The problem with potions in TFT

All page references are to The Fantasy Trip In the Labyrinth rulebook, unless noted otherwise.

A collection of my own musings, not to be taken too seriously. -HJC


Healing potions can't exist in TFT because nobody can afford to make them.

Healing potion calculation:

Cost/wk Item Notes
$100 Base pay for a Healer(ITL 58) "Superior"(ITL 16) Healer: ST 8, DX 15, IQ 14 (Cheaper than an Alchemist)
$100 Danger pay bonus(ITL 64) Gets blown up on a roll of 17 or 18, not just 18.
$50 Cost of living for the Healer Note that is in addition to the base salary(ITL 57)
$150 Rent for Alchemist laboratory (ITL 145) Would cost $10,000 to build it
$50 Materials for Alchemist laboratory (ITL 145)
$0 Steal the 5 page, $100 book that describes the procedure (ITL 145)
$1070 Common materials for ten healing potions (10 * $107 by ITL 147)
$64.75 Average explosion damage (ITL 145) 1d * $1000 * 1.85% chance
$19.43 Average explosion healing (ITL 145) 2d * $150 * 1.85% chance (Assuming somebody is selling healing potions for $150 each)

$1,604 Total costs

-$1,431 Ten potions sold a week for $150 each (ITL 147) On a roll of 15 or less, 95.37% of the time

$173 Average loss each week, not including overhead such as sales, handling, and security.

The same sort of in depth calculation shows that other potions (and the magic items that depend on them) can't exist.

So when the PCs travel to the Wizard's Guild they'll be greeted only by an "Out Of Business" sign.

Magic item calculation.

Amulet vs. Creature calculation:

Cost/wk Item Notes
-$200 Base pay for a ST 8, DX 14, IQ 18 wizard (ITL 59) Getting to 40 attribute points costs 8,300 XP + 500 XP for Lesser Magic Item Creation, so this is an amazingly low wage
-$50 Cost of living for the enchanter Note that is in addition to the base salary (ITL 57)
-$100 Base pay for four apprentices (ITL 59) This is from the one part in 300 of the population who are wizards (ITL 134), with nothing better to do
-$100 Cost of living for the apprentices Note that is in addition to the base salary(ITL 57)
-$150 Rent for wizard's laboratory (ITL 145) Would cost $10,000 to build it
-$50 Materials for wizard's laboratory (ITL 145)
$0 Steal the 15 page, $300 book that describes the procedure (ITL 141)
-$300 2 doses Fear potion At $150 each

-$950 Total costs per week

$909 One amulet sold every 3.3 weeks for $3,000 each On a roll of 14 or less, 90.09% of the time

-$41 Average loss each week, not including overhead such as sales, handling, and security.

Youth Potions are a great way to make money

Let us setup a lab to produce exactly one batch of potions.

Cost Item Notes
$3,000 20 weeks pay for a Alchemist(ITL 58) "Superior"(ITL 16) Alchemist: ST 8, DX 15, IQ 14
$3,000 Danger pay bonus(ITL 64) She won't be blown up, but let's be generous.
$3,000 Cost of living for the Alchemist She lives like a princess(ITL 57)
$10,000 Buy an Alchemist laboratory As above nobody can afford to use them so should be available.
$2,000 100 page book that describes the procedure (ITL 145)
$1,000 20 weeks materials for Alchemist laboratory (ITL 145)
$120,000 Materials for ten Youth potions (10 * (4*$2k + $4k) by ITL 148)
$100,000 A plus two Charm (ITL 152) Assumes that the potions needed are somehow made...

-$242,000 Total costs

$364,547 Ten potions sold for $40,000 each (ITL 147) Need to avoid an 18, twenty times in a row, 91.1% of the time

$122,547 Average profit on the first batch

$234,547 Average profit on each following batch

Unfortunately these profits are entirely theoretical, because nobody has ever returned from a Dragon Safari with even a single dragon heart.


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This game aid is the original creation of Henry J. Cobb and is released for free distribution, and not for resale, under the permissions granted in the Steve Jackson Games Online Policy.