Numerian Fluids

Source Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars pg. 28
Type ingested; Addiction minor, Fortitude DC 20
Price 500 gp
Effect 1d4 hours; +1d4 Wis, roll on the Numerian Fluids Side Effects table
Effect after the initial 1d4 hours; -5 penalty to Perception and Sense Motive checks, -2 penalty on saving throws against mind-affecting effects for 2d4 hours
Damage 1d2 Con
Over the centuries, strange fluids have seeped from the wreckage of Silver Mount and other crash sites. Engine fluid, coolant, hydraulic fluids, and stranger substances have mixed together, the chemicals further transformed by the strange radiations of the ship’s drives. Fluids can be found in pools or springs, or collected as they drip from larger pieces of wreckage. Odd behavior in animal life or an abundance of mutations can indicate a nearby source of alien fluids. While many such fluids are no more magical or marvelous than crude oil—and often highly poisonous to humanoids—others have strange and sometimes desirable effects on biological life.

The elite of Numeria cultivate a taste for these latter fluids, ostensibly for the insights and pleasant fugues induced by some of the chemicals. Indeed, repeated exposure to such fluids leads first to addiction, then to dependency. Yet beyond these prosaic effects, the fluids of Numeria unleash change: alterations in mind and body both terrible and wonderful.

Numerian fluids are considered drugs. Initially, the fluids expand perception and insight, opening the mind to new sensations. This overstimulation gives way to mental fatigue, leaving the imbiber distracted and vulnerable to suggestion. A pleasant euphoria lasts as long as the drug’s effects. Unlike most drugs, the effects of Numerian fluids can be negated with a successful DC 20 Fortitude saving throw. Success at this saving throw precludes the need to save against addiction, but also prevents the dose from countering the effects of addiction. A person partaking of Numerian fluids can open his mind and body to the fluid’s effects, voluntarily forgoing a Fortitude save. Of course, this also entails accepting the risk of addiction and any side effects from the specific type of fluids consumed.

Each distinct dose of Numerian fluids requires a new roll for side effects, even if multiple doses were recovered from the same source. The inherent instability of the fluid contributes to this variability, as the fluids undergo further reactions even after collection. At the Game Master’s option, fluids collected from the same source at the same time can have a higher chance of providing the same side effect. One option for handling such variation is to roll two d20s of different colors for each subsequent drink from a sample, adding one and subtracting the other from the previous result. Another option is rolling twice, and using the second result onl