We clearly have different understandings of the spell.
The spell as I understand it requires the target item to be either well known or clearly visualized. If you don't know even so much as the shape of the container for the potion, then it is neither well known nor clearly visualized.

Damn good point about the swords, though I wouldn't count poisons as a potion. Mainly because D&D does tend to seperate the 2 a bit.

And yeah, defenitely gonna go with False Life, thank you for suggesting that Tedronai.

Question though, would searching for all potions from a particular maker be dependant on him making all his potions using your last set of examples? Maybe he used the same bottles, but unless he shaped them himself or payed for exclusivity, that would imply a surplus of a particular type of bottle in that area. So there is no garuntee that the found item would be a potion of his making. You could find yourself sifting through tons of bottles of maple syrup or ground spices. All bottled in the wares of a local glass blower.

This has become a very interesting and engaging debate. I'm loving in.

Ack, you posted while I was typing...

Are you basing your interpretations on the spell as presented in the SRD, or in the Player's Handbook?

Because as I said, the players handbook has an expanded definition of the spells use, and mentions that more general search parameters can be used.

Only if you define a potion conceptually. Defined by external, easily detectable traits, you'd go from, "brown liquid held in a round glass vial labelled 'Bull's Strength'"

to

"brown liquid held in a round glass vial labelled 'Bull's Strength'"
or
"orange liquid held in a round pewter flask"
or
"clear, viscuous liquid held in a water bag"
or
"clear liquid held in a flat bottle"
or
...
and so on, for every combination of colour, viscosity, container, smell, and any other trait that would fit any individual potions but would not fit any individual unit of any other liquid in the entire world.

EDIT: Though I'm not saying the spell doesn't actually do that. I'm just saying the question whether it does more or less depends on whether you decide it selects by empirical or intentional parameters - and that depends on the individual.

I've been using the SRD, which does have a clause for 'general items', but that clause does not contain any exception to the requirements for familiarity or clarity of visualization.


Yes, my reference to potions made by an individual was shorthand for potions made with a particular set of qualities that might be sufficiently distinguishable to avoid that maple syrup issue.