Talk:Mission 8: Sleep with One Eye Open

I've got more coming, but I wanted to get something up today at least. I will try to post more later tonight to finish off the mission info so people can start thinking and discussing plans. Feel free to post questions or whatever here.

Also, don't need to say it. Inception was obviously some significant part of the inspiration for the mission. Though certainly not all of it. (Dan you remember the old Sandman SL?) --FyreFly 16:50, 4 August 2010 (EDT)

It's funny how quickly the tables turn - instead of taking the kill, Ash is now getting killed every mission ;). I'll post more discussion later, but wanted to drop that gem into the conversation. Dan 21:51, 4 August 2010 (EDT)

Indeed how the tables have turned on poor Ash. I think I have all the information I needed to post up now. Feel free to ask questions or plan and I'll try to respond. --FyreFly 17:09, 5 August 2010 (EDT)

I'm a bit unclear on the outlined mission parameters. Is Ash playing the role of the Sandman, and then, once the dream is implanted, the Sandman is killed during the course of the dream (presumably because Ash was "killed" in the scripted dream)? Should someone also be playing the role of the Dreamer for this to work?

My initial thoughts for a plan entail dropping the house from Geronimo into the open mouth of a dragon. I haven't decided how I will accomplish this yet. Dan 23:42, 5 August 2010 (EDT)

Yea, you've got the premise about right. The idea being that Cello will splice the dreams together so that the dream plays out how we've made it, but The Real Sandman and Dreamer will be spliced in. So if the Sandman is killed, he is at least unable to complete the process of getting rid of The Dreamers powers. It's unlikely the Sandman's real form would actually be killed. I meant to make a note on The Dreamer but forgot. He can be in the dream (most plans would require this to be realistic) but didn't want to limit you. He could be played by anyone though (one of you guys or an associate or whatever) but they will have to act the part since if the dreamer deviates from the dream when its real things would get messed up. In the note I forgot, the Dreamer is also required to live. The Three Fiends were unsure if killing The Sandman along with The Dreamer would actually stop the process. --FyreFly 16:47, 6 August 2010 (EDT)

It's a bit complicated, but bare with me. I want to make the Sandman think that he has some competition. The way the dream is staged, at first, it will seem like the Dreamer has prepared his mind for the attack from the Sandman. Before I go any further, I should note that I'm still not quite clear on how Ash could be kept completely out of the planning - he has to know that he's playing the Sandman, and that it's his job to kill the Dreamer, right? He just can't know how we plan to kill him. (Presumably, this should be fine, since the real Sandman also knows that he intends to kill the Dreamer.) If I'm wrong about this, let me know.

Right now, my thought is to give Ash nothing more than the location of the dreamer - on a roped bridge spanning a gorge (I don't know where we'll get a gorge, I trust Oak can pull it off). He goes to kill the Dreamer, intending to cut the ropes on the bridge one-by-one while explaining the Dreamer's failures and some sinister reason why he always sent away for the summer to his grandmother's (the idea being that his father was up to something foul while he was away). On his way to go cut the ropes, he finds the Dreamer absent, leaving with a mysterious woman (Fay). Immediately as he watches the pair hurry mischievously into the sunset (the idea being that the Dreamer was seduced for his own good), the Sandman is immediately attacked, but defeats the attacker, who escapes alive - this will be Zealot. This should get the Sandman thinking that the Dreamer has been trained to defend from these attacks. During the fight, Zealot will ask the Sandman if he is Morpheus. The Sandman will likely reply negatively, in which case Zealot explains that he's been sent by the Gods of Great Forks to protect the Dreamer from Morpheus, not the Sandman. In the meantime, Fay explains to the Dreamer (once they're safely away from the scene of the fight between Ash and Zealot) that another assassin has entered his dreams, named Morpheus, who intends to eliminate his memories of the Dreamer's father to bury the traces of his father's (imaginary) evil past. I'll leave the specifics to Dan. The idea should be that the Dreamer has a convincing reason to want to go to the Cabin.

So, after Zealot gets away from that fight, the Sandman wanders around for awhile, heading in the direction he saw the Dreamer leave. While looking around, he bumps into Morpheus, the other dream assassin (Opal). They may have a brief conflict, and the Sandman should be able to glean some insight into Opal's plans, but have this done in a believable fashion - for example, Opal drops a few hints while they're monologue-ing. One way or another, the Sandman (Ash) should find out that Morpheus (Opal) intends to kill the Dreamer by luring the Dreamer to that cabin from his childhood with promises of discovering his father's evils and ambushing him there. The Sandman, hopefully not wanting to be bested by his competition, will attempt to beat Opal to the cabin to kill the Dreamer first. When he gets there, the Dreamer is inside (having been persuaded to go there by Fay), which entices the Sandman to go in. Once inside, Zealot bursts out from a hiding spot and engages the Sandman again - this is "normal" course of action, as the Sandman has already been convinced it's reasonable that the Dreamer has sub-conscious defenders. At this point, Morpheus also shows up, and uses her powers to launch the cabin skyward, intending to exploit the Dreamer's fear of heights (this is simulated in our play by lifting it into the air violently with Geronimo). During the scuffle between Morpheus, the Sandman, Zealot, and the Dreamer, Morpheus tosses the Dreamer out the window. We'll have secretly installed ropes on the bottom of the cottage, which will dangle and be easily grabbed by the Dreamer. Zealot is also thrown out the window, either naturally by the Sandman (who believes it's a normal fight) or by Morpheus, and Zealot also grabs the ropes. Morpheus, in frustration, begins to fight with the Sandman. In the meantime, the Dreamer is seen jumping from the ropes to safety with the Dreamer in hand - it is crucial that the Sandman sees this, so that he believes he has failed. At this point, we'll now have the cabin over the gorge, where we drop it. Morpheus wrestles the Sandman to the ground and leaps out at the last second, leaving the Sandman in the cabin as it crashes into the rocks of the gorge, "killing" him.

I'll leave it up to the others to figure out how we don't actually kill Ash doing this, or post more tomorrow. This is definitely intending to be a rough draft, so this is not something I'd be counting on being able to fire off at the beginning of the session without further work - I know there are parts where I'm basically saying "Okay, this happens!" and that there are details to iron out, but it's a start. To summarize:

Roles: Ash - Sandman
Mesa - Dreamer
Fay and Zealot - Dreamer's subconscious defenders
Opal - Morpheus, who is another dream-killer sent to erase the Dreamer's memory of his summers away (Fay will lead the Dreamer to believe this is because his father was guilty of some evil during these summers)

Dan 01:41, 7 August 2010 (EDT)