Daydream Draft

I Had The Weirdest Dream

“I watched a man relive a dream about drowning in a library while arguing with a fish. He insisted it made perfect sense at the time.”

— Tamsin Grell, tavern keeper

The Daydream Draft is a curious and often embarrassing alchemical novelty that transforms the private chaos of dreams into a public spectacle. It is favored by performers, storytellers, and the occasionally foolish individual who underestimates how strange their own mind truly is.

The potion itself appears as a pale, milky liquid that moves with a slow, almost thoughtful motion inside its container. At times, faint shapes ripple across its surface, suggesting fragments of scenes that never fully resolve. Observers often describe the sensation of watching it as vaguely familiar, as though recalling something they cannot quite place.

When consumed, the potion draws upon the drinker’s most recent dream and externalizes it into the world. A translucent, floating bubble forms above the drinker’s head, expanding into a sphere roughly five feet in diameter. Within this space, the dream begins to unfold.

The illusion is vivid but inherently unstable. Scenes shift without warning, locations dissolve into one another, and events follow no consistent logic. Figures may change form mid movement, conversations may begin halfway through, and actions often defy any sensible progression. The dream plays out exactly as it was experienced, without interpretation or refinement.

Those nearby can witness the display as if watching a surreal performance suspended in the air. Sound carries faintly from within the bubble, often distorted or slightly out of sync with the visuals, much like the memory of a dream rather than a clear recording.

The drinker has no control over what is shown. Personal fears, fleeting thoughts, and nonsensical imagery are all presented without filter. For this reason, the potion is as often a source of embarrassment as it is of entertainment.

If the drinker has not slept recently, the potion struggles to find a coherent source to draw from. In such cases, the display becomes fragmented and disjointed, pulling from scattered waking thoughts rather than a structured dream. These displays are typically more chaotic and far less comprehensible.

After several minutes, the illusion destabilizes and collapses. The bubble contracts slightly before softly popping out of existence, leaving no trace behind.

“The troubling part is not that dreams are strange. It's how convinced we are of them while they happen.”

— Mara Snow, wandering archivist

Item type

Consumable, Magical

Rarity

Common

Weight

.5lb

Base Price

25gp

Unknown Shores

Daydream Draft

Potion

Common

This pale, milky liquid swirls lazily within its bottle, with faint shapes drifting across its surface.
When you drink this potion, a translucent sphere appears above your head, forming a 5-foot-diameter bubble.
For 5 minutes, the contents of your most recent dream play out within the sphere as a vivid, shifting illusion. Creatures within 20 feet can see and hear the dream as it unfolds.
The dream appears exactly as you experienced it, including illogical transitions, sudden changes in setting, and nonsensical events. You have no control over its content.
The illusion produces no physical effects. A creature can determine it is magical with a successful Intelligence (Arcana) check against DC 10.
At the end of the duration, the sphere softly pops and vanishes.
If you have not slept within the last 24 hours, the potion instead produces fragmented, disjointed images drawn from your recent thoughts.

Cost: 25gp
Weight: .5lb