The States of Dreaming
Dreamers shield their souls by creating Avatars. Fully formed, coherent Avatars are able to engage in limitless actions bounded only by prudence and imagination. If this shield is destroyed, the dreamer's actions are severely limited.
Dreamsoul is temporarily lost by taking damage in combat, or by evoking certain arts or talismans. Dreamsoul can be regained over time. Certain arts and talismans can also restore temporarily lost Dreamsoul. If Dreamsoul drops to zero, the Avatar loses coherence. Its form is temporarily lost, and the very Soulsphere is exposed and vulnerable.
When reduced to Soulsphere, dreamers can only engage in a limited number of actions. Some arts will allow fighting or the evocation of arts, but may cause permanent loss of elemental force. If a dreamer wakes (quits the game) as Soulsphere the shock is so great that permanent loss of force will occur, measured in experience points. Soulspheres reform as coherent Avatars at any Sanctuary, or if the art of Restore is evoked upon them.
