Arcadia is a monthly D&D magazine by MCDM. Matt Colville and Managing Editor James Introcaso have charged the first round of writers with creating evocative, useful content for 5th Edition D&D. All issues of the digital magazine are available for purchase on MCDM’s website.

For Arcadia #3, I created three original ancestries inspired by sleep and dreams: Lucidlings, Sandspeakers, and Somnians. Each draws from real concepts in oneirology, the study of dreams. Lucidlings are the accidental alien products of sleeping aberrations, such as beholders or aboleths. Sand speakers are so-called “thought thieves,” entering the dreams of other creatures to plant or learn information. Somnians are the architects of dreams, but on the material plane they are master illusionists.

One Cool Thing

In addition to the beautiful artwork by Isle Gort, my favorite thing about this article is the “Remembrance” trait of the somnian ancestry. Each somnian character can cast the resurrection spell once, but after they do so—they die! Only a wish spell can bring such a somnian back. Additionally, when a somnian resurrects someone in this way, they can leave them with one memory of their choice. What a tear-jerker!