The Potions System

This page serves as an in-depth overview and guide to how the Model Hogwarts potion system works.

Be sure to familiarise yourself with Spell Casting & Learning and The Stat System as these resources will help you understand some of the topics that come up in this guide.

**Glossary:**

* **DC**: Dice Check, aka what you need to roll to "succeed".
* **Stats**: The Vitality, Finesse, Wisdom, and Social stats you may train through the Wailing Widow bot.
* **Gating**: Gating (or Gated) is a term used to describe how you might restrict access to something. In the case of potions, Gating is putting restrictions on the most powerful potions to prevent them from being abused.

## Potions Overview

Potions are split up by recipe books, which cover potion DC's and years as follows:

 3
 4
 6
 GradA

They can be found on the spell sheet here. Brewable potions can be found on the spell sheet here.

## Learning Potions

Potions can be learned just like spells, except that learn points can only be put in the recipe books instead of the potions by themselves. You can only learn recipe books of your year and below. For example, a Third Year would have access to Magical Drafts and Potions and Book of Potions, but not the other three.

You can purchase access to Book of Potions or Advanced Potion Making before you reach the required year level by submitting a token purchase application to purchase the book early, at the cost of an Apprentice token. More detail on this is given here.

At any time, you may view which recipe books you have learned by using the `!recipebook` command.

## Ingredients

In order to brew certain potions, ingredients are required, which are separated by three types: Common, Unusual, and Rare.

To gather Common and Unusual ingredients, simply use the `p!ingredient` command in #ingredients\_cabinet at Hogwarts or #slug-and-jiggers in Diagon Alley. You may gather 3 ingredients at a time before you must wait for the bot to refresh, which happens twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays at 9 am GMT.

`p!ingredient` will normally produce Common ingredients, occasionally Unusual and never Rare. However, Common ingredients can be covered to Unusual, and Unusual ingredients to Rare, by using the `p!convert` command. Rare ingredients can also be converted back to Common and Unusual in this way. The conversion rates are:

 p!convert Unusual
 p!convert Rare

To check how many ingredients you have, use the `p!inventory` command. This will also show you what potions you have brewed and have in stock.

Note that at any one time you may have a maximum of **15** Common, **10** Unusual and **5** Rare ingredients.

## Brewing Potions

The command to brew a potion is `!brew <potion name>`. You can use destiny, just as with casting spells, except on potions that have the No Destiny attribute: use `!info <potion name>` to check. The `!brew` command only works in the #brewing-room channel, in the Bots & Roles category. You must write an RP for each brew, although this can be short. Note that there is a cap to how many doses of each potion you can hold at any one time, which is also viewable using the `!info` command.

When you attempt to brew a potion, the required ingredient removed will be removed from your inventory, and if you succeed, the potion will be added to your inventory. If you fail with a sufficiently low roll, your potion may explode, and you must RP this.

## Trading Ingredients and Potions

You can trade ingredients and potions you have in your inventory to another user, subject to certain restrictions. Breaking any of these rules may lead to removal of the offending potions/ingredients from your inventory, as well as other OOC consequences.

You can trade Common or Unusual ingredients using `p!giveingredient <other\_user\_id> <ingredient>`. The receiving user will have to provide you with their Discord user ID which they can obtain using `p!userinfo`. You may only trade up to **three (3)** ingredients per RP scene. Rare ingredients may not be traded.

You may trade any potion using `p!givepotion <other\_user\_id> <potion\_name>`. Again, the receiving user can provide their user ID using `p!userinfo`. Potion trading is subject to limitations depending on which ingredient the potion was made with. Potions made with an Unusual ingredient may only be traded to Third Years and up, while potions made with a Rare ingredient may only be traded to Fifth Years and up.

Whether trading ingredients or potions, you must RP the trade in a manner that makes realistic sense, such as mailing them in a letter, or meeting up in person to pass them on. Trading ingredients or potions with other characters roleplayed by you (and work-arounds like trading them to a different person who then trades it to your other character) is **strictly forbidden**.

## Using Potions

When you use a potion, you must **first** use the command `p!use <potion name>`, which will automatically remove one dose of the specified potion from your inventory. You may then RP its use.

You may only use a potion if you have it in your inventory, and use `p!use` to consume it. **Using potions outside of class without p!use can lead to OOC consequences.** The only exceptions are:

* Potions that must be brewed and taken on an ongoing basis IC in order to achieve the intended effect, including Wolfsbane Potion and Gender Affirmation Potion. These do not require `!brew` or `p!use`, but you must be **proficient** in the potion in order to roleplay their use.
* If a Staff member, or a plotrunner/adventure runner in relevant scenes, gives you explicit permission to use a potion without the command.

You may also use `p!use` to feed a potion to another character. This must be RP'd, and requires OOC permission of the roleplayer whose character you're dosing. This also counts as trading a potion and is subject to the same limitations (the other character must be Third Year or higher for an Unusual potion, Fifth year or higher for Rare). Exceptions to this are:

* If the potion is being used to counter some magical effect, e.g. Wiggenweld Potion being used to revive a First Year.
* If the potion has dosages and both the sharer and receiver have major roles in the scene, e.g. a Sixth Year sharing a dose of Polyjuice Potion with a First Year.

Your character theoretically can have a lot of potions, but in an adventure, the adventure runner may set restrictions on how many potions you can bring with you.

## Potions FAQ

### How are potions physically consumed?

All potions need to be ingested. The only exceptions are Hair Dye Potion, potions with Balm, Salve or Gas in the title, and any with descriptions that detail it will work differently.

### Can potions expire?

There is no mechanical system for potion expiration. Any dates you may find citing an expiration are IC fluff only.

### How much potion does a single brew produce?

Unless stated otherwise in the `!info` description, each brew will produce enough for one vial or dose of potion.

### How long do potion effects last?

As a general guideline, unless stated otherwise, the base duration of each potion is 30 minutes, with 5 minutes added for every learn modifier the brewer has in the associated recipe book. For example, Colo Tongue Potion is in Magical Drafts and Potions, so if the brewer has 4 learn points in Magical Drafts and Potions, the duration will be 50 minutes.

Exceptions to this guideline include potions where the duration is stated in the description, like Pompion Potion and some stat-based potions, and potions where the effects are supposed to be longer-lasting or not wear off, such as Hair Dye Potion, Magicleanse, or deadly poisons.

Note that potion effect lengths are not *hard* guidelines, and potion duration can generally last for as long as the scene requires. However, the rules for stat potions **must** be followed.

### Do recipe books share linked points, like spells do?

Yes. Some later recipe books share linked points from earlier ones, as described in the Recipe Books tab of the spellsheet.

## Advanced Potions Mechanics

If you are ready to learn about advanced mechanics like Gating and Stat Potions, please continue to the next section:

**Advanced Potions Mechanics**