Re-Source of Dreams: Part 1!

Part of my vision is to use this blog to showcase how Source of Dreams' concept of resources can be used both in and out of game, in other areas of interest. To do so, this post will outline the basics of:

• Source of Dream's character driven interpretation of resources,

• Examples of what resources are

• How they contribute to both in-game character development and out-of-game personal development

  
  

In Source of Dreams, you are a driven, passionate individual arriving at the crossroads, the next step on the journey towards your truest dream. As you learn and grow in resourcefulness, you increasingly understand that your ultimate goal isn’t reaching the destination. Nor is it the journey... It’s the story you choose to tell to help yourself arise.

Your goal in Source of Dreams is to tell the story of how you continually arise through becoming more resourceful. You must cultivate your resources to become better equipped at navigating crossroads, facing meaningful challenges, and transforming fate into a chosen destiny.

In many games and other contexts, resources represent external, physical, raw materials. In Source of Dreams, resources include all internal, external, physical and non-physical aids for you to use on your journey. Use them wisely to accomplish your goals or learn from them when it's not possible. Until it is. In line with the original Latin meaning of the word resource, you will rise again.

What are the Resources in Source of Dreams?

There are five types:

• Attitudes

• Relationships

• Information

• Skills

• Equipment & Environment

How do these Resources help us "rise again?"

Attitudes:

• Attitudes represent your overall mindset during your journey. It encompasses your emotions, actions, beliefs, thoughts, and experiences. When your Attitudes are open and flexible, they promote a level of internal balance that will enhance your ability to access and utilize your other resources. The reverse is also true. When overly stressed and Attitudes are low, cognition is impaired, communication and relationships may suffer, performance declines due to fight flight freeze reactions, and use of your equipment may become compromised.

  • Examples: Fears, Inspirations, Lessons, Beliefs, Personality Traits, Experiences, Emotions, Values

    
    

Relationships:

• Relationships represent the quality of your connection to individuals, groups, and communities. Relationships can help fill in the gaps in other Resources, providing purpose, knowledge, coaching, tools, and spaces for you to pursue your dream. Relationships also represent people who directly and/or indirectly try to obstruct your pursuits; or the absence of a relationship that would fulfill a significant role or need in your life.

  • Examples: Teachers, Coaches, Family, Influencers, Friends, Rivals, Ancestors, Enemies, Politicians, Icons, Deities

    
    

Information:

• Information is what you know and understand about your dream in terms of the Resources necessary to achieve it, and perhaps more critically, self-evaluation of your resourcefulness. Information also includes your inner awareness and knowledge of your internal experiences, such as your thoughts, emotions, and sensations and how they influence you. A low score can represent a lack of information, being misinformed, having too much or conflicting information, or simply not knowing what you don’t know. A low score can also represent not being aware of internal states, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, which can lead to unfavorable actions driven by unconscious, internal experiences.

  • Examples: Facts, Strategies, Techniques, Instructions, People, Objects, Events, Locations, Emotions, Sensations

    
    

Skills:

• Skills represents knowing how to perform specific tasks related to your dream. Enough knowledge, practice, talent, and/or discipline leads to mastery, at which point some skills can be performed without thought. A high score in Skill can represent this stage where muscle memory and flow states allow creativity to fully emerge. Skills also includes the experience of adding your own flavor, expression, and personal style to a task, making it your own. A low score can represent an absence of desired skills, poor habits, or skills that interfere with one another.

  • Examples: Researching, Running, Combat, Flying, Stealth, Meditation, Writing, Maintenance

    
    

Equipment & Environment:

• Your equipment and environment are the physical aids you need in order to succeed in dream related tasks. When identifying this resource, it’s important to consider its quality, quantity, or accessibility. Like other Resources, the right Equipment and Environment is sometimes necessary to accomplish a goal, and at other times, it can enhance or stymy your experience in varying degrees.

  Examples: A room, Tools, Instruments, Supplies, Neighborhood, Workshop, Ecosystem, Studio, Office, Favorite Book, LED Hat, Necklace

How are Resources used in Source of Dreams?

On each turn, you move across a metaphorical dream map consisting of Milestones and answer prompts that describe a challenge to one or two of your resources. Your Resources can help or hinder your ability to overcome challenges and will improve based on the outcome of your decisions, dice rolls, and response to the narrative prompts. The relative strengths of all 5 of your Resources represent your resourcefulness, which you must channel in helping yourself arise.

What else can we learn from Resources??

I can't wait to explore these concepts and resources further with you as I write more about my game dev journey! We are a part of each other's Relationships!

For each post, I'll write about an experience from the perspective of resourcefulness and explore which resources that were tested and which I've had to rely upon to continue moving forward. I'd love to hear from each of you as well, about your journeys of arising from and towards your own dreams!

Share your questions, comments, dreams and resources below! Thank you!