I'm DMing my first Pathfinder game in a little over a week and unfortunately I'm not very knowledgeable of casters, including Witches. A player sent me an email asking this, "If I have the Brew Potion feat, may I start the game with potions at creation price if I know the spell, and can have conceivably created it myself?"
My first thought was sure, but then I remembered there's a DC check for potion creation and now it seems having perfect success for all the potions he's creating off the bat is too much to ask. Keep in mind I told the players they can have the max allotted money for the class. I'm considering having the player roll for the potion creation in front of us before the game starts to see which he has successfully created and which failed causing him to lose gold from the creation cost.
What are your thoughts and what would you decide?
Well, i don't see it being unbalancing in the long run. It would just workout to 1-3 potions to help survive level 1.
My own group i'd say yes or no using a guess-timate based off take 10 on their spellcraft vs the potion DC.
Your starter fund as max is fairly generous, so i don't think saying 'no you can't' would hurt then overmuch, but if i was to choose one of the 3 options. (yes, no, roll) i'd say Yes, with roll as a runner-up choice.
I would say let him take 10 on the spellcraft check, which will most likely be an auto success on potion making.
However, he will most likely only fail on a 1, DC of 5+CL (1) so a DC of 6. With 1 rank of spellcraft he will probably have +6-7 in spellcraft anyways. You could also say he crafts a cursed potion on a 1, and make up a side effect or an alternate effect for that potion when it is used.
If he has +6 or +7 in spellcraft, he cant fail even on a 1.
1=auto-fail is for attack rolls only.
It's customary to allow a player to use their item creation feats during downtime, which includes time before the campaign starts. The greater wealth will probably benefit the martials more than the spellcasters, so I don't see any problem with it.
He shouldn't have the brew potion feat until 3rd anyway. If he wants to start with potions and is a witch (which I inferred from your post), then he can take the cauldron hex and get it early.
"Cauldron Hex: Is a witch who selects this hex at 1st level able to use the Brew Potion feat, even though Brew Potion has a 'caster level 3rd' prerequisite?
Yes."
Or he can just be an alchemist.
Ultimately though, the other posters are right in that potions aren't really that powerful in the long run. It's mostly because of this:
"Can a character with Brew Potion create a potion of any spell he knows simply by adding +5 to the DC, even without preparing it?
No. When creating potions, the crafter must prepare and expend the spell used by the potion as part of its creation. This is an exception to the normal rules that allow a caster to skip one of the prerequisites for crafting an item by adding +5 to the DC."
If he wants power than Craft Wonderous item is the way to go.
Since you put this in the homebrew section, I'm sure you're fine with a house rule which would overturn this ruling. Allowing potions can certainly help a campaign. Like letting the witch have some cures handy without having to use a spell slot so she can do other things.
It's important to keep in mind that he doesn't actually have to roll to create items - if he has a sufficiently high bonus he can use the Take 10 rules to create it with no chance of failure. Most potions will have a spellcraft DC of ~6.
I'd be fine with him creating potions pre-game. He invested resources in a crafting feat and should gain the (reasonable) benefits of it. As long as he's following the rules for what potions he can make and pays for the materials needed to make them, he'd have my go-ahead.
I personally houseruled that you can create magic items without item creation feats as long as you succeed on two skill checks (Craft[alchemy] and Spellcraft for potions) and have a minimum caster level (bypassed if a class feature gives Brew Potion). If you have Brew Potion or a similar feat, you can raise the caster level of the potion without increasing the crafting cost of the item.
As a GM, I try to say "yes" as often as possible.
Sure, allow witches and alchemists potions and wizards scrolls.
However, I might up the CR of encounters a little -- or chain a couple encounters together.
I would do my best to make sure they used those potions. Future encounters would similarly assume the party is "fully potion-ed".
You could also build entire adventures around the quest for rare potion reagents.
CJ
Thanks for the advice. Here was my response to him.
If you're taking the Cauldren hex to acquire the Brew Potion feat at first level then just pretend you're following normal procedures of brewing potions during game play (including cost) and taking 10 for the rolls. If you want to roll for anything then it needs to be done live in front of the group before we start the game. You will need the proper equipment of course, so you'll need to invest some of your starting gold into an Alchemy Kit.