Potion of Expeditious Retreat + Fleeing Condition rules question

[Quajek]

I was trying to move quickly to get from one side of a large map to the other in order to stop a machine from activating and considered drinking my potion of Expeditious Retreat.

According to the text of the spell, it adds +40 to your speed and you immediately Stride. It also adds the Fleeing condition.

The Fleeing condition says that you must use your actions to move away from whatever caused the Fleeing condition.

...The potion caused the Fleeing condition.

What am I running from? The potion inside my stomach? The caster who brewed the potion?

There was no enemy or damaging effect nearby.

How is this spell SUPPOSED to function? It's a fairly common potion. Do we have an actual ruling on this?

[Thod]

Expeditious Retreat in 2e is extremly powerful - but also restrictive

APG P.258 - Potion of Expeditious Retreat wrote:

Potion of Expeditious Retreat

Item 1
ConsumableMagicalPotionTransmutation
Source Advanced Player's Guide pg. 258
Price 3 gp
Usage held in 1 hand; Bulk L
Activate Single Action Interact
The stopper for a potion of expeditious retreat is crafted to easily snap open in dire circumstances. When you drink this potion, you become fleeing for 1 minute, and you gain a +40-foot status bonus to all your Speeds for the duration as long as you are fleeing. You immediately Stride.

Start with the crunch/benefits:

Low cost (3 GP, level 1 item, common)
Works for all speeds
+40 foot status bonus means you can move an extra 120 feet on a triple stride
2 actions in one - interact to drink and immidiate Stride - so you don't lose an action

Does this sound too good to be true?

Here is the drawback that balances that 'too good to be true':
You get the fleeing condition
You only get the bonus while fleeing - to quote from above
"you gain a +40-foot status bonus to all your Speeds for the duration as long as you are fleeing.

So how does it work?

A) If you want to retreat from an enemy/danger then you get an extra 120 feet movement without losing an action.

B) If there is no enemy/danger then nothing happens.

So ask yourself - is the machine a danger/enemy? In this case you run away from it and not towards it.

Is the machine not a danger/enemy? In this case nothing happens. Should an enemy/danger appear in the next minute then you run away from it.

[HumbleGamer]

I too hate this being not accurate at all, but on the other hand I can guess that the moment you drink the potion you have in mind what you want to escape/runaway from.

And that's it.

A dragon TKd your party and you are scared to death and wanna try to run away? The dragon would be the reason making you flee for a whole minute a super high speed.

The earth is falling under your feet and everything around you seems beginning to collapse? You run for your life never looking back until the fleeing condition expires.

Or at least, this is the way I see it.

[Thod]

HumbleGamer wrote:

I too hate this being not accurate at all, but on the other hand I can guess that the moment you drink the potion you have in mind what you want to escape/runaway from.

And that's it.

A dragon TKd your party and you are scared to death and wanna try to run away? The dragon would be the reason making you flee for a whole minute a super high speed.

The earth is falling under your feet and everything around you seems beginning to collapse? You run for your life never looking back until the fleeing condition expires.

Or at least, this is the way I see it.

Humble Gamer got it pretty right apart of of one detail.

Dragons - at least in Open areas - are the one enemy not to run from - rather play dead and hope or find cover.

Dragons - if they can fly - are the fastest creatures in the bestiary and even +40 on your speed is very likely not enough.

Dragon Speeds (Fly)
Type young/adult/ancient

Black 100/120/150
Blue 100/150/200
Green 120/160/200
Red 120/150/180
White 80/120/160

Brass 120/120/150
Bronze 120/140/200
Copper 120/140/200
Gold 140/180/200
Silver 100/140/180

They would love to see you running away. Makes the hunt just that more interesting. But they will catch up.