D&D 5E (2014) Thoughts on bonus action potions?

[Maxperson]

Our game is 2014, but I have reviewed the 2024 PHB and DMG and selected some things as inspiration for house rules. Mostly individual elements, like upgrading the damage to a particular spell, or adding a weaker version of an extra clasd feature. In general, the core of our game, house rules aside, is solidly 2014.

My immediate reaction to the idea of potions as a bonus action wasn't terribly positive. I'm just imagining a potion of healing Camelback added to game that's already easy mode and wondering why I would want that.

But then I started thinking. Our group doesn't like to spend consumable resources. Part of that is because you often end up with the situation where something is too good to waste right until it crosses the line to too weak to bother. There isn't much in the way of the right time to use a consumable. And I was thinking that a not insignificant part of that in D&D is due to the action economy. Giving up a turn to drink that potion of hill giant strength is rarely going to be worth the gains unless the fight goes for a lot of rounds. So if you didn't think of it before combat started, and have the opportunity, you aren't likely to use it. In other words, potions are either something you drink before you start an ambush that you think will be a tough fight, or an out of combat healing solution when you are in fire straights and out of your healing class features that you get back for free after a long rest.

But...if you have it that potion of hill giant strength in a convenient little sleeve on your belt, then when you find yourself in an unplanned tight situation, you might easily decide that a bonus action is worth getting the boost for that fight.

Plus, as a fun bonus, there's a chance the Potion Miscability table might come up occasionally.

So, for those with experience both ways, what do you think. Do potions as a bonus action get used more in fun ways, or is it just healing Camelback that makes the game easier?

I already switched mine to bonus action a long time ago. Potions are good, but generally not as good as one of a PCs normal actions, so they rarely get used. As a bonus action, though, they started seeing use.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

It makes sense that applying a Potion in your hand is a bonus action. Their weight tells us that they are only a few ounces of fluid, so they should be chuggable. However if that Potion is not already in your hand it will take an Interact to "draw" it. Also, if this is your buddies potion he had better have told you where it was if you expect to be able to retrieve it with just an interact.

Also, you should have receive informed consent ahead of time, because you can't ask him while he is unconscious, and you shouldn't be stealing his potion from him, just because it might save his life.

 

[DrJawaPhD]

I didn't even realize bonus action potions was a rule change in 2024, it is such a universal house rule that I thought that was always the actual rules.

 

[AlViking]

I don't really get the realism argument. Assuming a six second round, with lots of circling around and casting spells and such... how long does it really take to gulp down a potion? I know characters in movies do it in a pitched melee.

Despite what many people seem to think, a potion is one ounce. Its a decent sized swallow but it's less than a shot glass.

 

[TiQuinn]

I don't really get the realism argument. Assuming a six second round, with lots of circling around and casting spells and such... how long does it really take to gulp down a potion? I know characters in movies do it in a pitched melee.

Realism in a fantasy game featuring combat (and magic) is such a dead end argument for me. Consider that no one blinks at the idea that a round is enough to “stabilize” someone who is dying. How realistic is that? A medic stabilizing someone who’s critically injured in going to take much longer than “a round” to do so. And that’s just one example amongst countless others. Everyone abstracts this to their own personal perspective. It’s just such a pointless thing to me.

 

[aco175]

Dying Cap to stabilized Cap. Depends on the Hit Points argument. I also think that there is a lot of skimming over things to make a fantasy game more cool than dying on the Oregon Trail.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Hussar's group follows the roll for HP if you use a bonus action to quaff a potion, max healing if you spend a full action on it. I've found that that makes for an actually interesting trade-off. In a party with minimal healing, it's pretty important for avoiding death.

And for goodness' sake, realism arguments? About drinking a magical elixir to spontaneously restore yourself? Guys, this is about as inherently un-realistic as it gets. We're already talking about a health mechanic (hit points) which is terribly unrealistic at its core, and magic. Realism isn't even in this zip code.

 

[Dausuul]

Our game is 2014, but I have reviewed the 2024 PHB and DMG and selected some things as inspiration for house rules. Mostly individual elements, like upgrading the damage to a particular spell, or adding a weaker version of an extra clasd feature. In general, the core of our game, house rules aside, is solidly 2014.

My immediate reaction to the idea of potions as a bonus action wasn't terribly positive. I'm just imagining a potion of healing Camelback added to game that's already easy mode and wondering why I would want that.

But then I started thinking. Our group doesn't like to spend consumable resources. Part of that is because you often end up with the situation where something is too good to waste right until it crosses the line to too weak to bother. There isn't much in the way of the right time to use a consumable. And I was thinking that a not insignificant part of that in D&D is due to the action economy. Giving up a turn to drink that potion of hill giant strength is rarely going to be worth the gains unless the fight goes for a lot of rounds. So if you didn't think of it before combat started, and have the opportunity, you aren't likely to use it. In other words, potions are either something you drink before you start an ambush that you think will be a tough fight, or an out of combat healing solution when you are in fire straights and out of your healing class features that you get back for free after a long rest.

But...if you have it that potion of hill giant strength in a convenient little sleeve on your belt, then when you find yourself in an unplanned tight situation, you might easily decide that a bonus action is worth getting the boost for that fight.

Plus, as a fun bonus, there's a chance the Potion Miscability table might come up occasionally.

So, for those with experience both ways, what do you think. Do potions as a bonus action get used more in fun ways, or is it just healing Camelback that makes the game easier?

My group has been doing potions as a bonus action for a while (well before 2024), and it has been a significant improvement. Potions get used a lot more and it's fun to pull them out.

Now, I should emphasize that we routinely ramp up encounter difficulty way beyond the official guidelines. Those guidelines assume adventures based on the attrition model from the earliest days of D&D; but we find 5E combat simply takes too long to pad adventures with throwaway fights.

With this approach, it's super helpful for the PCs to have a supply of "break glass in emergency" options. The DM is always going to be eyeballing encounter difficulty and will sometimes overestimate what the party can handle. Single-use magic items can provide a safety valve. But that valve only works if the PCs have time to engage it mid-combat.

Now that I think about it, we've sort of re-created the attrition design; the key differences being that a) the supply of the limiting resource is not tied to adventure pacing, b) the players don't know or control when they get more, and c) throttling the supply doesn't interfere with the players getting to use their own chosen toys (i.e., their character abilities).

 

[aco175]

I find that it is also cool when the bad guy pulls out a potion and drinks it as a bonus action when the PCs just did a bunch of damage.

 

[AlViking]

I find that it is also cool when the bad guy pulls out a potion and drinks it as a bonus action when the PCs just did a bunch of damage.

I can see the party's reactions when that happens...