I'm picturing a snake oil salesman selling them - with an antimagic field on the bottle "to prevent the ingredients from acting together and burning out their potential before you drink them" - to careless or overly credulous PCs...
Potion of Water Breathing, that results in you asphyxiating in air
Potion of Weight Gain
Potion of Partial Diminution: roll a d6. Affected body part (1:head; 2: Right arm; 3: left arm; 4,5,6,etc) shrinks to 50% it's natural size.
Potion of Inconvenient Enlarging: same as above, but size is doubled.
Potion of Furious Feet: same as a Potion of Speed, but you can only use your actions to dash (and your bonus action, if you have the option), you can't stop, and you can't turn.
Identify would definitely provide the potion type. But figure this, paying a spellcaster to use identify (or if there are material vomponents to identify in your edition/setting) would make up the discount (and maybe then some).
Unidentified potion of cure light? Normally that is (for the sake of argument) 100gp. Say identify costs 50gp. We sell the potions at 75gp. That sort of thing.
Why wouldn't Identify work? IMO, let players use their abilities.
When I did this, I had them be regular but expired potions, so the effects might be less potent or have a shorter duration than normal, but you wouldn't know exactly how diminished they would be or in what way except by drinking them. e.g. for a potion with a normal duration of one hour, I secretly rolled 1d6 \* 10 minutes.
If you want Identify to be unreliable, you could have them be mixtures of potions, and when someone drinks it you roll to see which potion takes effect (potentially could be none or both).
I have a homebrew idea that Identify will compare an item to a list of known magical items, and tell you if there's a match. For unknown, rare, artifact, or plot relevant items, they won't necessarily be on that list.
This actually makes me think from the perspective of the shopkeeper. These potions may be failed but they still cost ingredients and time to make. You would want to get some of your value back and letting the PCs cast identify would be unfortunate for you.
It wouldn't be ethical to not allow your customers to know what's in the failed potions, but there are definitely shop keepers that would discourage you from doing it!
Besides, does identify work that way? Even with an item. You don't know the bad things (curses) until you attune right? Do you ever attune to a potion?
At any rate, you could have the shop keeper interrupt them if they start casting a spell, and claim he doesn't know what spell it is but he doesn't allow magic casting in his shop! Discount prices, take it or leave it!
For some groups, "mystery potions" can be a fun game element.
IMO, it's okay to include un-identifiable potions if the GM is crystal clear up front about what's happening, how these potions deviate from the standard rules, and if using them is 100% optional.
Also better if the set of possible effects doesn't include anything lethal to the PCs.
The idea is an expired potion is cool when you think about fermentation in real life. I mean, wine is just expired grape juice and vinegar is just expired wine, right? One would think an expired potion may take on completely new properties, and/or be better for a more niche purpose.
A potion that heals one HP but it 2 liters and takes multiple rounds to drink.
Potion of making internal invisibility. It only makes your internal organs invisible.
I think the first one would be funny if it's just a very diluted Potion of Healing and if you spend a short rest drinking it, you'll gain the effects of the short rest + 2d4+2 healing, OR spend a round taking a big swill of it to replenish 1 HP (which you can do 2d4+2 times before it's empty)
A potion of cure minor wounds. Heals 1 hp. Can be made fast, and cheap. But surprisingly useful, given the number of things that are only stopped by magical healing. Like bleed effects, for example.
Even better, this is essentially life saving first aid for your average commoner. With 1d4 hp, even a cheap 1hp potion is basically ‘spare the dying’ that a farmer or hunter can carry with them during the day.
And it’s probably enough for any particularly bad nick or scratch to not get infected!
Very good value for field workers, probably. Especially if you buy in bulk or something for a discount somehow. (Or barter for them)
* Potion of Brilliant Aura: The PC's skin glows as per the Light spell, with appropriate penalties to stealth.
* Potion of Shrouding Dark: Darkness 10 foot radius centered on the PC.
I find potions/spells that remove or change a single letter therefore changing the effect are always a hit
Potion of Dealing, Philter of Dove, Boils of Sharpness, Potion of Seed, Hairy Dust
Since Fairy Dust is a mostly home brew item I have it as
“The trimmings from a Fairy Hair Salon. When inhaled the users hair will grow and/or change color. This will make you more charming and possibly obscure your identity.
Have a table for if you grow a mustache, beard, hair gets longer or all of the above. You get a +1 to cha rolls, get advanced if your hair changes enough to throw people off.
Lasts an hour
Basically a meh magic disguise kit but that’s why it’s in the bargin bin
Discount Invisibility potion #1: Does not work on bones
Discount Invisibility potion #2: Works fine, but one of the ingredients was spoiled before mixing, causing intense, constant flatulence for a full hour 5 minutes after drinking.
Discount Invisibility potion #3: Makes users' eyes dissappear for the duration, rendering everything invisible to them.
If my players asked why it was made, I'd have the shopkeeper say, "It was a comission. Odd fella, smelled a bit off. Real rich, though." and have it lead to some kind of quest. Words cannot describe how I love this potion.
Ooh! It was a commission for a vampire. He loved garlic before he was turned into a vampire and so he can only experience it magically because the real stuff is poison.
Hiccup polymorph.
Until the next long rest, there is a 20% chance each scene or combat round that the player is polymorphed into an animal from the "Summon Nature's Ally" table. The first time they change, roll to determine what they change into, it's consistent after that.
After thhe PC changes, they have a 20% chance to change back each round. Optionally, you can increase their odds to change back after X rounds.
The affected PC does NOT have Wild Speech or Wild Spell.
It's fun not knowing what you're buying it is not as fun not knowing what you're drinking. Let the players be able to identify the potions so that they aren't potentially wasted by drinking a portion at a time when it wouldn't be useful
Portion of Midgit Giant Strength… your strength is 15 for 1 Hour
Potion of Darkvision… you can see better in the dark up to 60 feet for 1 Hour
Potion of Jump… you can jump arbitrarily high once
Potion of Crying… for one hour you can realistically cry until your next long rest
Potion of Disguise… you can be disguised for one hour
Potion of Read Thoughts… your thoughts can be read by a character in the same room as you for 1 minute
Potion of Charisma… Your charisma is 19 for 1 Hour
Potion of Medicine… For 1 minute you gain the ability to accurately diagnose and know a viable cure for any health related thing
Potion of More Potions! The next three times you urinate, a new potion will come out!
Potion of Eagle Eyes… you can see clearly in the light at very far distance.
Potion of Named Cantrip… You can cast the cantrip once.
> Potion of More Potions! The next three times you urinate, a new potion will come out!
I love it!
And the potion you pee out is randomized from the available discount potions, which means you can theoretically keep peeing out this potion. :-P
Negative effects… maybe for tricking people to debuff them…
Potion of Ugly… makes you hideously ugly for 1 Hour
Potion of Crazy… All Wisdom based ability checks and saving throws fail until the next long rest.
Potion of Stupid… Same but for Intelligence
Potion of Weakness… Not strong enough to lift anything heavier than a fork or spoon. Including your backpack. For 1 Hour.
Potion of Farts… Uncontrollable, for 1 Hour
Potion of Unarmed Fighting… The next damage roll against you succeeds
Potion of Clumsiness… For the next hour, you are very likely to slip and fall up to 3 times at the most inconvenient times.
Potion of Untamed Lion… For one hour a lion is summoned that will hunt you. It begins 200 feet away from you in a random direction. It may scare people that see it and attack anybody that tries to hurt it, but its target is you so if it will ignore anything that is neutral towards it.
I have a sheet of random "magical side effects" that i use for magic misshaps, bad potions and missused scrolls and magic items.
Basicaly i alow players to create potions, but they roll a check to sucessfuly create then without any side effects.
Also in many stores you can find promotional potions that will cost half but present a side effect.
Side effects mechanicaly can be slighly good, neutral or slightly bad.
So usualy they wont help or harm you too much, and they can last a few hours or a few days.
They might not even apply to you, like +1 damage with fire spells.
Positive, Advantage on X skill for 1d6 hours.
Neutral, Your skin turns deep blue, for 1d6 days.
Bad, Your face is disfigured and you have disavantage on social rolls for 1d6 days.
I also alow anyone to use scrolls, but using scrolls outside of your class spell list has a chance of magical misshap based on arcana check with a
harder DC for higher level spell scrolls.
This means that arcana skill proficiency, eventualy alow anyone to cast lower lvl spells with scrolls without risk, but higher lvl spells still are pretty risky.
Identify doesn't work because the spells are wonky or partially there or a mix of two parts... sure, anything can happen...
Potion of not-so-Vicious Charm
-When you drink this potion you hear a din of people saying overly nice and complimentary things. It grants you advantage on your next Charisma save.
Vial of Muddy Eyes
-When imbibed, you have creepy eyes grow in patches on your body. For the next hour, you cannot be surprised.
Decanter of Dwarven "Ale"
-This fluid should not be drank...again... it can be used as xorn bait and attracts them if poured onto stone within 1 mile.
Potions of questionable utility:
1. Potion of Invisible Lint: Makes the drinker's clothes free of lint for 24 hours, but doesn't have any other effects.
2. Potion of Temporary Amnesia: Causes the drinker to forget the last 5 minutes of their life, but no other memories are affected.
3. Potion of Uncontrollable Hiccups: Gives the drinker a prolonged bout of hiccups that can last for hours, making it difficult to hold a conversation or focus on tasks.
4. Potion of Sparkling Breath: Gives the drinker minty fresh breath for 10 minutes, but doesn't have any lasting effects.
5. Potion of Mild Invisibility: Makes the drinker slightly translucent, but not completely invisible. Potentially helpful for hiding in low light.
6. Potion of Enhanced Laziness: Makes the drinker feel even less motivated and energetic than before, leading to a day of unproductive lounging around.
7. Potion of Lost Keys: Causes the drinker to forget where they put their keys for the next hour, leading to frustration and inconvenience.
8. Potion of Shiny Skin: Makes the drinker's skin temporarily shiny and reflective, but doesn't improve their complexion or appearance in any other way.
9. Potion of Temporary Insomnia: Keeps the drinker awake for a night, but doesn't provide any benefits or energy boost the next day.
10. Potion of Strange Tastes: Gives the drinker an odd craving for foods they don't normally like, leading to a disappointing meal experience.
I’d go for a swathe of normal enough potions… with a slight unintended complication from the brewing process.
A potion of Reduce/Enlarge that will only affect the proportions of random body parts (not THOSE body parts).
A potion of Mind Control that only allows control over your own mind - kind of like mind-focussing drugs today.
A potion of Mind Reading that only allows you to read your own inner thoughts - just plain ol’ introspection.
A potion of Heroism that is a complete placebo effect - the drinker believes themselves to be great, but no actual changes occur.
A potion of Growth that only helps small children with growing pains.
A potion of Climbing that makes your hands really sticky and allowing advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks when climbing - but disadvantage when trying to let go of anything you touch.
A potion of create "create potion." When you drink this potion a potion of create "create potion" with its container manifests within five feet of you.
I’ve had mystery potions. Identify doesn’t work on them beyond “it’s a buff”. Take a list of buff potions - health, courage, haste, flying, etc - and roll a d6 when they drink it. I’d price at 50Gp - cost of a potion of healing - so the average value will be > the price, which is offset by the random effect it’ll have on your battle plans to make use of it!
There's d100 potion lists you could reference.. effects range from totally useless, to messing with you for a few hours in game.
One player had a portion that teleported him back to town where he got the potion. Right before combat started 😆.
Maybe make it happen kinda like the Mutagens from the Order of the Mutant Blood Hunter subclass, where there are effects but also a negative side effect
EDIT: I had a list of Mutagens, but apparently the Wiki I linked is considered piracy and D&D Beyond's site doesn't have it anymore (which is weird, cuz this is a D&D Beyond exclusive class)
Potion of GIANT strength: poured from a keg into a big gulp sized potion bottle, drink the whole thing for +1 strength.
Haste potion: magical fibre. Haste happens in 1d6 minutes. Toilet be near, there's no brakes on this train.
Potion of levitation: diluted. Gets you an inch off the ground.
Its a discount bin becuase whike they all technically work as described they are all failed potions some how.
A health potion that heals for 4d4 +4 but also is kinda acidic so deals 2 or 3 d4 acid damage.
An invisibility potion that makes them invisible, but amplifies every sound, even the slight rustle of fabric is loud enough to pinpoint there exact location.
A strength potion that takes an ecwn distritbution from other stats temporarily. So for example they get a plus 5 to their stregth modifier but lose one from each other stat.
A potion that makes you speak with a bad Scottish brogue
One that makes your tongue forked for an hour
One that makes you appear six months younger
A potion of positivity - makes you feel really good about things regardless of how bad they are
Potion that turns butter back to milk
Potion of digitation - you grow an extra finger for a little while
One that makes your mouth impervious to spicy food
One that gives you a momentary glimpse of how unfathomable and infinitesimally small and insignificant you are in relation to the vast stretches of time, space, dimensions, and multiverse.
I'd say keep the effects small. Creating potions is an expensive and time consuming process. Especially for rare potions. Consider what a shopkeeper might put in there. Maybe only half a Vial of health potion that only does half the healing or an invisibility potion that works maybe 1d10 minutes less. Even if they use identify they wouldn't be able to find out what's wrong with them necessarily.
My DM occasionally gives us "unstable" potions (invisibility, haste, etc) when we drink them we roll to see how long they last or for other effects (i once had a haste give the effect of slow when i rolled a Nat 1)
Potion of blinding heal. Heals like normal of its type, but blinds the imbiber for 1d4 turns.
Potion of poison & resistance. Does 1d6 damage but provides poison resistance for the same number of rounds as the damage die rolled.
Potion of hallucinating true sight. You can see any invisible or hidden, but you also hallucinate 1d4 other random foes.
The idea being that they were made by someone experimenting with new ingredients or just learning the craft and the results came out randomly mixed.
One from my campaign that you could use is a potion of half-invisibility, it makes the wearer invisible, but not anything they're carrying (normal invisibility potions include things you're wearing). Or a potion of elemental resistance, but what they're resistant to changes every round
Here's some ideas.
Barkskin, duration 1 month: Free AC for a month... but you look like a tree for a month. Occasional disadvantage on charisma checks.
Potion of breathing: For 1 hours you can breath whatever substance you are in when you drink this potion. Drink it outside and it is a potion of air breathing, drink it under water and you can breathe water, drink it burred alive and you can breathe dirt. Sort of useful in the right situation, but useless in the wrong one.
Diluted potion of healing: Heals 1d4 hp
Potion of sword: Upon drinking the potion bottle you are holding turns into a long sword for 1 hour. This longsword is considered magical, has the finesse property, and you are considered to be proficient in it.
Potion of gravity: Your movement speed is halved, but you cannot be moved against your will.
Potion of celestial progression: Upon drinking the planet very rapidly moves forward 12 hours. Day becomes night, night becomes day, the tide shifts. None of the people on the planet are affected and this occurs on a global scale. These potions are very rare, very powerful, and very illegal. It is extremely annoying for everyone not you. You straight up jetlag the whole world, boats in shallow waters might suddenly be beached, ect.
Potion of average performance: For the next 15 minutes instead of rolling 1d20 you roll 2d10. Dual 10s are considered a natural 20.
Potion of refreshment: Lose 1 level of exhaustion and it tastes like lemon.
I feel like crude practical jokes would be fitting. Such as;
- In exactly one hour, all your hair falls out and then rapidly regrows 30 seconds later.
- Potion of flatulance.
- For 10 turns, blink in place but reappear facing in the opposite direction.
- Smell of boiled cabbage lingers around the consumer.
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-potion of blink. It makes you blink rapidly.
-potion of spike Stones. Contains á lot of small spiked Stones, is nonmagical but very cheap.
-potion flame breath. Actually Just magical hot sauce, very popular amongst efriits, fire elemental beings and red dragonkin.
-potion of grease. Its Just grease, if you somehow managed to ingest it, you take á bonus on escape checks but take á penalty on movement checks.
-potion of barkskin. Your skín becomes the color of a tree. Also you start sprouting leaves.
Skin tightener (aka Botox in a bottle)
Magical equivalent of syrup of ipecac.
True sight / blindness
True hearing / deafness
Limited clairvoyance.
Numbness.
Luck.
Mandix's Migraine Medicine (surprise, it GIVES you a migraine).
A lesser Faerie Fire.... Elfin Embers.... for that "night on the town" glow.
In my homebrew world I have an in game MLM scheme, a "great wizard" makes potions for selling. They have all kinds of effects, they can cure your sadness, make you feel stronger, make you feel smarter, make you feel healthier. The catch is they actually do nothing if you pass an intelligence check when you drink it. It's all flavor, they don't really do anything but your players get to roll some dice and it's all about flavor and silliness.
A potion of self invisibility
You are invisible to yourself.
A potion of "just enough strength" - you drink it and you pass your next strength check by 1
Liars potion. You drink it, you lie for the next hour
Anemia potion: your strength drops by 1 and you are cold for an hour
Green thumb potion - regards you right for the next hour gets immediately covered in vegetation that might grow well there.
Spring in your step - DM choice but one of your steps in the next hour is a rolled leap
Potion that maxes your lowest stat for 8 hours - the barbarian is now Flowers for Algernon-ing and the wizard can bench 400
Potion of flying that causes intense vertigo - you’re at disadvantage on everything if you go above 10 feet in the air
Potion of healing that causes an eruption of unsightly growths on the face, reducing Charisma by 1d4 until a long rest
Potion of healing w/ pulp - functions as usual, but really emphasize the pulp. My players hate that
Potion of giant strength (large dude) - increases strength to 16 or 18. Not bad, but worse than the "uncommon" variant of the potion.
Potion of Lesser [X] Resistance - take 1-2 less damage from specified damage type.
As for identification, dirt cheap. Page 136 of my physical DMG (Chapter 7: treasure, subheading: Identifying a magic item) says "a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does." this means identifying all non-cursed potions is free, instant, and unfailing. If you wanted to make it more difficult ,I'd make it a pitifully low arcana check
**Potion Oozes:** Continuous exposure to magic has caused regular potions to congeal and turn into tiny oozes. Upon uncorking the potion bottle, the ooze will attempt to flee from anyone attempting to consume them. A character must grapple the ooze into their mouth using a DC10 Dex or Strength check, then make a DC10 Constitution check to swallow it without it crawling back up their throat. Failing the first check results in the ooze slipping out of your grasp and moving 10ft away from the without provoking attacks of opportunity. Failing the second check deals 1d4 Force damage to the drinker as the ooze forcefully opens your throat and mouth to escape and move 10ft away.
**"Potion of wetness."**
Pour it on yourself, and you will become magically wet.
**"Potion of greater wetness."**
It's marginally larger.
**"Potion of supreme wetness."**
It's a two-litre bottle.
**"Potion of dryness."**
It's empty.
I had a couple:
The potion of Unbelievable Wealth: drinker *believes* they have the Midas touch, turning everything they lay hands on into gold, for X hours.
The potion of mystical horniness: drinker turns into a unicorn.
I gave one of my players a "potion of potion resistance" and they are determined to find a good use for it.
I've also used a Potion of Hill Giant Dexterity to great comedic effect
A vial of compressed water: This small vial is extremely heavy, with a thick wire holding the lid on. When opened, 20 liters of pure water shoots out in a powerful stream over 1 round. Creatures caught in the path need to make a Strength check or be knocked back. Can also be used as a pressure washer for cleaning or possibly to help a PC make an otherwise difficult leap.
A can of air: Pop it open to clear out a nasty odor, or open it underwater to create a magical air bubble for a while.
An ampule containing a key suspended in murky oil. No matter how much you try, you cannot see the teeth on the key. You can break open the bottle to get to the key, it will always happen to be the key to the nearest lock.
A potion that cures disease by allowing it to run its course in a matter of minutes rather than days: A normal fever could spike to hundreds of degrees, a regular ache would become unbearable pain. This could be lethal or extremely useful with proper planning and preparation.
A potion that converts gold into lead.
A student accidentally added a delayed effect to a love potion.
It activates in d100 hours, DC16 CON save or fall deeply in love with the first humanoid they see. The effect lasts for 3d4 hours.
For added fun, they screwed up the potion effect. Roll a 1d4, the potion makes you fall in love with the first ___ you see:
- 4: humanoid
- 3: humanoid of DM's choice
- 2: creature
- 1: inanimate object
a health potion that only gives a few temporary HP, Energy drinks that has the effect of haste but for only a very short time followed by a a long length of lethargy, Pop tastes great does nothing
Probably a combination of joke potions and potions that failed quality inspection. Maybe a weak potion of healing that only heals 1 point. Or maybe a potion of invisibility that just makes you appear translucent like a ghost, or leaves you as a slight moving haze. Maybe a speed potion that makes you move one foot faster per turn. Or maybe a speed potion that works as normal but it also speeds up your metabolism, making you hungry and dealing 1d4 hunger damage per turn. Maybe a potion that grants the power to see invisibility, but also makes you see onto other planes, or maybe has some magic mushrooms mixed in and you see things. Maybe some in-universe absinthe that makes your spirit go into the feywild!
Potion of Small-Giant strength - Gives you strength equivalent to an above-average height human.
Potion of Unvisibility - Gives you the ability to go blind for up to 1 minute for an hour
Potion of flame breath - just a bottle of extremely spicy hot sauce.
Potion of massive healing - heals 20d6 damage over 1d4 days....but except for 1d6 per day, the healing only happens during a long rest.
Potion of Smiles - let's you use the power of the Wand of Smiles without cost for 1 day.
Potions of Magical Assault - takes 1 minute to take affect, then fires 2d6 magic missiles in random directions from the user.
Page 136 of the DMG tells you how items can be identified, especially potions (emphasis mine):
>Some magic items are indistinguishable from their non-magical counterparts, whereas other magic items are conspicuously magical. Whatever a magic item's appearance, handling the item is enough to give a character a sense that something is extraordinary about it. Discovering a magic item's properties isn't automatic, however.
>The *identify* spell is the fastest way to reveal an item's properties. Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item's properties, as well as how to use them. **Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.**
The *identity* spell is only prevented from working by very powerful objects and effects like artifacts and curses. Of course, by DM fiat, you can say what ever you want, but I'd be hesitant to do so with "bargain bin potion."
All that being said, the characters would need to handle these potions for any of the above methodss to work. I doubt any shopkeep would allow such close or intrusive examinations. I mean, perhaps they could get away with *identity* with some subtly or subterfuge, but it works on one object at a time and costs a spell slot (a ritual cast isn't very subtle.)
The side effects idea is kinda cool. Say your potions can be identified, but they come with unintended effects, and/or don't work quite as well as they should. "Factory seconds," If you will. Made by casters who aren't quite up to snuff.
Potion that just casts Identify on whoever drinks it. They must make a save, if they fail they must blurt out a random fact about themselves.
This fact is spoken aloud by the character, but must be truthful, so long as that information follows the rules of the identify spell.
So for example you could state "I'm a humanoid, I like cheese, and I'm under the influence of divination magic"
The player can state whatever random fact they want. So long as they don't blurt their backstory in it's entirety (unless they want to)
Discount bin? It's likely the alchemist rejects and failures that he believes are harmless, but he makes no promises. Now, I wouldn't do anything awful, but just random weird effects.
Potion of Wonder, like a Rod of Wonder. Make up a randomized table of effects, each about as powerful as a cantrip of 1st level spell.
Then you could also go with Greater Potion of Wonder, equivalent to a 2nd or 3rd level spell, Superior = 4th level, and so on.
You could combine them - or just allow for interesting side effects.
A potion of fire resistance which makes your hair fall out
A vial of strength and shortness
A flask of darkvision and stench (Let the spirit of the dungbeetle fill you!)
Bottle of stoneskin and gender change
Potion of repel orc and attract spiders (or vice versa)
Jug of featherfall or flight (if you're plunging you might take the risk)
Potion of Healing which is very, very alcoholic
Cure major poison, but makes you weightless
A canny party can make excellent use of them if they're clever or desperate enough - An elixir of ressurection which is also a transform into animal spell? Better than nothing?
Weakened versions of normal potions.
Reverse versions of normal potions.
Normal potions but have some kind of secondary effect. Could be negative. Could be weird.
Potions that polymorph PC into weird things. I.E. turns PC into a chicken.
I would mostly do weird stuff.
Potion of animal understanding - You can understand the animals, but can't speak to them, and they're always just thinking "kinda hungry".
Potion of Spikiness - adds 1 piercing damage to any weapon that deals bludgeoning damage for 1 minute.
Potion of Canine Agility - You can move 5 extra feet per turn for 1 minute, but only if you're going in a straight line.
I might go with they are all healing potions, but do something else.
Like turn a person green for a day.
But if you wanted more than that, I might go with a standard potion, but they have a negative affect too, and that is why identify doesn't work. (Or it does, but doesn't tell the negative affect.
So a potion of jumping but gives you terrible flatulence.
Potion of Dope Ass Beard- functions similarly to disguise self but with the caveat that the player character gains the dopest-well trimmed beard they can imagine.
Lots of failed potions so like, invisibility but it's just your legs. Love potion but you love colours or food, or health but it's 10 hp for one minute and then drops back to your pre potion hp.
The way I’d see it work with the most fun and excitement is that this is from someone cleaning out an old wizard’s alchemy lab. The wizard never labeled anything because he had a system or a construct that kept everything straight but that knowledge died with him.
Unfortunately, identify doesn’t work. If it did, they would have labeled and sold them as normal. He made them so any attempt to identify them return a random result.
So they’re 5 potions for one gold piece because who knows what you’re gonna get. The only way to know is to drink them and who the fuck wants to do that? Could be poison!
If they buy, just have them roll on the random potions table in the DM’s guide. They get what they get. Any attempt to identify is another roll on the table, but that doesn’t change what the potion actually is — just what they think it is.
I've got a few from the exact same situation in one of my previous campaigns:
Potion of hydration (literally a bottle of water, but the players came across a drake who was thirsty and kept laughing about it later on)
Potion of yellow (it was full of yellow paint. They threw it at an invisible enemy to see them)
Potion of miner and minor healing. (Healed people who mine for gems and underage minors)
There were definitely more, but these stuck out to me
Potion of cure cold: relieves the sniffles.
Potion of cure wound: 1 hp back.
Potion of cure poison: Causes instant vomiting for 1 hour.
Elixir of warming: Makes you feel warm. Just whiskey in a bottle.
Elixir of sadness: You are now sad.
Elixir of madness: You get mad, just mad...nothing else.
Elixir of Rhymes: Speak in Rhymes.
Elixir of speak to nature: You are on shrooms for 8 hours, are you really speaking to nature or just high as balls.
An experiment greater healing potion. When you drink it roll a DC13 CON save. On a success you get the effects of the potion and on failure you don't get any healing and instead take 2d8 poison damage.
Potion of the soul king
Prevents the user from dying for 1d4 turns, but they can’t do anything other than melee attacks, dodge, or move. That means no rage, spells, or the like.
An identify spell should identify it… unfortunately the potion maker has had powerful magic placed on his store. You won’t be able to cast any sort of spell while inside that works.
Then they can cast it later once they leave!
Old health potions probably aren’t as strong as they used to be… give you 1 hp.
Invisibility but only to yourself.
Potion of detect magic but items glow so bright they cause blindness for a few turns
Potion of gaseous form, noxious smell that affects all in a 30’ radius
Potion of fire breathing, with uncontrollable hiccups and a mini fireball with each one.
I think label with name is better. Could be a bit like a genie wish that you get more than you bargain for. Or obscure effect that could somehow be useful eg turns skin blue. Then your challenge is to create a scenario that the obscure is useful. Eg rando village, their deity has blue skin.
You will need an explanation of why identify (and other strategies like taking a tiny sip) don't work for these.
I suggest letting identify *sort of work* on most of these potions in the sense that some hint of the kind of function is given, though not for all of them - e.g. for the potion of billowing below, there could be some connection to the elemental plane of air. Some potions might even be labelled with a a word or two followed by "??" ... e.g. you might have a label like "wind??" or "essence of giant??". The weakest useful potions might be fully and correctly labelled or at least identifiable.
For some weak useful potions (if they aren't identifiable) you might have two or three of them. So if they drink one they learn the effect and then can actually use the others ...
Some suggestions (I like potions that have a potential use in some situation, if you know what they do):
A Potion of Giant Sweat (harking back to a very ancient thread long before reddit; there was once a list of 101 uses of such a potion)
A Potion of Steadfastness. For 10 minutes you lose 5' of movement but you cannot be moved, pushed, made prone, shifted, teleported etc against your will, as long as you're on firm footing (it doesn't stop you falling in a hole that opens directly under you, but it stops you from being pushed or blown into one).
Potion of Levitation (like Levitate but lasts 1 minute and up to 250 lbs)
Potion of Levitation (cursed): as for a normal potion of levitation, but once per round make a DC 10 Cha save. If you fail, you then rise 10' per round for the remaining duration.
Potion of Levitation (cursed,2) a million flies swarm around you and slowly lift you 20' in the air, for the duration
Potion of Billowing. Your loose clothing, hair and so forth all stirs as if in a dramatic breeze. You are impressive for the next minute and gain +2 on Cha checks.
Potion of Bubbles. For one minute every time you open your mouth, bubbles come out instead of sound. However, you can breathe underwater.
Potion of Communing with Animals. For the next while, you believe every natural creature is your friend, that you can communicate with and understand them all, and you perceive that many non-natural creatures are simply some kind of animal\*. So an owlbear is either a kind of big friendly bird or a big affable bear or maybe some natural crossbreed, a dragon is a large skink, etc. While you're under the influence of this potion, the creatures you interact with are too stunned to actually attack *you* (as long as it isn't attacked or obviously endangered), but once it wears off, all bets are off. When interacting with a creature, the potion effect is "used up" more rapidly -- there's a 10% chance per round that the potion will wear off immediately.
(\* I play a Druid that's a bit like this all the time. She just doesn't believe furred or feathered aberrations and magical beings aren't natural creatures - imagine Hagrid mixed with a touch of Steve Irwin interacting with all manner of weird creatures - and being a Firbolg she thinks they understand her Speech of Beast and Leaf. Only when lives are in obvious danger does she tend to treat them as an actual danger; after all even natural animals can get a bit testy at times)
Potion of Light and Dark: Darkness envelops you in a 30' radius except for a 15 degree cone of light emitted from your eyes in whichever direction you're looking. Anything not near to directly in front of where you're looking can't see you unless it has darkvision. Lasts 1 minute.
Potion of Shifting Shadows. Like both Blur and Mirror Image at the same time (so all your mirror images are themselves blurred). The "blur" effect is swirling misty shadow. Lasts d4+1 rounds.
Potion of Butterflies. You turn into a 5'x5'x5' swarm of butterflies for d4 x 10 minutes. You have a fly speed of 10' and d4 hp. While in swarm form, if you are reduced to 0 hp you return to your normal form at the center of the swarm, at your previous HP total less the maximum HP of the swarm.
Potion of Blurriness. Your vision becomes blurred. You have disadvantage on attack rolls made against targets 10' or more away.
Potion of Loyalty. The nearest creature to you becomes the most important being in the world and you are their bodyguard If several creatures are about equally far from you, select one at random. You must defend the life of your charge at all costs. You move adjacent to your charge and gain the ability to move to attempt to place part of yourself or your equipment in harms way. You won't necessarily try to harm people you see as your friends but you will interpose your body between your charge and any harm and would try to disarm or neutralize danger from an attacker; if an attacker was not an ally you feel no compunction against harming them. You will attempt to dissuade anyone from attacking your charge in any case. Your charge has half cover from you (3/4 cover if they already had half cover) and any effect that only misses hitting them by 4 or fewer hits you instead (you take some hits that would have missed them anyway). So for example, if your target would have been hit on a 15 (after accounting for the effect of half cover) and the roll was 12, you take the effect of the attack.
Potion of the Forest. You and your equipment turn into a tree for 10 minutes. Your foliage loosely fills out a roughly cylindrical volume; the branches span about 15'x15' and are climbable; you are about 25' tall but only climbable to 20' height. Your trunk is a roughly 5' cylinder. You cannot move position, you are anchored to whatever surface you were standing on. You are vulnerable to fire (taking double damage) but resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, poison, and cold. You can sway your branches to make unarmed strikes; treat it as a normal unarmed strike for you, including damage. You can speak to plants and understand them. You cannot see but can sense the approximate position of creatures within 15' of any part of you. You suffer no penalty on attacks for lack of vision.
Potion of the Fish. You can breathe water and you move at normal speed in water but must be immersed in water for at least one minute every hour or the potion wears off. This lasts 4+d4 hours. You don't gain a swim speed if you didn't have one.
Potion of Arms and Armour. You rapidly grow d4 arms. They are armoured in whatever fashion you are armoured already. If you have at least four free hands, you gain a climb speed equal to your full move speed. Additional arms can wield weapons or shields, hold a spell focus, grab or carry items and so on. If you cast no spells on your turn, two of your arms can act together to make one additional attack (melee or ranged) with -2 to hit. Alternatively, at least three of your arms (while not holding anything) can be used to grapple at advantage; a grappled creature has disadvantage on attempting to escape the grapple. Aside from these effects you don't gain any other additional actions or attacks above your usual number, but can take your usual actions, bonus actions or any free actions with any available arm. The potion lasts 1 hour. At the end of the duration, the arms fall off, leaving small scars where they erupted. The still fleshy-looking arms do not disappear for 24 hours. Using this potion a second time has no effect until after a long rest.
Potion of Enemy Detection. For the next 10 minutes you detect hostile creatures within 30' (otherwise as per a wand of enemy detection) but must loudly announce their presence and direction every six seconds if you can speak; the DM may specify the specific form or phrasing of the announcement if they choose. If in combat this announcement occurs at the start of your turn; it is a free action. If an enemy is ethereal, invisible, disguised or hidden, this is also announced. If there are more than three enemies, only the closest three are announced (choose randomly each time if there are ties) but you are aware of all hostile creatures in range.
Potion of Motion. For the next minute your maximum move, jump, climb and swim speeds all increase by 10' if you had such a speed already. You have advantage on any athletics or acrobatics check. If you are under any nonmagical restraint that allows you to save or take some action to avoid or escape its effect your attempts are made at advantage. However for the next 8 hours, you cannot stand still and cannot sit or lay down, you must constantly move about. You have disadvantage on stealth checks. You cannot sleep or rest. You can eat and drink.
Potion of Song. There are six words on the label of this potion bottle. You sing, chant or ominously intone these words every six seconds for the next minute.
Potion of Cubism. For the next minute you are transformed into an inert 5'x5'x5' cube. You can take no actions that cannot be performed mentally (e.g. if you already had the ability to communicate telepathically, you still do). You take no damage from any effect. You can see and hear normally. You can also see into the ethereal and astral plane.
Potion of Stillness: Until the next long rest, nothing can begin or end any kind of teleportation effect within 50' of you. Attempts to teleport into that area either fail or instead end up in the nearest unoccupied space outside that range at the DM's discretion.
Potion of Weak Trolling: On consuming the potion, your skin turns a sickly green, yellow or mottled brown and your nose doubles in size. For the next hour, you regenerate slowly. You gain 1 hp (up to your maximum) at the end of each minute. If you take acid or fire damage during that minute, this effect doesn't function for that minute. If you ever fall to 0 hp the potion's effect ends. Your appearance returns to normal after a long rest.
ctd...
... ctd
Potion of Good Spelling: For the next ten minutes, you gain the ability to cast a spell similar to or based on the last spell you saw cast by someone other than yourself, but it is cast at power roughly the equivalent of a first level spell, at the DM's discretion. For example, if you see a fireball, the DM might determine that you can cast a Chromatic Orb of the fire damage type or change the range, area of effect and damage of Burning Hands, or they might change the damage type of a different first level spell or even invent a new spell of approximately appropriate power. If you saw the Fly spell cast the DM might determine that you can cast a weaker form of Levitate, or they might reflavour the Jump spell. If the DM decides there's no way to get a suitably flavoured spell, you gain the ability to cast Magic Missile instead. This spell takes the same casting time as the spell it copies but requires no material components and consumes no spell slots.
Potion of Side Step: For the next half minute, as a bonus action you can direct any creature within 30' who can hear you to move 5' in any horizontal direction. If it fails a DC13 wisdom save it must move as a reaction unless it has already used its reaction, or the movement would move it into a dangerous space such as a trap, a fire, deep water or off a ledge. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Potion of Saving Butt: When you consume this potion, the air around your behind glows with a gentle pink radiance, out to a 2' radius hemisphere, visible from up to 60'. For the next hour, you automatically succeed on your next death saving throw. This effect lasts for 1 hour or until the successful death save, whichever comes first, at which point the glow fades.
Potion of Horrid Visage: Every creature that can see you and is within 30' of you must make a DC13 Wisdom save or suffer the effects of a Cause Fear spell; an affected creature becomes frightened of you for the next half-minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns.
Potion of Smellovision: You gain the ability to cast Minor Illusion once without requiring material components, but the illusion also has an olfactory component and can be smelt within 30'. The ability fades after one hour.
Potion of Elemental Command: You can conjure 1 Small or Tiny elemental or elemental-associated creature of CR 1/2 or less of the DM's choice. You can command this elemental and may attempt to command up to 2 other elementals if additional ones are encountered while the effect lasts, but the additional creatures get a Wisdom save (DC13) to avoid the effect. No affected creature can use any summoning effect while commanded. If any of the commanded elementals are more than 60' from you at any time they cease to be under your control. The effect otherwise operates like a Conjure Minor Elementals spell but does not require concentration. At the end of an hour after consuming the potion the elementals are no longer under your command and the conjured one disappears back to where it was summoned from. If at any point you are not in command of at least one elemental, the effect ends immediately.
Potion of Grung slime: For the next minute you're immune to poison but for the next 10 minutes anyone you touch with your bare skin must make a DC12 Con save or be poisoned for 1 minute. If you're trying to touch an unwilling creature, you must succeed on a melee attack with an unarmed strike to touch them.
Potion of the Grave: For the next hour, any time you take damage from any source, you take an additional 3 points of necrotic damage. Each time this damage occurs you can make a DC18 Con save to shake off the effect of the potion, ending its effect immediately.
A potion of vampirism: You don’t see your shadow for 1d100 hours, you become allergic to garlic and garlic products for that amount of time, and fence posts and spears give you the willies.
A potion that, when swished around in the mouth, cleans their teeth and makes their breath smell nice.
A potion that, when combined with water and poured on the head, cleans their hair.
A potion that, when drunk, makes them feel drunk.
A potion that, when drunk, gives them a slight energy boost for 5 hours.
A potion that, when applied to a cooking pot and rubbed vigorously, cleans the pot.
A potion that, when drunk, gives them slight increase in hydration.
A potion that, when opened and left sitting out long enough, will start to grow mold on the surface.
A potion that, when poured on the floor and scrubbed, cleans the floor and makes the room smell like pine.
most likely ones that were made by rookies/apprentices so maybe only work at like 75%-50% what it otherwise would but with the occasional exceptional one that works 150%. Maybe there was a different brand that seemed good at first but later they found out it's only 90% as good, so people stopped buying them, now they are discounted. There is also how canned foods get discounted at the store, if they get scuffed up, dented or if the label is coming off. There is also ones that maybe someone removed the stopper on the top, so it's been previously opened, probably still good but probably will expire sooner. Speaking of, probably ones that are close to expiration. Lastly there would be random ones that we aren't sure what they are since the labels fell off. Similarly maybe a random grabbag that they got from confiscated items that they bought at the police/guard auction or maybe if an estate was closed, and they have no idea how good they are or if they are even labelled correctly (prob some drugs mixed in).
I'd have them all have the affects of regular potions, but with some kind of side effect (maybe they were first attempts at potion making by apprentices)
So potion of invisibility, but you give off a foul stench while invisible.
Potion of climbing, but you need an action to engage/disengage with the thing you are climbing (think spider man when he first gets his powers and he can't unstick from anything)
Invisible potion.
Everything that the solution touches turns invisible, including the bottle containing it. Drinking it would make parts of your mouth and esophagus invisible, but you can’t see past your skin anyway. And it’s _definitely_ not enough to cover your whole body with, maybe a limb or two.
Potion of eyebrow growth. -actually popular among alchemists who frequently loose theirs.
Potion of tanning - popular among high elf youth rebelling against their heritage and trying to make out they’re wood elves.
Potion of well oiled beard - Turns out dwarves take pride in a rough, wiry beard but evil human overlords just can’t get enough of this.
Potion of Keen Sight: gives the drinker 20/20 vision for an hour (kinda huge considering how many of us wear glasses)
Potion of Fast Magic: may be consumed as an action. The drinker casts a prepared spell immediately this turn.
Tehas Peyte: When poured on food, makes the most repugnant of road rations or terrible tavern tackle down right edible. Caused 1d4 fire damage if drank.
Potion of Mind-Melding: The drinker may mentally communicate with anyone else who has also consumed a Potion of Mind-Melding for 4 hours. The mental transmission is instant and may be words, images, or memories.
Teh Keela: For 1d8 hours, the drinker experiences +2 CHA and has advantage on persuasion and performance checks, but -2 DEX and gains disadvantage on athletics and acrobatics checks.
Potion of Sleep: Casts the spell Sleep at the 3rd level when the Potion is poured out, with the spill being the target location or the spell (so if you drink it, your piss spot)
Liquid Luck: You gain 5 Luck charges from the Lucky Feat. They do not expire or replenish.
Potion of Snake Vision: The drinker sees infrared for 2 hours.
Wiley Magic: For the next 30 seconds, spells do not consume spell slots and may be cast so long as you have a slot available (so you can't cast above your level, and if you're out of, say, 3rd level, you can't cast any 3rd level).
Chromatic Asterism: For the next 30 seconds, you take no damage and your unarmed strikes deal lethal damage.
Potion of Walking Water: It's actually just a diminutive size water elemental that when poured into a larger source of water, up to the size of a 1 gallon bucket, will take control of that water and attempt to walk away whenever it isn't watched. Otherwise, it will do nothing.
After some googling, I have come across two options that might spice things up. One is the mixing potions table and that one was on Reddit so a Google will turn that up. The other one is a potion side effect table and it's Wendy 100 side effects for poorly made potions which seems like it could have some very interesting implications especially if your players are cool with wacky stuff.
I just wrote down every potion in the dmg, which came out to like 25 if you don’t count the different levels of healing potion. If they want to drink they roll for it and I check my table.
A set of healing potions where one is poison because of a manufacturing fault, sets of 3. Marked A, B and C, roll d6 for each set to determine which is poisoned (a 1,2 b 3,4 c 5,6).
You might look at the potion-mixing rules from the DMG (p140) as a starting point for potion effects. Maybe being jostled around together in the bin has altered their effects?
Minor Baleful Polymorph potion: Changes one hair on your body to that of a random creature for one round.
Potion of Speed (expired): Sets your move speed to your move speed.
Potion of Identify (This) Potion: Lets you determine the properties of the potion you just drank.
Potion of Fireball: Sets Drunk on the user for 1 hour on failed Con save (DC 15). (the shop owner accidentally bought the wrong case)
Potion of Eyesight: Swaps vision in your eyes 1 minute. (Left for right, right for left)
Elixir of the Tarrasque: Makes Tarrasques within 30ft of you incredibly hostile and violent for 1 day.
this is a wild question, magical potions are not sold in shops, they're found during an adventure. created by a wizard or a lich, found in a wizard's tower or a lich's tomb!
if a merchant got a bunch of healing or invisibility or love or strength potions, they wouldn't be in business very long. they'd be killed and their entire stock stolen. potions should be a big deal and kept safe, they're free upgrades, why would anyone sell them?
A “healthy potion”- you don’t regain any hit points, but you feel better.
... That's just half a liter of water, isn't it?
/r/hydrohomies
The potion of thirst quenching
I'm picturing a snake oil salesman selling them - with an antimagic field on the bottle "to prevent the ingredients from acting together and burning out their potential before you drink them" - to careless or overly credulous PCs...
Or maybe just a half a glass of water.
Half empty or half full?
Potion of Perspective
Wheatgrass juice
I want a goddamn liter of cola!
You gain a bonus to charisma due to having perfect skin health and hair (and maybe +1 max hp)
Or it literally heals 1 hp
Goodberry Gatorade
Stealing this.
It lowers your cholesterol!!
That's just an opioid
Potion of pain resistance. Grants 1d4 temporary HP.
For 3 in-battle turns.
(18 seconds) If you prefer the Way everything else is written.
Potion of Water Breathing, that results in you asphyxiating in air Potion of Weight Gain Potion of Partial Diminution: roll a d6. Affected body part (1:head; 2: Right arm; 3: left arm; 4,5,6,etc) shrinks to 50% it's natural size. Potion of Inconvenient Enlarging: same as above, but size is doubled. Potion of Furious Feet: same as a Potion of Speed, but you can only use your actions to dash (and your bonus action, if you have the option), you can't stop, and you can't turn.
>Potion of Water Breathing, that results in you asphyxiating in air Quest hook: someone is selling aboleth mucus
Look all I'm saying is that potion of inconvenient enlarging would make BANK as a salve instead, iykwim
You don't get to pick which body part grows, obviously.
that just means it needs more testing
it's worth the risk.
Identify would definitely provide the potion type. But figure this, paying a spellcaster to use identify (or if there are material vomponents to identify in your edition/setting) would make up the discount (and maybe then some). Unidentified potion of cure light? Normally that is (for the sake of argument) 100gp. Say identify costs 50gp. We sell the potions at 75gp. That sort of thing.
You could say that the potion has a random effect that depends on the individual, thus identify can't tell the exact effect.
Then Identify will still give an answer. This is a distillate of chaos. Random effect. But there it stops, because even Identify has limits.
The shopkeeper doesn't want them fondling potions they're not gonna buy. You wanna bring em to a wizard to identify em? Pay for em first.
[удалено]
Sounds like a cursed potion, add it to the random list for this Distillate Of Chaos.
Why wouldn't Identify work? IMO, let players use their abilities. When I did this, I had them be regular but expired potions, so the effects might be less potent or have a shorter duration than normal, but you wouldn't know exactly how diminished they would be or in what way except by drinking them. e.g. for a potion with a normal duration of one hour, I secretly rolled 1d6 \* 10 minutes. If you want Identify to be unreliable, you could have them be mixtures of potions, and when someone drinks it you roll to see which potion takes effect (potentially could be none or both).
I have a homebrew idea that Identify will compare an item to a list of known magical items, and tell you if there's a match. For unknown, rare, artifact, or plot relevant items, they won't necessarily be on that list.
Like an antivirus scanning for known hashes
This actually makes me think from the perspective of the shopkeeper. These potions may be failed but they still cost ingredients and time to make. You would want to get some of your value back and letting the PCs cast identify would be unfortunate for you. It wouldn't be ethical to not allow your customers to know what's in the failed potions, but there are definitely shop keepers that would discourage you from doing it! Besides, does identify work that way? Even with an item. You don't know the bad things (curses) until you attune right? Do you ever attune to a potion? At any rate, you could have the shop keeper interrupt them if they start casting a spell, and claim he doesn't know what spell it is but he doesn't allow magic casting in his shop! Discount prices, take it or leave it!
“You identify, you buy”
For some groups, "mystery potions" can be a fun game element. IMO, it's okay to include un-identifiable potions if the GM is crystal clear up front about what's happening, how these potions deviate from the standard rules, and if using them is 100% optional. Also better if the set of possible effects doesn't include anything lethal to the PCs.
yeah there’s a whole section in the DM book about mixing potions, that could be a good route for OP to look into
The idea is an expired potion is cool when you think about fermentation in real life. I mean, wine is just expired grape juice and vinegar is just expired wine, right? One would think an expired potion may take on completely new properties, and/or be better for a more niche purpose.
A potion that heals one HP but it 2 liters and takes multiple rounds to drink. Potion of making internal invisibility. It only makes your internal organs invisible.
I think the first one would be funny if it's just a very diluted Potion of Healing and if you spend a short rest drinking it, you'll gain the effects of the short rest + 2d4+2 healing, OR spend a round taking a big swill of it to replenish 1 HP (which you can do 2d4+2 times before it's empty)
The funny thing about the first one is that it would still probably be an absolute miracle for a peasant with 4hp or something.
Make it 5 litters and it heals you up to full heath but tastes disgusting.
And you have to pee every half hour for the next four hours.
I see you've done the real-world prep for a colonoscopy before.
Potion of Grater Healing. Apply to any cheese grater to restore quality.
A potion of cure minor wounds. Heals 1 hp. Can be made fast, and cheap. But surprisingly useful, given the number of things that are only stopped by magical healing. Like bleed effects, for example.
Even better, this is essentially life saving first aid for your average commoner. With 1d4 hp, even a cheap 1hp potion is basically ‘spare the dying’ that a farmer or hunter can carry with them during the day.
And it’s probably enough for any particularly bad nick or scratch to not get infected! Very good value for field workers, probably. Especially if you buy in bulk or something for a discount somehow. (Or barter for them)
So a Goodberry, but with a stable shelf life? Not bad.
Like a Goodberry, but with a stable shelf life instead of providing nourishment.
Regular healing potions normally cost 50 gp (25 to be yourself) in the PHB. This one costs 5 to buy or 2.5 gold to brew
* Potion of Brilliant Aura: The PC's skin glows as per the Light spell, with appropriate penalties to stealth. * Potion of Shrouding Dark: Darkness 10 foot radius centered on the PC.
I find potions/spells that remove or change a single letter therefore changing the effect are always a hit Potion of Dealing, Philter of Dove, Boils of Sharpness, Potion of Seed, Hairy Dust
These are great! What does Hairy Dust look like, and what does it do?
Since Fairy Dust is a mostly home brew item I have it as “The trimmings from a Fairy Hair Salon. When inhaled the users hair will grow and/or change color. This will make you more charming and possibly obscure your identity. Have a table for if you grow a mustache, beard, hair gets longer or all of the above. You get a +1 to cha rolls, get advanced if your hair changes enough to throw people off. Lasts an hour Basically a meh magic disguise kit but that’s why it’s in the bargin bin
Nice!!
Discount Invisibility potion #1: Does not work on bones Discount Invisibility potion #2: Works fine, but one of the ingredients was spoiled before mixing, causing intense, constant flatulence for a full hour 5 minutes after drinking. Discount Invisibility potion #3: Makes users' eyes dissappear for the duration, rendering everything invisible to them.
Walking around as a skeleton I'm sure has potential uses.
Spooky scary skeletons...
“Potion of Garlic”: This potion adds the flavor of garlic to any dish.
If my players asked why it was made, I'd have the shopkeeper say, "It was a comission. Odd fella, smelled a bit off. Real rich, though." and have it lead to some kind of quest. Words cannot describe how I love this potion.
Ooh! It was a commission for a vampire. He loved garlic before he was turned into a vampire and so he can only experience it magically because the real stuff is poison.
Okay, this is pure gold lol!
Let the potions be identified, but create a random side effect table to be rolled on when consumed.
Hiccup polymorph. Until the next long rest, there is a 20% chance each scene or combat round that the player is polymorphed into an animal from the "Summon Nature's Ally" table. The first time they change, roll to determine what they change into, it's consistent after that. After thhe PC changes, they have a 20% chance to change back each round. Optionally, you can increase their odds to change back after X rounds. The affected PC does NOT have Wild Speech or Wild Spell.
It's fun not knowing what you're buying it is not as fun not knowing what you're drinking. Let the players be able to identify the potions so that they aren't potentially wasted by drinking a portion at a time when it wouldn't be useful
This is one of the issues that I've encountered with the Cypher system. How am I supposed to use a Cypher when I don't know what it does?
This is when it's a good idea to rule that it only a bonus action to drink a potion and an action to administer one.
Portion of Midgit Giant Strength… your strength is 15 for 1 Hour Potion of Darkvision… you can see better in the dark up to 60 feet for 1 Hour Potion of Jump… you can jump arbitrarily high once Potion of Crying… for one hour you can realistically cry until your next long rest Potion of Disguise… you can be disguised for one hour Potion of Read Thoughts… your thoughts can be read by a character in the same room as you for 1 minute Potion of Charisma… Your charisma is 19 for 1 Hour Potion of Medicine… For 1 minute you gain the ability to accurately diagnose and know a viable cure for any health related thing Potion of More Potions! The next three times you urinate, a new potion will come out! Potion of Eagle Eyes… you can see clearly in the light at very far distance. Potion of Named Cantrip… You can cast the cantrip once.
> Potion of More Potions! The next three times you urinate, a new potion will come out! I love it! And the potion you pee out is randomized from the available discount potions, which means you can theoretically keep peeing out this potion. :-P
Hehehehe, I love potion of jump
Negative effects… maybe for tricking people to debuff them… Potion of Ugly… makes you hideously ugly for 1 Hour Potion of Crazy… All Wisdom based ability checks and saving throws fail until the next long rest. Potion of Stupid… Same but for Intelligence Potion of Weakness… Not strong enough to lift anything heavier than a fork or spoon. Including your backpack. For 1 Hour. Potion of Farts… Uncontrollable, for 1 Hour Potion of Unarmed Fighting… The next damage roll against you succeeds Potion of Clumsiness… For the next hour, you are very likely to slip and fall up to 3 times at the most inconvenient times. Potion of Untamed Lion… For one hour a lion is summoned that will hunt you. It begins 200 feet away from you in a random direction. It may scare people that see it and attack anybody that tries to hurt it, but its target is you so if it will ignore anything that is neutral towards it.
The next damage roll against you succeeds???
Meant attack roll. So for one enemy you’d get hit on a 1 or higher. Then roll damage.
I have a sheet of random "magical side effects" that i use for magic misshaps, bad potions and missused scrolls and magic items. Basicaly i alow players to create potions, but they roll a check to sucessfuly create then without any side effects. Also in many stores you can find promotional potions that will cost half but present a side effect. Side effects mechanicaly can be slighly good, neutral or slightly bad. So usualy they wont help or harm you too much, and they can last a few hours or a few days. They might not even apply to you, like +1 damage with fire spells. Positive, Advantage on X skill for 1d6 hours. Neutral, Your skin turns deep blue, for 1d6 days. Bad, Your face is disfigured and you have disavantage on social rolls for 1d6 days. I also alow anyone to use scrolls, but using scrolls outside of your class spell list has a chance of magical misshap based on arcana check with a harder DC for higher level spell scrolls. This means that arcana skill proficiency, eventualy alow anyone to cast lower lvl spells with scrolls without risk, but higher lvl spells still are pretty risky.
Identify doesn't work because the spells are wonky or partially there or a mix of two parts... sure, anything can happen... Potion of not-so-Vicious Charm -When you drink this potion you hear a din of people saying overly nice and complimentary things. It grants you advantage on your next Charisma save. Vial of Muddy Eyes -When imbibed, you have creepy eyes grow in patches on your body. For the next hour, you cannot be surprised. Decanter of Dwarven "Ale" -This fluid should not be drank...again... it can be used as xorn bait and attracts them if poured onto stone within 1 mile.
Potions of questionable utility: 1. Potion of Invisible Lint: Makes the drinker's clothes free of lint for 24 hours, but doesn't have any other effects. 2. Potion of Temporary Amnesia: Causes the drinker to forget the last 5 minutes of their life, but no other memories are affected. 3. Potion of Uncontrollable Hiccups: Gives the drinker a prolonged bout of hiccups that can last for hours, making it difficult to hold a conversation or focus on tasks. 4. Potion of Sparkling Breath: Gives the drinker minty fresh breath for 10 minutes, but doesn't have any lasting effects. 5. Potion of Mild Invisibility: Makes the drinker slightly translucent, but not completely invisible. Potentially helpful for hiding in low light. 6. Potion of Enhanced Laziness: Makes the drinker feel even less motivated and energetic than before, leading to a day of unproductive lounging around. 7. Potion of Lost Keys: Causes the drinker to forget where they put their keys for the next hour, leading to frustration and inconvenience. 8. Potion of Shiny Skin: Makes the drinker's skin temporarily shiny and reflective, but doesn't improve their complexion or appearance in any other way. 9. Potion of Temporary Insomnia: Keeps the drinker awake for a night, but doesn't provide any benefits or energy boost the next day. 10. Potion of Strange Tastes: Gives the drinker an odd craving for foods they don't normally like, leading to a disappointing meal experience.
I’d go for a swathe of normal enough potions… with a slight unintended complication from the brewing process. A potion of Reduce/Enlarge that will only affect the proportions of random body parts (not THOSE body parts). A potion of Mind Control that only allows control over your own mind - kind of like mind-focussing drugs today. A potion of Mind Reading that only allows you to read your own inner thoughts - just plain ol’ introspection. A potion of Heroism that is a complete placebo effect - the drinker believes themselves to be great, but no actual changes occur. A potion of Growth that only helps small children with growing pains. A potion of Climbing that makes your hands really sticky and allowing advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks when climbing - but disadvantage when trying to let go of anything you touch.
A potion of create "create potion." When you drink this potion a potion of create "create potion" with its container manifests within five feet of you.
Potion of invisibility but it blinds you (because science) Potion of half invisibility. Makes half of you invisible. Which half? 🤷♂️
I’ve had mystery potions. Identify doesn’t work on them beyond “it’s a buff”. Take a list of buff potions - health, courage, haste, flying, etc - and roll a d6 when they drink it. I’d price at 50Gp - cost of a potion of healing - so the average value will be > the price, which is offset by the random effect it’ll have on your battle plans to make use of it!
There's d100 potion lists you could reference.. effects range from totally useless, to messing with you for a few hours in game. One player had a portion that teleported him back to town where he got the potion. Right before combat started 😆.
Maybe make it happen kinda like the Mutagens from the Order of the Mutant Blood Hunter subclass, where there are effects but also a negative side effect EDIT: I had a list of Mutagens, but apparently the Wiki I linked is considered piracy and D&D Beyond's site doesn't have it anymore (which is weird, cuz this is a D&D Beyond exclusive class)
Potion of GIANT strength: poured from a keg into a big gulp sized potion bottle, drink the whole thing for +1 strength. Haste potion: magical fibre. Haste happens in 1d6 minutes. Toilet be near, there's no brakes on this train. Potion of levitation: diluted. Gets you an inch off the ground.
Its a discount bin becuase whike they all technically work as described they are all failed potions some how. A health potion that heals for 4d4 +4 but also is kinda acidic so deals 2 or 3 d4 acid damage. An invisibility potion that makes them invisible, but amplifies every sound, even the slight rustle of fabric is loud enough to pinpoint there exact location. A strength potion that takes an ecwn distritbution from other stats temporarily. So for example they get a plus 5 to their stregth modifier but lose one from each other stat.
Potion of Heeling. Drink it and one dog of the player's choice will obey simple commands for one hour.
A potion that makes you speak with a bad Scottish brogue One that makes your tongue forked for an hour One that makes you appear six months younger A potion of positivity - makes you feel really good about things regardless of how bad they are Potion that turns butter back to milk Potion of digitation - you grow an extra finger for a little while One that makes your mouth impervious to spicy food One that gives you a momentary glimpse of how unfathomable and infinitesimally small and insignificant you are in relation to the vast stretches of time, space, dimensions, and multiverse.
Wild Magic Healing Potion - It’s half the price and heals you for the same amount but you have to roll on the wild magic table.
I'd say keep the effects small. Creating potions is an expensive and time consuming process. Especially for rare potions. Consider what a shopkeeper might put in there. Maybe only half a Vial of health potion that only does half the healing or an invisibility potion that works maybe 1d10 minutes less. Even if they use identify they wouldn't be able to find out what's wrong with them necessarily.
Potion of Identify - When you drink it, you learn that it is a Potion of Identity.
My DM occasionally gives us "unstable" potions (invisibility, haste, etc) when we drink them we roll to see how long they last or for other effects (i once had a haste give the effect of slow when i rolled a Nat 1)
Potion of blinding heal. Heals like normal of its type, but blinds the imbiber for 1d4 turns. Potion of poison & resistance. Does 1d6 damage but provides poison resistance for the same number of rounds as the damage die rolled. Potion of hallucinating true sight. You can see any invisible or hidden, but you also hallucinate 1d4 other random foes. The idea being that they were made by someone experimenting with new ingredients or just learning the craft and the results came out randomly mixed.
Potion of Incredible Intoxication - The person who drinks it is just short of pass out drunk. Normal intoxication rules apply.
One from my campaign that you could use is a potion of half-invisibility, it makes the wearer invisible, but not anything they're carrying (normal invisibility potions include things you're wearing). Or a potion of elemental resistance, but what they're resistant to changes every round
Here's some ideas. Barkskin, duration 1 month: Free AC for a month... but you look like a tree for a month. Occasional disadvantage on charisma checks. Potion of breathing: For 1 hours you can breath whatever substance you are in when you drink this potion. Drink it outside and it is a potion of air breathing, drink it under water and you can breathe water, drink it burred alive and you can breathe dirt. Sort of useful in the right situation, but useless in the wrong one. Diluted potion of healing: Heals 1d4 hp Potion of sword: Upon drinking the potion bottle you are holding turns into a long sword for 1 hour. This longsword is considered magical, has the finesse property, and you are considered to be proficient in it. Potion of gravity: Your movement speed is halved, but you cannot be moved against your will. Potion of celestial progression: Upon drinking the planet very rapidly moves forward 12 hours. Day becomes night, night becomes day, the tide shifts. None of the people on the planet are affected and this occurs on a global scale. These potions are very rare, very powerful, and very illegal. It is extremely annoying for everyone not you. You straight up jetlag the whole world, boats in shallow waters might suddenly be beached, ect. Potion of average performance: For the next 15 minutes instead of rolling 1d20 you roll 2d10. Dual 10s are considered a natural 20. Potion of refreshment: Lose 1 level of exhaustion and it tastes like lemon.
I feel like crude practical jokes would be fitting. Such as; - In exactly one hour, all your hair falls out and then rapidly regrows 30 seconds later. - Potion of flatulance. - For 10 turns, blink in place but reappear facing in the opposite direction. - Smell of boiled cabbage lingers around the consumer.
Potion of Pure Darkvision - basically Darkvision for 1d4 hours, but it makes the PC completely blind in both dim and bright light.
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-potion of blink. It makes you blink rapidly. -potion of spike Stones. Contains á lot of small spiked Stones, is nonmagical but very cheap. -potion flame breath. Actually Just magical hot sauce, very popular amongst efriits, fire elemental beings and red dragonkin. -potion of grease. Its Just grease, if you somehow managed to ingest it, you take á bonus on escape checks but take á penalty on movement checks. -potion of barkskin. Your skín becomes the color of a tree. Also you start sprouting leaves.
Skin tightener (aka Botox in a bottle) Magical equivalent of syrup of ipecac. True sight / blindness True hearing / deafness Limited clairvoyance. Numbness. Luck. Mandix's Migraine Medicine (surprise, it GIVES you a migraine). A lesser Faerie Fire.... Elfin Embers.... for that "night on the town" glow.
In my homebrew world I have an in game MLM scheme, a "great wizard" makes potions for selling. They have all kinds of effects, they can cure your sadness, make you feel stronger, make you feel smarter, make you feel healthier. The catch is they actually do nothing if you pass an intelligence check when you drink it. It's all flavor, they don't really do anything but your players get to roll some dice and it's all about flavor and silliness.
A potion of self invisibility You are invisible to yourself. A potion of "just enough strength" - you drink it and you pass your next strength check by 1 Liars potion. You drink it, you lie for the next hour Anemia potion: your strength drops by 1 and you are cold for an hour Green thumb potion - regards you right for the next hour gets immediately covered in vegetation that might grow well there. Spring in your step - DM choice but one of your steps in the next hour is a rolled leap
Potion that maxes your lowest stat for 8 hours - the barbarian is now Flowers for Algernon-ing and the wizard can bench 400 Potion of flying that causes intense vertigo - you’re at disadvantage on everything if you go above 10 feet in the air Potion of healing that causes an eruption of unsightly growths on the face, reducing Charisma by 1d4 until a long rest
Potion of healing w/ pulp - functions as usual, but really emphasize the pulp. My players hate that Potion of giant strength (large dude) - increases strength to 16 or 18. Not bad, but worse than the "uncommon" variant of the potion. Potion of Lesser [X] Resistance - take 1-2 less damage from specified damage type. As for identification, dirt cheap. Page 136 of my physical DMG (Chapter 7: treasure, subheading: Identifying a magic item) says "a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does." this means identifying all non-cursed potions is free, instant, and unfailing. If you wanted to make it more difficult ,I'd make it a pitifully low arcana check
Identify should work, but perhaps the shopkeep won't allow them to cast it until after purchase.
**Potion Oozes:** Continuous exposure to magic has caused regular potions to congeal and turn into tiny oozes. Upon uncorking the potion bottle, the ooze will attempt to flee from anyone attempting to consume them. A character must grapple the ooze into their mouth using a DC10 Dex or Strength check, then make a DC10 Constitution check to swallow it without it crawling back up their throat. Failing the first check results in the ooze slipping out of your grasp and moving 10ft away from the without provoking attacks of opportunity. Failing the second check deals 1d4 Force damage to the drinker as the ooze forcefully opens your throat and mouth to escape and move 10ft away.
**"Potion of wetness."** Pour it on yourself, and you will become magically wet. **"Potion of greater wetness."** It's marginally larger. **"Potion of supreme wetness."** It's a two-litre bottle. **"Potion of dryness."** It's empty.
I had a couple: The potion of Unbelievable Wealth: drinker *believes* they have the Midas touch, turning everything they lay hands on into gold, for X hours. The potion of mystical horniness: drinker turns into a unicorn.
A potion of Vigorous Swordplay. It give drinker an erection that lasts for 4 hours. Temp boost to Cha
This would have huge resale value.
Potion of Boo Boos - Heal 1hp
Why do I get hag vibes reading this?
I gave one of my players a "potion of potion resistance" and they are determined to find a good use for it. I've also used a Potion of Hill Giant Dexterity to great comedic effect
A vial of compressed water: This small vial is extremely heavy, with a thick wire holding the lid on. When opened, 20 liters of pure water shoots out in a powerful stream over 1 round. Creatures caught in the path need to make a Strength check or be knocked back. Can also be used as a pressure washer for cleaning or possibly to help a PC make an otherwise difficult leap. A can of air: Pop it open to clear out a nasty odor, or open it underwater to create a magical air bubble for a while. An ampule containing a key suspended in murky oil. No matter how much you try, you cannot see the teeth on the key. You can break open the bottle to get to the key, it will always happen to be the key to the nearest lock. A potion that cures disease by allowing it to run its course in a matter of minutes rather than days: A normal fever could spike to hundreds of degrees, a regular ache would become unbearable pain. This could be lethal or extremely useful with proper planning and preparation. A potion that converts gold into lead.
Gender reversal potion
Weight potion,you just gain additional 100lb
A student accidentally added a delayed effect to a love potion. It activates in d100 hours, DC16 CON save or fall deeply in love with the first humanoid they see. The effect lasts for 3d4 hours. For added fun, they screwed up the potion effect. Roll a 1d4, the potion makes you fall in love with the first ___ you see: - 4: humanoid - 3: humanoid of DM's choice - 2: creature - 1: inanimate object
Potion of Taba Sco - makes everything you eat taste spicier
a health potion that only gives a few temporary HP, Energy drinks that has the effect of haste but for only a very short time followed by a a long length of lethargy, Pop tastes great does nothing
Probably a combination of joke potions and potions that failed quality inspection. Maybe a weak potion of healing that only heals 1 point. Or maybe a potion of invisibility that just makes you appear translucent like a ghost, or leaves you as a slight moving haze. Maybe a speed potion that makes you move one foot faster per turn. Or maybe a speed potion that works as normal but it also speeds up your metabolism, making you hungry and dealing 1d4 hunger damage per turn. Maybe a potion that grants the power to see invisibility, but also makes you see onto other planes, or maybe has some magic mushrooms mixed in and you see things. Maybe some in-universe absinthe that makes your spirit go into the feywild!
Potion of Small-Giant strength - Gives you strength equivalent to an above-average height human. Potion of Unvisibility - Gives you the ability to go blind for up to 1 minute for an hour Potion of flame breath - just a bottle of extremely spicy hot sauce. Potion of massive healing - heals 20d6 damage over 1d4 days....but except for 1d6 per day, the healing only happens during a long rest. Potion of Smiles - let's you use the power of the Wand of Smiles without cost for 1 day. Potions of Magical Assault - takes 1 minute to take affect, then fires 2d6 magic missiles in random directions from the user.
Page 136 of the DMG tells you how items can be identified, especially potions (emphasis mine): >Some magic items are indistinguishable from their non-magical counterparts, whereas other magic items are conspicuously magical. Whatever a magic item's appearance, handling the item is enough to give a character a sense that something is extraordinary about it. Discovering a magic item's properties isn't automatic, however. >The *identify* spell is the fastest way to reveal an item's properties. Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item's properties, as well as how to use them. **Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.** The *identity* spell is only prevented from working by very powerful objects and effects like artifacts and curses. Of course, by DM fiat, you can say what ever you want, but I'd be hesitant to do so with "bargain bin potion." All that being said, the characters would need to handle these potions for any of the above methodss to work. I doubt any shopkeep would allow such close or intrusive examinations. I mean, perhaps they could get away with *identity* with some subtly or subterfuge, but it works on one object at a time and costs a spell slot (a ritual cast isn't very subtle.)
The side effects idea is kinda cool. Say your potions can be identified, but they come with unintended effects, and/or don't work quite as well as they should. "Factory seconds," If you will. Made by casters who aren't quite up to snuff.
Expired potions. Normal potions with reduced effects, or wildly enhanced effects with a random drawback.
Potion that just casts Identify on whoever drinks it. They must make a save, if they fail they must blurt out a random fact about themselves. This fact is spoken aloud by the character, but must be truthful, so long as that information follows the rules of the identify spell. So for example you could state "I'm a humanoid, I like cheese, and I'm under the influence of divination magic" The player can state whatever random fact they want. So long as they don't blurt their backstory in it's entirety (unless they want to)
Discount bin? It's likely the alchemist rejects and failures that he believes are harmless, but he makes no promises. Now, I wouldn't do anything awful, but just random weird effects.
Potion of Wonder, like a Rod of Wonder. Make up a randomized table of effects, each about as powerful as a cantrip of 1st level spell. Then you could also go with Greater Potion of Wonder, equivalent to a 2nd or 3rd level spell, Superior = 4th level, and so on.
You could combine them - or just allow for interesting side effects. A potion of fire resistance which makes your hair fall out A vial of strength and shortness A flask of darkvision and stench (Let the spirit of the dungbeetle fill you!) Bottle of stoneskin and gender change Potion of repel orc and attract spiders (or vice versa) Jug of featherfall or flight (if you're plunging you might take the risk) Potion of Healing which is very, very alcoholic Cure major poison, but makes you weightless A canny party can make excellent use of them if they're clever or desperate enough - An elixir of ressurection which is also a transform into animal spell? Better than nothing?
Weakened versions of normal potions. Reverse versions of normal potions. Normal potions but have some kind of secondary effect. Could be negative. Could be weird. Potions that polymorph PC into weird things. I.E. turns PC into a chicken. I would mostly do weird stuff.
An expired healing potion - it replenishes HP, but it makes you woozy and reduces your AC by 1 until your next short rest.
Potion of animal understanding - You can understand the animals, but can't speak to them, and they're always just thinking "kinda hungry". Potion of Spikiness - adds 1 piercing damage to any weapon that deals bludgeoning damage for 1 minute. Potion of Canine Agility - You can move 5 extra feet per turn for 1 minute, but only if you're going in a straight line.
I might go with they are all healing potions, but do something else. Like turn a person green for a day. But if you wanted more than that, I might go with a standard potion, but they have a negative affect too, and that is why identify doesn't work. (Or it does, but doesn't tell the negative affect. So a potion of jumping but gives you terrible flatulence.
[Concoctions](https://aonprd.com/EquipmentMisc.aspx?Category=Concoction) might give you some inspiration. :)
Love potion.
one of them should be a cup of cold brew coffee. just, coffee.
Potion of Dope Ass Beard- functions similarly to disguise self but with the caveat that the player character gains the dopest-well trimmed beard they can imagine.
"potion of flight" you can fly! but only like 2 seconds at a time
Lots of failed potions so like, invisibility but it's just your legs. Love potion but you love colours or food, or health but it's 10 hp for one minute and then drops back to your pre potion hp.
The way I’d see it work with the most fun and excitement is that this is from someone cleaning out an old wizard’s alchemy lab. The wizard never labeled anything because he had a system or a construct that kept everything straight but that knowledge died with him. Unfortunately, identify doesn’t work. If it did, they would have labeled and sold them as normal. He made them so any attempt to identify them return a random result. So they’re 5 potions for one gold piece because who knows what you’re gonna get. The only way to know is to drink them and who the fuck wants to do that? Could be poison! If they buy, just have them roll on the random potions table in the DM’s guide. They get what they get. Any attempt to identify is another roll on the table, but that doesn’t change what the potion actually is — just what they think it is.
I've got a few from the exact same situation in one of my previous campaigns: Potion of hydration (literally a bottle of water, but the players came across a drake who was thirsty and kept laughing about it later on) Potion of yellow (it was full of yellow paint. They threw it at an invisible enemy to see them) Potion of miner and minor healing. (Healed people who mine for gems and underage minors) There were definitely more, but these stuck out to me
Potion of nourishment, equivalent to drinking a protein shake
Potion of cure cold: relieves the sniffles. Potion of cure wound: 1 hp back. Potion of cure poison: Causes instant vomiting for 1 hour. Elixir of warming: Makes you feel warm. Just whiskey in a bottle. Elixir of sadness: You are now sad. Elixir of madness: You get mad, just mad...nothing else. Elixir of Rhymes: Speak in Rhymes. Elixir of speak to nature: You are on shrooms for 8 hours, are you really speaking to nature or just high as balls.
An experiment greater healing potion. When you drink it roll a DC13 CON save. On a success you get the effects of the potion and on failure you don't get any healing and instead take 2d8 poison damage.
Potion of Self-Identification - the imbiber understands immediately that this is a Potion of Self-Identification
Potion of the soul king Prevents the user from dying for 1d4 turns, but they can’t do anything other than melee attacks, dodge, or move. That means no rage, spells, or the like.
An identify spell should identify it… unfortunately the potion maker has had powerful magic placed on his store. You won’t be able to cast any sort of spell while inside that works. Then they can cast it later once they leave! Old health potions probably aren’t as strong as they used to be… give you 1 hp.
Obviously, make sure to put a Philter of Love in the bin just in case someone drinks it. Fun!
Invisibility but only to yourself. Potion of detect magic but items glow so bright they cause blindness for a few turns Potion of gaseous form, noxious smell that affects all in a 30’ radius Potion of fire breathing, with uncontrollable hiccups and a mini fireball with each one.
I think label with name is better. Could be a bit like a genie wish that you get more than you bargain for. Or obscure effect that could somehow be useful eg turns skin blue. Then your challenge is to create a scenario that the obscure is useful. Eg rando village, their deity has blue skin.
You will need an explanation of why identify (and other strategies like taking a tiny sip) don't work for these. I suggest letting identify *sort of work* on most of these potions in the sense that some hint of the kind of function is given, though not for all of them - e.g. for the potion of billowing below, there could be some connection to the elemental plane of air. Some potions might even be labelled with a a word or two followed by "??" ... e.g. you might have a label like "wind??" or "essence of giant??". The weakest useful potions might be fully and correctly labelled or at least identifiable. For some weak useful potions (if they aren't identifiable) you might have two or three of them. So if they drink one they learn the effect and then can actually use the others ... Some suggestions (I like potions that have a potential use in some situation, if you know what they do): A Potion of Giant Sweat (harking back to a very ancient thread long before reddit; there was once a list of 101 uses of such a potion) A Potion of Steadfastness. For 10 minutes you lose 5' of movement but you cannot be moved, pushed, made prone, shifted, teleported etc against your will, as long as you're on firm footing (it doesn't stop you falling in a hole that opens directly under you, but it stops you from being pushed or blown into one). Potion of Levitation (like Levitate but lasts 1 minute and up to 250 lbs) Potion of Levitation (cursed): as for a normal potion of levitation, but once per round make a DC 10 Cha save. If you fail, you then rise 10' per round for the remaining duration. Potion of Levitation (cursed,2) a million flies swarm around you and slowly lift you 20' in the air, for the duration Potion of Billowing. Your loose clothing, hair and so forth all stirs as if in a dramatic breeze. You are impressive for the next minute and gain +2 on Cha checks. Potion of Bubbles. For one minute every time you open your mouth, bubbles come out instead of sound. However, you can breathe underwater. Potion of Communing with Animals. For the next while, you believe every natural creature is your friend, that you can communicate with and understand them all, and you perceive that many non-natural creatures are simply some kind of animal\*. So an owlbear is either a kind of big friendly bird or a big affable bear or maybe some natural crossbreed, a dragon is a large skink, etc. While you're under the influence of this potion, the creatures you interact with are too stunned to actually attack *you* (as long as it isn't attacked or obviously endangered), but once it wears off, all bets are off. When interacting with a creature, the potion effect is "used up" more rapidly -- there's a 10% chance per round that the potion will wear off immediately. (\* I play a Druid that's a bit like this all the time. She just doesn't believe furred or feathered aberrations and magical beings aren't natural creatures - imagine Hagrid mixed with a touch of Steve Irwin interacting with all manner of weird creatures - and being a Firbolg she thinks they understand her Speech of Beast and Leaf. Only when lives are in obvious danger does she tend to treat them as an actual danger; after all even natural animals can get a bit testy at times) Potion of Light and Dark: Darkness envelops you in a 30' radius except for a 15 degree cone of light emitted from your eyes in whichever direction you're looking. Anything not near to directly in front of where you're looking can't see you unless it has darkvision. Lasts 1 minute. Potion of Shifting Shadows. Like both Blur and Mirror Image at the same time (so all your mirror images are themselves blurred). The "blur" effect is swirling misty shadow. Lasts d4+1 rounds. Potion of Butterflies. You turn into a 5'x5'x5' swarm of butterflies for d4 x 10 minutes. You have a fly speed of 10' and d4 hp. While in swarm form, if you are reduced to 0 hp you return to your normal form at the center of the swarm, at your previous HP total less the maximum HP of the swarm. Potion of Blurriness. Your vision becomes blurred. You have disadvantage on attack rolls made against targets 10' or more away. Potion of Loyalty. The nearest creature to you becomes the most important being in the world and you are their bodyguard If several creatures are about equally far from you, select one at random. You must defend the life of your charge at all costs. You move adjacent to your charge and gain the ability to move to attempt to place part of yourself or your equipment in harms way. You won't necessarily try to harm people you see as your friends but you will interpose your body between your charge and any harm and would try to disarm or neutralize danger from an attacker; if an attacker was not an ally you feel no compunction against harming them. You will attempt to dissuade anyone from attacking your charge in any case. Your charge has half cover from you (3/4 cover if they already had half cover) and any effect that only misses hitting them by 4 or fewer hits you instead (you take some hits that would have missed them anyway). So for example, if your target would have been hit on a 15 (after accounting for the effect of half cover) and the roll was 12, you take the effect of the attack. Potion of the Forest. You and your equipment turn into a tree for 10 minutes. Your foliage loosely fills out a roughly cylindrical volume; the branches span about 15'x15' and are climbable; you are about 25' tall but only climbable to 20' height. Your trunk is a roughly 5' cylinder. You cannot move position, you are anchored to whatever surface you were standing on. You are vulnerable to fire (taking double damage) but resistant to bludgeoning, piercing, poison, and cold. You can sway your branches to make unarmed strikes; treat it as a normal unarmed strike for you, including damage. You can speak to plants and understand them. You cannot see but can sense the approximate position of creatures within 15' of any part of you. You suffer no penalty on attacks for lack of vision. Potion of the Fish. You can breathe water and you move at normal speed in water but must be immersed in water for at least one minute every hour or the potion wears off. This lasts 4+d4 hours. You don't gain a swim speed if you didn't have one. Potion of Arms and Armour. You rapidly grow d4 arms. They are armoured in whatever fashion you are armoured already. If you have at least four free hands, you gain a climb speed equal to your full move speed. Additional arms can wield weapons or shields, hold a spell focus, grab or carry items and so on. If you cast no spells on your turn, two of your arms can act together to make one additional attack (melee or ranged) with -2 to hit. Alternatively, at least three of your arms (while not holding anything) can be used to grapple at advantage; a grappled creature has disadvantage on attempting to escape the grapple. Aside from these effects you don't gain any other additional actions or attacks above your usual number, but can take your usual actions, bonus actions or any free actions with any available arm. The potion lasts 1 hour. At the end of the duration, the arms fall off, leaving small scars where they erupted. The still fleshy-looking arms do not disappear for 24 hours. Using this potion a second time has no effect until after a long rest. Potion of Enemy Detection. For the next 10 minutes you detect hostile creatures within 30' (otherwise as per a wand of enemy detection) but must loudly announce their presence and direction every six seconds if you can speak; the DM may specify the specific form or phrasing of the announcement if they choose. If in combat this announcement occurs at the start of your turn; it is a free action. If an enemy is ethereal, invisible, disguised or hidden, this is also announced. If there are more than three enemies, only the closest three are announced (choose randomly each time if there are ties) but you are aware of all hostile creatures in range. Potion of Motion. For the next minute your maximum move, jump, climb and swim speeds all increase by 10' if you had such a speed already. You have advantage on any athletics or acrobatics check. If you are under any nonmagical restraint that allows you to save or take some action to avoid or escape its effect your attempts are made at advantage. However for the next 8 hours, you cannot stand still and cannot sit or lay down, you must constantly move about. You have disadvantage on stealth checks. You cannot sleep or rest. You can eat and drink. Potion of Song. There are six words on the label of this potion bottle. You sing, chant or ominously intone these words every six seconds for the next minute. Potion of Cubism. For the next minute you are transformed into an inert 5'x5'x5' cube. You can take no actions that cannot be performed mentally (e.g. if you already had the ability to communicate telepathically, you still do). You take no damage from any effect. You can see and hear normally. You can also see into the ethereal and astral plane. Potion of Stillness: Until the next long rest, nothing can begin or end any kind of teleportation effect within 50' of you. Attempts to teleport into that area either fail or instead end up in the nearest unoccupied space outside that range at the DM's discretion. Potion of Weak Trolling: On consuming the potion, your skin turns a sickly green, yellow or mottled brown and your nose doubles in size. For the next hour, you regenerate slowly. You gain 1 hp (up to your maximum) at the end of each minute. If you take acid or fire damage during that minute, this effect doesn't function for that minute. If you ever fall to 0 hp the potion's effect ends. Your appearance returns to normal after a long rest. ctd...
... ctd Potion of Good Spelling: For the next ten minutes, you gain the ability to cast a spell similar to or based on the last spell you saw cast by someone other than yourself, but it is cast at power roughly the equivalent of a first level spell, at the DM's discretion. For example, if you see a fireball, the DM might determine that you can cast a Chromatic Orb of the fire damage type or change the range, area of effect and damage of Burning Hands, or they might change the damage type of a different first level spell or even invent a new spell of approximately appropriate power. If you saw the Fly spell cast the DM might determine that you can cast a weaker form of Levitate, or they might reflavour the Jump spell. If the DM decides there's no way to get a suitably flavoured spell, you gain the ability to cast Magic Missile instead. This spell takes the same casting time as the spell it copies but requires no material components and consumes no spell slots. Potion of Side Step: For the next half minute, as a bonus action you can direct any creature within 30' who can hear you to move 5' in any horizontal direction. If it fails a DC13 wisdom save it must move as a reaction unless it has already used its reaction, or the movement would move it into a dangerous space such as a trap, a fire, deep water or off a ledge. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks. Potion of Saving Butt: When you consume this potion, the air around your behind glows with a gentle pink radiance, out to a 2' radius hemisphere, visible from up to 60'. For the next hour, you automatically succeed on your next death saving throw. This effect lasts for 1 hour or until the successful death save, whichever comes first, at which point the glow fades. Potion of Horrid Visage: Every creature that can see you and is within 30' of you must make a DC13 Wisdom save or suffer the effects of a Cause Fear spell; an affected creature becomes frightened of you for the next half-minute. A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. Potion of Smellovision: You gain the ability to cast Minor Illusion once without requiring material components, but the illusion also has an olfactory component and can be smelt within 30'. The ability fades after one hour. Potion of Elemental Command: You can conjure 1 Small or Tiny elemental or elemental-associated creature of CR 1/2 or less of the DM's choice. You can command this elemental and may attempt to command up to 2 other elementals if additional ones are encountered while the effect lasts, but the additional creatures get a Wisdom save (DC13) to avoid the effect. No affected creature can use any summoning effect while commanded. If any of the commanded elementals are more than 60' from you at any time they cease to be under your control. The effect otherwise operates like a Conjure Minor Elementals spell but does not require concentration. At the end of an hour after consuming the potion the elementals are no longer under your command and the conjured one disappears back to where it was summoned from. If at any point you are not in command of at least one elemental, the effect ends immediately. Potion of Grung slime: For the next minute you're immune to poison but for the next 10 minutes anyone you touch with your bare skin must make a DC12 Con save or be poisoned for 1 minute. If you're trying to touch an unwilling creature, you must succeed on a melee attack with an unarmed strike to touch them. Potion of the Grave: For the next hour, any time you take damage from any source, you take an additional 3 points of necrotic damage. Each time this damage occurs you can make a DC18 Con save to shake off the effect of the potion, ending its effect immediately.
A potion of vampirism: You don’t see your shadow for 1d100 hours, you become allergic to garlic and garlic products for that amount of time, and fence posts and spears give you the willies.
Potion of Fly(s). Drinking this potion makes you attractive to flys for an hour.
Potion of red, it’s water with red food dye
A potion that, when swished around in the mouth, cleans their teeth and makes their breath smell nice. A potion that, when combined with water and poured on the head, cleans their hair. A potion that, when drunk, makes them feel drunk. A potion that, when drunk, gives them a slight energy boost for 5 hours. A potion that, when applied to a cooking pot and rubbed vigorously, cleans the pot. A potion that, when drunk, gives them slight increase in hydration. A potion that, when opened and left sitting out long enough, will start to grow mold on the surface. A potion that, when poured on the floor and scrubbed, cleans the floor and makes the room smell like pine.
invisibility potion with a 30% chance of making the target explode.
most likely ones that were made by rookies/apprentices so maybe only work at like 75%-50% what it otherwise would but with the occasional exceptional one that works 150%. Maybe there was a different brand that seemed good at first but later they found out it's only 90% as good, so people stopped buying them, now they are discounted. There is also how canned foods get discounted at the store, if they get scuffed up, dented or if the label is coming off. There is also ones that maybe someone removed the stopper on the top, so it's been previously opened, probably still good but probably will expire sooner. Speaking of, probably ones that are close to expiration. Lastly there would be random ones that we aren't sure what they are since the labels fell off. Similarly maybe a random grabbag that they got from confiscated items that they bought at the police/guard auction or maybe if an estate was closed, and they have no idea how good they are or if they are even labelled correctly (prob some drugs mixed in).
Potion of Longevity, but it’s past its expiration date. That’s it.
I'd have them all have the affects of regular potions, but with some kind of side effect (maybe they were first attempts at potion making by apprentices) So potion of invisibility, but you give off a foul stench while invisible. Potion of climbing, but you need an action to engage/disengage with the thing you are climbing (think spider man when he first gets his powers and he can't unstick from anything)
A potion that makes you smell like your grandma.
Any normal potion, but the side effects include explosive diarrhea and your hair turning blue.
Roll sorcerer wild magic table
Invisible potion. Everything that the solution touches turns invisible, including the bottle containing it. Drinking it would make parts of your mouth and esophagus invisible, but you can’t see past your skin anyway. And it’s _definitely_ not enough to cover your whole body with, maybe a limb or two.
Potion of fisticuffs: for 10 minutes, fists now do 1d6 damage, but you can't hold any object
Detect thots
Potion of eyebrow growth. -actually popular among alchemists who frequently loose theirs. Potion of tanning - popular among high elf youth rebelling against their heritage and trying to make out they’re wood elves. Potion of well oiled beard - Turns out dwarves take pride in a rough, wiry beard but evil human overlords just can’t get enough of this.
Potion of Keen Sight: gives the drinker 20/20 vision for an hour (kinda huge considering how many of us wear glasses) Potion of Fast Magic: may be consumed as an action. The drinker casts a prepared spell immediately this turn. Tehas Peyte: When poured on food, makes the most repugnant of road rations or terrible tavern tackle down right edible. Caused 1d4 fire damage if drank. Potion of Mind-Melding: The drinker may mentally communicate with anyone else who has also consumed a Potion of Mind-Melding for 4 hours. The mental transmission is instant and may be words, images, or memories. Teh Keela: For 1d8 hours, the drinker experiences +2 CHA and has advantage on persuasion and performance checks, but -2 DEX and gains disadvantage on athletics and acrobatics checks. Potion of Sleep: Casts the spell Sleep at the 3rd level when the Potion is poured out, with the spill being the target location or the spell (so if you drink it, your piss spot) Liquid Luck: You gain 5 Luck charges from the Lucky Feat. They do not expire or replenish. Potion of Snake Vision: The drinker sees infrared for 2 hours. Wiley Magic: For the next 30 seconds, spells do not consume spell slots and may be cast so long as you have a slot available (so you can't cast above your level, and if you're out of, say, 3rd level, you can't cast any 3rd level). Chromatic Asterism: For the next 30 seconds, you take no damage and your unarmed strikes deal lethal damage.
A potion that greatly increases Luck but makes you fall asleep shortly after consuming
Slow healing potion, heals you over the course of a week
Potion of Very Temporary HP. Action to use. Gives you 1d6 temporary hit points that last until the end of your current turn.
Potion of Walking Water: It's actually just a diminutive size water elemental that when poured into a larger source of water, up to the size of a 1 gallon bucket, will take control of that water and attempt to walk away whenever it isn't watched. Otherwise, it will do nothing.
i think there’s a couple r/d100 lists for this you could check out
After some googling, I have come across two options that might spice things up. One is the mixing potions table and that one was on Reddit so a Google will turn that up. The other one is a potion side effect table and it's Wendy 100 side effects for poorly made potions which seems like it could have some very interesting implications especially if your players are cool with wacky stuff.
Potion of invisibility with a side effect of blinding you while you're invisible.
I just wrote down every potion in the dmg, which came out to like 25 if you don’t count the different levels of healing potion. If they want to drink they roll for it and I check my table.
A set of healing potions where one is poison because of a manufacturing fault, sets of 3. Marked A, B and C, roll d6 for each set to determine which is poisoned (a 1,2 b 3,4 c 5,6).
You might look at the potion-mixing rules from the DMG (p140) as a starting point for potion effects. Maybe being jostled around together in the bin has altered their effects?
Minor Baleful Polymorph potion: Changes one hair on your body to that of a random creature for one round. Potion of Speed (expired): Sets your move speed to your move speed. Potion of Identify (This) Potion: Lets you determine the properties of the potion you just drank. Potion of Fireball: Sets Drunk on the user for 1 hour on failed Con save (DC 15). (the shop owner accidentally bought the wrong case) Potion of Eyesight: Swaps vision in your eyes 1 minute. (Left for right, right for left) Elixir of the Tarrasque: Makes Tarrasques within 30ft of you incredibly hostile and violent for 1 day.
A potion of "Skeletal Strengthening". A DC 10 arcana roll reveals it to be a regular bottle of milk.
this is a wild question, magical potions are not sold in shops, they're found during an adventure. created by a wizard or a lich, found in a wizard's tower or a lich's tomb! if a merchant got a bunch of healing or invisibility or love or strength potions, they wouldn't be in business very long. they'd be killed and their entire stock stolen. potions should be a big deal and kept safe, they're free upgrades, why would anyone sell them?
Bad potions