Potions
Most potions can be used by any character.
To create a potion requires no spells, but the caster must first have the formula. Determining a formula from scratch requires 1d3+1 weeks and costs 100 gp a week. Time and costs are reduced to the minimum if the caster has access to commune or contact other plane spells. If the caster has a potion to analyze or a formula from another caster, the research is free and requires one week. A character must have a full dose of the potion to analyze, but the dose is not consumed in the research. The time requirement listed on Table 23 is the time the character actually spends brewing the potion. Once a potion’s formula has been personally researched and recorded, the character need not research it again unless the record is lost. Some potions are clerical potions and can only be manufactured by priests. These include the elixir of health, potion of extra healing, potion of fire resistance, potion of healing, potion of sweet water, and potion of vitality.
The chance to successfully brew a potion is 70%, +1% for every level of the creator, and –1% for each 100 gp the potion costs (detailed on Table 23). The DM should make this check in secret, since on a natural roll of 96 or higher the process fails, and the potion is cursed in some way (typically, it becomes a potion of poison or delusion instead of what it should be). Each vial holds a quarter pint of liquid (4 oz or 7.25 cubic inches) and costs 5 gp.
Alchemists: Alchemists may use the research rules above once they reach 9th level, but before that they must follow a lengthier and more expensive process if they take advantage of their ability to create potions before other wizards can. An alchemist of less than 9th level must spend two weeks and 500 gp per potion level to research the formula and then pass a learn spells check. (A potion’s equivalent spell level is its experience point value divided by 100, rounded up.) One of the advantages of the alchemist is that he need not obtain special ingredients before creating a potion; his knowledge of chemicals and reagents enables him to simulate these rare materials, whether he is using the alchemical process or the magical process. The alchemical process usually requires one full week and 300 to 1,800 gp (3d6x100) to brew a potion. If the potion’s experience point value is greater than 700, then the alchemist must spend an extra day per 100 experience points brewing the potion. However, at 9th level, the alchemist may choose to use the normal potion brewing rules instead. Alchemists may instead use a learn spells check, with a +1% bonus per character level, to see if they are successful in brewing the potion. Or, if the alchemist is 9th level or higher, he may produce the potion by magical means, using the normal success check of 70% + 1% per level. If this is the case, the alchemist gains a +5% to his success chance due to his specialist knowledge of potions.
Examples of Potion Creation
''Talghaz the Enchanter, a 9th level wizard, wants to produce a philter of love. Talghaz already possesses a minimal library and arranges to borrow the laboratory of his alchemist friend. As a result, he can begin his research without any additional expense. He uses no special techniques, so the research takes 1d3+1 weeks and costs him 100 gp per week. After three weeks, Talghaz finishes his research. He discovers that the potion requires the tears of a dryad as a rare material. Talghaz goes to the laboratory with a vial full of dryad tears and sets about brewing his potion. A philter of love is worth 200 XP, so it takes him two days and 200 gp to brew the potion.
The base chance of success is 80%, plus 9% for Talghaz’s level, less 2% for the potion’s experience point value. The DM also decides that a philter of love is right up an enchanter’s alley and gives Talghaz the +5% bonus for specialization. His total chance of success is 92%. ''
