silly: Potion seller's strongest potion (intoxication)

[Zhorn]

If you were to drink either a really potent potion, or drink a large enough quantity of potion in a short enough length of time, should it cause intoxication?

In my 5e game my players recently got hold of an Alchemy Jug, and so I'm working out a small rules set for handling the impending drinking competition with all the wine and beer they'll get.
In rounding off the numbers for what toxicity levels of different volumes or different substances, I ended up on vials (4 ounce shots), cups (8 ounce), and pints (16 ounce).
And of course having vials immediately had me thinking of potions, leading me to that blasted potion seller meme.
And so here we are at the question:
Is potion seller's strongest potion too strong for low con individuals because the body would try to handle it like booze?

[Burley]

Its hard to speculate on this, because there's no, like, physics for how a potion works. If you wanted potions to have powerful side-effects, like intoxication or maybe intestinal distress, I could see that being kinda fun and interesting. Maybe, if you take a potion that heals over your max HP, the overflow amount equals a Con DC with mild side effects. If intoxicated, maybe a small penalty to ranged attacks. Or, maybe the wizard has disadvantage on Concentration because that big red potion is turning their intestines into an accordian.

If you introduce this to a table, I highly suggest letting the player have some say over what effects may happen. Some characters may be more affected by this than others. Like, a ranger would maybe care more about penalty to ranged attacks more than a barbarian, but the barbarian is more likely to be chugging potions down.

I like the idea because 5e sometimes feels like a resource management game, where you get all your resources back for doing nothing for short/long rest. I like when resources need to be used wisely, and 5e doesn't make resources scarce enough to provoke thought about how you use them.

[TheStranger]

Where are you drinking that served 4-ounce shots?

Anyway, it’s not the strength of the potion itself that gets you, but a lot of potions use alcohol as the base liquid. One isn’t a big deal, but if you drink six of them before the boss fight…

[Zhorn]

@Burley, not gonna overthink it to that degree with special unique side effects.
@TheStranger is thinking on the level I was, where a common potion would be of a similar potency to a wine or spirit. A single potion on their own is nothing to be concerned over, but chaining down 10 in a row because you couldn't afford the stronger healing potion would have you a little drunk for a bit.

As for 4 ounce shots... goliath bars.

[Anonymouswizard]

Anyway, it’s not the strength of the potion itself that gets you, but a lot of potions use alcohol as the base liquid. One isn’t a big deal, but if you drink six of them before the boss fight…

If you drink six just before a fight you're probably playing a Dipsomancer. More alcohol means more charges. Also more penalties to your actions, and as I remember you lose all your Charges of you're ever sober enough to not take penalties.

Look, Unknown Armies is weird.

It does however have a decent model for alcohol in games. A small penalty (-5%) per 'drink', lose then gradually over time. So maybe something like a -1 penalty per drink after the first, lose a point of penalties every half hour, of you want a bit more realism serious side effects start coming in at around -6 or so. 'Drink' is intentionally vague, a pint of ale, a glass of wine, or a shot of most spirits might qualify.

A portion is about two thirds the size of a shot of spirits. I'd estimate that every two or so are equivalent to a shot of gin.

[SpoonR]

Nethack: One of the potions is a potion of booze. Main effect is getting you drunk, but I think gives dwarves “energy”. Actually, a lot of Nethack potions could be “you drank too much”. Hallucinations, either where the hallucination is constant (Bob always looks like a mouse) or not (everytime you blink Bob looks different). Confusion, floating and unable to touch the ground, etc.