As written, the isekai world of Dreamland is a world which mostly looks and feels ‘real’. Though the clothes and cities might look like a fantastical version of the Middle Ages (or the Axial Age, or the Victorian Era), though a buopoth or giant lizard might wander by, the world has the same gravity and permanence as our own. (Indeed, in more mundane areas of Dreamland, a waking-world visitor might not initially realize that they are in a ‘Dreamland’ and instead think that they have gone back in time.) Objects keep their position when you turn away from them and look back, the horizon does not warp and twist, buildings and crowds do not turn to (or form out of) jelly. But perhaps, in your version of Dreamland, things are more…dreamlike.
If you want to make Dreamland more obviously surreal—perhaps if you are running a game where the waking world is already fantastic and Dreamland needs to be even wilder for contrast—the following effects could occur whenever the dreamer use 3 or more Pillar Words of a given type (based on the Five Pillars of Wonder, Loathing, Passion, Mystery and the Faraway). Roll 1D10 or use these lists for ideas to make up your own effects. Remember that Pillar Breaks should be even more extreme and shocking than these reality-shifting effects.
WONDER
1 Rainbow waves of color ripple through the air and over surfaces.
2 Light sparkles, electric flashes and will-o-the-wisps ripple through the air.
3 Plantlife grows suddenly and abundantly. Everything is covered in green. Flowers, fruit and berries grow.
4 Buildings, mountains and trees grow, becoming more impressive and gigantic.
5 The sky takes on a fabulous appearance. Stars appear enormous. Clouds race and roil. Sunsets fill the sky with orange and violet light.
6 The dreamer’s flesh or eyes glow with an inner light.
7 People become more beautiful.
8 Ordinary materials change into gems, crystals or precious metals.
9 Friendly creatures of nature, such as birds, frogs, squirrels and hedgehogs, appear and gather around the phenomenon.
10 Ordinary things weigh less or float away in the air, joining the castles in the clouds.
LOATHING
1 Things bleed: people, beasts, statues, houses.
2 Things rot, erupting in fungus, worms, slime.
3 Creatures of loathing, such as ghouls, ghasts or wamps, appear.
4 Objects turn into weapons: ends become jagged and pointed, edges become razor-sharp, tools come to life and snap and snarl.
5 Buildings or landscapes distort, becoming ugly, dangerous, twisted, or shaped like grotesque organs and bodyparts.
6 People become hideous.
7 The ground splits open to reveal fresh graves and dead bodies.
8 Sickly yellow or red light covers everything.
9 Cacophonous sounds fill the air: screams and moans; the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.
10 People feel waves of pain and nausea.
MYSTERY
1 Things age, becoming cobwebby, dusty, ancient, or being replaced by older equivalents of themselves (a gun becoming a crossbow, etc).
2 Small creatures of mystery, such as zoogs or tiny night-gaunts, appear.
3 Time speeds up or slows down.
4 Ghostly visions of the past appear.
5 Time-related visions take physical form: hourglasses, sundials, melting clocks.
6 The veil between worlds grows thin; things from the waking world appear in Dreamland.
7 Strange machines and technologies appear.
8 Darkness falls; either time advances to nightfall, or a literal cloud of darkness appears.
9 Visions of the gods appear.
10 The sound of hymns, prayers and religious chants fill the air.
PASSION
1 Beasts talk and sing.
2 Water or other liquids turn to wine.
3 Small creatures of passion, such as buopoths or tiny fairies, appear.
4 Inanimate objects, especially statues and dolls, dance and move.
5 Emotional music swells up from nowhere, or from the sounds of wind, water and crowds.
6 Things become more pleasant to the touch: soft fabrics, pillows, curtains appear.
7 Ordinary materials change into candy, chocolate, sugar or other edibles.
8 Weapons transform into musical instruments.
9 Human faces and bodies appear in nature: clouds, trees and sand take on human shapes, or the faces of people the dreamers know.
10 Groups of people break into song and dance, or into mutually desired affection.
FARAWAY
1 Strange text or hieroglyphics appear.
2 Landscapes warp and expand: a garden becomes a jungle, a bedroom becomes a forest, a tiny hut becomes a castle.
3 Spatial distortions appear, perspective becomes warped (M.C. Escher style), things visibly grow farther apart.
3 People’s appearance becomes strange: skin color turns green or violet, antennae and horns sprout, people turn into lizardfolk, etc.
4 Beasts’ appearance becomes strange, transforming into unfamiliar creatures.
5 Sounds are distorted, becoming unfamiliar.
6 Strange perfumes and spices fill the air.
7 Everyday objects distort, taking on new functions: a lute becomes a theremin, a key becomes a keysword.
8 Tiny, living versions of animals, people and whole cities appear: tucked away in a bottle, hidden under a leaf.
9 Books multiply into libraries; existing books sprout new pages of text.
10 Everyone temporarily forgets everyone’s (and perhaps everything’s) name. Or, people lose the ability to recognize familiar faces.