Identifying Potions
Proficiency with Alchemist's Supplies allows you to instantly identify any Potion of Common or Uncommon rarity. Any potions of greater rarity can have their effects identified by spending 1 hour using your supplies to test their properties, and making an Alchemist's Tools check against a Potion DC of 13 for Rare potions, 16 for Very Rare potions, and 20 for Legendary potions. If you fail to identify the potion the first time, you may make a second attempt, costing 10% of the potions market value in alchemical components, which guarantees identifying the potion.
Potion Antidotes
You can craft a solution that can counteract and neutralize the effects of a potion that you have identified. To do so, follow the rules for Potion Crafting below, except the Component Cost and Brew Time of this counter-potion are half as much. Consuming the antidote potion makes you immune to the effects of its targeted potion for 24 hours, and halts its effects if you are currently subjected to them. Mixing the antidote potion with its targeted potion renders the whole mixture inert.
Potion Crafting
Crafting a potion has a number of requirements. The first is an available set of Alchemists Supplies, and proficiency with those supplies. Second is knowledge of the potions recipe (proficiency in Alchemists Supplies inherently grants knowledge of all Common and Uncommon potion recipes). Third is meeting the potions component cost, which represents the various alchemical supplies used to create the potion. Finally is the potions brewing time. When all of these requirements are met, the potion is successfully brewed.
The component cost of a potion can be greatly reduced by foraging, finding, or looting rare alchemical components in the world. Brewing a potion implies the availability of alchemical components on hand, either on your person or by purchase at a nearby market. Most alchemical components are commonly available through any village market, and require no special considerations. At higher potion rarities (rare, very rare, or legendary) potions require one or more special components, which may not be readily available. These special components will need to be specifically acquired, which may be as simple as travelling to a larger city where specialized vendors sell them, or as complicated as a quest to slay a specific monstrosity.
There are several ways to learn recipes for higher rarity potions. One could learn a recipe by studying under another alchemist, finding a recording of the recipe, or simply purchasing the recipe from an alchemical vendor. As a general guideline, the market price of a recipe can be estimated as half of the crafting component cost of that potion (12.5 gp for Common, 37.5 gp for Uncommon, 250 gp for Rare, 3750 gp for Very Rare, and 7500 gp for Legendary). Many alchemists are protective of their recipes, especially for unique recipes and higher potion rarities, which may drastically affect the usual recipe price. When starting a campaign at higher levels, the DM may allow a player to select a number of potion recipes they can start with, with the suggested number being equal to their proficiency modifier.
Someone who isn't proficient in Alchemists Supplies may still attempt to make a potion. To do so, Alchemists Supplies must be available, and a recipe for the potion must be available as well. They must then meet the Component Cost and Time to Brew cost for the potion. Upon meeting all these criteria, the brewer makes a final Intelligence ability check, contested by a Potion DC. The Potion DC is 12 for a Common potion, with an additional +2 bonus to the DC for each rarity above Common. On a failure, the brewing fails, and all components and time spent on the potion are lost.
| Potion Rarity |
Component Cost (GP) |
Brew Time |
| Common |
25 gp |
Short Rest / 1 hour |
| Uncommon |
75 gp |
Long Rest / 8 hours |
| Rare |
500 gp (requires special components) |
1 day / 2 Long Rests / 16 hours |
| Very Rare |
7500 gp (requires special components) |
3 days / 6 Long Rests / 48 hours |
| Legendary |
15000 gp (requires special components) |
6 days / 12 Long Rests / 96 hours |
