The campaign I am writing is based in Maztica and I am pulling in northeastern native american legends for the theme. With that in mind how does condensed powdered potions formed into beads which can be consumed as a Reaction sound as a feature of the campaign setting? In 2024 they made quaffing potions a Bonus Action so the wampum bead version is superior but only slightly so in that a player could quaff a potion on their turn as a Bonus Action and then use a Reaction to eat a bead also.
The native wild elves craft and trade them among other enchanted items found no where else on Toril and the native wild elves took beads from the colonist who founded the city of New Fork when they first landed assuming they were potions. However they weren't so they'll make an angry reappearance at being swindled out of land in exchange for common prayer beads instead of sacred wampum beads.
I also have a bunch of legendary headdresses but that would be a different discussion.
Edit: I want to take it a step further and pair Wampum with the Encode Thought spell. Tribal elders would wear Wampum that are strung together with the memories of prior elders. Each bead could be a potion they developed while they were alive and then when they passed their Wampum on to the next generation they added their own beads which were made from a refined process of the prior generation's and the thread holding it to the prior Wampum is their own memory of how they refined these potions or developed new ones. So a real Wampum would be like the signature potions of a tribe refined by generations of alchemists.
Certainly Maztican Wampum consumeable as a Reaction would make potions unique in your campaign setting. A Reaction is normally an instant response to a trigger of some kind but if you want such potions to be usable on or off turn and free up your Bonus Action than relying on this action makes sense.
Certainly Maztican Wampum consumeable as a Reaction would make potions unique in your campaign setting. A Reaction is normally an instant response to a trigger of some kind but if you want such potions to be usable on or off turn and free up your Bonus Action than relying on this action makes sense.
Yeah, as plaguescarred said, a reaction lets them consume it off turn, which makes them very powerful. Someone is about to attack you, use your reaction to eat the one that gives invisibility. About to fall, eat the bead of fly. And there’s some classes, ranger in particular and paladin as well, which use their bonus actions a lot. This would be a pretty big boost for them. Just in general, action economy is something you really don’t want to mess with.
Side note, wampum was not edible. It was a kind of bead crafting used for ceremonial purposes and sometimes as money. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampum
Yeah, as plaguescarred said, a reaction lets them consume it off turn, which makes them very powerful. Someone is about to attack you, use your reaction to eat the one that gives invisibility. About to fall, eat the bead of fly. And there’s some classes, ranger in particular and paladin as well, which use their bonus actions a lot. This would be a pretty big boost for them. Just in general, action economy is something you really don’t want to mess with.
Side note, wampum was not edible. It was a kind of bead crafting used for ceremonial purposes and sometimes as money. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampum
Yeah, I realize they weren't edible. They were typically made of shell from what I gathered at the museum. I just figured it was a cool way to carry the item over into D&D and make them something of value.
I edited my OP because I want to take it a step further and pair Wampum with the Encode Thought spell. Tribal elders would wear Wampum that are strung together with the memories of prior elders. Each bead could be a potion they developed while they were alive and then when they passed their Wampum on to the next generation, they added their own beads which were made from a refined process of the prior generations and the thread holding it to the prior Wampum is their own memory of how they refined these potions or developed new ones. So, a real Wampum would be like the signature potions of a tribe refined by generations of alchemists. From my understanding of the Lore Maztica is most well known for allegedly massive amounts of gold in the south and the best alchemical components in the north. Having the Tribes of Wild Elves be expert alchemist would be nifty and I could maybe re-balance by restricting the potions in some way? Like due to them being a concentrated form they are fast acting but draining later on sort of how Rage works?
Not to bump, but I spoke to a fellow DM friend of mine and he admitted it could be powerful but since they are enchanted items they are loot or treasure items. Which ones players get are something that are up to the DMs discretion as they wouldn't be necessarily craftable. The process for creating them is secret to the Tribes and sacred. It wouldn't be something they would share with outsiders.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
The campaign I am writing is based in Maztica and I am pulling in northeastern native american legends for the theme. With that in mind how does condensed powdered potions formed into beads which can be consumed as a Reaction sound as a feature of the campaign setting? In 2024 they made quaffing potions a Bonus Action so the wampum bead version is superior but only slightly so in that a player could quaff a potion on their turn as a Bonus Action and then use a Reaction to eat a bead also.
The native wild elves craft and trade them among other enchanted items found no where else on Toril and the native wild elves took beads from the colonist who founded the city of New Fork when they first landed assuming they were potions. However they weren't so they'll make an angry reappearance at being swindled out of land in exchange for common prayer beads instead of sacred wampum beads.
I also have a bunch of legendary headdresses but that would be a different discussion.
Edit: I want to take it a step further and pair Wampum with the Encode Thought spell. Tribal elders would wear Wampum that are strung together with the memories of prior elders. Each bead could be a potion they developed while they were alive and then when they passed their Wampum on to the next generation they added their own beads which were made from a refined process of the prior generation's and the thread holding it to the prior Wampum is their own memory of how they refined these potions or developed new ones. So a real Wampum would be like the signature potions of a tribe refined by generations of alchemists.
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.
Certainly Maztican Wampum consumeable as a Reaction would make potions unique in your campaign setting. A Reaction is normally an instant response to a trigger of some kind but if you want such potions to be usable on or off turn and free up your Bonus Action than relying on this action makes sense.
Thanks!
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.
Yeah, as plaguescarred said, a reaction lets them consume it off turn, which makes them very powerful. Someone is about to attack you, use your reaction to eat the one that gives invisibility. About to fall, eat the bead of fly. And there’s some classes, ranger in particular and paladin as well, which use their bonus actions a lot. This would be a pretty big boost for them. Just in general, action economy is something you really don’t want to mess with.
Side note, wampum was not edible. It was a kind of bead crafting used for ceremonial purposes and sometimes as money.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wampum
Yeah, I realize they weren't edible. They were typically made of shell from what I gathered at the museum. I just figured it was a cool way to carry the item over into D&D and make them something of value.
I edited my OP because I want to take it a step further and pair Wampum with the Encode Thought spell. Tribal elders would wear Wampum that are strung together with the memories of prior elders. Each bead could be a potion they developed while they were alive and then when they passed their Wampum on to the next generation, they added their own beads which were made from a refined process of the prior generations and the thread holding it to the prior Wampum is their own memory of how they refined these potions or developed new ones. So, a real Wampum would be like the signature potions of a tribe refined by generations of alchemists. From my understanding of the Lore Maztica is most well known for allegedly massive amounts of gold in the south and the best alchemical components in the north. Having the Tribes of Wild Elves be expert alchemist would be nifty and I could maybe re-balance by restricting the potions in some way? Like due to them being a concentrated form they are fast acting but draining later on sort of how Rage works?
Honestly you input is sound and thank you!
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.
Not to bump, but I spoke to a fellow DM friend of mine and he admitted it could be powerful but since they are enchanted items they are loot or treasure items. Which ones players get are something that are up to the DMs discretion as they wouldn't be necessarily craftable. The process for creating them is secret to the Tribes and sacred. It wouldn't be something they would share with outsiders.
"Life is Cast by Random Dice"
Burn my candle twice.
I have done my life justice
Against random dice.