Potions

Quite a few retroclones make use of the idea that you can identify potions by sipping them, allowing quick identification at the cost of potentially exposing yourself to poison or worse. I like this idea, though in practice my players have not bit- they're genre savvy enough to know what happens.

I was playing a roguelike called Dungeon Crawl, and the mechanic sort of clicked for me- in that game, you accumulate unknown potions with very specific colors- the colors are randomized at the beginning of a game. So when you have 10 potions of one color, it suddenly becomes an ok deal to risk the atrophication of your limbs in order to have a very common potion known. Indeed, in that game you build a collection of known colors. Consistency is key- if you're being consistent with your potion descriptions, sipping should become slightly less of a fool's deal.

So, I put together a quick set of tables to roll on for basic descriptions. And, since I'm in dire need of content for this blog, I'm posting it here. You don't need to completely randomize your potions- indeed, it may make sense to have a potion of water breathing blue and smell like the sea, so do that. This is more for when you draw up a potion as loot and need a quick prompt to describe it. These are not, generally speaking, evocative descriptions, like the kind you might get from Patrick Stuart. They are short and to the point.

Roll on as many of the tables as you want to. Roll a d10 to confine yourself to what I arbitrarily considered "basic" colors, or a d20 to have a larger variety.

Just, write down what you get for each potion, so you can be consistent in the future.

Basic Potion Colors (d10)
1. Red
2. Blue
3. Yellow
4. Green
5. Orange
6. Purple
7. White
8. Black
9. Grey
10. Clear

Advanced Potion Colors (d20)
11. Brown
12. Teal
13. Pink
14. Gold
15. Silver
16. Bronze
17. Magenta
18. Rust
19. Crimson
20. Rainbow 

Modifications (d8)
1. Gold/ Silver Flecks
2. Contains tooth/bone/rat tail/toenail/ other gross detail
3. Light [Color]
4. Dark [Color]
5. Smokey or Faded
6. Two Basic Colors Swirled together
7. Fizzy
8. Thick, like the consistency of Yogurt

Smells (d12)
1. Like fresh water
2. Completely Odorless
3. Acidic or Sulfuric
4. Delicious
5. Absolutely Nasty, like a toilet or something.
6. Like Perfume
7. Flowers or Pine
8. Like Alcohol
9. Like Smoke
10. Nostalgic
11. Like Tree Sap
12. Like the Sea

Not a huge fan of the smells in their current state, but they'll do. 

Taste (d6)
1. Tasteless
2. Hearty, like soup broth
3. Bitter / Sour
4. Sweet
5. Spicy, like drinking tabasco
6. Like Alcohol.

By the time they taste it, it's too late to identify. So this last table is just for if they ask.

Other Identification Methods
Here is what I allow.


- Someone with an alchemist class or background should automatically know most basic types of potions, and should be able to make an INT check for more niche potions. I love rewarding backgrounds.

- Paying an Alchemist or Wizard for their identification. Be arbitrary with prices, drain your player's gold away!

- Looking at an alchemist's wares to figure out the colors of potions being sold. 25% chance the item is mislabeled, by accident or malice- such mislabeling would naturally be corrected at purchase, but an alchemist isn't going to do much for window shopping.

-Spending valuable downtime doing research. Maybe a week per potion?

- Spells of Identification, if they exist. I limit these most of the time. 

- Test on hirelings. Hirelings are not PCs, and may not know exactly what it does from a sip, but they can provide hints. If they don't drop dead.

- Test on animals. Animals cannot talk in most cases, but this test will at least determine if it is lethal or not. This is not something good, well adjusted adventurers do.

- For basic potions of healing, skip this whole song and dance. The characters are competent and know what healing potions look like.

So ultimately, I doubt anyone is going to sip unknown potions... but there should be a lot of pressure to do so. It should be really tempting. Especially if you get one in the middle of the dungeon while your resources are running dry.. Maybe someone will break. And it'll turn out fine, because most potions are fine. So they'll taste test more and more... until one day, their luck runs out.

---

One last note: I am sure I am not the first person to create something like this. If you know of similar pages, please let me know!