How do you craft healing potions?

[Badsmell]

Maybe I just haven't seen it yet but, besides the herbalism kit, I haven't seen anything in the phb explaining how to craft them or what materials are needed. Does anyone have any helpful information about how to craft some much needed healing potions?

[Yuki Akuma]

Look under "Crafting", page 187.

Crafting a potion of healing requires proficiency in a herbalism kit, 25 gp worth of raw materials, and 10 man-days of work.

No info on what the raw materials are. One assumes herbs of some sort.

Getting the tool proficiency is the major thing. You can get it by starting out as a Druid (multiclassing into the class later won't cut it), being a Hermit, taking the Skilled feat, or spending 250 days (and 250 gp) to learn proficiency during downtime.

There's also a trick involving doubling up on tool proficiencies from your class and background and selecting the herbalism kit as a replacement. Rogue/Criminal or Rogue/Urchin would work.

[Chaosvii7]

No info on what the raw materials are. One assumes herbs of some sort.

If it's anything like the old days, it means that any well-stocked area is going to have enough resources for what you need on the market or what have you, and you just spend the equivalent gold cost to pay for it. Raw materials is usually an ambiguous and broad term left to something between the expectation of what you need to craft an actual item and some high fantasy shopping list.

[Badsmell]

It doesn't sound like it's worth the time. 10 days to craft a portion is a long time. I could travel to a big city and by tons of them in that time. Thanks for the quick reply.

[Merc_Kilsek]

It doesn't sound like it's worth the time. 10 days to craft a portion is a long time. I could travel to a big city and by tons of them in that time. Thanks for the quick reply.

That is assuming they are a massive or "unlimited" stock of potions. Beside the fact that spending that much gold in one place could draw a lot of unwanted attention.

[Yuki Akuma]

Crafting them gets you them half price. If you have a few weeks of downtime, no reason not to craft a few.

Also, it's man-days. Get a buddy with herbalist kit proficiency and you'll cut it down to 5 days. Three buddies and you'll be done in three.

[GAA]

Is there any scale multipliers to that. IE if i want to make 10 potions, does it take 10 times as long, or less so, or would it be unbalanced to take the approach of allowing say 60 days to make 10 potions rather than 100 days.

[Yuki Akuma]

Making anything takes one day per 5 gp in the market price. The only way to speed things up is to get more people to help with the project.

[pwykersotz]

Is there any scale multipliers to that. IE if i want to make 10 potions, does it take 10 times as long, or less so, or would it be unbalanced to take the approach of allowing say 60 days to make 10 potions rather than 100 days.

GM discretion, RAW offers no way to mass produce like that.

[HorridElemental]

That is assuming they are a massive or "unlimited" stock of potions. Beside the fact that spending that much gold in one place could draw a lot of unwanted attention.

You say unwanted attention, I hear chunks of XP.

[Sir_Leorik]

It doesn't sound like it's worth the time. 10 days to craft a portion is a long time. I could travel to a big city and by tons of them in that time. Thanks for the quick reply.


That is assuming they are a massive or "unlimited" stock of potions. Beside the fact that spending that much gold in one place could draw a lot of unwanted attention.

Your party could also be in a location where there aren't any herbalist shops or they want to avoid purchasing from the only herbalist in the region. For example, let's say that the only herbalist shop in the region is owned by a Hag, who's disguised herself as an old woman. Your party knows that she's a Hag and that she uses the blood of human infants to cut down on her material costs (and give her healing potion a lovely aftertaste). The PCs decide to have the group's druid craft potions for them, and kill the Hag. At that point there are no longer any herbalists selling healing potions in town, but there is a precipitous drop in babies going missing.

[Telwar]

Well, one thing to do with the vast quantities of gold that otherwise doesn't have a use is to establish an alchemy shop. Get a couple of likely apprentices, train them in your downtime, and then you can have your potions on demand.

...of course, this suddenly becomes a much better investment, gold-wise, than adventuring. But so do many things.


You say unwanted attention, I hear chunks of XP.

Heh, nice.

[Merc_Kilsek]

You say unwanted attention, I hear chunks of XP.

Then you would be murdering people that are not hostile. :smallwink:

I was thinking more along this line: people that trying to convince a PC in investing into *insert whatever*, charity groups seeking funding, or some of the churches seeking out that extra bit of gold to support whatever dogma they follow. Non-hostile NPC are far more interesting then someone thieving your gold.

[micahwc]

Sounds like quest ideas to me. Low level adventure to collect the ingredients, some of which would rather not be collected; followed by crafting, transporting, and selling potions for profit.

[Sir_Leorik]

Sounds like quest ideas to me. Low level adventure to collect the ingredients, some of which would rather not be collected; followed by crafting, transporting, and selling potions for profit.

And of course there are encounters with hostiles, such as Goblins, Gnolls, etc., and the obligatory NPC Druid named Tim.