Further Enchanting
The art of making magical potions is as old as magic itself. Today only few traditions, with Wiccan and Hedge Witchcraft being the most prominent, teach enchanting reagents to form powerful spells. In this modern world where time is money, most magicians ignore the time consuming process of cooking potions, although almost any effect achievable through Sorcery can be mimicked via Enchanting.
Game Information
Cooking a potion takes a time equal to the spell's desired force in hours and uses up reagents similar to ritual magic and spirit binding. At the end, the cook makes an Enchanting test as if it were a spellcasting test (including modifiers from totems, etc) to conclude the spell's hits and takes appropriate drain. One can cook up a spell potion by its formula alone without actually knowing the spell, though crafting an unknown spell into a potion imposes a hefty -4 modifier. Preparing multiple doses however, is just a matter of using multiple ingredients and a bigger cauldron, but will increase drain by one per additional dose.
Making multiple different potions at a time is possible, so it causes a modifier of -2 per additional potion to each Enchanting test due to the spread focus an enchanter has to deal with. Here, cooking time equals the highest spell force. Once finished, properly stored in a fridge, a potion's shlef life is (Magic) days. Afterwards or after taken out of the fridge they render useless after (Magic) hours. At the GMs discretion, high force potions may need exotic reagents.
Potion formulae are similar to spell formulae and translating one into another is an Arcana+Logic (10, 1 day) test.
Potions are supposed to be drunken, but sometimes this might not be possible. If applied in a form other than through ingestion, reduce the potion's Force (and possibly hits) by two. Attacking with a potion is an Exotic Ranged Weapon (Potion Spilling) Test. Potions can also be delivered via capsule rounds and the like. Drinking a potion takes a simple action, and the effect kicks in at the end of the combat turn.
If the spell's effect is neither instant nor permanent, but sustainable, the magician need not sustain it, but the spell looses one point of force per minute.

Potion Addiction
The access to magic can be tempting for mundane. However, uncontrolled and repeated use of magic and its sheer power can make mundane addictive and longing for more.
Treat potions as a mental addiction with a threshold according to the potion addiction table. This should only be applied after repetitive, willing use.

Potion Addiction Table
Force | Addiction Threshold
1-2 | 1
3-4 | 2
5+ | 3

Metamagic
Potion Mastery
A Potion Master's knowledge allows him to modify potion formulae for potions to sustain themselves. Upfront the cooking, make an Arcana+Logic (2) test and apply IG as a positive modifier. The Potion will then sustain itself for a number of hours equal to the net hits achieved. You may apply this modification each time you start cooking, or can jsut use an already modified formula.

Advanced Metamagic
Shielding Elixir
Prerequisite: Shielding, Potion Mastery
A highly advanced potion maker may try to brew spell defenses. Apply the rules for making potions normaly, but use the net hits on a Counterspelling + Magic + initiate grade (2) test for the potion's force. Drinking this potion applies a spell defense equal to the potion's force.

Optional Rule: Aid Potion Making
As with Aid Sorcery, bound spirits may aid with the potion making process appropriate for their spell category.

New Gear
While there are several magical suppliers in your neighbourhood, you won't find magical potions advertised on a big scale. Short shelf life and the need for highly trained enchanters reduce availabilty to a minimum of standard potions, like healing potions. The use of these substances is also highly regulated and most are strictely forbidden to be sold to citizens, however you will probably get a hold of almost anything on the black market. Once you got ahold of the necessary licences, you should be able to aquire some contract work. Be aware of days to weeks waiting time! So plan in advance.
Besides legal and illegal channels, with the reight connection, you might obtain some leftovers from your local special forces unit. Firewatch regularly uses shielding elixiers and rumours have it the Tir Ghosts have a steady supply of invisibility potions. These groups can obviously afford their very own potion maker.


Edit1: comments about shelf life aknowledged
Edit2: Shielding added, limitation for unknow spells, Aid potion making
Edit3: Potion Addiction
Edit4: Gear aded, drain increased

I would suggest a small suggestion.

Properly stored they are good for Magic DAYS instead because cooking a potion for six hours just before a run IF you might need them is a bit short.

Improperly stored (leaving them ouside the fridge) give them a shelf life of Magic hours.

If the potion fails its shelf life it drops its magic by 1 for each day stored properly and by 1 for each hour stored improperly.

So a potentional shelf life of 6-11 hours at F6 stored in a shelf and up to 6-11 days if stored properly.

Otherwise there is almost no point in cooking the potions if there is within the hour expiration date.

I agree. Otherwise the corresponding would be absolutely prerequisite to make potion cooking at least a bit usefull.

I like the idea, and the execution. For sustained effects, like say a potion of increase strength, or increase initiative, how long would the effect last?
Also, maybe a rule to limit the number of active potions?

Is this a thing that magic can even do, in SR, or is this sort of an alternate-world module? :/

Why do all potions react equally to, of all things, refrigeration?

I would just treat Potions like Magical Compunds, or an Anchored Spell with an Activation (Drink Potion) and a Sustained amount of time active. *shrug*

see last sentence of the text and the metamagic.


I was laughing myself and wanted to wait, how long it takes someone notices
storage should of course be according to tradition.


Quickening sucks, due to karma cost. See this as an extended rule to the magical compounds idea.

The thing is, magical compounds are strongly self-limiting. They have major drawbacks, and they don't recreate arbitrary spells. So this is a serious 'extension', that's all.

I'd make the drain from creating a potion more substantial, personally.

Also, I'd make this more "generic", to take into account not only potions that are consumed (and preserved via refridgeration, which might be appropriate for hermetic's), and include poultices, ointments, oils, etc., without the "-2 force" penalty.

Do take into account what impact this will have on the game world. Aztechnology will be selling minor healing salves in Stuffer Shacks (created by slavemage tribals), and most high profile types will now have access to magic effects.

What about overcasting? When making multiple doses of the same spell, do you suffer drain once, or multiple times?

What happens if you brew up a potion of Trid Phantasm? Does the imbiber control the effects?

Anchoring is not Quickening...

And the fact that Dunkelzahn's Will specifically has a reward for creating an item that allows mundanes to have access to magic. E.g. Wands, but potions in this manner also qualify.



Some spells can't be turned into potions, clearly.

D&D had this right when the only spells you could make into potions were either single-target or personal spells.

Although potions of Fireball did show up on occasion (you didn't want to drink those) as a kind of joke prize.

D&D Online also had Potions of Cure Paralysis (potions could not be used on other players) and Scrolls of Cure Blindness (again, self only).

but you need to quicken a spell to make use of anchoring, right? that's what i wanted to avoid.

I wanted a reasonable alternative to Spellcasting, which is more flexible than Ritual Spellcasting

No, You anchor it. Different, IIRC. Can't look right now, unfortunately.

If this were Anchoring/etc., then that's basically normal. I'm not wild about even *that* level of magic-item-ification of the SR world, but it's in the books. I agree: making magic items a commodity is a major shift in the SR world. The short shelf life kinda helps there, but not enough.

Indeed...
And for magic-item-ification, I choose either Anchoring or Magical Compounds. Both of which satisfy the Line Item in Dunk's Will for magic useable by Mundanes. As do Unique Enchantments.

But again, they're each harshly limited in their own ways. Anchoring is very expensive and a given mage can only make/maintain a few anchored spells; magical compounds come from rare sources, don't replicate arbitrary spells, and have significant negative effects.

Exactly...
It should not be easy, nor cheap, for a mundane to have access to magic.

magical compounds are actually very cheap.
A F6 spell potion would cost 3 times as much in materials plus 6 hours pay of a highly professional work (skillwise it's more difficult than creating foci). Assuming there really aren't that many potion enchanters around, supply and demand will push prices very, very high.
Stuff like love potion (Increase Charisma) and truth serum, etc is probably highly restricted. So most stuff isn't available to mundanes. Through legal channels, of course. So settingwise, this whole thing wouldn't change the SR world too much. Probably some special forces would have an Enchanter backing them up, the same, they have a hacker und technicians. He'll supply them with Shielding potions, Invisibilty Potions, etc. But this is just another opportunity to screw with your players, once they start exploiting potions.

And that's your point, you're afraid the group's magician will start suppplying the whole team with drinkable buffs.

maybe adding something like this:

Potion Addiction
The access to magic can be tempting for mundane. However, uncontrolled and repeated use of magic and its sheer power can make mundane addictive and longing for more.
Treat potions as a mental addiction with a threshold according to the potion addiction table. This should only be applied after repetitive, willing use.

Potion Addiction Table
Force | Addiction Threshold
1-2 | 1
3-4 | 2
5+ | 3

Hmm, why not having it screw with peoples auras and adding sideeffects.

Each time a potions effect wears off on a mundane person roll Essence VS Force of potion.

Character rolls higher: No ill effect
Potion rolls higher: Negative spell effects have a +1 force for potion force hours (lingering astral connection)
Glitch: Forced Dual Nature and/or Astral Sight
Critical Glitch: Whatever magical effect the GM decides
-Forced Astral projection for potion force minutes (I dont want streetsams to die)
-Negative Magical Quality for potion force days
-etc...

If you want to add the risk for addiction do that too.

Exactly what I was thinking: Potion Addiction. Hmm.

Those examples seem a bit too much to me, The Jopp. They're major, not always negatives, and not really 'related' to the potions in the first place?

Possible Potion side effects-

-Gain the gremlins quality for Force hours. (or increase it's level by one if you already have it) Magic and technology don't mix.
-Suffer the effects of the Accident power, use the potion force as the critter roll (period GM's discretion).
-Suffer the effects of the Confusion power, use the potion force as the critter roll.
-Gain the Bad Luck quality for Force hours.
-Gain the spirit bain quality (all spirits) for Force hours.
-Damage Magnet- Bullets seem to shift in flight to hit precisely between the plates of your armor and the enemies katana seems to be drawn to your weak points. Enemies have a +2 to attack you and you only get 1/2 your armor when hit.

Cotion of Ponfusion!

I like (most of) those, though. They're more minor, negative, and 'magical'.

how about 1/2 potion force as a negative dicepool to all defense tests and resistance rolls?

I just noticed, that Adepts can learn Enchanting and could therefore produce such potions.
Is this unbalanced? Should making spell potions be restricted to Mystic Adepts and Magicians?

Why? Mundanes can create Spell Formulae.

I'm not a huge fan of negative dicepool modifiers, because it can put someones pool to zero, but it would probably work for the defense test. For the reistance roll it would just be 1 more box of damage on average and if you have a high enough defense pool that's meaningless for small attacks. I think 1/2 AP captures the "Holy shit, did that knife just slip through your combat armor? You're almost down from a streetline special? With regular ammo? Is that even possible?" feel that being cursed to attract attacks should have. It's houserules though, so do whatever fits with your game.

I added gear cost:


New Gear

this is really hard to determine.

In a SR/ED crossover campaign I played in we found "potions" in the other realm and even brought working examples back to 2070. The deal with them is that it was a form of blood magic - even though mundanes could use them the strain would be on the user - and having low Essence seemed to mess that up. I can't remember the details but it felt like it fit well with the magic system.

In general it was pretty fun to be in w world where every time the groups' mages cast spells Horrors tended to be summoned... well at least until they learned how to cast magic in a different way. It was also fun to knock a goblin-like creatures on the head with a sap for 13S and being surprised the little bugger could take it.. that was of course before I learned it was actually a Horror I was trying to knock out with a ... SAP!

Your costs are WAY too expensive, in my opinion. They should be costed only slightly higher than magical Compounds, at worst.