Magical Potions

Magical Potions

The following is a selection of the rarer potions, elixirs and philtres to be found in Mystara.

Potion of Replication

This potion is a thick, sweet, syrupy liquid, dark brown in colour; its aroma and taste are both reminiscent of the mead drunk by Northern Reaches folk.

When consumed, the Potion of Replication magically generates an identical copy of the imbiber, down to the clothes he wears. The copy will have a mind and memories identical to the original, and will think in the same way, but is not under the original’s control. Magical items carried by the original will not be duplicated - the copy will have mundane recreations - but apart from that, they cannot be told apart, since both radiate magic as a result of the potion. Those who have drunk this potion have reported that the copy often believes that he is the real person, rather than the drinker, and refuses to hear the truth. Original and copy may be separated by any spatial distance without ill-effect, although if either individual is transported to another Plane, the duplicate vanishes permanently.

The original and the copy share a "pool" of hit points and - if the drinker was a spellcaster - a single set of spells, equal in both cases to the original’s normal total. Wounds taken by either individual deplete the shared pool, so if the copy is slain, the original dies, too. Conversely, healing magics applied to either one will replenish the total, although the wounds remain visible on the unhealed version (which might result in the anomalous situation of a character who appears so badly damaged that he should keel over, but is in fact as sturdy as ever). Spells cast by either original or copy vanish from the original’s memory, as if he had cast them all himself. Any combat (or other) experience gleaned by either version is added to the original’s total.

The double remains in existence for 1 hour + 1d6 turns before vanishing; the total damage taken from the hp pool during the potion’s duration is tallied up, and suitable wounds appear on (or vanish from) the drinker’s body at that time.

This potion is much prized by thieves and other criminals, who take full advantage of the alibi the potion provides - while one body commits a crime, the other will certainly be in some public place, allowing dozens of witnesses to swear that he was nowhere near the scene when the crime was committed. Even better, if it is the copy which is captured while engaged in illegal pursuits, it will shortly vanish - as will the lawkeeper’s case against the original...

The original creator of the Potion of Replication is unknown. Those who know the formula for its manufacture tend to keep it a closely-guarded secret, for there are many - on both sides of the law - who would go to practically any lengths to learn that formula.

Silicate Serum

A curious substance, this potion resembles nothing so much as liquefied granite rock, being dark grey in colour with black, veinlike patterns swirling through it. It flows as easily as water, however, and has a dry, earthy taste when consumed.

An individual who drinks the potion will find her body transformed into stone; however, the imbiber will be able to move normally, with no loss of speed or flexibility. Moreover, the drinker’s natural AC improves by two places (from AC9 to AC7, for most humans). The potion’s true power, however, is only revealed when the imbiber enters combat; in each round, one blow that strikes the user (chosen randomly, if the user receives multiple hits in a single round) is absorbed and reversed, adding to her hp total rather than subtracting from it. This effect applies only to physical blows; purely magical attacks (Magic Missile, Fireball, etc.) cause normal damage. The user’s hit points can be raised far above her normal limit in this manner. Should the user be reduced to 0 hp at any time, however, her body collapses into a pile of stone dust; only a Wish can recover the body if this happens, and a Raise dead or Resurrection is still required to return the subject to life.

The Silicate Serum’s effects last for 1d4 turns; at the end of the potion’s duration, the imbiber’s stony "skin" cracks and flakes off, revealing normal flesh beneath. Any excess, "phantom" hit points remaining at this time are lost.

Few examples of Silicate Serum - a name given to the potion by its first recorded user; the original name, if any, is unknown - have been discovered in the centuries since it was first encountered, and attempts to reproduce it have been no more than moderately successful. The largest single cache of Serum (roughly 15 doses) was recovered in 932 AC from a Modrigswerg-occupied cavern deep beneath Soderfjord, leading to speculation that the twisted Deep Dwarves might be the original manufacturers of the substance. Since Modrigswerg enchantment processes invariably invoke dark and evil powers when creating magical items, one can only wonder about the long-term effects of consuming this Serum...

Lathan’s Purgative

This substance is a thin, runny, sickly-yellow fluid, with a smell (and taste) strongly reminiscent of bile. It takes a strong-willed person to consume this potion without first knowing its effects.

Lathan’s Purgative was created by Domenic Lathan, a Darokinian Mage and (non-magical) healer of some note; it was derived, in part, from a sweat-inducing, catch-all antidote for poison used in his craft. When consumed, it causes the imbiber’s body to tremble uncontrollably and to sweat profusely from every pore, as if poisoned, for 1d6 rounds. If the one drinking it is a spellcaster of any type, he will find a single, random spell has vanished from his memory when the ordeal has ended.

The "sweat," if somehow collected, is in fact a potable (if salty) potion, containing the lost spell. When consumed, it grants the drinker the knowledge of how to cast it - whether or not the drinker is a spellcaster, or is of high enough level to cast the spell under normal circumstances - but that knowledge lasts only 2d6 rounds before fading, so a granted spell left uncast during that time is lost forever. Normally, enough "sweat" may be collected for 1-2 doses of potion. If carefully stored in airtight containers, this spell-potion lasts indefinitely. Note that, if the spell normally requires physical components, then so does the potion-version.

The drinker of the Purgative suffers 1d4 +1 hp damage from dehydration, and cannot rememorise the "lost" spell until he has rested. Non-spellcasters merely suffer the damage, since their body fluids have no known magical uses.

Philtre of Troll’s Essence

By far the oldest of the potions described here, the Philtre of Troll’s Essence is greenish-grey in colour, a thick, glutinous substance which is quite difficult to swallow. It has an unpleasantly smoky, metallic taste, rather like burnt blood.

The Philtre was first created by a Wizard - whose original name has been lost to the mists of time - who lived at the time of the lost Empire of Lhomarr. It is believed that he was seeking a method of obtaining corporeal Immortality, without recourse to the dark path of Lichdom. The formula is apparently lost to present-day Mystara; only hints remain of the ingredients and processes required to create it. It is known that the Philtre requires the brains and hearts of six adult trolls to be burnt to ash and mixed with the rest of the brew, but this grisly detail is practically all that has survived of the procedure.

The Philtre is, in effect, a Potion of Regeneration and Immortality. The imbiber permanently gains the power to Regenerate lost hp at the rate of 3 hp/Turn; lost limbs can be reattached, or regrown in a matter of days or weeks, and if slain (reduced to below 0 hp), the imbiber returns to life 1d6 hours later - with no System Shock roll required, or loss of Constitution. In addition, the drinker ceases to age from the moment the Philtre takes effect. Only magical fire (Red Dragon breath, Fireball spell, etc) or acid can permanently destroy the drinker of the Philtre; such damage, if not fatal, is regenerated at 1 hp/day.

To counterbalance this vast power, the Philtre has some severe side-effects. In the six weeks following the Philtre’s consumption, the drinker’s skin slowly turns green, rubbery and warty; his eyes become red, his face distorted, and his hair a lank and slimy mess of green-black strands (loss of 1d4+2 points of Charisma). Once this transformation is complete, the transformed being loses 1 point each of Intelligence and Wisdom per week until both reach a low of 4-7 (1d4+3).

The end result of this mutation is a bestial - and all-but-indestructible - monster, called a Neo-Troll in certain ancient texts. Fortunately for the world, the Philtre-induced reduction in mental acuity usually denies spellcasters access to most, in not all, of their magical or Clerical powers; Fighters and Thieves tend to retain their skills, although at no more than half their maximum level. As a consequence, Neo-Trolls are often less of a threat than even a true Troll would be.

A handful of Neo-Trolls have been recorded in literature and folklore through the millennia; they are usually sad, pathetic figures, both shunned by and shunning civilisation, living in caves or hollow trees in the wilderness. A few have been spotted while serving humanoid armies over the centuries, usually unwillingly, as guides and scouts - a Neo-Troll will know the lay of the land about his home very well, having lived and foraged there for centuries.

The most recent report of a Neo-Troll encounter was in the Malpheggi Swamp in Southern Darokin, in the Summer of 981 AC; the creature, who called himself Rallig, was caught while attempting to rob the camp of an adventuring party. A filthy, repulsive being, little more than an animal, Rallig spoke a degraded, polyglot tongue which - according to the party’s Mage and scholar, Coran Sellardin - incorporated words and phrases in Ancient Traldar, Sindhi, Kerendan, and both Old and Modern Darokinian. The beast behaved in a cowardly fashion most of the time, but fought with surprising skill to prevent the party from taking him out of the Swamp; he wounded two members of the group in his escape. He has not been encountered since, although the Sisterhood of the Fens are apparently aware of his existence and location, and leave him be out of pity.

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