Troll Lord Games

Boffo the Fighter has a problem. In the last dungeon his party explored he kept falling into pits. Besides the wounds to his body, and pride, Boffo lost a Potion of Cure Serious Wounds, and a Potion of Haste when the glass vials that they were stored in broke. To keep this from happening again Boffo decides to transfer his two remaining potions into metal vials.

What happens to the potions?

In my game they would be fine, since the containers have nothing to do with their power. Unless they are Runemark potions.

For me, it sometimes depends on the potion. For example, a potion that mimics a fiery breath might require that it is stored in a fire opal container, or something of that kin. A healing potion might need to be in some form of sterilized rubber. The container can be a part of the potion making process and it certainly can make things more "detailed" if you do. But, then it also becomes somewhat more annoying... metal corrodes with liquids. Hopefully they are using copper or something that won't rust. At the minimum, if I allowed generic metal, it would probably have to be silver or a metal of value. Not just some canteen picked off the blacksmith's shelf.

Barring something unusual with the potions I would allow the transfer without issue.

I know it's never been written anywhere (as far as I know) but I'm going to come from another angle.


Why wouldn't they always come in a metal container? To me, I like to think of a glass container would be necessary to avoid issues that might arise from potions being contained in a metal receptacle (rusting, corrosion, or any other reaction resulting in the contact). Kind of like why most liquids in a chemistry lab are contained in glass containers. I know, those are mostly acids or bases and the like, but we're dealing with magical compounds so maybe glass is still the best container for such liquids. And, besides, I like the danger of them being destroyed.

In the game I run, all "normal" potions are in glass vials, corked. Special potions are in special containers (almost always natural materials), usually a hollowed bone, antler or horn (a hollowed out unicorn horn would signify a very powerful potion. A potion stored in a sealed venom sack of a spider might be a particularly powerful poison.) So while I don't use metal containers, I do make clear all potions are corked/tightly sealed. Once uncorked, potions begin to lose their efficacy. So I would say that you could transfer to a metal (or whatever) container, but that they wouldn't last as long, and might become contaminated, with slightly altered effects. I would make the effects something fun and entertaining more often than punitive.