Friday, March 2, 2012

Discussion: Magic Potions

It occurs to me, about 9 hours late, that I never set up a post for today. Whoops.

With that in mind, today I want to talk about Magic Potions. Do you love them? Hate them? Has there ever been an easier way to troll a party of adventurers as either a GM or a PC with just a bit of creative labeling?

I remember in an old D&D game my thief was paranoid that the party was going to steal from him, so he re-labeled all of his potions with a system. The "Cure" potions were labeled as utility potions (dexterity, etc) while the poisons and pain causing potions were labeled as "cure" potions. Totally predictable when you think about it, but only if you suspect that the person is mislabeling. And why would you suspect the thief would incorrectly label his own stuff?

Ended up causing a party wipe when the session after I died everyone, after a tough fight, quaffed down Potions of Cure Serious Wounds only to find that they were all very potent poisons. As in the kind you make a "Save vs. Death" check or die. No one made the save. The GM just sat there stunned as the group was suddenly all dead, but he did play it straight.

How about you? Any fun stories involving your groups and magic potions?

2 comments:

  1. Sadly, I don't have anything that comes close to that story. Potions and potion use is a segment of gaming we never meddled with much.

    That said, I did have to point out yours is a great story! Kudos to the GM for playing it out.

    I'm guessing the other players weren't quite as trusting of you next character... I know I wouldn't.

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  2. All I can say is that the "Identify" spell was used a lot more often on any 'loot.' Reallocated from a dead party member or otherwise found. :D

    It actually saved a lot of people from cursed weapons and other such things (such as the infamous girdle of masculinity/femininity.)

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