No potions of See Invisibility?

[Cheiromancer]

Under the item crafting rules it says

A potion is a magic liquid that produces its effect when imbibed. Magic oils are similar to potions, except that oils are applied externally rather than imbibed. A potion or oil can be used only once. It can duplicate the effect of a spell of up to 3rd level that has a casting time of less than 1 minute.

Under the Brew Potion feat it says

You can create a potion of any 3rd-level or lower spell that you know and that targets one or more creatures.

The spell see invisibility has a target of "You" and a casting time of 1 standard action. Presuming "you" refers to (at least) one creature, I don't see why it cannot be made into a potion.

I must be missing something. Can someone explain why, according to the rules, see invisibility is not a valid spell for a potion?

And, assuming the rules do prohibit it, would it be unbalancing to let there be potions of see invisibility, shield and true strike as well?

 

[Spatula]

The spell see invisibility has a target of "You" and a casting time of 1 standard action. Presuming "you" refers to (at least) one creature, I don't see why it cannot be made into a potion.

Given that, what makes you think it can't?

 

[Cheiromancer]

None of these spells do not appear on the list of random potions. And one of my players seems convinced that "personal" spells cannot be made into potions. I wonder if this was true in 3.0? If so, is it still true in 3.5?

 

[rkanodia]

I don't know about 3.0, but it's definitely not allowed in 3.5. I was recently mistaken about this myself, but the SRD is quite clear:

CREATING POTIONS
The creator of a potion needs a level working surface and at least a few containers in which to mix liquids, as well as a source of heat to boil the brew. In addition, he needs ingredients. The costs for materials and ingredients are subsumed in the cost for brewing the potion—25 gp x the level of the spell x the level of the caster.
All ingredients and materials used to brew a potion must be fresh and unused. The character must pay the full cost for brewing each potion. (Economies of scale do not apply.)
The imbiber of the potion is both the caster and the target. Spells with a range of personal cannot be made into potions.

 

[Gaiden]

What about an oil?

 

[Caliban]

What about an oil?

Potions and oils are mechanically identical.

It would have to be an Elixer, which is created with the Craft Wondrous Item feat, not Brew Potion.

 

[Spatula]

None of these spells do not appear on the list of random potions. And one of my players seems convinced that "personal" spells cannot be made into potions. I wonder if this was true in 3.0? If so, is it still true in 3.5?

It was true in 3.0. I would have hoped that they fixed things in 3.5 so that see invis, at least, could be made into a potion, but I guess not. There really needs to be some way for lower-level non-casters to be able to deal with invisibility.

 

[Cheiromancer]

Potions and oils are mechanically identical.

It would have to be an Elixer, which is created with the Craft Wondrous Item feat, not Brew Potion.

So you can have an Elixir of See Invisibility, an Elixir of True Strike, etc.? Such items would still have the cost formula Spell level x caster level x 50 gp, right?

 

[Caliban]

So you can have an Elixir of See Invisibility, an Elixir of True Strike, etc.? Such items would still have the cost formula Spell level x caster level x 50 gp, right?

Maybe not, look at the Elixir of Vision: it costs 250 gp, requires true seeing and only gives you a +10 on search checks.

(Normally something that gives a +10 skill bonus costs 10,000 gp, but this is a single use item. They don't give the formula for one shot skill boosts, but it seems to be 1/40th the cost of a continuous item.)

You would have to ask your DM if it's possible, as it's not a standard magic item.

The closest thing to what you want in the DMG seems to be "Dust of Appearance" - which is similar to a one-shot glitterdust (with additional effects) at 1,800 gp

It seems that the designers don't want non-casters to be able to easily gain the benefits of personal only spells. Most likely because of spells like shield and true strike.

 

[Cheiromancer]

You would have to ask your DM if it's possible, as it's not a standard magic item.

I am the DM, and I'm trying to gather the relevant evidence. Can anyone see why potions of shield or true strike would be a bad thing?