D&D: Five Potions Worth the Quaff
Drinking a potion is only a Bonus Action on the new ruleset. And these potions are definitely worth spending a Bonus Action to quaff.
Quaffing is a word that doesn’t come up until you’re hip-deep in fantasy flavor. When you’re in a tavern, with a flagon of ale or the next best thing, you quaff. And if you’re lucky, you huzzah as well.
In D&D you can quaff a potion as a Bonus Action. This means you’re more likely than ever to want to drink a potion in the middle of a fight. But what should you drink? These five portions are definitely worth a quaff.
Potion of Healing
This glass vial of red liquid is hit point juice. It’s always red – red for health, blue for mana, purple for both. But it’s a classic for a reason. Potions of magical healing predate D&D, even.
And they’re actually quite good in the new ruleset. In 5.5E, a potion of healing is faster to drink, making it basically an upscaled Healing Word but that doesn’t take up a spell slot. All it costs is 50 gold pieces, or more if you’re going for one of the higher end healing potions.
Potion of Heroism
This is like a Potion of Healing with an extra buff along with it. Quaffing a Potion of Herism only costs you your Bonus Action, but in exchange you get ten temporary hit points that will last you for up to one hour (thoough they’ll probably be gone before then if you’re doing your job right). And that’s more effective healing than you’d get from a regular potion of healing, which heals an average of 7 hit points per quaff.
But then you also gain the potent effects of a Bless spell for an entire hour. Which could include multiple fights. Better still, there’s no concentration required. You just get to add 1d4 to all your attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws, consequence free while those ten temporary hit points carry you onwards to glory.
Potion of Pugilism
This green liquid tastes like spinach – an homage to Popeye the Sailor, who is both strong to the finish and a nonbinary icon. But this potion won’t make you amphibious, you’d need a potion of water breathing for that. What it will do is make your Unarmed Strikes deal an extra 1d6 Force Damage for the next ten minutes, making this the perfect potion for any self-respecting Monk or College of Dance Bard to have on hand.
Potion of Flying
I love potions like these. They are good little setups that you can drink before you know you’re going to have a fight (or in the middle of one) and the effect keeps going. Quaff this clear liquid full of cloudy white impurities floating within, and you’ll gain the ability to fly (and hover) for an hour.
Fizzy lifting drink eat your heart out.
Potion of Speed
Haste is a powerful effect. You get to make an extra attack while under its effects, which is a potent boon. But it comes with two downsides. The first is that it requires concentration. The second is that when Haste wears off, you experience a round of lethargy where you can’t take any actions. Which can be deadly in the middle of a heated fight.
The Potion of Haste obviates both of these downsides, granting you Haste for a minute, with a bonus action, and then letting you keep trucking when you’re done. They don’t say it tastes like a Red Bull or Monster, but you can imagine this potion tastes exactly like that: smarties dissolved in battery acid.
Get out there and quaff!
