Making a Potion out of a Ray and other esoteric things...

I understand that to put a spell into a potion it must have a target, as per the SRD "You can create a potion of any 3rd-level or lower spell that you know and that targets one or more creatures."

This would allow me to cast a spell such as Cure Light Wounds into a potion. What if I were to make a Charm Person potion, would the drinker be under the Charm effect of the potion crafter, or would the drinker be charmed by himself? Is the "caster" the drinker or the crafter?

Also, could I make a spell like Ray of Frost into a potion? It could be argued that it is not a "target" spell because of the following from the Spell Description, Ray in the SRD "You don’t have to see the creature you’re trying to hit, as you do with a targeted spell.", clearly stating that a ray is not a targeted spell. Personally I would argue that a ray is a potentially targeted spell that can be cast in a "targeted" or "non-targeted" mode, thus be made into a potion.

Any opinions on this would be welcome, thanks!

Does the spell description list:

target: 1 or more creatures?

If it doesn't, then it can't be made into a potion.

The ray spells do not have a "target", they have an effect - ray entry instead.

It should be noted that magic missile does have a target entry and it does equate to 1 or more creatures.

The text of the spell itself does though:
"You must succeed on a ranged touch attack with the ray to deal damage to a target."

That's just a matter of wording. Saying "to a target" is a lot more elegant than saying "to the guy you're using this spell against". For the purpose of Brew Potion and the like, a spell is not a targetted spell unles it has a "Target: ~~~" entry.

Arravis said:

This would allow me to cast a spell such as Cure Light Wounds into a potion. What if I were to make a Charm Person potion, would the drinker be under the Charm effect of the potion crafter, or would the drinker be charmed by himself? Is the "caster" the drinker or the crafter?

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The drinker of a potion is considered both the caster and the target. This is found in the DMG, Magic Items, Potions.

Also, could I make a spell like Ray of Frost into a potion? It could be argued that it is not a "target" spell because of the following from the Spell Description, Ray in the SRD "You don’t have to see the creature you’re trying to hit, as you do with a targeted spell.", clearly stating that a ray is not a targeted spell. Personally I would argue that a ray is a potentially targeted spell that can be cast in a "targeted" or "non-targeted" mode, thus be made into a potion.

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Ray of Frost is not a targeted spell, and cannot be made into a potion.

Let's say you cast Summon Monster III, and summon a Small Earth Elemental. The elemental attempts to grapple a goblin. We check the grapple rules: "To start a grapple, you need to grab and hold your target". Target! Is Summon Monster III, therefore, a targeted spell, and able to be made into a potion?

No - the spell has no target. It merely creates an effect. The effect of the spell - one elemental - has a target.

The spell, Ray of Frost, has no target. It merely creates an effect. The effect of the spell - the ray - has a target.

-Hyp.

Re: Charm person.

This would have to come to a DM ruling, but if I were given the choice I'd say the first person to talk to the imbiber after drinking the potion would be the "caster" in this case.

Re: Ray of frost

No, but I'm curious as to why you would want to make a ray of frost potion.


If you're looking for damage your best option is always cause ______ wounds. (I currently play an evil cleric of donated a few of those to the war effort. I told them they were cure potions of course.)

Enjoy.

-Stuart

Hypersmurf said:

Ray of Frost is not a targeted spell, and cannot be made into a potion.

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Ah, does that mean I'll need to nix my plans for making a potion of Fireball to put in the King's drink to assassinate his entire family at once?

Jack Simth said:

Ah, does that mean I'll need to nix my plans for making a potion of Fireball to put in the King's drink to assassinate his entire family at once?

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Nope. You just need to use Create Wondrous Item to make an elixer instead.