Here we go. This is my creation in full.

TL;DR version: get xp by dreaming.

I've been struggling with motivation during my last few attempts to get back into lucid dreaming. I was reading a few dream journal entries on dream views when I happened upon the community challenges that occur periodically. This gave me inspiration for an idea I want to try. I'm designing this primarily for myself as I've just bought myself a high-quality journal and I'm beginning my journey once more, but thought it would be a cool idea to share it with people who may potentially find it interesting.

Now, as someone who's played video games all their life, it is heavily based around an RPG progression system. One of my oldest dream goals is to create an RPG of sorts, in dream form.

To break it down simply, I want to create ranks and a level up system that serves no purpose other than self-satisfaction and the motivation to press forward when it gets tough.

RANKS

The following goes into detail about dreamer "ranks":

Titles are preceded by {[NAME], the}
The required amount of Experience Points to achieve each rank are listed after:

• Mindless (this is where the dreamer starts - no xp required)
• Observer - 150
• Wanderer - 450
• Disciplined - 1051
• Adept - 2526
• Master - 5952
• Sage - 13827
• Godly - 35653

This system is designed with long-term progression in mind. These values may be altered at a later stage, depending on whether progression is too fast or slow.

The theme behind this is a journey, of sorts, of the dreamer's beginning as a mindless individual who is clueless of what occurs in their dreams - merely a helpless slave being carried by the waves of the vast unknown. As time passes and their knowledge and understanding of their own personal dream world unfurls, their wisdom and abilities grow with them, until at last, they can proudly say that they have complete dominion over their dreams, and an extensive plethora of knowledge to go hand in hand with that. This would be ideal for a complete beginner, but not limited to such. I think even the most experienced of dreamers could have a blast with this. The conjoining of both waking and dreaming realities is nought but beneficial in all aspects of life, as it is a journey of self-enlightenment.

UNLOCKING RANKS

In addition to the amount of experience required, I have also devised a system where a certain amount of actions are to be completed until the next rank is unlocked. These will be known as General Goals and can be anything that the dreamer wishes. This goes as follows:

To unlock Observer
• Complete 10 Novice goals

To unlock Wanderer
• Complete 5 Novice goals
• Complete 15 Intermediate goals

To unlock Disciplined
• Complete 1 Novice goal
• Complete 10 Intermediate goals
• Complete 20 Advanced goals

To unlock Adept
• Complete 1 Novice goal
• Complete 5 Intermediate goals
• Complete 15 Advanced goals
• Complete 25 Expert goals

To unlock Master
• Complete 1 Novice goal
• Complete 1 Intermediate goal
• Complete 10 Advanced goals
• Complete 20 Expert goals
• Complete 30 Master goals

To unlock Sage
• Complete 1 Novice goal
• Complete 1 Intermediate goal
• Complete 5 Advanced goals
• Complete 15 expert goals
• Complete 25 Master goals
• Complete 35 Grandmaster goals

To unlock Godly
• Complete 1 Novice goal
• Complete 1 Intermediate goal
• Complete 1 Advanced goal
• Complete 10 Expert goals
• Complete 20 Master goals
• Complete 30 Grandmaster goals
• Complete 40 Godlike goals

As you can see, things get a lot harder as the dreamer progresses. The idea behind this system is to train the dreamer to perform at the rank they're working towards, adding to the level of immersion in an RPG sense. The dreamer's own imagination will decide what tasks fall into what category, as it is very personal.

There are also conditions that must be met in order for the dreamer to raise their rank:

• All required General Goals must have been completed
• All required Experience Points must have been acquired

I have not been able to properly test out this whole system for obvious reasons, but there is a countermeasure in place, should the dreamer somehow manage to reach the amount of experience required before completing all required goals:

Experience is capped at 1 point lower than the required amount to progress to the next rank, until all required General Goals have been completed.


SKILLS AND POWERS

My next idea is something reminiscent of a talent/perk tree. There is no real reward for gaining points in this field other than satisfaction, but I feel it greatly contributes to the use of one's own imagination and also to the general enjoyment of this system, as well link into the requirements needed for unlocking ranks, if the dreamer's General Goals intertwine with this system. I've only briefly tried to wrap my head around it, however, so it's very much a work in progress as it stands. I was thinking along the lines of this:

Whenever the dreamer discovers a new dream power, or makes a successful attempt at a skill or ability they wish to work on and hone to perfection, they make a note of it in a "Skills and Powers" section in their dream journal.

An example would be:

Pyromancy Skill Tree
• Fireball:
Successfully cast a fireball spell 5 times to gain 1 point in this skill. When 10 points have been accumulated, the next tier of spell becomes available.
• Greater fireball
Successfully cast a greater fireball spell 5 times to gain 1 point in this skill. When 10 points have been accumulated, the next tier of spell becomes available.

This could branch out to flame cloaks, flame breath, the ability to turn into a dragon at a master level and so forth. The sheer, unfathomable depth of this talent system could greatly contribute to the overall tracking of the dreamers abilities. The possibilities are endless. I hypothesise that it could also subconsciously reinforce the belief that the dreamer has control over various aspects of their dreams, since there would be a clear, detailed record of their progress and accomplishments.

EXPERIENCE POINTS

Now, I've left this to last intentionally as it is the area that I was most unsure of. I wanted to create a system that is built for the long run - a long, adventurous road for the dreamer to follow over many years. As such, its imperative that I find a balanced, fun way of distributing Experience Points. This is what I have come up with so far:

RECALL

Below are the Experience Points awarded for recording dreams.

• Non-lucid fragment - 0.5
• Non-lucid full dream - 2
• Lucid fragment - 2.5
• Lucid full dream - 10

In addition to this, I want to incorporate a system that rewards the dreamer for consecutively being able to recall dreams.
These values are listed below:

• Remembering a non-lucid fragment for 2 days in a row will result in a slight experience boost. Each consecutive day thereafter will increase this boost, up to a maximum of 6 days (as day 1 isn't counted). Starting at 0.1, this will multiply by a maximum of 5, meaning the maximum boost the dreamer can receive for this is 0.5, totalling 1 xp per fragment remembered.

• Remembering a whole non-lucid dream for 2 days in a row will result in a slightly higher experience boost. Each consecutive day thereafter will increase this boost, up to a maximum of 6 days (as day 1 isn't counted). Starting at 0.2, this will multiply by a maximum of 5, meaning the maximum boost the dreamer can receive for this is 1 point, totalling 3 xp per full dream remembered.

• Remembering a lucid fragment for 2 days in a row will result in a reasonable experience boost. Each consecutive day thereafter will increase this boost, up to a maximum of 6 days (as day 1 isn't counted). Starting at 0.4, this will multiply by a maximum of 5, meaning the maximum boost the dreamer can receive for this is 2 points, totalling 4.5 xp per fragment remembered.

• Remembering a whole lucid dream for 2 days in a row will result in a moderate experience boost. Each consecutive day thereafter will increase this boost, up to a maximum of 6 days (as day 1 isn't counted). Starting at 0.8, this will multiply by a maximum of 5, meaning the maximum boost the dreamer can receive for this is 4 points, totalling 14 xp per full lucid remembered.

If at any point the "chain" is broken, the boost is forfeit and the dreamer must start again. These boosts stack with each other.

SKILLS AND POWERS & GENERAL GOALS

This brings me to the next section of experience accumulation. Recalling dreams in itself would prove to make progress very slow and tedious, therefore I wish to incorporate General Goals into the fray. Different tiers will yield varied amounts of points depending on difficulty. This is also an excellent way to make the Skills and Powers section somewhat meaningful.

SKILLS AND POWERS

My idea is to have the dreamer gain points for every time they level up a skill or power.

Say, for example, one of the dreamer's General Goals is to become a master pyromancer. Upon performing this task enough times to unlock the next tier of spell, experience will be awarded. A visual representation would look something like this:

• Obtain 10 points in the fireball spell:
I've received 5 Experience Points and access to the Greater Fireball spell.
My Pyromancy Skill is now at level 2

I think this is a fantastic way of giving the dreamer a sense of accomplishment. Theoretically, like I mentioned before, it should boost confidence and reinforce the dreamer's belief within the dream world that they have learnt this and will in time become proficient at it. This is still a work in progress, but I shall continue to fine tune it until I feel its adequate.

GENERAL GOALS

This is where the requirements for unlocking the various dreamer ranks come full circle. Completing General Goals will provide experience as well as contribute to the requirements for unlocking the next rank in their quest. In conjunction with Skills and Powers, it provides a reliable and fun way to advance through the various ranks, the speed of which being limited to the dreamer's own skill and commitment.

General Goals and Skills and Powers can coexist with each other. What I mean by this, is that the dreamer can utilise both assets to increase their experience by having the same goal in both the General Goals and Skills and Powers categories.

To list an example:

One of my dream goals is to throw a fire ball. If I make this a General Goal and manage to achieve it, it contributes to my rank progression. I will class it as a Novice goal for now, as there isn't any inherent complexity to it. Upon completion, it becomes a Power that I can use in the dream world and thus the Skills and Power system becomes active. I will gain experience for the completion of this goal and also if I decide to hone this skill and progress to fire spells of higher complexity.

General Goals will consist of different tiers of varied difficulty, subjective to the dreamer. The different tiers and experience values for completion are as follows:

• Novice - 10 xp
• Intermediate - 20 xp
• Advanced - 40 xp
• Expert - 80 xp
• Master - 160 xp
• Grandmaster - 320 xp
• Godlike - 740 xp

As is evident, as the tiers rise, the experience awarded typically doubles, with the exception of Godlike being slightly higher than double, to signify the difficulty of the endgame. Higher tiers are automatically unlocked as the dreamer ranks up (mindless starts with novice unlocked).

However, this is not all. When the dreamer reaches the next rank, experience gained from the previous tier(s) are halved, to signify it as being lesser; therefore there is less to be gained by performing tasks that are of a lower tier. Experience will continue to be halved as the dreamer progresses, until it falls into a decimal number. At this point, the experience yielded will permanently be 1 point, every time a goal of that level is completed.

Allow me to demonstrate visually:

Novice Goals
• 10 xp at Mindless rank
• 5 xp at Observer rank
• 1 xp at Wanderer rank and beyond

Intermediate Goals
• 20 xp at Observer rank
• 10 xp at Wanderer rank
• 5 xp at Disciple rank
• 1 xp at Adept rank and beyond

As you can see, this forces the dreamer to perform tasks of higher difficulty if they wish to make progress. It is also worth noting that performing tasks that are above the dreamer's rank/level will yield no experience and will be considered a fluke.


FEEDBACK

I think that is all I'm able to come up with for the time being. I've been working on this solid for a day and a half and I'm pretty spent. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback you guys can come up with. I understand this isn't for everyone. Like I said, I made for my own enjoyment, but why not share it, eh? Hopefully I'll spark the interest of at least one person or inspire them to make something similar.

There are elements to this that I'm not sure are polished enough yet, so if I make any amendments I will be sure to post them here.

Happy dreaming!