Non-magical Healing Potion [PF]

[DonDuckie]

In a game I'm running I've introduced a non-magical healing potion.

Healing Potion
price: 10 gp
effect: when drinking this healing potion you immediately heal 1 hp, and the potion is active(in you). While you have an active potion in you, on your turn you roll 1d6, on a result of 1, the effect ends with no further healing, otherwise the potion remains active and you heal 1 hp.
You can have more than one active potion in you, but you can't heal more than 1 hp per round. The roll for each potion is made seperately.

(more active potions would increase the chance of the healing continuing)

Statistics:
minimum healing: 1 hp
expected healing: 6 hp
maximum healing: infinite

the results of 100,000 simulations of one active potion:
runs: 100000
avg: 6.01526
max: 68
1: 16632
2: 13914
3: 11404
4: 9588
5: 8126
6: 6941
7: 5564
8: 4663
9: 3908
10: 3151
11: 2689
12: 2163
13: 1825
14: 1550
15+: 7882


It's not made to compete with a cleric, but with a potion of cure light wounds(1d8+1 hp in one round for 50 gp).

What's your take on this item? I know it requires a little book keeping, but that aside.

[Gabe the Bard]

Infinite rounds of healing with a 17 percent chance of failure for 10 gp, and it works in an antimagic field? You need to put a cap on it, or just having it function for 1d6 rounds might be simpler. Either way, it's not really competing with cure light rounds so much as a vigor spell or fast healing.

Is there any onmagical fluff about how it actually works? Maybe there are microscopic pixies that roll a heal check every round?

[DonDuckie]

Infinite rounds of healing with a 17 percent chance of failure for 10 gp, and it works in an antimagic field? You need to put a cap on it, or just having it function for 1d6 rounds might be simpler. Either way, it's not really competing with cure light rounds so much as a vigor spell or fast healing.

Is there any onmagical fluff about how it actually works? Maybe there are microscopic pixies that roll a heal check every round?

no, you roll each round it's active - a result of 1 ends the effect. Otherwise the average healing would be infinite, not 6.

EDIT:
The fluff thing, it's an alchemical item... not so fluffy, but there you go:smallsmile:
EDIT2:
Vigor isn't PF(to my knowledge), and even then, it's NOT competing with spellcasting. It's competing with potions. And it's meant for low-level, not things that have fast healing.

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Even at low levels, 1 HP is very little, and this introduces a lot of extra die rolling. There's some thread around right now on the subject of non-magical healing... someone proposed a healing kit that would work with the healing skill, and could itself be masterwork/enchanted.

[DonDuckie]

Even at low levels, 1 HP is very little, and this introduces a lot of extra die rolling. There's some threat around right now on the subject of non-magical healing... someone proposed a healing kit that would work with the healing skill, and could itself be masterwork/enchanted.

Yeah, the die rolling is a thing... but a CLW potion has 2 hp in one out of eight, and costs five times as much. And - as an alchemical item - this can be made without a caster.

I looked for the thread, but couldn't find it, got a link?

[FreakyCheeseMan]

Yeah, the die rolling is a thing... but a CLW potion has 2 hp in one out of eight, and costs five times as much. And - as an alchemical item - this can be made without a caster.

I looked for the thread, but couldn't find it, got a link?

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271007

Kit was suggested in the comments, on the second page. But, there's been a lot of general discussion of non-magical healing.

[DonDuckie]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=271007

Kit was suggested in the comments, on the second page. But, there's been a lot of general discussion of non-magical healing.

Oh, I saw that, I just skipped it because it was 4E.:smallsmile: [unskipping]

[Kane0]

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14687522&postcount=55

Kit was suggested in the comments, on the second page. But, there's been a lot of general discussion of non-magical healing.

:smallbiggrin: Thanks for the plug!

A wand of cure light turns out to be 15gp for each use, so this seems pretty competitive.
You might want to say that this healing potion (or salve) heals you for 1HP on initial use, and 1d6 the next round? Or 1d4 HP for 1d4 rounds?
Less rolling and has a good punch for 10gp.

[Tovec]

I can't tell if second poster is saying it is too good or too weak.

Either way, I like it. It works well with the low HP in my new system, consider it stolen - possibly modified and stolen but it seems like a good idea at least.

[DonDuckie]

Extra stuff:

Crafting/brewing:
craft(alchemy) DC 20
special: by adding 10 gp to the price and increasing the crafting DC by 2, you can add an extra dose to the potion. So it gives you two(or more) active potions from one healing potion(and thereby heals while at least one is active). This can be done repeatedly.

-----------------
Yes. More rolling.

Basically: you roll a number of d6 every round, remove all dice showing ones, and you heal 1 hp per round until they're all gone.

This gives a slight increase in the average/expected healing values, but does almost nothing for the maximum result.(EDIT: in actual use - the theoretical bound is still infinte:smallwink:)

And I designed this to be mostly for non-combat healing, but not without combat usage.

-------------------
Flavor(what some call fluff): the duration of the potion isn't random, but unknown. It's Schrodinger's Healing Potion, so now I can justify(which matters to me) low level opponents with fast healing 1.