Wicked Wisdom Wednesday! The Great Healing Potion Paradox: Action or Bonus Action?

Playing Baldur's Gate 3 has sparked many conversations about Dungeons & Dragons' official rules and flooded players with alternative house rules inspired by the epic video game. Official D&D rules meld with video game mechanics, resulting in some interesting things to think about in our tabletop gaming. Healing potions and their use is the topic for this week’s Wicked Wisdom Wednesday!

So picture this….As a player, have you ever found yourself in the middle of a heated combat encounter, your character's hit points dangerously low, sweat metaphorically pouring down your face as you desperately wonder whether you should gulp down that precious Potion of Healing or take a precious Magic Action, or Melee attack or any other Action but drinking a Potion?

Is Drinking a Potion an Action?

The official D&D rule is: “Drinking or administering a potion takes an action”, which in simpler terms means the consumption of a potion requires a full Action.

Well, that is certainly well and good, and the official rules serve an important purpose in maintaining balance and structure in the game, but what if we took a moment to consider introducing a cooler house rule twist that fundamentally alters the decision-making process and gives players a significantly more dramatic and consequential choice to make during those particularly tense combat moments?

Here's a popular house rule that we've been thoroughly enjoying at our table and one that forces players to carefully weigh the benefits of speed and immediacy against the potential for maximum effectiveness:

The House Rule: Speed vs. Maximum HP Recovery

In the heat of the moment, when every second counts and danger lurks around every corner, adventurers have two distinct ways to consume a healing potion, each option coming with its own distinct trade-off and strategic consideration:

1. The Deliberate Draw: A Full Action, A Full and Guaranteed Heal

Cost: 1 Full Action

The Scene: Goblins flood the cavern, rusty scimitars raised high. A heavily wounded fighter looks down at the impending doom running on short legs and decides they need to heal to face the coming onslaught. The character takes their time, carefully cracks the seal on the potion of healing vial, tilts the bottle back slowly, and methodically drains every last glowing, restorative drop of the arcanely created magical liquid within. The Result: The character receives the maximum possible healing for that particular potion. No dice roll necessary. Just maximum healing! The Example: A standard Potion of Healing normally heals for 2d4+2 hit points. Using a full Action that is dedicated to its consumption, a character automatically gains 8+2 = 10 hit points. This gives a guaranteed, reliable healing when the player needs it the most, but the cost is high.

2. The Combat Chug: A Bonus Action, Roll the Dice and Take Your Chances

Cost: 1 Bonus Action

The Scene: A heavily wounded Ranger is firing arrow after arrow at the massive Clay Gollum as it lumbers towards her. In seconds, the Ranger will be in melee with the Gollum, and she knows she doesn’t have the time to “waste” an Action on healing herself with her Greater Potion of Healing in her belt. She needs hit points now, and she needs to move in with her swords drawn immediately! She hastily pops the cork and quickly splashes the potion down her throat while simultaneously keeping her eyes trained on the battlefield and staggering a bit as she does so. She didn't quite finish it completely, and in her hurry, she even spilled a bit, but she’s back in the fight and ready to continue! The Reward: The character must roll the dice as indicated to determine the actual healing amount they receive. The Example: For a standard Potion of Healing, you roll 4d4+4, which will provide the character anywhere from 6 to 20. You might get way less healing than you hoped for!

Why We Really Love This Rule and Why It's Been Such a Hit at Our Table

This house rule adds an exciting layer of tactical choice to what is typically a straightforward healing mechanic. We play this house rule in all our games at Giants of the North for a few reasons, the main once being the absence of the Cleric class in many of our adventuring parties. That, and of course all of us have played countless hours on Baldur’s Gate 3 who has the “Potions can be consumed using a Bonus Action to grant an effect to a single creature. In the end, this rule adds an exciting layer of tactical choice to what is typically a straightforward healing mechanic.

…Now if only we could also convince the Dungeon Masters to allow us to Throw a potion at a player or enemy like you can in BG3!