This codex is intended to contain magical potions which are _almost_ good. In some cases these are still quite useful, but have limitations which may them less desirable then normal potions.
Sometimes they are good potions mismade, sometimes created as pranks or traps, and others are potions that have passed their best-before dates. In any case, they are all imbiber beware...
Feel free to add others!
Potion of Partial Invisability
This potion bestows invisibility on the wearer, but only random selected portions of the body. This effect can either be static for the duration of the potion, or drift around causing different areas to dissappear. The effects extend to any clothing or items carried over the part in question. The size of the area can also vary from 6' to 2'. The imbiber has no control over this potion. Having one's head or arms dissappear or having a big hole appear in the center of ones cheast are all possible outcomes of using this potion.
Intermittent Flight
This potion of flying is still useful, if dangerous. After 1 minute of use, it begins to randomly cut out for a few seconds, only to start again. If the user is flying at a decent altitude, it should result primarily in a bumpy ride (sort of like flying Air Canada...)
If they are flying low, however, then things may be problematic.
Giant Size
This potion causes the user to quickly quadruple in height and weight, with physical strength and agility adjusted accordingly. This effect extends only to the person of the imbiber and does not affect their equipment. Hopefully any leather straps on the armor will give out first. Growth occurs at a rate desired by the GM. If the user is heavily armored or in a confined area, then the outcome could be grim.
(The wearer might wish to remove any jewelry before taking, especially if piercings are involved...)
Potion of Partial Polymorphing
This potion allows the user to almost change shape into other creatures. The transformation will only be partially effective, per the following table:
01-20 Head only
21-30 Top half (waist up) only
31-50 Bottom half (waist down) only
51-70 Torso only (no limbs or head)
71-80 All Body except head
81-90 All body except face
91-100 Left side only
Final size will be the smaller of the original or intended form.
Abilities tied to specific bodyparts will apply. Wings are considered limbs.
Cruel GMs might give a chance this potion is permanent.
Potion of Bodily Energization
This may happen to older potions of healing or others modifying body functions. While the original effect still works (but may be weakened, or even a bit stronger +/-10%), the imbiber will feel warm and a bit disquieted. Further, his skin will strangely stick to itself (so hands put together will hold together, and basically any of his bodyparts touching by skin). The effect is by no means strong, but still very disturbing. The hands etc, are easily pulled apart, but it takes a tiny effort.
The effect wears off after a few minutes.
Potion of Mental Rejuvination
This potion can be useful in the right circustances. It reduces the mental and emotional age of the drinker by 2D10 years. It does nothing to restore physical health. It is highly dangerous for the already young to use as it can reduce mental age to 0. (Generous GM's may wish to cap it at 6 or so, so the character is not _entirely_ unplayable)
For game systems which change mental stats with age, this will undo such increases if the age passes a boundry. Skills and knowlage are uneffected, but changes in worldview may impede their use.
Interestingly, it can be used to help reverse aging caused by undead or other supernatural beings.
Potion of Acceleration
This potion doubles the physical speed of the user, both motor and locomotive, but does nothing to prepare their nervous system for the new capabilities. As a result they may be able to run faster, attack more often, etc, but they will suffer penalties on control and coordination.
Potion of Blind Rage
This potion fills it's imbiber with a powerful, unreasoning rage. Any enemies or hated races/individuals within sight will be attacked immediately. If no enemies are present, then the subject will have a hair-trigger temper, easily set off.
This potion provides no combat benefits aside from the inability to feel pain for the duration. (In some game systems, this in itself provides some benefit)
Venus's Lovejuice
-Drink this in front of the one you love and it will make her love you
This potent potion works for several hours at the time.It does it's job well-it makes the target fall in love with the drinker of it, but at a cost.For a number of hours it makes the drinker look and act like the target's ideal love intrest, unable to refuse what he/she wants. The drinker is aware of it, but unable to control his/her own body
Potion of Firebreathing
The imbiber has the ability to breath a gout of dragonfire. The potion protects the user from the flame, almost. Unfortunately, the teeth of the user are not protected and so when used, the imbiber's teeth will be incinerated. As to this being painful or not, that is up to the GM in question ....
The imbalanced healing potion
This one is a classical healing potion, as good (or even slightly better) quality as they can get. However, a glitch during manufacturing or a strong magical field caused it to have an imbalanced yin vs. yang ratio. Therefore, while the potion will work perfectly, it will only heal the right, or the left side of the body (with most damage being external that can look strange indeed - half-closed wounds, scratches absent from one side, etc).
Imbibing another potion that is oppositely imbalanced will make everything normal (too bad this can't be detected in any way). What the effect of more potions imbalanced in one way, or balanced potions will be, is at anyone's guess.
Potion of Smoke Breathing
Originally intended as a potion granting dragons breath, in this case there is smoke instead of fire. When the user attempts to expel a great gout of flame to incinerate their enemies, what instead issues forth is a massive cloud of thick, choking,oily black smoke that quickly surrounds the imbiber. No protection against asphyxiation is granted the user, and the issuing of smoke could continue for a troublesome amount of time. The smoke itself is non-magic, and will dissipate normally.
Potion of Arachnid Ambulation
This potion grants the imbiber the ability to climb walls as would a spider. It does this by causing eight large, hairy black legs to erupt from the user's body, four on each side. The process is very sudden and not pain free. Clothing worn on the torso will be damaged as the chitinous limbs burst out. Armor could lead to great discomfort.
The user cannot will these limbs away - they will drop off at the expiration of the potion's duration and then dissolve into a thick black goo.
Silvertounge Serum
Gives the user the power of an orator, able in the right circumstances to woo great crowds to do his or her bidding. The downsides are that after a couple of uses it becomes addictive, giving the person nausea if it is not taken often enough. It also fills the user's mind over time with thoughts of conquest, slaughter and genocide.
Armourskin
Thickens the imbiber's skin for several hours, meaning what would be deadly cuts are only small ones. The downside is that the thickened skin sprouts loads of itch nerves. If the imbiber starts scratching, he/she cannot stop, and when the potons wears off he/she will still have eczma all over his/her body from scratching.
Potion of Farseeing
Made from the geyser of it's name in the Sorcery Springs geyser basin, it lets the user see far-by replacing his or her sight with a view of what is ten miles away for one to ten hours. When the user walks he/she gets a view of what he or she would be seeing if he/she were ten miles ahead. The downside is that he/she is effectivly blind until the potion wears off.
Toad Oil
While it can be a handy oil to have around, the negative aspects of this oil often outweigh the positive. Intended to allow its user to leap great distances, it fulfils its purpose admirably. Unfortunately, many users feel an overwhelming urge to eat flies and other small insects immediately after completing any jump. They will also be unable to stop themselves from making dozens of superhuman leaps while under the effects of the oil. Even if they don't knock themselves out cold on a low ceiling or tree branch, these leaps leave most drinkers an exhausted wreck.
Potion of Pulchritude and the Potion of Princely Presence
Each a lovely golden liquid with a strong scent of mint, these elixirs taste delightful when served over ice.
These two nearly identical potions each temporarily give the drinker increased phyical attractiveness and charm. While they work well, each sort is attuned to a specific gender: A Potion of Pulchritude makes women more desirable, while the Potion of Princely Presence has a similar effect on males.
If drunk by the wrong gender, the resulting enchantment tends to turn the drinker into a hermaphrodite, with some attributes of either gender. Few find the result appealing.
Unfortunately, each of these potions has a brief 'shelf life', after which, it tends to reattune itself, aligning to the opposite gender. Testing will still show the potion as whatever it was first designed to be, not revealing the error.
Potion of Sorcery Springs Groundwater
Somebody illegally drilled a borehole deep into the groundwater below the Sorcery Springs. The water is highly magical but there is no knowing what the effects will be from one day to the next.One day it might be very usefull, the next day fatal if drunk.
Potion of Undeath
This potion appears to be a powerful healing potion that can even revive someone who has just died.Instead it stops the heart if the heart has not stopped allready, heals any wounds, and the person goes on *living* not knowing that their body is now dead. In the short term they can function as normal, but then their body and brain will start to rot, causing first severe sickness, (and the loss of the drinker's looks) then severe mental problems and dementia, then death due to rotting of the brain and body.
Funny Pills
Taking one of these will make a person smile, two or more will make him or her burst out laughing. Created by a mage who truely beleaved that laughter is the best medicine, if used sparingly these can be helpful. If overused they can damage the heart, make the person laugh inappropriatly all the time and become addictive.
Horny Pills
These pills act rather like Viagra, buyt they also make the person grow horns several inches long from his or her head. Too short to be useful weapons, the horms last for three days before dropping off. Not only do they make sleep almost impossible, they make supersitous people mistake the afflicted person for a demon, with possibly fatal results.
Potion of Cleaning
Whilst this if poured on a body part will clean any type of dirt off, within hours the body part affected starts to go bad as this potion was rather too strong.
Molinar the Magnificent's Magnification Mixture
This has the potential to be a useful item, it doubles the size of anything it is poured on. Unfortunately, all means of identifying it show it to be a potion of growth, / enlargement, and as such almost everyone who finds one drinks it. This has led to it being commonly referred to as a Potion of Rampant Gum Growth, for if ingested it generally causes the imbiber's gums to double in size. Though usually not harmful, it's a generally unpleasant experience and rather gross to witness.
Potion of Mixed Nanos
Orginally this was meant to be a powerful nanobot healing potion. However there was a colossal muck-up and somehow, through malice or sheer stupidity, it got mixed with another nanobot potion. Depending on what it is, it could semi-poison the person, change the person's gender, harm the person's memory, or do any other one unwanted change ranging from fatal to funny or somewhere in between.
Every alchemist will at some point have a student who believes that recreating simple potions is beneath them and will take it upon themselves to improve potions in the hopes of impressing their masters. This potion was intended to be a Potion of Stoneskin. A wayward student decided that iron was stronger than stone so would make a much better defensive potion...
When consumed it causes the skin of the drinker to absorb iron from the surrounding environment, forming an external skin of iron over their body. Were this a Stoneskin potion, the external skin would protect the drinker from harm but would also remain malleable. However this is not the case with a potion of Ironhide. The iron skin is capable of withstanding a considerable amount of damage, but it is solid. The drinker is unable to move until the effects of the potion wear off.
Corran's Potion This potion usually allows the imbiber to create one mundane item out of thin air. When diluted, flawed, aged past prime strength or otherwise dampened, such an item will suffer from one of various effects:
1: Explodes on use |
|
2: Brittle |
3: Turns to dust after a few uses |
4: Ineffective |
5: Malfunctions |
6: Exceedingly Heavy |
7: Miscolored |
8: Makes SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK Noises upon use. |
9: Insults players when held |
10: Insults NPCs during important conversations |
11 (Shield Specific): Sings "Hit Me Baby One More Time", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot.", "Never Gonna Give You Up", and "Pain" in combat. |
Random Locations | |
Die Roll | Location |
01-15 | Head Only |
16-25 | All body except head |
26-40 | All body except Face |
41-50 | Bottom Half (Waist own) |
51-60 | Torso Only - no imbs |
61-70 | Top Half (Waist p) |
71-75 | Legs only |
76-80 | Everything but legs |
81-85 | Arms only |
86-95 | Everything but arms |
96-100 | Limbs only |
Potion of Partial Gigantism
Similar to the potion of Partial Polymorphing, this potion affects only part of the user. The portion affected is doubled in size and strength. The unaffected areas are not, which may lead to a great deal of awkwardness.
ÂPainless Potion
This potion will deaden the most agonizing pain without causing numbness .Unfortunatly, it is too good;it works for weeks, and deadens all pain,meaning the taker is likely to injure himself or herself by mistake either in combat or accidently, and will not know how bad the damage is until it is too late.
Potions of Strength and Weakness
Drunk on their own, the potion of Strength will make the person crush everything he/she picks up whilst the potion of Weakness will leave him/her unable to move. When mixed in just the right amount, a very useful Strength potion is formed.
Peek-a-boo
This invisibility potion is quite powerful - it can last for hours. However, it only works while the user has their eyes closed. Â For those that do not require open eyes to see, it simply does not work.
Precarious Waterwalking
This potion allows the user to walk on water, carrying as much weight as they could normally handle. Â However, it is like walking on a waterbed, and should any part of the walker touch the water, aside from their feet, the effect immediately ceases.
Animal More Then Friendship
This potion allows the user to control animals for about 1 hour, and the animals become enamored with the user for about two...
Potions of Past Draughts
Whenever imbibed, the effects will be whatever the effects were of the very last potion the drinker had imbibed previously. Any potion ever found has a 1% of really being a Potion of Past Draughts.
Three-Dose Potion of Power
This is one of the most powerful potions around, imbuing the drinker with any great power of the GMs choosing. However, in order to properly take effect, it has to be imbibed in 3 stages, each 1/3 dose to be imbibed no sooner than exactly 1 year to the day, after the last. Failure to follow the time-line will result merely in a sour tummy.
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? Responses (24)
Hah! This is my kind of nasty thinking. Nothing like having a little fun with alchemy - I have a feeling this will be a favoured scroll for a time. We do need a little siliness now and then.
Actually, these could be used in ernest. :) They are basically incomplete applications of the potion in question. Having a potion that turned you into a potted flower is over the top, but things like the Giant Size potion, where it simply doesn't do all the things a normal potion would I think is fair game for even a serious game. Of course, you would use moderation :)
Heh, sweet.
I pressed the wrong button. :(
Another cool piece valadaar! Glad to have another clever poster on board the USS Strolen.
For some reason, it wont let me vote on this...?
Updated: Added freetext. Hope people can vote on this one now
Great idea and an excellent list already.
Added a couple more... :)
Me too.
Well theres one from me.
Thanks for the vote whoever that was :)
A really interesting article with some great ideas attached. Perfect for any DM to spring on those poor, unsuspecting player characters.
Fantastic work. The only thing that can be done to improve this piece is to add about a hundred more of these, right now!
100 more? *cracks knuckles*
We shall see....
I DECREE THAT IN THE FUTURE THIS SUBMISSION SHALL BE ENTERED FOR CONSIDERATION FOR GOLDEN STATUS FOR WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE ITS KNIGHTLY HONOR AND GOOD DISPOSITION
Much appreciated!
Seconded.
Hilarious idea.
Handy and I can see a few of these making an appearance int he next fantasy game I run, lovely, and well worth a golden vote!
5/5 sums it up nicely!
Thanks!
Had to wait on HoH till I got another one. Fixed