Potion Brewing

[Olbaidhh]

How long does a level 4 character that has a poisoners kit and proficiency in it, generally take to brew a vile of poison? I am playing with a DM that states 20 in game days, from what I have read its 1-5 days depending on level, can anyone verify please. ... THANKS

[nickl_2000]

First of all, if the DM says it's 20 it's 20 (it is the DMs world). You may be right, and you can point on where it says that in the DMG, but it still is up to the DM to decide in the end.

Personally, I think with the rarity of the items to make poison and the action cost of apply them, they are almost useless in the game. In a homebrew I'm running, you can make a single dosage of poison during a long rest. To do it, you need to pass a nature check to gather the ingredients safely and a knowledge check to brew it during that rest. The DCs of those are very close to the DC of the poison. It also helps that there is no money in my homebrew campaign, so the silly selling prices of poisons isn't an issue.

[Unoriginal]

How long does a level 4 character that has a poisoners kit and proficiency in it, generally take to brew a vile of poison? I am playing with a DM that states 20 in game days, from what I have read its 1-5 days depending on level, can anyone verify please. ... THANKS

It takes 20 days of downtime to brew a vial of poison, regardless of the character's level, according to the rulebook.

The only way it could take 1 day is if you have 20 poisoners working on the vial.

[Olbaidhh]

It takes 20 days of downtime to brew a vial of poison, regardless of the character's level, according to the rulebook.

The only way it could take 1 day is if you have 20 poisoners working on the vial. Do you have to the page # and book?

[Unoriginal]

Do you have to the page # and book?

It's in the PHB p.187

[hymer]

Do you have to the page # and book?

The crafting rules are in the PHB p. 187.

Edit: Shadowmonk'ed.

[Olbaidhh]

The crafting rules are in the PHB p. 187.

Edit: Shadowmonk'ed.

Thanks all, i read it and reread it there is no said days for a potion of poison i.e. "it takes 20 days the make this potion table". So this is all a DM call?

[hymer]

Thanks all, i read it and reread it there is no said days for a potion of poison i.e. "it takes 20 days the make this potion table". So this is all a DM call?

"If something you want to craft has a market value greater than 5 gp, you make progress every day in 5-gp increments until you reach the market value of the item."

If that item is "Poison, basic" (p. 150), the value is 100gp, and thusly takes 20 days to make. If an item doesn't exist in the PHB, the DM needs to decide how to handle it. S/he could set the value at 100gp, and then it takes 20 days. Or s/he could just decide on how long it takes to make, without resorting to the crafting rules.

[Unoriginal]

Thanks all, i read it and reread it there is no said days for a potion of poison i.e. "it takes 20 days the make this potion table". So this is all a DM call?

A vial of Poison, Basic, from the PHB cost 100 gp, and so takes 20 days to craft.

A Potion of Poison is an uncommon magic item, and so it follows the rules about crafting magic items:


CRAFTING A MAGIC ITEM

Magic items are the DM's purview, so you decide how they fall into the party's possession. As an option, you can allow player characters to craft magic items. The creation of a magic item is a lengthy, expensive task. To start, a character must have a formula that describes the construction of the item. The character must also be a spellcaster with spell slots and must be able to cast any spells that the item can produce. Moreover, the character must meet a level minimum determined by the item's rarity, as shown in the Crafting Magic Items table

[...]

A character engaged in the crafting of a magic item makes progress in 25 gp increments, -pending that amount for each day of work until the total cost is paid. The character is ass limed to work for 8 hours each of those days. Thus, creating an uncommon magic item takes 20 days and 500 gp. You are free to adjust the costs to better suit your campaign.

[hymer]

A Potion of Poison is an uncommon magic item, and so it follows the rules about crafting magic items:

It may be worth pointing out, too, that it is specifically up to the DM whether PCs can craft magical items.

[Unoriginal]

It may be worth pointing out, too, that it is specifically up to the DM whether PCs can craft magical items.

Indeed. But I assume OP's DM has said it was ok.

[JackPhoenix]

And if we're talking about ACTUAL poison, not potion, there's also the option to extract them from a dead/incapacitated creature with DC 20 Nature check (you can use poisoner's kit proficiency to replace Nature proficiency) in 1d6 minutes (DMG 258)