The Chained Watcher

...Second Life?

(Title decided itself due to Mumbo's Wild Life confusion over which season was what.  Not actually inserting a whole new season.)

~~~

Sitting in his lounge room, Grian lets the contents of his friends' conversation wash over him as background noise, making his brainstorming session more relaxing.

As for what he's trying to come up with? A new gimmick for the Life Series. Rehashing the same thing over and over again without any difference just feels a little hollow, you know?

"I had a really weird dream last night."

What if he has a potion effect apply at random? That'd keep everyone on their toes. Hunger could force everyone to stockpile food, weakness at an inopportune moment can make fighting mobs impossible, slowness adds difficulty to parkour...

"I could walk in the air, but I had these giant clown shoes on that made piano noises whenever I took a step. Going higher made the notes go up, and dropping down lowered them."

...No, too much luck-based punishment. He crosses out the idea. Fights would be decided more by who's got the strength boost than who's more skilled, and getting hunger early could end up costing someone a life unfairly.

"My voice was also autotuned, and I ended up dancing a song using the musical shoes."

Hmm, what about more lives, but with the ability to steal said lives? That might add an interesting dynamic.

"Only you, Scar. My dreams are always boring stuff, like digging out a desert. I do enough of that already without needing to do it in my dreams."

That idea is definitely worth refining, but doesn't feel right for this season. Maybe next time.

"You know how annoying it is to think you already gathered all the sand you need for a project, only to realize it was just a dream? Complete letdown, that's what it is."

Ooh, what if he gives everyone superpowers? Everyone loves superpowers!

"You call that annoying? Imagine thinking you had a conversation, only to find out it only happened in your head. Dreaming about finishing your chores is one thing, but at least no one will know as long as you don't mention it."

But the balancing... Balancing all the different powers to make them just as useful as each other would be tortuous. He might work on that in passing, but it'll need a lot of work before it's ready. Not this time.

"Oof, yeah, that does suck."

What if he makes a custom biome? That might be fun to work on. Something like a stone forest, and he can use statues in place of normal mobs.

"You ever have one of those falling dreams though? I hate it when I get one of those."

Worth letting the idea simmer, but same as superpowers, it's too involved for right now. Maybe next season.

"Is it worse than a drowning dream? Respawn takes care of it before it gets too bad, but dreams don't play by those rules."

Hmm, what if there's a quest? First person to complete the quest gets rewards, and the later you complete it, the worse your rewards are.

"Never had one of those, but yeah, that sounds worse."

Maybe worth tweaking into something. Let's slot that idea away for later too.

"You ever had one of those dreams that's like an RPG? Those are always cool when you can remember them."

Another idea comes forth. What if he makes people take damage whenever a randomly chosen other person takes damage? More specifically, what if he ties their health bars together?