Selling potions

[The Admiral]

Do you allow this, at half price, for potions that have been purchased from a shop and therefore have a gold value?

I have never really considered this before as potions always seem to have some future use, but I am playtesting 'The Quest for the Sword' and this has potions of cure for sale in the shop for 400gc. This is quite expensive for a potion that I am not aware of as having any use in any other quest, and I have played and looked at a lot of quests. Also, as the consequences of not having a potion of cure is eventual certain death, the Heroes do not want to be short of them.

Or do you just say tough, that's life...or death if you haven't actually got a potion and get infected!

[Kurgan]

At first I was going to. I downloaded the Potions deck from the Inn's pages and thought this will be great. But then I realized, the way I play, I am basically giving away a lot of potions (giving the elf 1 each new quest, the wizard 2 AND allow them to search any undocumented alchemist bench (once) and draw a random potion although in that case it could be posion; only exception to the free potions between quests rule would be like ATOH where you already have super potions given if playing the questbook as a series). That plus the fact that I've tossed all the treasure cards from the various expansions into the treasure deck so far, meaning even more chances to get potions (although these don't have a particular gold value).

Basically the Heroes would be buried in mountains of gold, whether I allowed selling back at half price or full (I was inclined before to say "at full" because a potion isn't ever half used, it either is or it isn't, vs. equipment that you assume at least has wear and tear).

Instead I'm using the coin values on the potion cards (thanks Sjeng!) as a suggestion. So let's say you draw a potion and it says 200 gold coins on it. That means between quests you could purchase extra "copies" of that potion for the price (as much as you can afford). Whether that means you're making it yourself with your alchemical skills (but paying for cost of materials) or paying the alchemist at the shop to create it for you.

I'm not about potions expiring (EU rules at quest end) or turning toxic (though there is always the chance that a goblin could steal them via the Combat Cards I use, or one could break when you trip and fall via the Evil Wizard deck). Stockpile AND stack those babies any way you can! But as for buying potions, all sales are final (heroes can always trade the potions between themselves).

Each to their own of course, your table your rules... if you want to make an exception for a specific quest that's what I'd do, otherwise be prepared for your heroes to max out their equipment much, much faster (you could compensate by making gear wear out, adding more gear or raising the prices, but it means much more complexity over time). Yes, the Heroes can always throw their gold at still more potions, mercenaries or leveling up (if that's in your game, via Japanese rules), but in my case it would get ridiculous rather quickly.

[The Admiral]

Yes, Potions can make the Heroes very powerful. I was the same when I discovered the potion chart and allowed the Heroes to buy any of them. I quickly stopped that and now only allow potions that are physically included in the potion shop associated with a particular quest pack, and many have none.

[arntisdale]

I was thinking I would let my heroes sell potions back for some fraction of the base price.
You can always knock it down to 25%, or even 10% for potions sold back if it causes the heroes to become too rich too fast.
Knock it down far enough, and they'll just shrug, say 'What the heck' and start drinkin' 'em!

Also, when it comes to selling potions, it's kind of fun to limit things. If you're running a potions deck, you can easily manipulate what the store has available.
For instance, say you want to make sure a store has a certain potion of healing available, grab all those cards out of the deck, take the rest of the cards, shuffle and split them into 2 even decks.
Then you place three face up piles in front of them. One pile with all the certain healing potion that the shop specializes in, and two piles with some random potion available on the top.
You can only purchase what's face up on the top of the pile.

[Kurgan]

Buy? Yes. Sell? No, because in my games I give so many potions then basically they'll be awash in gold making it too easy.

[iKarith]

I'm not inclined to have the shop buy potions heroes find … but perhaps exchange them. Do you have half a dozen potions of speed? Might want some heal pots instead? Make the potions master an offer. He might take you up on it. Don't count on any bargains this way, but … you might get what you need in exchange for something you maybe don't.

[The Admiral]

I'm not inclined to have the shop buy potions heroes find.

No, I am only talking about potions that have been purchased from the potion shop.

[cynthialee]

My money sink is the Elixir of Life at 500 Gold Sovereigns per dose. I like to make them use them up by placing human and elf prisoners in the dungeon. "As you enter the room you see the Elf Mage and an Orc. The orc immediately cuts the elfs' throat and advances on your heroes. This is a disaster....this elf holds the information needed by the Empire. If you have an Elixir of Life he may be able to be revived....after you deal with the orc."

[The Admiral]

My money sink is the Elixir of Life at 500 Gold Sovereigns per dose. I like to make them use them up by placing human and elf prisoners in the dungeon. "As you enter the room you see the Elf Mage and an Orc. The orc immediately cuts the elfs' throat and advances on your heroes. This is a disaster....this elf holds the information needed by the Empire. If you have an Elixir of Life he may be able to be revived....after you deal with the orc."

That's cheap considering official potion shops charge 500 for a healing potion and 800 for an all body points potion. As this is even better than that as it allows you to bring a dead Hero back to life with all their BP's, if I was to put a value on an Elixir of Life, I would charge 1000.

[arntisdale]

I am only talking about potions that have been purchased from the potion shop.

To this, specifically, I would definitely allow them to sell them back at 50%.
Especially given the situation you described where these potions are only useful for one specific quest, and are more or less useless afterward.