Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Guest703856308 Sep 04, 2014 10:46:18	The Rules:   P190: Interacting with Objects Around You: - withdraw a potion from your backpack - drink all the ale in a flagon "You can also interact wtih one objetc or feature of the environment for free..."   P153: Potion of Healing: - Drinking or administering a potion takes an action.   So in order to drink a potion, it appears to use your free interaction and your turn's action, plus whatever action is required to free a hand if not already free.   But if someone can drink all the ale in a flagon with the free interaction, why not drink a little potion for free instead?  I would think most DMs would allow the free interaction to include grabbing the ale off the table and also downing it, otherwise it becomes painfully micromanaged, so similarly someone would be able to pull out and consume a potion.   In the spirit of simplification overall in 5e, why not just let someone withdraw and drink a potion as a free interaction?  In contrast, if someone is in the midst of combat, and has to give up their attack action in order to drink a potion, that means they are not attacking their foes yet their foes are still attacking them, so often the case will be that someone will heal some points only to just lose them again and it was pointless.
#2 Kentus Sep 04, 2014 11:03:15	I think the potions are just more safely secured than a normal flacon. Since they're meant to be ready at any time (so there on your belt or the outside of your backpack) and it would suck to have the viol broken during the battle. Not only because of the lost of magic power, but since it might getting dangerous (like having a potion of flying at your belt, viol breaks and the liquid lands on your trousers... your leg might fly up and knock you down that way or even let you hang overhead for 5 minutes). Multiple Potions could provide an even worse effect, since mixing potions can be a pretty dumb idea.   And since it should survive all that jumping, climbing, stunting, swinging, slashing, killing, getting hit, etc. you should better close it up tight, too. Most likely with wax. And to open it is just something, which will consume time and attention.
#3 Noctaem Sep 04, 2014 11:08:22	Well you're free to houserule however you like.  However it probably comes down to game balance.  There's many different types of potions and they do a variety of different things.
#4 Hailrobonia Sep 04, 2014 11:29:04	Maybe potions taste really gross so you gotta make an effort to chug one down. I can't wait to see the Potion of Healing Challenge scrying-crystal echoes on  ThouTube.
#5 reddaemon Sep 04, 2014 11:34:25	Even if you houserule that drinking a potion can be done with your free object interaction, you would still have to use your action since you only get one free object interaction per turn.  Unless you were already holding the potion, you would have to use two object interactions, one to retrieve the potion, and one to drink it.
#6 Noctaem Sep 04, 2014 11:39:25	reddaemon wrote:
#7 Illithidbix Sep 04, 2014 11:46:38	A round is only six seconds...
#8 Noctaem Sep 04, 2014 11:51:21	Illithidbix wrote:
#9 Guest703856308 Sep 04, 2014 11:53:01	Noctaem wrote:
#10 CEBedford Sep 04, 2014 11:56:05	I can drink a pint of beer much faster than 6 seconds, but that implies that the beer is already poured and ready to be slammed. It's kinda tricky, but if the player takes the chance to ready it beforehand, I would allow them to drink it faster. Course my NPCs might just try to smash the bottle out of their hand if they are visibly holding a potion at the ready...
#11 Guest703856308 Sep 04, 2014 11:56:22	Illithidbix wrote:
#12 Kentus Sep 04, 2014 12:11:57	CEBedford wrote:
#13 Timborama Sep 04, 2014 12:12:22	Potions likely have corks or stoppers. Or you can go the "cool" route and you have to break of the top with your teeth.   If the potion was poured in a stein? Sure, free action. Whatever.   Wanna use a potion the way it was intended as per rules? It's an action. Your fluff can easily fit the bill if players whine and lack imaginations!
(Reply to #11) Hailrobonia	Guest703856308 wrote:
#15 Illithidbix Sep 04, 2014 13:13:51	Guest703856308 wrote:
#16 Guest703856308 Sep 04, 2014 13:35:50	Haha, just doublechecked, a flagon is a gallon, that's a lot of beer to drink in a free action ;)
#17 Guest703856308 Sep 04, 2014 13:38:52	Bet I can retrieve a potion and drink it faster ;)
#18 xtianstone Sep 04, 2014 13:46:57	I considered this same thing, and figured that the magics in the potion must be pretty distracting to lose the action.   I have a houserule.  Things marked "Q" for quick are meant to be easily accessible and can be taken out as part of a move.  They can also be stolen by a thief, or lost in a fall. Things not marked and not obviously stowed (in a sheath, quiver), are deep and protected in your pack... they take d4 rounds to get out (remove pack, retrieve item, etc.).   I would personally allow someone to drink a potion as a reaction or bonus action if they had it ready.
#19 Moribund Sep 04, 2014 14:40:43	Maybe potions just need to be really well shaken immediately before they can be used.  Maybe they have to be invoked through a sustained effort of will.  Maybe they are just really viscous.  Maybe potions are a binary compound that needs to be combined (and potion vials are designed to make this easy, but not too easy).   Whatever the in-game justification, potions take an action to drink.  It's a balance issue that prevents potions from being abused, otherwise rich characters would have Gnomish Potion Helmets that let them suck potions through a straw and PCs could become invisible as a free action.
#20 Slyck314 Sep 04, 2014 15:05:32	maybe they're just incorporating all the other little interactions of withdrawing a potion from pack and drinking it all the while dealing with all the other items already in your hands into one action where drinking the flagon was just sitting there ready to be drunk.  Its possible I would rule that if a character already had the potion in hand and ready to go I wouldn't require an action to use it.
(Reply to #16) reddaemon	Guest703856308 wrote:
#22 Illithidbix Sep 04, 2014 15:26:00	Much like the MIGHTY DOVAHKIIN! of Skyrim who can consume SEVENTEEN WHOLE CHEESE WHEELS and EIGHT CABBAGES in the midst of combat.
#23 7he_professor Sep 04, 2014 16:30:43	I would wager that it is for game balance that a potion takes your action to consume.  Allowing for any class to gain multiple magical enhancements in a round through free action potion use would be ridiculously powerful.  Even if the DM limited it to one potion for free, a spellcasting character could effectively drop two buff spells on herself in one round (three if she used a bonus action spell as well).  That's going from zero to hero likely a mite too fast for the devs.   Either way...just my 2 cp
#24 Psikerlord Sep 04, 2014 16:46:31	PLay a rogue and use your 3rd level fast hands to drink a potion as a bonus action
(Reply to #24) 2Chlorobutanal	Psikerlord wrote:
#26 hallows1999 Sep 04, 2014 23:56:03	I know that it says "potion" when referring to taking something out of your backpack, but I always looked at that as a potion being  just an example for any object. You can remove "something" from your pack as a free action.  I would rule taking a whole action to drink a potion included retreiving it. I wouls still let them have a free interaction.
#27 Psikerlord Sep 05, 2014 0:15:00	2Chlorobutanal wrote:
#28 Guest703856308 Sep 05, 2014 5:46:16	Given the various responses, I think it should be clear what RAW are as to potions, which I will summarize below.  If there are corrections, please post.  There are plenty of house rules options, but one should be clear as to RAW before making them.  As noted in the OP, I question the rules given the ale drinking speed, but as another noted, the potion drinking speed was likely to minimize abuse.   RAW on potions:   P190: You can withdraw a potion from your backpack as your one free interaction on your turn.   P153: Drinking or administering a potion takes an action.   So it takes your free interaction and your action to retrieve and drink a potion.  If you have both hands occupied, you have to free a hand (e.g., drop a weapon) in order to do this.   P97: Fast Hands for a Thief Archetype of Rogue allows one to use their Cunning Action bonus action to Use an Object, i.e., your one free interaction on your turn.   Drinking a potion takes an action, it is not something one can do RAW under Use an Object free interaction.  Therefore, RAW, a Rogue cannot use Fast Hands to drink a potion as a bonus action.
#29 arnwolf666 Sep 05, 2014 14:08:36	I make drinking a potion trigger Attacks of Oppurtunity.  If you are hit then you drop the potion and it is destroyed.
#30 Guest703856308 Sep 05, 2014 15:50:59	arnwolf666 wrote:
#31 Psikerlord Sep 05, 2014 16:45:35	Guest703856308 wrote:
#32 2Chlorobutanal Sep 05, 2014 17:11:22	Well, the passage under "Use an Object" states something along the lines of "use this action when ... an item says it requires an action to use," so it makes sense that using an object as an action could be "Use an Object." However, some developers at least seem to have backpedalled on this and said that magic items should not fall under "Use an Object."  In such a case, if a magic item (or other item that doesn't fit in with "Use an Object") requires an action, I'd say it's a special unique action such as "Drink a Potion of Healing Action" or "Use a Wand of Magic Missiles Action."  Sort of how some creatures or classes have special abilities that are used "as an action" but don't directly fall under any existing action (such as a level 20 paladin activating his or her capstone class feature "as an action.")
#33 Psikerlord Sep 05, 2014 22:48:14	2Chlorobutanal wrote:
#34 Guest703856308 Sep 06, 2014 6:45:25	Psikerlord wrote:
#35 Psikerlord Sep 06, 2014 19:52:33	Guest703856308 wrote:
#36 Jay_Ibero_911 Sep 06, 2014 21:14:53	Acid/Alchemist's Fire specifically require their own action to use, not the attack action. So you can't attack with multiple acid vials/etc if you have extra attacks, but because they are items that require an action to use, they are used with the "use and object" action, and therefore explicitly can be used as a bonus action with Fast Hands.