Dream Prompt Thread

Hi all! There are a lot of threads here for completing lucid tasks, so I thought it might be a good idea to create a thread for dream prompts, or dream incubation prompts. Rather than setting a goal to accomplish while lucid, try setting up a scenario to incubate either lucidly or nonlucidly. Exploring stories, plots, and environments is one of my favorite parts of dreaming, and since most people still dream nonlucidly more often than lucidly, let's help motivate each other to exert some control over the rest of our dreams.

How this thread works:
1. Post a prompt. Set the stage for the dreamer as if you were directing a play or movie. Describe the environment, the people, and the action, and really lean in to the details! What does it sound like in the giant cave? Which of the dream characters are angry, or elated? How cold is that pool of water? Go crazy!
2. Attempt to incubate one of the prompts provided. If you're able to do so in any way, or even if you're unsuccessful but trying, reply to that post. Tell us what method you used to incubate the dream, whether it was lucid or nonlucid, what your experience was like in the dream. Spare no detail. Did it differ significantly from the prompt? What interesting things did you find? And by all means, you can attempt your own prompt after posting it and report your findings here.

I'll start with a prompt of my own:

Spoiler for Dream Prompt:

You find yourself rowing a small dinghy in the open water, surrounded by thick fog. It's still, silent, and chilly in the early morning hours. Far off to your left you see the faint blue silhouette of a mountainous treeline. Suddenly, streams of water shoot from the surface before you and twist themselves into snakelike forms, rocking your boat. You feel a fine mist brush your face as the water stream nearest you emerges; the spray that hits you is surprisingly warm, but cools quickly on your cheek. You get the feeling that these are peaceful but powerful beings, and try to row towards the shore as calmly as possible while they dance around you. Perched on the shore you can just see a grand wooden dockhouse four stories high. Standing outside, a very tall woman with a longbow and a basket of gold nuggets waits, eyeing both you and the water demons carefully.

This is just the first example that came to mind -- the dreams you suggest can be whatever genre, setting, level of detail, or length that you want, as long as you set the stage for the dreamer to experience something new.

Go forth and incubate! :cheers:

You feel the cold wind brush across your face and arms as you look out on the voluminous and highly energetic storm on the grassy hill with some flowers and a large mammoth tree, reaching for the sky, surely very old. You sit on your comfortable chair. You hear nothing, and are overcome by an eerie feeling as the storm approaches slowly but surely, nothing able to stop it. You smell a slight hint of flowers, but in the face of the impending storm, you are not interested in this. The low hanging shelf cloud starts enveloping the entire landscape in a darkness not far from the same kind of darkness that night causes. A shiver goes up your spine. Then, suddenly, a flash of light beams across the country, and just as quick as it came, it was gone again. But then, your ears are attacked by a harsh roar of thunder, startling you. You take your chair, quickly fold it together, and run to your car. What a great construction foldable furniture is, you think, nervous, as you approach your car. You look back at the storm for just a second, but that second was enough. The wall that is a shelf cloud was now right behind you, and you nearly trip over in awe over it's size. You're now at your car, and open the trunk and quickly throw in the chair. It landed in a way that you'd break it if you closed the trunk, so you quickly knock it deeper inside and slam the trunk shut. Then you feel something hit you, a sharp pain on your shoulder, as well as the feeling of cold at that spot. You touch that spot, and you grab a piece of ice cold hail, about 4 centimeters in size, you estimate. You quickly drop it and run to the driver's seat of your car. You face the mammoth tree. Then, suddenly, your senses are attacked by a sharp snap and an unbelievably bright light. The next thing you know is that you see the mammoth tree, smoking, burnt to a crisp and the leaves burning. Then, suddenly, you see suddenly what seems to be a piece of it slipping away... no, wait, the entire half of the tree is cleanly cut in half, and it's all falling! You quickly start the car.

Went a bit crazy, but this is a dream I'd find cool to be lucid in. Maybe all the detail is hard to remember, but I don't know, I never incubated a dream. I'll do my first attempt if anybody writes a more calm dream to incubate, since a wild dream would probably wake me up if I got lucid.

This is great, I love the imagery! There's something really majestic about a single sequoia in a storm. Makes me want to go storm chasing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Draeger

Went a bit crazy, but this is a dream I'd find cool to be lucid in. Maybe all the detail is hard to remember, but I don't know, I never incubated a dream. I'll do my first attempt if anybody writes a more calm dream to incubate, since a wild dream would probably wake me up if I got lucid.

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I think it's a great level of detail. Even if the resulting dream doesn't follow every point, your description sets the stage really well. Unfortunately I only got 5 hours last night, but over the next week I'll be trying to incubate both of our prompts before bed & at WBTB to see if one or both of them come up in my dreams.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZAD

This is great, I love the imagery! There's something really majestic about a single sequoia in a storm. Makes me want to go storm chasing.



I think it's a great level of detail. Even if the resulting dream doesn't follow every point, your description sets the stage really well. Unfortunately I only got 5 hours last night, but over the next week I'll be trying to incubate both of our prompts before bed & at WBTB to see if one or both of them come up in my dreams.

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Wow, thanks :D Didn't expect my prompt to be that good. I'll be happy to see if it works.

No luck so far, but I will admit I haven't been diligent in my efforts. Making this my goal for the month of September!

I saw this thread way back when you started it and thought about writing something then, but wasn't quite sure what. Before, I felt like I might make it too long, too. But even so, it's been a while, so I think I should give this a shot. I'll try to keep it generic so anyone can appreciate it. :D

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Spoiler for Impromptu sci-fi adventure:

You are walking out to a landing pad, part of an enormous artificial complex. In the shade of part of the building, you step down with ease along some high-grip stairs with hazard markings at the edge of each step. There's a beautiful orange glow of sunrise and its accompanying watery mist, scattering the light outside. As far as the eye can see, there are uncountable skyscrapers and in-between them, streams of hover vehicles flow effortlessly, each one with their own individual destinations; the buildings are designed in such a way that most natural light still finds its way low down, even at an hour like this.

You've lived on this super-metropolitan planet all your life and always wanted to explore space for yourself and see what will await you out there. You can't help yourself from imagining what it will all be like. And finally, you have the means for it to be reality.

As you walk further along the surface of the pad, some amber hazard lights come on and a heavy mechanical door at the centre of the pad starts to slowly open. You feel like no expense is spared for these structures, it all feels so solid and safe and even if you were afraid of heights, there are many high barriers that would prevent someone from even accidentally tripping off the huge platform. You hear the mechanical noise coming from under the door, and you soon find out that it was a platform, moving up to the ground level, and on that platform, you see your ship! It's a one-man crew vessel and unlike the hover vehicles that make use of atmospheric properties to fly around, your ship is fully fitted with the required drive and shielding to go beyond the thinnest layers of atmosphere and into space. You were even able to have the ship customised and it sports your favourite colours. It's amazing and everything you could hope for to get started on your adventure!

You take a slow walk around the ship first, taking it all in for the first time, a moment to savour and to have for future reminiscing. Satisfied, you remember that you are already holding the highly specialised and high-tech key for the ship and you intuitively press something on it and the entrance pops open. Just before you get in, you look toward the large archway from which you went through when you first arrived at the landing pad. You see a person approaching. Maybe it's a technician to give you a run down of some technical specs? Or perhaps the cartographer, with some last navigational additions for the star charts you own. You are concerned that it might not be such a friendly face. But likewise, it's difficult to tell, since they are in the shadow of the building still. However, you yearn that it'll be your best friend, wishing you a good voyage and many successful adventures.

Let me know how that sounded. :)