Who Can Enter?

Although the Dreamlands draw their existence from the minds of all of Earth’s dreamers, its gates are not open for all to enter. Even those who enter the Dreamlands once may not be able to do so again. Randolph Carter, one of the greatest dreamers the Earth ever knew, lost the ability to enter the Dreamlands by dreaming when he turned 30. Lovecraft writes that Carter “had read much of things as they are, and talked to too many people. Well-meaning philosophers had taught him to look into the logical relations of things, and analyze the processes which shaped his thoughts and fancies . . . They had chained him down to things that are, and then explained the workings of those things till mystery had gone out of the world . . . they turned him . . . toward the newfound prodigies of science.” The Dreamlands are the realm of fancy where many wondrous things are possible. There is no need to explain why something is; it simply is. However, science balks at simple acceptance—it requires answers and explanations. As an investigator becomes more knowledgeable in the ways of the science of the Waking World he will find it more and more difficult to enter the Dreamlands by dreaming until, finally, he can no longer do so.
There are a number of skills of a scientific, mechanical, or Waking World nature which an investigator may acquire during a lifetime that can impede the necessary innate willingness to accept the sometimes-queer nature of the Dream realm: Anthropology, Archaeology, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Credit Rating, Electrical Repair, Geology, History, Law, Operate Heavy Machinery, Pharmacy, Photography, and Physics. Modern-day variants of skills such as Drive, Pilot, or the various Firearms skills may also qualify in this category at the keeper’s discretion. These skills are specially marked on the Dreamlands character sheet on page 253 of this book. If the sum of an investigator’s percentiles in these skills is greater than 300, that investigator cannot enter the Dreamlands via any of the standard dream-routes. He or she may still enter it physically, or through the use of an item or spell, but not dream himself or herself there without aid. The person has become too much a part of the Waking World to believe in the Dreamlands on a subconscious level.
There are some who will never be able to enter the Dreamlands in their sleep—investigators who begin with too many “worldly skills.” Again, these people may still enter the Dreamlands via one of the physical doors, or through the use of an item or spell. The fact that one may not enter the Dreamlands through the usual dream-gates does not preclude entering physically. To a scientist the Dreamlands may simply be a vast region which has been, until now, undiscovered and unexplored.