I want to make up recipes for potions, but I don’t just want the typical ‘mana’ ‘dexterity’ ‘regeneration’ ect type of potions that I see in games. I want them to be more specific and unique in what they do but I’m having trouble thinking of anything. There’s not really a limit for kinds of potions in my world yet, good or bad, I’m just looking to brainstorm.
Potions are fun, one way I've come up with to make ideas is for things to have drawbacks that correlate to their benefits. So if you think of one you can think of the other. Like increased strength but increased weakness to physical harm. Poison resistant, but allergic to sunlight. Increased speed, but a period of paralysis. Things like that! Or you can always just go really out there.
'I have a potion that can turn a person into a tree for ten minutes' or 'You'll be invisible only until you sneeze' or 'flowers grow around you at random for five minutes'. Stuff like that! And recipes generally just follow similar rules. Items that would be similar to the effect or thematic to the potion(like flower petals for flower potions), and if you do it based off schools of magic, conjuration potions would all have bases with the same ingredients, like 'dust of a familiar' and restoration would have a base of a healing salve or tincture. Love potions would.. Be a thing? Idk really know about them, they're scary moral territory.
There a million ideas to play around with! Brainstorm to your hearts content.
Yeah, potions are pretty fun! Thanks for the suggestion, the drawbacks to the benefits idea is really interesting.
When it comes to unique potion ideas, I like to think about what emotions or experiences a real person might want to enhance or change. For example, you could have a potion for courage, a potion for peace of mind, or a potion for lucid dreaming. You could also think about incorporating elements from nature, like a potion made from specific herbs or flowers that evoke a specific feeling. Maybe you could create a potion that allows the user to temporarily shift into a specific creature form, or a potion that enhances one's ability to communicate with spirits.
Think about what people want (big wants or small wants) – and that's an idea for a potion!
A few more off the top of my head if you want to get more fantastical:
Thanks for the ideas! These all sound so cool!