Would it be mean for me to have Potions of Inflict Serious Wounds as treasure?

[Particle_Man]

My favourite is a stone flask containing green slime labelled "salve of healing"

 

[devilbat]

My players ALWAYS identify potions. I've got them a few times .

 

[Conaill]

I'd label the potions. If I die, I want to take one of them down with me, if possible.

I would, however, keep it somewhat realistic with regards to the bad guy's motives.

For example, a BBEG with hubris to spare is *not* going to count on being bested by a puny band of adventurers. So whereas labeling potions is eminently practical, mislabeling them just in case they fall in enemy hands may not even occur to him. (Except for an undead bad guy labeling his potions "heal" of course, which isn't really mislabeling them from his point of view.)

However, the undead illusionist might very well send out a dispensible flunky with Magic Aura'd poison potions intended to fall into the PC's hands. Just call it a living poison trap...

Likewise, an underling who has been ordered to fight to the death and realizes that said death is a distinct option may very well take such measures - essentially boobytrapping his own body.

 

[Dog Moon]

Originally posted by Conaill
I would, however, keep it somewhat realistic with regards to the bad guy's motives.

For example, a BBEG with hubris to spare is *not* going to count on being bested by a puny band of adventurers. So whereas labeling potions is eminently practical, mislabeling them just in case they fall in enemy hands may not even occur to him. (Except for an undead bad guy labeling his potions "heal" of course, which isn't really mislabeling them from his point of view.)

I don't know about that. In Dnd, I think you'd probably EXPECT for the side of good to try to stop you and the more powerful you get, the more powerful the good guys get who try to stop you. Dnd is a world where stories of bands of adventurers defeating great foes/armies are widespread. A BBEG might believe him better than most, but just as the PCs need to be careful because there are always people more powerful than them, the BBEG need to worry about the same thing.

 

[glass]

It's really fun to put Caltrops in the glass.

Ouch, I wondered what that was...


glass.

 

[genshou]

It's really fun to put Caltrops in the glass.

I hate to be so picky, but how is a caltrop supposed to fit in a 1-oz potion vial? Or go undetected in, say, a glass of wine? And how would it fit into a person's mouth? Most people I know don't open their mouth as wide as possible when drinking.

 

[ThirdWizard]

It's a fairly simple Spellcraft check to identify a potion. Never cast identify! O_O
I doubt this would work on my players. They'll want to know how much is cures. 3d8+7? 1d8+1? Spellcraft check. Inflict. Toss.

 

[Chiaroscuro23]

It sounds like metagaming antagonism towards the PCs. "Ha! I'll get them by violating expectations and tricking them! That'll show them not to trust my GMing!"

I can't see why I'd want to do that. It was stupid and mean to have those cursed items in 1e, and I can't see a reason to mislead PCs into hurting themselves when they need healing most that has cropped up since then.

Also, from a practical standpoint, if you need player trust and cooperation for scene framing, adventure design and other parts of gaming, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot by tricking them here. Also, it's likely to kill PCs and maybe TPK, so the stakes are higher.

-C.

 

[diaglo]

Thanks for the reminder.

In the second session of our current campaign, a traveller sold the party a "potion of healing" that turned out to be poison. They spent much of several following sessions chasing "the fat bastard" across Faerun.

I haven't pulled too many magical switcheroos since then (OK, there were the rings with Nystul's Magic Aura, and the box of devouring) so we're probably due ...

hey, don't forget the bag of slugs instead of bag of tricks.

or the intelligent long hafted dagger... Esmerelda

 

[Bladesong]

Everyone should try this at least once. The encounter I ran was with a lich who made himself look "living" and used potions labeled 'heal' that contained cause serious wounds which killed one wounded character, knocked one to negatives and brought one close to 0 (the fact that they drank them at the same time instead of waiting kills me ). In addition, since as he knew he would come back again as long as his lifeforce was safely hidden, he had a robe that burned his body to ashes if he was reduced to 0 hit points so he was not discovered to be undead. He plagued the PCs for two more encounters over time before they finally figured it out (got one of them the second time with a potion as well; into the negatives; they did not fall for it the last time). Of couse each persona looked different each time...