It’s our first esoteric dragon! Don’t let the label scare you. The dream dragon is definitely one of those
“Even if you don’t use any other [insert monster category here], use this one”
monsters. Maybe your campaign is not
much concerned with Occult Adventures’ migration of monadic souls across the Transitive
Planes, so astral dragons and occult dragons aren’t your thing. Even so, there’s still probably room for a
dream dragon in your game…because hey, dream sequence!
How you play dream dragons is up to you. They might be the ultimate expression of the
Dimension of Dream’s whimsy and chaos, acting similar to Alice in Wonderland characters.
Or dream dragons might be the calculating masters of the dimension, with
the natural psychic might to dominate the countless dreamscapes that manifest
every night. Or they might be
indifferent hunters, as happy to devour adventurers as they are to snap up
animate dreams and night hags.
Or they might be all three at once. After all, dreams refashion themselves into
new shapes with new moods every night.
Why couldn’t dream dragons do the same?
Adventurers are
exploring the hazy Ethereal Plane, determined to track a raiding part of
phase spiders. When they reach the
spiders’ lair, they find a dream dragon snacking on the magical beasts. The dream dragon intends to take the spiders’
surviving captives back to the Dimension of Dreams, and she reacts violently to
any attempt to rescue “her” thralls.
The senior faculty of
the College at Redstone whisper that the lecturer on ley lines is actually
a gold dragon living incognito among them.
In actuality, the lecturer is a dream dragon posing as a gold posing as
a half-elf. He has been using his vast
talents to pick apart students’ dreams as if he is searching for something
important. Lately, though, his searches
have gotten less discreet—and far less gentle—as if he fears some looming
deadline.
Travelers to the
Dimension of Dreams speak of a giant paddlewheel craft captained by a
positively radiant dragon. The craft was
a dream vessel created by a great wyrm dream dragon (via dream voyage) and then enchanted again and again to become
permanent. Though the great wyrm has
passed on, the vessel remains.
Adventurers intend to use the vessel to sail into the dreams of a
sleeping crocodile god, but they must defeat the great wyrm’s heirs first.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 5
90–91
Dream dragons are found in Riven, where they assume a protective role over dreaming sentients. Their greatest foes are the monstrous nightmare dragons, but they keep alert for any number of lesser threats as well.
Shores of Swords 