Multiple Potion Drinking

[Sejs]

Your DMing. The player says that they have three vials taped together. They swallow the collective contents. You as the DM say:

"You get potion all over your face."

 

[Staffan]

Or as was posted on a fun thread at RPG.net (Unknown Armies style rumour for D&D):

Addiction/tolerance might work as a hand-wave as to why high-level characters need a lot more magic to heal smaller wounds (under the "hp represent attack avoidance, not real damage" theory).

 

[ARandomGod]

Which is just another reason why the imperial system is silly.


Believe it or not, a liquid ounce of water is one ounce in weight. That's the whole grounds for the thing.

And theres absolutely nothing to stop us going with my interpretation - a potion weighs one ounce and contains 10 liquid ounces of fluid.

And hell, if you're going to say "but it comes in a vial that's 2 inches by 1 inch" - for starters that vial can hold up to about 3 fluid ounces...

So in my campaign, a potion is an amount of liquid that is difficult to drink in under 6 seconds. Try drinking 3 at once and either you take 18 seconds choking it all down, or you spill two of them everywhere.

Yea, but anyone knows that you can, with a little practice, chug way more than that in under six seconds.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Yea, but anyone knows that you can, with a little practice, chug way more than that in under six seconds.

Three seconds. You have to get it out first, remember?

And I'd be impressed by someone who can put back much more than a cup of water in less than 3 seconds.

 

[ARandomGod]

Three seconds. You have to get it out first, remember?

And I'd be impressed by someone who can put back much more than a cup of water in less than 3 seconds.

Me too man, me too. Still, all that says is that it's impressive. ^_^

 

[Aristotle]

This is a 'spirit of the rules' question...

Of course a person could theoretically drink more liquid than what it describes a potion containing. No it wouldn't take an abnormal amount of dexterity to pop the corks on two potions and tip them into your mouth. Any argument that you couldn't do those things is silly.

The rules say one potion in one standard action, which (IMHO) means the spirit of the rules imply (without class abilities or feats that say otherwise) a character can only benefit from one new potion in any given round.

It's not an issue of how much you can drink. It's an issue of how many AoO's you provoke, how much magic you can make use of in a round, and countless other nuances of game balance.

If the spirit of the rules implies to me that you can only make use of one potion per round and my players demand an explanation for that... I'll give them the simplest plausible explanation I can come up with.

The body can only absorb the magic of one potion at a time. There must be a delay between potions to allow the affects of each one to 'take'. If you try to force more down, only one (randomly chosen) potion takes. If you mix them ahead of time you spoil all of the potions and none of them work.

Or whatever works for your game...

 

[Ferox4]

The 1st Edition DMG had a random percentile chart for this very thing, you should check it out. It has many different effects from bad things like poison, to good things like an increase in potion effectiveness. Maybe someone can post the chart here; I don't have my book handy.

Here, I thought I'd post this just for grins and for old times sake (1e DMG, p.119):

Potion Miscibilty

The magical mixtures and compounds which comprise potions are not always compatible. You must test the miscibility of potions whenever:

1) two potions are intermingled, or

2) a potion is consumed by a creature while another such liquid already consumed is still in effect


Potion Miscibility Table

Dice Score Result

01 EXPLOSION! Internal damage is 6-60 hp, those within a 5' radius
take 1d10 hp if mixed externally, all in a 10' radius take 4-24 hp,
no save.

02-03 Lethal poison results, and imbiber is dead; if externally mixed, a
poison gas cloud of 10' diameter results, and all within must
save versus poison or die.

04-08 Mild poison which causes nausea and loss of 1 point each of
strength and dexterity for 5-20 rounds, no saving throw possible;
one potion is cancelled, the other is at half strength and duration.
(Use random determination for which is cancelled and which is half
efficacy.)

09-15 Immiscible. Both potions totally destroyed, as one cancelled the
other.

16-25 Immiscible. One potion is cancelled, but the other remains normal
(random selection.)

26-35 Immiscible result which causes both potions to be at half normal
efficacy when consumed.

36-90 Miscible. Potions work normally unless their effects are
contradictory, e.g. dimunition and growth, which
simply cancel each other out.

91-99 Compatible result which causes one potion (randomly determined)
to have 150% normal efficacy. (You must determine if both effect
and duration are permissable, or if only the duration
should be extended.)

100 DISCOVERY! The admixture of the two potions has caused a special
formula which will cause one of the two potions only to function,
but its effects will be permanent upon the imbiber. (Note that
some harmful side effects could well result from this....)

 

[Dingleberry]

Back inthe early 3E days, I created an item to get the spirit of that very table back into the game, but I modified it so certain "Compatible" combinations had metamagic effects. (I also got rid of "EXPLOSION", but only because one of my players indicated that he'd never use the thing if that was an option - of course, he didn't seem to have any problem with the poison...)

Elven Tall Boy
The “elven tall boy” is a long, cylindrical silver flask framed with a trigger mechanism. When the trigger near the hinged stopper is depressed, both the stopper and another small plug at the base of the flask open. This allows a character to drink up to two potions (the maximum amount the flask holds) as quickly as a single potion can be drunk from a regular vial. However, because the potions are taking effect at the same instant, there is a chance of a magical reaction if two different potions are imbibed, as follows:

01 Lethal poison – imbiber must make Fort save (DC 14 plus spell level of each potion); initial and secondary damage 2d6 Con; both potions canceled
02-08 Mild poison - imbiber must make Fort save (DC 10 plus spell level of each potion); initial damage 2d6 Str, secondary damage 1d6 Strength; both potions canceled
09-15 Immixable – one potion canceled, the other at half efficacy.
16-25 Immixable – one potion canceled, but other functions normally
26-35 Immixable – both potions at half normal efficacy
36-65 Mixable – both potions function normally (unless effects are contradictory)
66-75 Compatible – one potion functions normally, other has its duration doubled as if brewed with Extend Spell (as applicable)
76-85 Compatible – one potion functions normally, other has its effect increased by one-half as if brewed with Empower Spell (as applicable)
86-92 Compatible – one potion functions normally, other has its effect maximized as if brewed with Maximize Spell (as applicable)
93-99 Compatible – both potions are maximized as if brewed with Extend Spell, Empower Spell and Maximize Spell (as applicable)
00 Discovery – one potion canceled, the other has permanent effect.