On some worlds, an entity deep within the ethereal or feywild gains oversight of the concepts of dreams and nightmares. When such a being is in play, sleeping creatures are, in a real sense, casting their minds into the realm of the King of Dreams. In such places, dreams and nightmares might become coherent, thinking entities in their own right, and gain enough power to threaten the waking world.
Far from omniscient or omnipotent, the King of Dreams often must rely upon servants to attempt to police the vast realm of dreams and the recalcitrant denizens therein. While tending to favor relying on other dreams and nightmares forged by their own hand, sometimes they will speak to a gifted dreamer and offer powers in exchange for service in maintaining the dream realm.
Warlocks of the King of Dreams are often tasked with hunting down rogue dreams and nightmares. These may take the form of fey or aberrations when they escape to the waking world, or may simply hide in the recurring dreams of certain mortals for a Sleepwalker to find. The warlocks may also be sent on more whimsical quests: some religious philosophers struggle to cleanly explain the difference between the King of Dreams and any other Archfey.
Pacts
- Blade: Pact weapons of the King of Dreams seem altogether too fanciful to be real; the idea of the weapon, but not the reality. They tend to be overly large and have adornments that no waking smith would include. And yet, they strike as effectively as any mundane weapon.
- Chain: Devotees of the King of Dreams often have a raven tasked to their aid, a protector and a spy for their patron. It has the statistics of the Psychopomp, though instead of being able to transport incorporeal undead, it can transport dream and nightmare fey and aberrations.
- Tome: A classic dream journal, a dream-pact warlock’s book of shadows is often fanciful, with multicolored ribbon bookmarks, an intricate cover, and beautiful images that spontaneously accompany the spells inscribed within.
- Blood: Blood-pact warlocks of the King of Dreams are generally descended from those that procreated while stuck in a coma, deeply linked to the realm of dreams while bringing a child into the world.
Features
| Warlock Level | Feature |
| 1st | Expanded Spell List, Lucidity |
| 6th | Sleepwalker |
| 10th | Sandman |
| 14th | Dreamworld |
Expanded Spell List
The King of Dreams lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.
| Spell Level | Spells |
| 1st | silent image, sleep |
| 2nd | calm emotions, phantasmal force |
| 3rd | catnap (xge), phantom steed |
| 4th | confusion, phantasmal killer |
| 5th | modify memory, seeming |
Lucidity
At 1st level, magic can’t put you to sleep unless you choose to let it affect you. Additionally, when sleeping (naturally or through voluntary acceptance of magical sleep), you retain a rudimentary awareness of the world around you. You do not have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made while sleeping, and may wake and act immediately on your initiative when danger occurs while you are sleeping. You may, similarly, choose to wake immediately if subjected to danger that affects you in your dreams. These abilities do not apply when your patron puts you to sleep.
If you are normally incapable of sleep you may choose to sleep and dream. If you would normally rest fewer hours (e.g., four hours for trance), you only need to sleep this long to complete a long rest.
You have advantage on saving throws against illusion and enchantment spells, and on ability checks to recognize an illusion. You may use your action to grant a target you can touch a new saving throw to end an illusion or enchantment spell. At the DM’s discretion, these abilities also apply to effects that are similar to illusion or enchantment spells, but not technically spells.
You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) rolls against creatures that dream.
Sleepwalker
Starting at 6th level, you gain the ability to walk through dreams. While sleeping, you may enter the dreams of any other sleeping creature within ten feet per point of proficiency bonus. The DM can describe the creature’s dreams to greater or lesser extent. You may encounter creatures of the dream realm within these visions, interacting with them as if you were in a waking encounter with them and the dreamer. Regardless of the outcome, you gain advantage on Charisma checks against the dreamer for 12 hours after they wake, due to your insight into their mind.
You may also use this ability to visit the realm of your patron while you sleep, and converse with them. At your patron’s whim, you may be led to other dreams or dream realms, and interact with them as if you were in a waking encounter.
Additionally, you gain resistance to Psychic damage.
Sandman
Starting at 10th level, you gain the ability to send other creatures directly to sleep, regardless of hit points. As a bonus action when you hit a target you can see with a weapon attack or spell (or the target fails a save against one of your spells), you may force the target to make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC or fall asleep as if affected by the sleep spell. Undead and creatures immune to charm have advantage on this saving throw. If you affected multiple targets with the triggering attack or spell, you must choose one creature affected to be subject to this effect. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Additionally, you add the dream spell to your spell list (and may choose another spell if you had already learned this spell).
Dreamworld
You gain conjure fey (6th), mirage arcane (7th), demiplane (8th), and weird (9th) as additional uses of your Mystic Arcanum for the listed level (you may cast the spell instead of the spell you have chosen at that level).
After you take damage, you may use your reaction to enter the Ethereal plane, making it more difficult to affect you with subsequent attacks. You return to your original plane at the start of your turn.
Invocations
Warlocks of the King of Dreams count as warlocks of the Archfey to qualify for invocations.
Dream Vortex
Prerequisite: King of Dreams patron, 5th level warlock, Pact of the Blood feature
You add summon fey (tce) as a known warlock spell (and may choose another spell if you had already learned this spell).
When you cast summon fey or conjure fey, the fey spirit takes the form of a dream or nightmare of a creature within 60 feet of you when you cast the spell; that target has disadvantage on saving throws against the summoned creature’s abilities, and the summoned creature has advantage on attack rolls against that target.
System sans Setting 