Brew Potion or useful stuff- 5th level feat advice for first time player?

[Malphegor]

I'm playing a wizard conjuration specialist (prohibited illusion and necromancy), and at 5th levelI'm looking at what bonus feat to get.

The obvious one is to start looking at metamagic feats for later, so I can summon multiple things in a single turn, but I keep looking at Brew Potion, and thinking... 'I could pre-prepare buffs for people and thus have the time to do conjuration'.

Brew Potion is weirdly worded though, so I'm unsure what spells are valid for it.


Prerequisite(s): Caster level 3+

Benefit: You can create a potion of any spell third level or lower that you know and that targets a creature or creatures. Brewing a potion takes 1 day, the base price of a potion is (Spell level X Caster level) X 50Gps. The mage must also give up 1/25 of the cost in ExPts.

Source: Players Handbook



From that wording, it should be possible to make a potions of shield, comprehend languages, all the second level transmutation buffs, etc in a drinkeable form anyone can gulp down?


but I guess it'd be more optimal with how few feats there are to go for quicken/extend spell asap?



My plan for this character is to basically be conjuration/transmutation (polymorphing) focused, with lots of summoning meatshields and transforming stuff into weaker forms, so getting the buff stuff as something I can prepare in advance probably would be handy... but a whole feat... I dunno.

We are facing a lot of zombies and devils, so maybe I should figure out how to become Good and get Consecrated Spell...

[Darrin]

From that wording, it should be possible to make a potions of shield, comprehend languages, all the second level transmutation buffs, etc in a drinkeable form anyone can gulp down?


There is additional wording in the DMG (p. 286):

"The imbiber of the potion is both the caster and the target; therefore, spells such as shield other cannot be stored in potion form. Spells with a range of personal cannot be made into potions, so spells such as shield never exist in potion form."

However, there are several work-arounds if you're looking to craft some single-use items. Taking Craft Wondrous Item, for example, allows you to create "pills" or "tiles" or whatever you like, and doesn't carry any restrictions on the range or target of the spell. GP cost is the same as a potion. If you want something a little more flavorful, you could take Create Infusion (Masters of the Wild), Craft Talisman (Oriental Adventures), or Craft Skull Talisman (Frostburn). Attune Gem (Magic of Faerun) is even better, as you can create a one-shot item with its own triggering mechanism.

You can also just *buy* the Brew Potion feat for 5000 GP: Gremma's Cauldron (Expedition to Undermountain p. 217) gives you the feat if you don't have it already. It can also convert scrolls into potions, which... could get a little wacky if you don't talk to the DM about that option first.

Feat-wise, Craft Wondrous Item covers a lot of ground, but you need downtime to make good use of it. For metamagic, I usually start with Extend Spell or Sudden Extend.



but I guess it'd be more optimal with how few feats there are to go for quicken/extend spell asap?


I'm not really a big fan of metamagic, so I don't really invest into those feats unless I've got a decent method to offset the metamagic cost. However, those methods tend to be very resource-intensive.

However... if you're just looking for a better way to get your summons out faster... that doesn't necessarily have to be via Quickened Spell. I like to use spell-storing items, as you can generally get those activated with a standard or sometimes even free action: Glyph Seal (1000 GP, MIC), shallantha's delicate disk (Lost Empires of Faerun), spell-storing shurikens (ok, that one's kinda cheesy), and chardalyn (price/sources vary).

First things first, though... get your hands on a Chronocharm of the Uncaring Archmage (500 GP, MIC) and some golden desert honey (300 GP per dose, Complete Mage). That will get your summons down to a standard action.



We are facing a lot of zombies and devils, so maybe I should figure out how to become Good and get Consecrated Spell...

Wizards already get access to Sanctified spells, so maybe take a look at BoED. There are plenty of "screw evil" spells in there.

[Fouredged Sword]

One thing to keep in mind is that potions have three major drawbacks.

First, they are more expensive than alternative options.
Second they are restricted to low level spells and to a small subset of low level spells.
Third they still take the action of the person drinking them.

Potions are best used as emergency options for characters without spellcasting or UMD.

Scrolls are the next cheaper option. These take UMD for a non-caster to use, but they can hold just about any spell. Scrolls are best used to carry around spells you do not intend to use immediately, but may need on short notice. A scroll of restoration is a handy emergency debuff removal, as is a scroll of heal or such.

Remember, any caster can read scrolls from their spell list without UMD. You can work with another caster to use your feat to craft scrolls of their spells. Your party cleric will love some emergency scrolls.

Wands are cheaper still. Wands are for low level spells you may need to spam over and over. Cure light wounds is a common wand fir quick HP healing.

If you are just looking for more spells per day consider craft wonderous items and make yourself a pocket full of pearls of power. These handt items let you recover spent spells and recast the effect. When yku craft these for yourself they are quite cheap.

Potions generally are not worth spending a feat to get at half price. They are an emergency measure and are likely low level anyway. Best to just purchase them.

Scrolls are worth crafting, but mostly because you get scribe scroll for free.

Wands MAY be worth crafting, but again, many of these you actually want are for level 1 spells and you can just buy them pretty cheap. Not worth burning a feat.

Wonderous magic items are frequently 60-90% of someone's WBL. A feat to be able to stretch they WBL twice as far is GOLDEN. There is not a single memeber of your party who will not LOVE discounted wonderous items.

Craf Wonderous item > scribe scroll > craft arms/armor > craft wand > brew potion.

Look up the unseen crafter spell and dedicated wright construct. Both are vert helpful for a crafter on the go.

A good rule of thumb is to tally up the total cost of all the potions or wonderous items or magic arms/armor you want to buy. Ask yourself "Would I lose a feat to get half that gold back?"

Potions are rarely that huge of your WBL to make that a good deal.

And if you just want to buff really well I would point you in the direction of the Warweaver PRC. Fairly easy to enter, this PRC lets you apply biffs you cast to everyone in the party and make a large buff stack you can unleash all at once with a single move action.

[Malphegor]

Makes sense, people. I think I'll go with Craft Wondrous Item in the end, more immediate utility, and it'll be handy in later levels and time to have a precedent of making a variety of things rather than lock myself into one thing.

[Zaq]

You're a Wizard, you say? Don't bother taking Brew Potion as a feat. Just scribe Quick Potion (Spell Compendium pg. 164) into your spellbook. Or you could even buy a wand of it.

Sure, it only lasts 1 hour per level instead of forever-until-used, but it also takes 1 minute instead of 1 day and costs a spell slot instead of gold and XP (read: temporary cost instead of permanent cost). Oh, and potions made with Quick Potion are usually stronger than potions made with Brew Potion because potions made with Quick Potion can be at your full caster level with no additional cost. (In contrast, if you use Brew Potion, you have to pay more gold and more XP to brew a potion with a higher caster level, so you usually make those potions at minimum CL to save cost.)

If you end up using a lot of potions with Quick Potion, consider recommending the feat Delay Potion (Complete Mage pg. 41) to the partymember who most often uses your potions. It can help a lot with the action economy.