In the Player's Handbook, the price listed for the potion of healing is 50 gp, but there is no price listed for the potion of greater healing or supreme healing. I'm wondering if there is some kind of price guide I'm missing, or if should I just homebrew something.
In the most recent Waterdeep adventure, there is an NPC herbalist that sells potions of greater healing for 250gp each, so the above math seems to work out.
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I guess the only reason to hike up the price exponentially is for combat efficiency? 5x, then 10x the cost for twice the healing seemed steep at first.
Also, it's designed to keep people from stocking up on tons of super healing potions. For basic healing potions, you get to weigh a handful of healed hit points against the action you have to spend to consume it. With bigger healing, the hit point benefit is way better than the action it takes to consume the potion so there's a heftier price to offset that.
Okay, so I've looked into this before as the party I've been adventuring with has no healer and healing potions eat up our adventuring gold. But this time I looked into it a good bit more and it'll re-iterate things others have said and I'll point to where in the books its written.
As you've mentioned the Player's Handbook lists the first tier of healing potion at 50 gp It was briefly mentioned in XGtE that anyone with a skill with the Herbalism Kit can craft a type of Potion of Healing (takes time and creation cost though.)
POTION of HEALING Prices and Info:
(DMG) Potion of Healing - Magic Item Table A (Common) - 2d4 + 2 hp --- Common Magic Items cost 50-100 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a COMMON CONSUMABLE at 50 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a COMMON (1d6 + 1) x 10 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Healing in XGtE is 25 gp
(DMG) Potion of Greater Healing - Magic Item Table B (Uncommon) - 4d4 + 4 hp --- Uncommon Magic Items cost 101-500 gp - DMG lists creation cost for an UNCOMMON CONSUMABLE at 250 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING an UNCOMMON 1d6 x 100 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Greater Healing in XGtE is 100 gp
(DMG) Potion of Superior Healing - Magic Item Table C (Rare) - 8d4 + 8 hp --- Rare Magic Items cost 501-5,000 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a RARE CONSUMABLE at 2,500 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a RARE 2d10 x 1,000 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Superior Healing in XGtE is 1,000 gp
(DMG) Potion of Supreme Healing - Magic Item Table D (Very Rare) - 10d4 + 20 hp --- Very Rare Magic Items cost 5,001-50,000 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a VERY RARE CONSUMABLE at 25,000 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a VERY RARE (1d4 + 1) x 10,000 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Supreme Healing in XGtE is 10,000 gp
DMG - Ch 6: Between Adventures - Downtime Activities - Crafting Magic Items - "half that cost for a consumable, such as a potion or scroll"
XGtE - Ch 2: Downtime Revisited - Example of Downtime Activities - Magic Item Price table
XGtE - Ch 2: Downtime Revisited - Example of Downtime Activities - Crafting an Item "Brewing Potions of Healing *** Potion of Healing Creation table"
* 'kay, so that was wordy and extensive. But hopefully the two different creation costs from two different books + the random generation of purchasing price will give you grounds as to how much you want to charge for potions (adjusted for how common magic is for your campaign and how deep the characters' pockets are.)
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Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
I didn't realizethe the DMG listed the create coat and sell cost of magic items to be the same (they actually sell for half the create cost 60% of the time)...
In the Player's Handbook, the price listed for the potion of healing is 50 gp, but there is no price listed for the potion of greater healing or supreme healing. I'm wondering if there is some kind of price guide I'm missing, or if should I just homebrew something.
XGtE lists some set prices that I use for potions of healing, as well as some other ones. This is the table on page 174:
Healing: 50 gp Greater healing: 100 gp Superior healing: 500 gp Supreme healing: 5,000 gp
XGtE also lists the costs to make those potions as follows (on page 130):
Healing: 25 gp Greater healing: 100 gp Superior healing: 1000 gp Supreme healing: 10,000 gp
And that INCLUDES downtime... It's like no one checked the math before publishing XGtE... Why would a character spend 4 weeks and 10k gp making a potion that they could only hope to sell for 5k gp? Or, better yet, why would they spend 10k gp and wait 4 weeks to make one when they can buy one from a merchant for 5k gp...
Why is the regular healing potion the only one that XGtE says makes a profit, with Greater breaking even and Superior+ losing LOADS of money... Makes no sense from an economic standpoint, or as a way for adventurers to possibly make some extra cash...
Seems to me that if adventurers are spending downtime and gold making stuff, they should at least be able to make profit on it... And if they can make profit on it, then other merchants should sell it for that same profitable price... The prices that DxJxC mentioned seem right (or, the costs to make the potions needs to be lowered drastically), and the math in XGtE seems very flawed...
XGtE lists some set prices that I use for potions of healing, as well as some other ones. This is the table on page 174:
Healing: 50 gp Greater healing: 100 gp Superior healing: 500 gp Supreme healing: 5,000 gp
XGtE also lists the costs to make those potions as follows (on page 130):
Healing: 25 gp Greater healing: 100 gp Superior healing: 1000 gp Supreme healing: 10,000 gp
And that INCLUDES downtime... It's like no one checked the math before publishing XGtE... Why would a character spend 4 weeks and 10k gp making a potion that they could only hope to sell for 5k gp? Or, better yet, why would they spend 10k gp and wait 4 weeks to make one when they can buy one from a merchant for 5k gp...
Why is the regular healing potion the only one that XGtE says makes a profit, with Greater breaking even and Superior+ losing LOADS of money... Makes no sense from an economic standpoint, or as a way for adventurers to possibly make some extra cash...
Seems to me that if adventurers are spending downtime and gold making stuff, they should at least be able to make profit on it... And if they can make profit on it, then other merchants should sell it for that same profitable price... The prices that DxJxC mentioned seem right (or, the costs to make the potions needs to be lowered drastically), and the math in XGtE seems very flawed...
Actually, I think the Supreme Healing potion cost v price difference makes some sense in a realistic setting. You wouldn't make the potions for business purposes but for bragging rights. Do know how many people would come to your shop if you have "the best" of anything. To give an idea, people compete over the tallest building and longest bridge titles so they can have more tourist traps.
The potion prices listed on p.174 of XGTE are for a game variant called Adventurer's League. Not sure those be the potion prices in general, me matey!
The price guide in Chapter 2 has rolled magic prices and creation costs based on rarrrity. Potions cost half as much to create as other magic items.
Compare this average price (1/2 price for being consumable) based on . . . availability, on p. 175 with the potion creation costs on p. 130:
22.5 vs 25
175 vs 100
2750 vs 1000
30,000 vs 10,000
Shiver me timbers! So it is a way to make money. Tons of money if you manage to sell the 10,000 gold version at half their normal price, a player can make double that money in 4 weeks, if the DM allows them to make 2 potions at one time, maybe 3 if you are an elf or otherwise require no sleep.
Getting 25000gp will take a veeeerrrrrryyyy long time.
depends on the campaign, lvl 10+ games can net the party multiple 500gp+ mundane items. Not including the price of selling magic items you dont need anymore.
Getting 25000gp will take a veeeerrrrrryyyy long time.
depends on the campaign, lvl 10+ games can net the party multiple 500gp+ mundane items. Not including the price of selling magic items you dont need anymore.
So multiple adventures to buy a potion....
I'm going to go with they should redo their math, and hopefully they did in DMG 2024.
I mean yea, you'd need multiple dungeon dives to get a SUPREME healing potion lol. Its a Very Rare magic item. You shouldn't be able to afford a Very Rare item from 1 dungeon dive (unless its a Mega Dungeon or an Adult+ Dragons hoard)
In the Player's Handbook, the price listed for the potion of healing is 50 gp, but there is no price listed for the potion of greater healing or supreme healing. I'm wondering if there is some kind of price guide I'm missing, or if should I just homebrew something.
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I use twice the creation cost from XGtE, but half the purchase cost per rarity in DMG works too.
Healing 50gp
Greater 200-250g
Superior 2000-2500gp
Supreme 20000-25000gp
Thanks, that is very helpful
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In the most recent Waterdeep adventure, there is an NPC herbalist that sells potions of greater healing for 250gp each, so the above math seems to work out.
I guess the only reason to hike up the price exponentially is for combat efficiency? 5x, then 10x the cost for twice the healing seemed steep at first.
Also, it's designed to keep people from stocking up on tons of super healing potions. For basic healing potions, you get to weigh a handful of healed hit points against the action you have to spend to consume it. With bigger healing, the hit point benefit is way better than the action it takes to consume the potion so there's a heftier price to offset that.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
Okay, so I've looked into this before as the party I've been adventuring with has no healer and healing potions eat up our adventuring gold. But this time I looked into it a good bit more and it'll re-iterate things others have said and I'll point to where in the books its written.
DMG = Dungeon Master's Guide, XGtE = Xanathar's Guide to Everything
As you've mentioned the Player's Handbook lists the first tier of healing potion at 50 gp
It was briefly mentioned in XGtE that anyone with a skill with the Herbalism Kit can craft a type of Potion of Healing (takes time and creation cost though.)
POTION of HEALING Prices and Info:
(DMG) Potion of Healing - Magic Item Table A (Common) - 2d4 + 2 hp --- Common Magic Items cost 50-100 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a COMMON CONSUMABLE at 50 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a COMMON (1d6 + 1) x 10 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Healing in XGtE is 25 gp
(DMG) Potion of Greater Healing - Magic Item Table B (Uncommon) - 4d4 + 4 hp --- Uncommon Magic Items cost 101-500 gp - DMG lists creation cost for an UNCOMMON CONSUMABLE at 250 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING an UNCOMMON 1d6 x 100 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Greater Healing in XGtE is 100 gp
(DMG) Potion of Superior Healing - Magic Item Table C (Rare) - 8d4 + 8 hp --- Rare Magic Items cost 501-5,000 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a RARE CONSUMABLE at 2,500 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a RARE 2d10 x 1,000 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Superior Healing in XGtE is 1,000 gp
(DMG) Potion of Supreme Healing - Magic Item Table D (Very Rare) - 10d4 + 20 hp --- Very Rare Magic Items cost 5,001-50,000 gp - DMG lists creation cost for a VERY RARE CONSUMABLE at 25,000 --- XGtE lists PURCHASING a VERY RARE (1d4 + 1) x 10,000 gp (halved for consumable) - CREATION Cost specifically for Potions of Supreme Healing in XGtE is 10,000 gp
Sources:
DMG - Ch 7: Treasure - Magic Items - Rarity - Magic Item Rarity table
DMG - Ch 7: Treasure - Magic Items - Random Magic Items - Magic Item Table A, B, C, D
DMG - Ch 6: Between Adventures - Downtime Activities - Crafting Magic Items - "half that cost for a consumable, such as a potion or scroll"
XGtE - Ch 2: Downtime Revisited - Example of Downtime Activities - Magic Item Price table
XGtE - Ch 2: Downtime Revisited - Example of Downtime Activities - Crafting an Item "Brewing Potions of Healing *** Potion of Healing Creation table"
* 'kay, so that was wordy and extensive. But hopefully the two different creation costs from two different books + the random generation of purchasing price will give you grounds as to how much you want to charge for potions (adjusted for how common magic is for your campaign and how deep the characters' pockets are.)
Good luck and may you roll 20's when you need them and 1's when you need a laugh. - myself
I didn't realizethe the DMG listed the create coat and sell cost of magic items to be the same (they actually sell for half the create cost 60% of the time)...
XGtE lists some set prices that I use for potions of healing, as well as some other ones. This is the table on page 174:
Healing: 50 gp
Greater healing: 100 gp
Superior healing: 500 gp
Supreme healing: 5,000 gp
For those curious, here are the other four potions listed there:
Climbing: 75 gp
Animal friendship: 100 gp
Water breathing: 100 gp
Invisibility: 5,000 gp
And just for kicks, there's a table with prices for scrolls of spells up to 5th level on the same page:
Cantrip: 25 gp
1st: 75 gp
2nd: 150 gp
3rd: 300 gp
4th: 500 gp
5th: 1,000 gp
Thank you so much! This thread is incredibly helpful! <3
XGtE also lists the costs to make those potions as follows (on page 130):
Healing: 25 gp
Greater healing: 100 gp
Superior healing: 1000 gp
Supreme healing: 10,000 gp
And that INCLUDES downtime... It's like no one checked the math before publishing XGtE... Why would a character spend 4 weeks and 10k gp making a potion that they could only hope to sell for 5k gp? Or, better yet, why would they spend 10k gp and wait 4 weeks to make one when they can buy one from a merchant for 5k gp...
Why is the regular healing potion the only one that XGtE says makes a profit, with Greater breaking even and Superior+ losing LOADS of money... Makes no sense from an economic standpoint, or as a way for adventurers to possibly make some extra cash...
Seems to me that if adventurers are spending downtime and gold making stuff, they should at least be able to make profit on it... And if they can make profit on it, then other merchants should sell it for that same profitable price... The prices that DxJxC mentioned seem right (or, the costs to make the potions needs to be lowered drastically), and the math in XGtE seems very flawed...
Actually, I think the Supreme Healing potion cost v price difference makes some sense in a realistic setting. You wouldn't make the potions for business purposes but for bragging rights. Do know how many people would come to your shop if you have "the best" of anything. To give an idea, people compete over the tallest building and longest bridge titles so they can have more tourist traps.
I think ye be confused.
The potion prices listed on p.174 of XGTE are for a game variant called Adventurer's League. Not sure those be the potion prices in general, me matey!
The price guide in Chapter 2 has rolled magic prices and creation costs based on rarrrity. Potions cost half as much to create as other magic items.
Compare this average price (1/2 price for being consumable) based on . . . availability, on p. 175 with the potion creation costs on p. 130:
22.5 vs 25
175 vs 100
2750 vs 1000
30,000 vs 10,000
Shiver me timbers! So it is a way to make money. Tons of money if you manage to sell the 10,000 gold version at half their normal price, a player can make double that money in 4 weeks, if the DM allows them to make 2 potions at one time, maybe 3 if you are an elf or otherwise require no sleep.
this man single handedly set the price for healing potions for thousands of campaigns and doesnt even know
Getting 25000gp will take a veeeerrrrrryyyy long time.
depends on the campaign, lvl 10+ games can net the party multiple 500gp+ mundane items. Not including the price of selling magic items you dont need anymore.
So multiple adventures to buy a potion....
I'm going to go with they should redo their math, and hopefully they did in DMG 2024.
I mean yea, you'd need multiple dungeon dives to get a SUPREME healing potion lol. Its a Very Rare magic item. You shouldn't be able to afford a Very Rare item from 1 dungeon dive (unless its a Mega Dungeon or an Adult+ Dragons hoard)