Gods of the Fall - Session Prep - Dreaming Under a Cursed Moon

I really need to stop putting things off. I coulda, shoulda, done this prep a month ago before the original play date before we had to push things out. Instead I waited ...

So here I am trying to plan a road trip session quickly. I want to do something that stands alone. Not every session needs to service the larger story for the campaign. I also know that the Nightlands are the geography I have to work with. So, what can I do with that and how can I do it?

Sleep. It's the thing that I can be sure the PCs will do, and it's a thing that, in the Nightlands, can lead to adventure, because in sleep there is Nod, the realm of dreams and nightmares, where a group of would be gods may find themselves off footing and struggling to adapt.

Sounds like a great start. It's also a good idea because I have a maybe in my group and the player has purchased sleep dust. If he's absent he's sleeping without dream. If he's there, it's an easy early session GM Intrusion to have him forget to use it, or have been swindled with fake product...

So easy enough start, drag the characters into the dream world. Now comes the hard work. The dreamworld should be memorable. Description of the scenery will be key, as will the flora and fauna. Things should be recognizable but also strange, warped, and different. Sometimes pleasantly so, otherwise nightmarishly so. Of course setting the scene is only as good as the scene to be set, and that includes setting up the plot of the session/adventure. So why have they ended up in the dreamlands? Or maybe more pertinently, what of consequence will happen?

I think early on I want to confront the characters (not the players, focus on the characters), with nightmares that reflect their journey, both past and ahead.

• Iztal to be confronted with what being a God of Shadow truly means, riding the knife's edge between light and darkness
• Utar desires dominion of strength, will he build something that lasts?
• Polodius seeks knowledge, lost secrets could save the world, or damn it
• Demondamus delved too deeply what darkness did he bring back with him and what does it mean for his pantheon?

I'll also seek to introduce the King of Nod for RP purposes. He is a figure steeped in power and knowledge but also held to his own agendas. Does he help them, harm them, or act indifferently?

This will be a RP heavy session as I suspect the follow up may be combat heavy by comparison, but in my pocket I can introduce nightmares to press the characters to act in seeking a means to wake. Once again the secret lies in embracing their godhood. Should they assert themselves as new gods they will wake safely, if not they may not wake at all...