Drinking half a magic potion?

[CyberThread]

if you drank half a magic potion, would you rule that nothing happens and the potion is now wasted, or whatever numerical values, in length or affect are halved?

[Silvanoshei]

DM ruling imho. Rules I think say all must be drank to be effective.

[denthor]

In second edition AD&D a potion of invisibility could be broken up into seven different swallows. This is the only one that I can think of.

However if it were me:

Half a potion would have some effect.

Fly would become a levitate up and down only.

Darkvision would only work a quarter of the time rather than three hours about 30 minutes

Healing potions would stabilize stop bleeding no healing up to eight people

[Alefiend]

Agreed, this is totally a GM call, though the rules call for you drinking the entire thing. A dose is usually only an ounce, so we're not talking a large volume of liquid.

In old school D&D, we would often take a small sip of a potion to see if it would help us identify it without wasting a spell. The help generally came in the form of a funny feeling related to the effect.

If you need another alternate rule, you could state that once you drink half the potion, you have a short amount of time (maybe half the duration of the effect if it's ongoing, or CLVL of the potion otherwise) to drink the rest and get full effect. Personally, I'd rather stick with just letting the GM decide on a per-case basis. The game has enough fiddly little rules already. :smalltongue:

[Humble Master]

As said above, this would be completely down to GM ruling. I would personally say that if you drank half the potion, you would have some time (about 1 hour) to drink the other half and finish the dose. If you don't, the first half of the dose is wasted.

[Thiyr]

Psh. DM ruling. We have rules for this eventuality! (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20060401b)










Never mind the date that was posted. >___>

[CyberThread]

according to those rules you can make a permanent affect ....

[Thiyr]

You can also explode your innards. Its half the fun!

[NNescio]

You can also explode your innards. Its half the fun!

#Dip Potion of Acid in Water

-Player killed by elementary chemistry.

[Jeff the Green]

I would rule that there are always an odd number of molecules in a potion, so you can drink slightly less than half (in which case nothing happens) or slightly more than half (in which case you get the full effect).

[TuggyNE]

I would rule that there are always an odd number of molecules in a potion, so you can drink slightly less than half (in which case nothing happens) or slightly more than half (in which case you get the full effect).

Oooh, ooh, I've got one!

If you dilute the potion in water a hundredfold, it will be twice as effective (treat as Intensify Spell or Extend Spell, as appropriate). Repeat the process indefinitely for continued doubling.

[Yuki Akuma]

Potions are an ounce of liquid.

Can you reliably drink half an ounce of liquid from a one ounce vial without accidentally drinking more within three seconds?

[Hytheter]

You could just halve the duration of applicable spells.
Anything which works immediately but has a strictly numerical effect can be halved likewise.
Anything else you'd have to get a little more creative, but there shouldn't be many examples of that.

[Belril Duskwalk]

In second edition AD&D a potion of invisibility could be broken up into seven different swallows. This is the only one that I can think of.

Others that come to mind:
Potion of Extra Healing has 3 doses. A single dose is worth d8 healing, 2 doses is worth 2d8 healing, all 3 doses at once is worth 3d8+3.

Potion of Diminution It's a potion for shrinking yourself, you drink it by percentages. If you drink 10% of the bottle, you shrink a small amount, 10% smaller than before. Drink 90% of the bottle you become 10% of your original size.

Potion of Fire Breath an old favorite. 4 doses to a bottle. This one gives you a larger and hotter cone of fire as the amount you drink increases. A single dose does 10 foot wide by 20 long dealing d10+2 damage. Double and triple doses are double and triple length and damage. Full potion is 20' wide by 80' long and deals 5d10 damage.

Rather than make a wall of text from here, I'm just going to say that yeah, lots of 2nd ed potions are multi-dose affairs. Most of them could be identified by taking a tiny sip, which would give you hints as to what they do. A few, especially some of the cursed ones, could affect you with even a tiny sip, then render the remainder of the bottle inert. Some of the more interesting beneficials had a reduced effect that was triggered by a sip similar to the way cursed potions work. Fun times...

3rd edition, I think I'd probably just say all or nothing on most potions.

[johnbragg]

RAW says no effect, if I remember right. If a player had a goof reason, I'd quickie up a table and Roll Random Effects!

1-8 No effect.
9-12 Effect is halved.
13-20 Normal effects

And roll again for the other half. (I started up a table with one roll that did both, figured out that rolling twice was quicker.)

[Jeff the Green]

Oooh, ooh, I've got one!

If you dilute the potion in water a hundredfold, it will be twice as effective (treat as Intensify Spell or Extend Spell, as appropriate). Repeat the process indefinitely for continued doubling.

No, no, no. You have to dilute it 1:10, shake, dilute 1:10 again, shake, and repeat 30 more times. If you only do a 1:100 dilution, there will still be some of the original potion left and that would ruin it.

Plus the shaking. Shaking's crucial.

[NNescio]

... Potion of Diminution It's a potion for shrinking yourself, you drink it by percentages. If you drink 10% of the bottle, you shrink a small amount, 10% smaller than before. Drink 90% of the bottle you become 10% of your original size. ...


What happens when you drink 100% of the potion?

[Vortenger]

So that passage about an ounce of liquid per potion is not just my imagination.

Does that not equate out to doing shots? Potion Party! I have dibs on the potion pong game! Can I have a fifth of lesser restoration I swig off of as a Hellfire warlock?!

[JusticeZero]

Yeah, and an ounce isn't much liquid. Two tablespoons, to be exact.

[Ravens_cry]

What happens when you drink 100% of the potion?
Reduce in size to below the Planck length and slip through the quantum foam into another universe. When you regain your original size, you find yourself in the form of someone sitting around a flimsy looking table with a leathery covering marked out in a grid with a small group.

[TuggyNE]

No, no, no. You have to dilute it 1:10, shake, dilute 1:10 again, shake, and repeat 30 more times. If you only do a 1:100 dilution, there will still be some of the original potion left and that would ruin it.

Plus the shaking. Shaking's crucial.

I fordonegot about the shaking! I am ashamed. :smallyuk:

[Mystral]

My Ruling:

Drinking half a potion does nothing. Drinking half a potion now and half a potion a few hours later makes for one wasted potion. It's either all or nothing.

[Ravens_cry]

I fordonegot about the shaking! I am ashamed. :smallyuk:
I read that in this voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVW4fDOgah4).
I am not ashamed.:smalltongue:

[Totema]

#Dip Potion of Acid in Water

-Player killed by elementary chemistry.

If you don't mind, I'm using that for my signature. :smallbiggrin: