Potions
After scrolls, potions are the next most popular choice for magical creations. The little bottles of fluid are relatively easy to make and can be given to companions. They even make good gifts for local knights and servitors of greater lords. Of course, all that hard work can go down the drain (literally) in the hands of one butterfingers, or up in steam too close to a dragon. Potions are primarily a wizard specialty, although some—particularly healing—can be created by priests.
A spellcaster must have a formula before brewing can actually begin. Wizards cast contact other plane, spend hours poring over mildewed books, and perform risky experimentation to gain these formulae. Priests resort to commune spells and prayer for their knowledge. The process takes 1d3 + 1 weeks, but can be interrupted for other activities. Fortunately, this step only has to be done once because the formula is then set.
Of course, the spellcaster could try to use someone else's formula, but like trying to copy a restaurant's secret recipe, the result is never quite the same. Just as every cook adapts recipes to suit their tastes, a spellcaster must personalize every potion formula. Working from someone else's formula does make the job easier, however, reducing the number of weeks needed by 1.
Not every potion can be made by every specialist mage or priest. Table 8: Potion Schools lists the school or sphere needed to create a particular potion. Specialists unable to use the particular school of magic or priests without access to that sphere cannot create the potion named. Oils are marked by an asterisk, and those items that are in bold type are found in the Tome of Magic.
Although no spells are cast in the process of brewing a potion, the level of the spell the potion duplicates is added to the base difficulty of the spell. The 3rd level fly spell matches the effect of a potion of flying, resulting in a difficulty modifier of 3. If no spell matches the desired effect, the difficulty modifier is equal to the combination of spells that best approximates the effect. There is no spell equivalent for a potion of fire breath, so the DM chooses the 3rd level flame arrow and 4th level shout spells as roughly equivalent effects, for a total difficulty modifier of 7.
Potions are either single or limited use items. If the entire potion must be drunk, as in the case of a potion of flying, it is a single-use item. However, there are many potions that can be partially consumed and still provide a benefit, making them limited-use. A potion of fire breath, for example, can be used up to four times.
For every 5 points of difficulty a potion possesses, one special ingredient must be supplied for it. Potion ingredients can be virtually anything, although it should include at least some form of exotic liquid. This does not have to be the bodily fluids of some monster, as any liquid that is hard to get will do. Melted snow from the peak of the highest mountain, water from the depths of the ocean, or wine from a tyrant's cellars are all perfectly acceptable demands.
Aside from fluid, at least one ingredient should embody the property of the potion, whether the material is mundane or exotic. For a potion of growth, a ground acorn could be used. ("From the little acorn grows the mighty oak.") A potion of fire breath could require kerosene or red dragon's spittle. Table 9: Potion Materials offers suggestions as to what might be appropriate. These are only suggestions; the DM is free to decide upon what seems appropriate to the individual campaign. These suggestions run the gamut from absurdly easy (acorns and fleabane) to near impossible (bottled essence of the Ethereal Plane). Not all of them involve slaughtering some creature— characters may have to use cunning, trickery, and persuasion to get some of the materials suggested.
Wizards. In addition to ingredients, wizards must spend time in the laboratory blending and brewing the ingredients together for the potion. Every 10 points of difficulty require the completion of one special process to create the potion. The DM chooses the process required, remembering to add 1 point to the base difficulty for this step (which may, in turn, require another step). Suggested steps include:
distillation | infusion |
evaporation | fermentation |
extraction of vital oils | separation |
leaching | purification |
Whatever steps are chosen, the wizard's total cost for all steps is 100 gp per point of difficulty. This money is spent on the reagents, weird fuels for alembics, and other minor exotics needed to brew the potion. The total processing takes a number of days equal to the difficulty rating of the potion. When the time has passed, the DM secretly checks for success.
Priests. Disdainful of the laboratories of wizards, priests are spared the arcane processes of potion blending that wizards must go through. Instead, the ingredients are gently mixed and placed upon the special altar to receive the deity's blessing. The priest must fast and pray. Simple liquids and 4 hours of rest per night are all that are allowed to the priest during this time. After the priest prays for a number of days equal to the potion's difficulty rating, the DM secretly checks for success.
Potion Success
Potion brewing has a base 70% chance of success, with a +2% bonus for every level of the spellcaster. Wizard specialists gain an additional +5% bonus to this number. The potion's difficulty is subtracted from this and the result is the percentage chance of success. That number or less must be rolled using a d100. If the die roll is 96 or greater, the potion automatically fails and is cursed. Cursed potions are typically deadly poisons, although some may result in the effects of a potion of delusion—in this case the caster believes that the desired potion has actually been brewed. If this is the case, the DM should not reveal that a cursed potion has been made. If the check fails but the result is not cursed, the spellcaster can easily tell (by color, stench, and so forth) that the potion has failed.
Table 8: Potion Schools
Potion | School/Sphere |
---|---|
Acid resistance* | Abjuration |
Animal control | Abjuration Enchantment /Charm |
Aroma of Dreams | Abjuration Enchantment /Charm |
Clairaudience | Divination |
Clairvoyance | Divination |
Curdled death | Necromancy |
Diminution | Alteration |
Disenchantment* | Abjuration |
Dragon control | Enchantment / Charm |
Elemental control | Elemental |
Ele invulnerability* | Elemental |
Ele. Plane Invulnerability | Elemental |
Elixir of health | Necromantic (p) |
Elixir of youth | Time (p) |
ESP | Divination |
Etherealness | Astral (p) |
Extra-healing | Healing (p) |
Fiery burning | Invocation /Evocation |
Fire breath | Alteration |
Fire resistance | Protection (p) |
Flying | Alteration |
Gaseous form | Alteration |
Giant control | Enchantment / Charm |
Glibness | Divination (p) |
Growth | Alteration |
Healing | Healing (p) |
Heroism | Charm (p) |
Human control | Enchantment/Charm |
Impact | Combat (p) |
Invisibility | Illusion / phantasm |
Invulnerability | Abjuration |
Levitation | Alteration |
Longevity | Necromancy |
Love | Enchantment/Charm |
Murdoch's insect ward | Abjuration |
Persuasiveness | Enchantment / Charm |
Plant control | Plant (p) |
Polymorph self | Alteration |
Preservation* | Time (p) |
Rainbow hues | Alteration |
Slipperiness | Conjuration/Summoning |
Speed | Alteration |
Starella's aphrodisiac | Enchantment /Charm |
Super-heroism | Charm (p) |
Sweet water | Any priest |
Timelessness | Time (p) |
Treasure finding | Divination (both) |
Undead control | Necromancy (both) |
Ventriloquism | Illusion / Phantasm |
Vitality | Time (p) |
Water breathing | Elemental |
Table 9: Potion Materials
Potion | School/Sphere |
---|---|
Acid resistance* | Wax, sap of a rubber tree |
Animal control | Hair of animal type |
Aroma of Dreams | Jackalwere spittle, musk |
Clairaudience | Earwax |
Clairvoyance | Fragments of a crystal ball |
Curdled death | Poison |
Diminution | Fairy wine |
Disenchantment* | Water from a nonmagical Prime Material world |
Dragon control | Dragon blood |
Elemental control | Material from appropriate Elemental Plane |
Ele invulnerability* | Material from appropriate Elemental Plane |
Ele. Plane Invulnerability | Material from appropriate Elemental Plane |
Elixir of health | Purified unholy water |
Elixir of youth | Ginseng juice |
ESP | Thread from a mind flayer's robe |
Etherealness | Essence of ethereal plane |
Extra-healing | Honey of giant bees |
Fiery burning | Tar from a tar pit |
Fire breath | Ash made by dragonfire |
Fire resistance | Asbestos, glacial ice |
Flying | Vapor from a cloud |
Gaseous form | Vampire's grave earth |
Giant control | Giant's fingernail clipping |
Giant Strength | Stew cooked by a giant |
Glibness, persuasiveness | A gem freely given |
Growth | Acorn, dried sea sponge |
Heroism, super-heroism | Lock of a great hero's hair |
Human control | A king's hair |
Impact | Iron from patriarch's mace |
Invisibility | Water from a mirage |
Invulnerability | An adamantine nail |
Levitation | Dandelion seeds |
Longevity | Wine poured by oldest man in the town |
Love, Starella's aphrodisiac | Tears of a jilted lover |
Murdoch's insect ward | Fleabane flowers, hair of a flea-less dog |
Plant control | Sap of a poisonous plant |
Polymorph self | Freshly shed viper's skin |
Preservation, timelessness | Powdered amber |
Rainbow hues | Water exposed to a rainbow |
Slipperiness | Grease from a grease spell |
Speed | Sweat of a fast horse |
Sweet water | Absolutely pure water | Treasure finding | Dust of a diamond |
Undead control | Vampire blood |
Ventriloquism | Liar's sweat |
Vitality | Coffee beans |
Water breathing | Sahuagin wine |
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