Wake-Serum
Description
Wake-Serum is a neural stimulant suspended in glimmering violet fluid, often stored in etched bone-glass syringes or mist vials sealed with wax and braided hair. When administered, it bypasses the body’s defenses and floods the prefrontal cortex with raw data, stripping away the ego and forcing the user into an unfiltered state of truth. Its effects are unpredictable, sometimes revelatory—often harrowing.
Effects
Use: Inhaled (1 action) or Injected (bonus action)
When a creature consumes Wake-Serum, it must make a DC 15 Sanity saving throw.
- On a success, the creature retains some control and benefits from the serum’s clarity without losing their sense of self (gaining Spiritual Clarity)
- On a failure, the creature’s ego collapses entirely for a brief time—leaving them hyper-suggestible, painfully self-aware, or lost in traumatic memory (gaining Ego Death)
The creature experiences the following for 10 minutes:
Burn the Lie
For the duration, the creature cannot tell a deliberate lie—spoken or telepathic—and has disadvantage on Deception checks, but advantage on Insight and Investigation checks.
Ego Death (Failed Save Only)
If the creature failed the saving throw:
- They are Stunned for 1 round as their sense of self collapses.
- For the duration, they are considered Charmed by the person who administered the serum.
- The charmed creature regards you as a friendly acquaintance.
- They are not compelled to answer the question they are being asked, but rather would answer in the same manner they would towards a friendly acquaintance.
- At the end of the effect, they must make a DC 15 Sanity saving throw or gain a Short-Term Madness effect for 1 minute.
Spiritual Clarity (Successful Save Only)
If the creature succeeded:
- They gain advantage on all saving throws against charm and fear for the duration.
- Once during the effect, they may reroll a failed Wisdom, Sanity or Charisma saving throw.
Side Effects (Roll d4 after the effect ends):
| d4 | Side Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fragmented Memory: Lose all memory of the last hour. |
| 2 | Neural Scarring: Take 1d6 psychic damage and have disadvantage on Intelligence checks until your next long rest. |
| 3 | Unshakable Clarity: Gain +1 Insight for 24 hours, but cannot sleep due to vivid recall. Gain 1 level of exhaustion until you can rest. |
| 4 | Resonant Flashback: The next time you take damage, you relive the serum experience in a vision and are Stunned for 1 round. |
Wake doesn’t reveal the truth. It removes the mask you didn’t know you were wearing. Then it asks if you’re still proud of the face beneath it.
Rare
Crafting Requirements
- Wake Chemist (Torchbearer rank or higher)
- Crafting Dark Gear
- neural stimulant compounds, marrow substrate, and EEG tuning crystals (non consumed in the creation process)
Addiction
Using Wake-Serum more than once per 7-day period requires a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or the user becomes psychically dependent. While dependent, the user cannot benefit from Inspiration or the effects of Heroism or similar morale-boosting spells without first taking a dose.
Mechanics & Inner Workings
Wake-Serum operates on principles no known science fully explains—its chemical profile is traceable, but its effects reach far beyond neurostimulants. Some Wake Chemists suspect the Dark itself responds to the serum, peeling back the ego not through force, but through recognition. Those who’ve studied it longest say Wake-Serum doesn’t burn away lies—it invites something ancient to see you, and it refuses to look away.
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