Draft:Azoth

Omega 0.90.4

Azoth!TypePotionBase value (Au)1500Item level7Weight20Unidentified appearanceRandom containerCursed nameMercury

Azoth is a powerful potion that must be both enchanted and blessed before drinking. Freshly generated Azoth starts at −1 enchantment and is poisonous despite its high value.

Generation

Azoth belongs to the item-level-7 ordinary potion pool. It can appear as rare high-level random loot, at the pawn shop, or as a selected result of blessed acquirement. Unlike other ordinary potions, its preset −1 enchantment is retained during creation.

Although its definition calls the raw substance mercury, the normal new-game appearance shuffle assigns it a random container like the other potions. It is not safely identified merely by expecting a fixed mercury appearance.

Description

Drinking checks the following conditions in order:

State	Result
Enchantment below 0	Add 25 poison units, unless poison immunity prevents it.
Enchantment exactly 0	Halve current Constitution, rounding down; its maximum is unchanged.
Positive enchantment, blessing 0 or below	Halve maximum Power and set current Power to that value; drain a random 0–9 experience levels, with the associated HP loss and possible death.
Positive enchantment and blessing, but current Strength > twice maximum Strength	Fatal overdose.
Otherwise	Apply Azoth's beneficial effect.

Successful Azoth attempts to heal 1–100 HP, with a possible reserve of 10 HP above maximum under the normal healing rule. It removes blindness, poison and disease, uncurses currently used cursed equipment, and sets current mana to three times the calculated normal maximum. After temporarily removing equipment effects, current Strength is set to three times the old maximum Strength, maximum Strength rises by one, and equipment effects are reapplied. It does not raise every attribute maximum or permanently triple maximum Strength.

The overdose check happens before that removal of equipment effects. A previous successful dose will commonly leave current Strength high enough to make another immediately fatal. Neither successful nor harmful use automatically identifies Azoth's type.

Strategy

Fully identify and prepare each dose. Applying an ordinary blessing to an uncursed −1 Azoth raises blessing to +1 and enchantment to +2, satisfying both preparation requirements. Alternatively, enchantment alone makes its enchantment positive but still leaves the dangerous unblessed branch: check both properties.

Before drinking, compare current Strength with twice maximum Strength, including bonuses from equipment and other effects. Removing a Strength bonus can help only if it brings the current value to at most twice maximum Strength. A week of rest resets current attributes, but also removes other gains; evaluate that cost before preparing another dose.

Azoth is more than an emergency heal. Its Strength and mana gains can prepare a demanding expedition, while its +1 maximum Strength survives ordinary restoration of current stats. For a simple injury or poison problem, a safer healing or antidote avoids the preparation and overdose risks.