Potion Overdose and PotSpam

[Cultist]

After some battles in BG and especially in BG2 my character should be three times larger due to consuming healing potins that was approx. three times his weight.

 

In my opinion, Witcher series made right steps in solving this problem - they implemented toxicity, which prevented you from overbuffing yourself.

 

So, there are several ways to solve potion gorging.

1. Adaptivity

Make each consumed potion less effective than the previous one. Simply to discourage potspam without implementing cooldowns. First potion will restore X Stamina, second X/Y or X-Y Stamina. "Rebound" could last for a day or several days to encourage tactical approach.

2. Overdose

Witcher-inspired mechanic when you can drink a lot of potions but with consequences for your Stats/Health/Stamina or anything that proper balance will require.

3. Hard limit

Simpliest of them all - a kind of "stomach capacity" governed by Constitution-like stats. A hard limit of potions your char can drink before digesting them. I guess it will play along with other rest-related mechanics.

4. Addiction

Mechanic we are familiar with from Fallouts. More potions - more risk of becoming addicted.

[Sensuki]

There are no health potions in Project Eternity

 

There might be some that replenish stamina or remove status effects, but generally I think this problem will be solved by economy in Project Eternity rather than a hard limit on potions per rest or whatever.

 

They will likely be expensive and/or rare and if you use one when you didn't really need to, you might miss that potion later down the track.

[motorizer]

Whilst as Sensuki said, there are no health potions in the game, I do often wonder in these type of games why are you carrying 300 bottles of stuff around with you?

 

Having one bottle of a given potion and just drinking some of it when needed seems a bit more realistic to me, apart from the inventory space aspect there is also the fact that trying to move silently with 300 bottles on your person could become something of a problem.

[Cultist]

I doesn't matter, health, stamina, I am talking about principle.

[Sensuki]

I didn't mind The Witcher's potion system and I enjoyed the alchemy bit. But there will probably not be any mechanical restrictions on potions in P:E - just economical ones as I said before.

[Kjaamor]

After some battles in BG and especially in BG2 my character should be three times larger due to consuming healing potins that was approx. three times his weight.

 

Paradoxically, I can count the potions I used in both games on one hand. I, like many others, fall foul of the crippling fear of using a consumable now and then needing it later. So I deliberately didn't use them except in the direst of circumstances. Apart from when I fought Saverok and Irenicus, where I just forgot.

[Cultist]

Try installing Tactics WeiDU mod and set all options. There won't be click-and-forget battles.

[Kjaamor]

I wouldn't regard any of the BG battles I faced as 'click and forget'. Set traps, buff, then send tank running as mage goes AoE crazy was my general approach.

[Karkarov]

There are no health potions in Project Eternity

 

There might be some that replenish stamina or remove status effects, but generally I think this problem will be solved by economy in Project Eternity rather than a hard limit on potions per rest or whatever.

 

They will likely be expensive and/or rare and if you use one when you didn't really need to, you might miss that potion later down the track.

Quoted for truth.

 

This is a non issue. There are no healing potions, it is literally impossible to "potspam" in P:E.

[Osvir]

 

There are no health potions in Project Eternity

 

There might be some that replenish stamina or remove status effects, but generally I think this problem will be solved by economy in Project Eternity rather than a hard limit on potions per rest or whatever.

 

They will likely be expensive and/or rare and if you use one when you didn't really need to, you might miss that potion later down the track.

Quoted for truth.

 

This is a non issue. There are no healing potions, it is literally impossible to "potspam" in P:E.

 

The concept, I believe, isn't specifically "Health Pots" but general medicine intake.

 

A. Alcohol: Drink too many bottles of beer and you get drunk, you have a fun time whilst the world is a sail boat. Drink some more and you begin to tip over.

 

B. Medicine: Take way too many aspirin and you'll probably find yourself with a worse headache than the one you had before you took em.

 

C. Fiction-Herb Salve: You got Bleed Effects on your left leg and you are now limping? Put on some Coagulation Salve squeezed from some medicinal bush leaves, but if you put on too much you might get a stiff leg and will continue to limp (but the bleed effect is gone at least).

 

D. Chemical Drugs: Take some morphin and you'll ease the pain and make you funny. Take too many and your organs can take permanent damage and in worst case, death.

 

It's a fantasy universe with Magic and hopefully it has alchemy, what kind of "funny"-juice-experimental magic liquids can there be? Not to mention monster blood as an ingredient. What kind of effects does it have on an Aumaua? Human? Orlan? Elf? Etc. etc. Not that I am suggesting that Alchemy should be different effects depending on race, but there is tons of stuff to work with I am sure to make more potions than simply generic "Health Potion" and "Mana Potion"~ which isn't what I think Cultist was going for.

 

I like the idea. But to polish it a little bit I'd like to add in that I feel it needs some incentive to go overboard as well.

 

Drink 1 Potion and you get a normal, controlled effect. Drink 2 Potions and you get a little bit of a boost. Drink 3 Potions and you get a chaotic effect, a temporary boost but lasting consequences.

 

1 Beer "Potion", Saloon~ Suave

2 Beer "Potions", Tipsy

3 Beer "Potions", "Yaaarr!!" *moments later* "Uuueegh..."

Edited July 2, 2013 by Osvir

[Cultist]

I said it already but can repeat again - name does not matter. Stamina potion, refresing potion, potion of strenght, it does not matter, as long as there are consumables, there will be option to spam them, unless cooldown is implemented.

Just in case I will repeat once more - name of the consumable does not matter.

[Karkarov]

I said it already but can repeat again - name does not matter. Stamina potion, refresing potion, potion of strenght, it does not matter, as long as there are consumables, there will be option to spam them, unless cooldown is implemented.

Just in case I will repeat once more - name of the consumable does not matter.

What is the point in spamming a stamina potion?  Assuming you didn't die it automatically regens when combat is over.  A strength potion isn't going to work multiple times, why drink two?  A status effect removing potion only needs to be taken once to remove the effect, why did you take it twice other than to remove the effect again?

 

Potion spamming only happens when you have a resource that needs to be regenerated.  You can't regen wounds other than resting and stamina already regens through ability use and automatically comes back when combat ends.  Heck fighters even get passive stamina regen.

 

This game has very little reason to "spam" potions.  Like all other degenerative gameplay elements it is not a problem in itself, potion spamming is a sign of bad design.  P:E doesn't appear to suffer from many design mistakes so far.

Edited July 3, 2013 by Karkarov