Dream
With the Dream Background, your character has the ability to meditate and tap into the wealth of information carried within the universal mind. She must focus on a particular problem while meditating, and the amount of time it takes her to glean the information will vary based on its complexity. This process has is drawbacks. She may not get exactly what she wanted, but instead may find herself possessing an intuitive understanding that she didn't expect. The universal mind knows better than she does what will help her, but that doesn't mean she'll figure out why this particular bit of information applies to her dilemma. Furthermore, she only has access to the information until she sleeps again. Once she sleeps, the knowledge flies out of her mind and she loses access to it.
Your Storyteller may ask you to roll Perception + Dream to see how well your character can focus and reach a meditative state. Each character will have her own unique way of bringing forth the dream. It doesn't have to be sitting in a full lotus with incense burning. Some take long walks by the beach or vegetate to rock music. Whatever method your character uses, she must have no interruptions for the amount of time the Storyteller determines necessary. The information your character receives isn't concrete information, but rather an intuitive, guiding sense about something. She can't find a person's address this way, but she can sense that the person probably lives near the river, for example. Roll your character's Perception + Dream (difficulty 6) to determine to what extent the information she receives is helpful.
Once per day, after your character has meditated successfully, you can substitute her Dream score for an Ability in a dice roll pertaining to the topic of her meditation. This applies whether she has the Ability or not. For example, if she's seeking some insight into her friend's emotions, you can roll Intelligence + Dream instead of Intelligence + Alertness, even if your character has no Alertness score. If she does have an Alertness score, you can substitute, if you choose. However, you can't add her Dream and Alertness scores. You roll either one or the other.
● You catch hazy bits of information.
●● You gain helpful insight.
●●● You can access worthwhile lore.
●●●● You glean a wealth of knowledge.
●●●●● You make amazing leaps with your insight.
