Potions

[knightkrawler]

I want to change up the Healing of Potion that almost always restores 4 body points.

a) to have different levels of potion strength (3 and 5 points to be precise)
b) for them to restore body or mind points in free allocation as the hero sees fit. That way, later no new cards for mind points are needed.
c) to allow for easy following the quest notes: titles have to be changed

I would like four different names for the following four potions, the names should be levelled. So, what's stronger? Healing, Restoration, Regenaration? Something else?
I have nothing against expressions outdated in recent English in my game, so shoot. I also am open for suggestions how to give the lasting types a different term than potion.

Here's the four kinds:

1) When you discard this card, you may take 3 points from the pool to restore already lost Body or Mind points.
After the quest, it becomes useless and must be discarded back into Morcar's artefact deck.

2) When you discard this card, you may take 5 points from the pool to restore already lost Body or Mind points.
After the quest, it becomes useless and must be discarded back into Morcar's artefact deck.

3) When you discard this card, you may take 3 points from the pool to restore already lost Body or Mind points.

4) When you discard this card, you may take 5 points from the pool to restore already lost Body or Mind points.

[Count Mohawk]

The lasting +5 potion could be the Potion of Renewal, with the +3 as the Potion of Healing.
Now, you could name the one-Quest-only items Potions as well, but I think the players will more easily remember which is which is you call them something else, such as a "Tonic" or a "Flask" of XYZ. Let's say you use Tonic as an example; then the temporary +3 would be a Tonic of Healing, and the temporary +5 a Tonic of Renewal.
If you'd rather keep them all Potions, I would say the descriptor words rank as Renewal > Recovery > Healing > or = Regeneration > Restoration = Rejuvenation. Pick and choose any four.

[knightkrawler]

That's what i was aiming for, a gradual increase in effect through wording. Thanks.
I think I'll go for option 1 because it limits the amount of terms. Plus it denominates (feature 1: number of points) to (term 1) and (feature 2: shelf life) to (term 2).
Not as beautiful than 4 individual potion terms, but linguistically more sound.

1) 3 points, one quest only: TONIC of HEALING
2) 5 points, one quest only: TONIC of RECOVERY
3) 3 points: POTION of HEALING
4) 5 points: POTION of RECOVERY

What say others?
Also, is the wording for the cards unambiguous? We use body and mind counters (two different kinds, of course) and it's ruled that the terms BODY POINTS and BODY POINT COUNTERS are interchangeable. Both Body and Mind points are in the same pool, just because. So when "I may take x points from the pool", I physically take x counters from the pool, however many of those x are body points and however many of those x are mind points.
Is that clearly worded under these assumptions or did I miss anything?

[clmckay]

It seems quite clear to me. I alo like the names and use of tonic vs potion. Personally, I would stick to "drink" vs "discard", but if you've used discard for a longtime then I'm sure it feels good to you. Else, I really like them.

[knightkrawler]

Substance over style, in that case. Discard is a very important term in my rules.
You can imagine that disposing of it in favor of drink, lose to rust, and all that would make a linguistically sound ruleset like mine pretty complicated.

But you give me an idea. What with me using glossarized terminology and game-term icons, both making room on card faces, I think I will include italized fluff text on each card in quotation marks, as if Mentor tells you what's what, and clarify in the rulebook that only the non-italized text and the keywords under the title is to be cross-referenced.

When I open a thread like this, it's for the ideas you guys give me all the time. This one was in the back of my head but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Thanks for bumping my skull in the good way, clmkay.

[Goblin-King]

I definitely don't like the "take from the pool" wording. If it's a term your group uses and are familiar with, then fine, but for an outsider it's not a clear way to word it.
I would use a more fleshed out wording. Something along the lines of:
This potion can restore up to 5 lost Body or Mind points. You may distribute the 5 points freely between Body and Mind. Discard/Morcars deck yadda yadda yadda

Regarding naming, you could use the container to describe the size instead.
Vial = 3 points
Bottle = 5 points
Just an idea

[Count Mohawk]

I definitely don't like the "take from the pool" wording. If it's a term your group uses and are familiar with, then fine, but for an outsider it's not a clear way to word it.
I would use a more fleshed out wording. Something along the lines of:
This potion can restore up to 5 lost Body or Mind points. You may distribute the 5 points freely between Body and Mind. Discard/Morcars deck yadda yadda yadda

Wizards of the Cost sometimes uses the wording "divided as you choose" when assigning damage between multiple targets. You can probably do a similar thing in reverse for your potions, such as:

Potion of Healing
When you discard this potion, you restore up to 3 lost Body or Mind Points, divided as you choose between the two scores.

[Showdown35]

Substance over style, in that case. Discard is a very important term in my rules.
You can imagine that disposing of it in favor of drink, lose to rust, and all that would make a linguistically sound ruleset like mine pretty complicated.

The only issue I have with this explanation of using "discard" instead of "drink" is that you are using "potion" instead of "card". Should it not be "discard this card"? How do you discard a potion? Is "potion" a defined item in your ruleset? If so, why can't "drink" be defined as a certain action as well?

I am a big fan of using rules terms only as instruction, and then adding flavor text in italics to describe what is happening (which I believe would work best for sound ruleset like yours). For example:

TONIC OF HEALING

You may discard this card and take up to 3 point counters from the pool to restore lost Body and/or Mind points.

Drinking this frothy liquid gives you a burst of rejuvenating invigoration.

[Showdown35]

Perhaps you can't use "discard this card" since these potions may not be actual cards, but simply a written down item on a hero sheet... In that case, discarding a potion still seems odd to me, because then it is like the hero tosses the potion on the floor and somehow gets healed by the fumes... Maybe there should just be a defined term for "drink"... It could mean the same thing as "discard" but just be used for drinkable items...

Either way, the point about instructions first, then italicized fluff still stands.

[Goblin-King]

I actually agree with Showdown...

The player discards a card
The hero drinks a potion