Dying in a dream

[teacup]

I'm writing about a dreamworld right now and I just have a few questions that I could use help with. All I'll say is there are a good few people in this dreamworld trying to kill each other.

Questions:

Is it plausible for people to die in the dreamworld due to starvation, dehydration, illness etc? - basically dying from natural causes, not just murder?
Also, would it be plausible for these people to become tired and need to sleep within the dreamworld, even though they are in a dream and so essentially asleep already?

Also, what sounds better of these three:
1) One person figures out how to control the dream in ways, and so can spawn weapons and such in places.
2) The dreamworld changes naturally, so for example, a bow can be found under a tree without anybody placing it there.
3) Those in the dreamworld have to resort to making any weapons by hand from wood and rocks and whatnot.


Thanks for any help and opinions

 

[AnnaBlixt]

The dreamer has a real body somewhere, right? That body has needs. Food, water etc. If the person stays too long in the dream, the body would get ill. This could very plausibly result in an echo in the dream, and if the dreamer didn't wake up to answer the needs of his body, he could die from it and experience it as dying of it inside the dream.

As for the three, it depends on the nature of the dream world. Is it created inside the mind of one or more dreamers, or is the dreamer visiting an indepentently-existing world that would continue to exist if no one was visiting it?

 

[teacup]

It's kind of a separate world, so it's not exactly these character's dreams, they're just in someone else's dream, kind of.
Their bodies are getting all the sustenance they need, so that's not the issue.
What I meant was would their "dreambodies" let's call them, need food and water and sleep within this other person's dream, as if it was reality?

The actual creator of the dream wouldn't be the one to control the dream if I chose that approach, but someone else could figure out a way to bend the dream his way. So taking this into account what do you think of the 3? Which would you rather read?

 

[Ghost]

I'll give it a go because it sounds fun.

I don't think it makes sense for them to die of natural causes unless they're in a bad situation, like falling off a cliff. Some people have where they wake up just before they die. Well, these guys don't have that option. So they'd die in that scenario assuming they don't find a "cheat" in the dream.

If the dream becomes a dream about starving and they can't find dream food, I could see how they'd die. Dreams can have a sort of theme to them, and the characters might die if they don't do things according to the current theme. Dreams can also be nonsensical, so finding a way out of starvation wouldn't necessarily involve consuming food, I'd think. I don't see why the characters' dream-bodies need to have normal bodily functions.

I've had dreams within dreams, so I can imagine a character becoming tired and falling asleep and dream themselves right back into the dream. It could be like a reset button where they're back without previous damage–unless they're near death, which seems like it'd go into nightmare territory rather than allowing a reset.

For your three options, I'd go for a combo of 1 and 2. Maybe start with 2 and then as they become more adept at maneuvering in the dream they can use 1. 3 seems too real-lifey.

 

[teacup]

Thanks Ghost, great help ^^

I think I will go with the combo of 1 and 2, and as for the starvation and such I'm still thinking. I'll see what others think anyway

 

[ndmellen]

Firstly, anything that happens in the dream is plausible if you make it so. With that said, I absolutely think it makes sense. Since no one else has done it, I'll reference The Matrix: if you die in the machine (the dream), your body dies in the waking world. Your mind makes it real.

Also, (and maybe I'm foolish for even asking this) have you read R. Jordan's "the Wheel of Time" series? He uses a "dream world" in a variety of ways that could give you some ideas.

 

[teacup]

I've never read Wheel of Time, no.
Yes, the idea is that any deaths in the dream world are real, so that's one reason why I'm thinking of boundaries, like sleeping and eating and such.

Thank you, it seems that I will make them have to eat and things

 

[ndmellen]

1) Dear lord, pick up the "Wheel of Time" immediately.
2) DEAR LORD, PICK UP THE WHEEL OF TIME IMMEDIATELY.
3) Nothing says you have to do anything. This is your story; you can do anything you want; simply give a logical explanation for why a thing is so.

Dreams are a cool medium to me. You can allow your characters to do absolutely anything with minimal explanation of "how come". A skinny, mewling, weak character can be an absolute juggernaut in a dream if he knows "the rules."

 

[AnnaBlixt]

Watch Inception. ;-)

As for the food etc, I think that it would only make sense if that was the theme of the dream. If you dream about thisting in a desert, then you would need water. But if you dream about hanging out with your cats, I don't see why lack of consuming dream-water should be fatal in that dream.

But maybe, again depending on the nature of the dreamworld, there is some substance that the dreamer needs, and this substance is absorbed by dreaming that you are consuming food? You could create the need for some dream-substance that must be found in order to keep the dreaming mind functioning and cohesive.

 

[AnnaBlixt]

1) Dear lord, pick up the "Wheel of Time" immediately.
2) DEAR LORD, PICK UP THE WHEEL OF TIME IMMEDIATELY.
3) Nothing says you have to do anything. This is your story; you can do anything you want; simply give a logical explanation for why a thing is so.

Dear lord, never ever read Waste of Time if you have avoided that drivel this long. ;-)

 

[teacup]

I have watched inception.
Thank you both for your help
I think I know how I'll do it now.

I have a lot to read right now anyway, so I probably won't get round to wheel of time for a very long time even if I do read it.