Diet Healing Potiions

[Tequila Sunrise]

My group will be playing our second Dark Sun session tomorrow, in which healing potions may actually become useful. As I wrote in my blog, the issue of diet potions came up last week. Our DM will probably make an official call tomorrow; but to sate my own curiosity, how has your group 'fixed' healing potions, if at all?

 

[Kingreaper]

I'm wondering about that at the moment. I've been playing the leader in a 4e game I'm in at the moment, but it's my turn to GM, so potions are probably going to be important.

Fortunately, we're level 17, and our defender is a swordmage, so the level 15 potions aren't actually that bad.

 

[Umbran]

I haven't found them disappointing - healing potions are not, to my mind, supposed to be major magic. They're a minor boost, not a major one. The major boosts are supposed to becoming from PC, not items.

 

[KahnyaGnorc]

How about making the regular "Diet" potions into "Lesser" potions? Then, create "Greater" potions which more closely mimic leaders' healing (HSV+die roll), with the die roll being smaller than an equivalent leader (but increasing with each level of potion). Since you are playing Dark Sun, you could put it that Greater potions are from a recipe only known to alchemists close to the Sorcerer-kings and never available for sale, so you can only find them in treasure (helps the DM keep a limit on how many you have available at any given time).

 

[Firebeetle]

Potions? We don't need no stinking potions!

Seriously, I'm happy they don't need potions anymore, used to be such a crutch.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

How about making the regular "Diet" potions into "Lesser" potions? Then, create "Greater" potions which more closely mimic leaders' healing (HSV+die roll), with the die roll being smaller than an equivalent leader (but increasing with each level of potion). Since you are playing Dark Sun, you could put it that Greater potions are from a recipe only known to alchemists close to the Sorcerer-kings and never available for sale, so you can only find them in treasure (helps the DM keep a limit on how many you have available at any given time).

Not a bad idea. Maybe heroic/paragon/epic potions grant a surge +1d6/2d6/3d6 extra HP. Not as good as a leader's heal, but a small incentive to use high level potions.

I haven't found them disappointing - healing potions are not, to my mind, supposed to be major magic. They're a minor boost, not a major one. The major boosts are supposed to becoming from PC, not items.

Agreed; and yet I still find healing potions unsatisfactory. They're the only surge-trigger in the game that doesn't actually involve a PC's surge value, for better or for worse.

 

[TarionzCousin]

From the title of the thread, I came here expecting to see a "diet" healing potion. I was curious how you could water down the existing wimpy potion and still make it worthwhile.

I guess you can't.

 

[Morrus]

We're not having any problems with the potions. We don't really view them as anything other than emergency stuff anyway - someone's dying and needs to be gotten on his feet right now, and we're out of ways to trigger healing surges.

It's emergency first aid.

 

[the Jester]

IMHO healing potions are just fine. They are cheap as hell, after all, so they shouldn't be worth all that much. I like the mechanic for them- it makes them feel very "desperate measure" most times.

 

[keterys]

The higher level potions are actually pretty good stuff (saves, higher hp). I'd also suggest giving them out based on their value - like a potion of vitality can replace 1000g or a 5th level item, so isn't a bad thing to occasionally find from 5th level onwards.

I had a level 10 group escape a TPK because the last person standing right before he was about to die realized he had one they'd gotten as a quest reward.