What was so golden about the Golden Age?
Dreaming Gods: with the
Prologue Questions
The world has exited a long period of
fear and misery so abhorrent that right
after it ended, it was immediately called
the Fallen Age.
Why was this Age
retrieved
so terrible?
ancient
Each player—including the Keeper—
chooses one of the following problems:
b Mass hunger.
b Tyrannical religious leaders.
b Tyrannical secular leaders.
b Incurable diseases.
b Lots of bloody wars.
b Extreme cruelty between people.
b Superstitions and fear of the
unknown.
b Lost contact between cities and
countries.
The Fallen Age ended when the Dream
Alchemists found out a way to dive into
the Ancient Ones’ dreams and extract
precious knowledge from them. The
Ancient Ones were people from before
the Fallen Age, from the time known as
the Golden Age.
Why do you hunt monsters?
What among those things was already retrieved by Dream Alchemists?
First, each player—including the Keeper—chooses two of the follow-
ing boons as things associated with the Ancient Ones. Then make
another round in which each player chooses one thing that was already
retrieved. “Retrieved” can but needn’t mean “widely used”—it only
means the secret of repeating this feat is known to some people, maybe
only Dream Alchemists so far. The Keeper decides how widespread
a given boon already is but they can consult other players about it.
2Arches and other architectural lore needed to create great
buildings.
2 Great poetry and dramas about fate, passion, and ambition,
able to move any heart.
2 Blood-based medicines that make terrible wounds heal in a
few hours.
2 Herb-based medicines that purge the body of illness and disease.
2Alchemical processes that make solid substances lighter than air.
2 Herbs allowing human minds to touch dreams of the Ancient
Ones without the great preparations the Dream Alchemists
usually undergo.
2 Extremely volatile mixtures burning great spreads of land in
a moment.
2 Insidious mixtures that make solid substances frail and breakable.
2A powder that makes water breathable—a small dose is enough
to transmute an entire lake.
2Ways to reforge iron so that it becomes hard as diamonds.
2A language that allows one to command animals and maybe
understand them.
2 True Astrology: An ability to divine the future from the
movements of stars.
2Worldflow: Meditation techniques allowing one to slightly alter
the physical world around them.
2 Dreamdance: A ritual that grants its participants the power of
lucid dreaming.
Monsters of ancient myth roam the countryside and
even city streets. You are among the few people ready
and willing to take those beasts on and protect ordinary
people from them. Why?
Choose one of the following options—one for the
entire party or one for each of the hunters. Some choices
fit some playbooks better than others but none of them
forces a player to take a particular playbook. You are:
b The Queen’s Musketeers: Loyal and bound by oaths
of chivalry, brave, well-trained, often tasked with
surveillance and protection of the Queen’s subjects.
b Dream Alchemists: Well-educated, respected but
feared, with great access to magic and gadgets, their
leaders want to contain and understand the monster
plague.
b The Lone Wolves: Exceptional individuals from
outside the two preceding organisations who decided
to take on the monsters themselves.
b The Condottieri: An elite group of mercenaries hired
by those who aren’t protected from monsters by either
the Queen or the Dream Alchemists.
Depending on mysteries prepared by the Keeper, you
might decide how long after the appearance of monsters
do you start, or the Keeper might choose for themselves.
Options include:
bYou hear rumours and are sent to investigate them.
bYou became monster hunters years after the monster
attacks began.
bYou have already been hunting monsters for some
time. The beginning of the campaign is simply the
moment you stumble upon some bigger story.

Dreaming Gods: with the
Moves Reference
Diving into Dreams
The only sure way to dive into dreams
is to inhale the holy mist coming from
a shaft on the isle of Icareum, the
main stronghold of Dream Alchemists.
Depending on the boons you chose, it
might be possible to dive into them from
other places as well. Additionally, the
hunters can always dive into dreams
with an appropriate big magic ritual. If a
hunter dives into dreams using alchem-
ical vapours, they enter a trance—their
body relaxes and their eyes seem to be
looking at invisible vistas, but you can
see glimpses of what they see in dreams
in their eyes if you look close enough.
dive into dreams
When you dive into dreams, first
specify the Depth of your dive: shallow
(0), medium (1), or deep (2). Then roll
+Weird and add Depth to the result.
On a 7–9, you find the answer to a
single question about the Golden Age.
On a 10+, you find the answer and
additionally, the Keeper gives you a valu-
able glimpse of another secret related to
the Ancient Ones.
On a miss, you get overwhelmed by
the dreams and are unable to see the
waking world clearly—once you return,
you get –2 forward to your next read a
bad situation or act under pressure
roll.
Return From a Dream
Diving into dreams has its dangers, repre-
sented by a Depth roll. When you return
Weird Basic Moves
Depending on the boons you choose in the Prologue (page 221), there might be
from a dream, roll –Depth of your dive:
On a 10+, you return without trouble.
various magical traditions and possibilities in Helos. However, no matter what
you choose, every hunter is entitled to a Weird basic move.
On a 7–9, you encounter a brief obstacle If you play by the base rules and use magic is the only Weird basic move in your
that might take some action against you, but game, using it can represent any of the following actions. If you use alternative
you return no matter how this encounter Weird moves from Tome of Mysteries or the hardcover edition of Monster of the
resolves. Week you can choose one of the following actions as the weird stuff your hunter
On a miss, you encounter an obstacle that does and treat it as the Weird move given in brackets:
imprisons you in dreams until you over- • Manifesting a strange, innate connection to dreams and their power to shape
come it. the world (empath or sensitive or telekinesis)
For the purpose of overcoming those • Using magical formulas researched by Dream Alchemists or discovered
obstacles, you have the same stats in dreams independently by yourself (basic use magic)
as when awake and your dream form has all • Quickly creating an appropriate alchemical concoction (weird science)
your gear on them. • Commuting with your past selves or great ancestors in dreams (past lives)
• Being a witty and alert swashbuckling hero who always knows best (trust
Golden Age Answers your gut)
Having a question about the Golden Age • Using Worldflow, if you chose this boon as retrieved (basic use magic)
answered can have various benefits depend-
ing on what the question was about:
• +2 forward to a move dealing with a
specific Ancient Ones-related challenge.
• +1 ongoing to moves dealing with a
specific field of Ancient Ones-related
challenges.
• Ability to create new sorts of gear, on a
similar power level to sample starting
gear, in a workshop designed for work
with Ancient Ones’ designs (like those
in Dream Alchemists’ enclaves).
• +2 forward to use the hunter’s basic
Weird move.
• Other effects agreed upon by the hunter
and the Keeper.
A valuable glimpse into the Golden Age has
the same possible benefits but in this case
the Keeper chooses. They have to choose
something useful in the current situation
or in line with the hunter’s long-term goals,
plans, or abilities.