D&D 5E Homebrew (no pun intended) Magical Teas: How to Do It?

[Yaarel]

These teas are a recipie that is a kind of magic item, a kind of ritual that requires special ingredients for each serving.

 

[pukunui]

The Wild Beyond the Witchlight includes a magical tea as a prize at the Witchlight Carnival:

Scatterleaf Tea. As an action, a creature can scatter these tea leaves on the ground in a 5-foot-radius circle, duplicating the effect of a protection from evil and good spell that lasts for 10 minutes. To gain the spell’s protection, a creature must stand in the circle of tea leaves. In addition, a cup of hot, delicious tea magically appears in the protected creature’s hands. A pouch contains enough leaves for one use.

I would class it as a common magic item.

With that in mind, I think you could easily make common magic teas that duplicate 1st level spells, uncommon ones that duplicate uncommon potions or 2nd level spells, rare ones that duplicate rare potions and so on.


I think maybe a custom feat would be a good way for your rogue to gain this ability - but don't make them wait till 8th level. The 2014 DMG has optional rules for training as a downtime activity, which you can use to award your players' PCs with bonus feats outside the usual character progression. So you could just say that the rogue finds a tutor who trains them to brew magical teas and then give them the custom feat as a bonus. (To make it fair, you'd want to give the other PCs the opportunity to train and gain a bonus feat each as well.)

 

[Piperken]

...For context, I am currently running a campaign in the Koryo Hall of Adventures setting (based on Korean folklore), in standard 5E. PCs are currently level 5, and I expect the campaign to go up to level 8 or 9. The PC in question has the tea master background, custom to the setting. She loves brewing teas that have certain roleplaying-only effects--calming, energizing, etc.

We also established at the beginning of the game that the character knows the secret recipe for a magical tea that duplicates the effect of a certain third-party spell (heart to heart from Deep Magic, for anyone who's curious). However, since the spell can only be cast on one person, the player seems reluctant to use it; having to choose one beneficiary seems to stress her out. I can tell that what she really wants to do is buff the whole party in some way, but of course, 5E is intentionally stingy with such effects...

...This PC has also recently discovered a sentient teapot. Again, so far this only has roleplaying implications, but maybe I could make it an evolving item that would level up with her? This seems like the best option, but in that case, the effects of the teas would have to be pretty weak in order not to unbalance the character with the rest of the party. Which is probably okay--I think the player would be happy with even some weak abilities, as it's mostly about the flavor...

...As for the effects the teas might have, I'm open to suggestions. Temporary HP might seem like an obvious choice, but we have a glamour bard in the party who spams Mantle of Inspiration, so there's no point. I thought maybe one that would restore 1d4 HP (so, slightly better than Goodberry but balanced by needing 10 minutes to create). Maybe one that mimics the Guidance cantrip? Any other suggestions?

I think ppl already have listed a wide range of practical effects that the teas might have... questions I offer for you to consider are more focused on expanding this detail in scenes/story:

• Does the player envision being able to brew these teas while adventuring? Compare this with whatever rulings you have for making ointments, antidotes, unguents or the like. Freshly brewed tea typically needs to be consumed within 20-30 minutes. One factor might be the current party's composition e.g. would it benefit some aspect they currently lack? As well, tea culture, especially any based in Asian culture, tends to require a lot of additional aspects that's not just the leaves and hot water; it can have rituals, carries forward tradition and is an act intended to be experienced.
• Elaborating more on tea culture, have you considered combining the benefits with role playing possibilities e.g. these benefits only occur when the drinker participates in tea culture with the PC tea master, like in a tea or pleasure house?
• I love the tea pot! Perhaps as the relationship between the PC and the tea pot improves or sours, they're able to gain these capabilities while adventuring (or in the case of souring, goes away when it's most needed!)
• What happens should the tea pot lose its lid, or gets chipped?

 

[jayoungr]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

I think I've decided to treat the teapot as a magic item (with charges) and will balance it by giving similarly powerful magic items to other party members.

Someone pointed me to this resource, which will also be handy:

{WH} Teas and Tisanes, brewed beverage options for all settings and characters - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

{WH} Teas and Tisanes, brewed beverage options for all settings and characters - While the life of an adventurer often places them in peril, many enjoy the rare moments of calm they are afforded. They

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