it go? What happened? How do you get it back?

- Send this player and their party to the literal Plane of Dreams for some reason. Let this character shine with their knowledge about the realm.

- Also, semi-related to the last one, send this player and their party to some kind of nightmare-dimension within the Plane of Dreams. If you're a really cruel DM like me, you'll also make the characters face their literal worst fears in order to leave.

- Hear me out: BBEG or mini-BBEG who also has dream powers of some kind... give them a conflict with this character.

Planar travel in D&D can be a total blast, and DMs can make the planes appear however they want, really. The Plane of Dreams also isn't a realm I feel like many players would expect to travel to in a game. It's one of those planes of existence that is written about in the general lore, but it's never a place PCs get to go, which is kind of unfortunate. I say, change that up. Players, use this character to have a new spin on this really cool Ranger subclass. DMs, if your player is playing this character or a character like it, go crazy with the dream plot ideas. I think it could be so interesting.