This potion name generator makes names for magical brews in D&D campaigns, fantasy stories and games. Choose the kind of potion, from a healing draught to a poison, and the format you prefer. It names the vessel and the effect, as in Elixir of Mending, or describes the liquid, as in Crimson Tonic.

Six Kinds of Potion

Kind	What it does	Example
Healing	Closes wounds, restores strength, brings sleep	Salve of Closed Wounds
Poison	Harms, weakens or kills	Venom of Quiet Lungs
Strength and body	Makes the drinker stronger, tougher or faster	Draught of Iron Sinew
Mind and magic	Sharpens the senses or grants knowledge	Essence of the Third Eye
Stealth and disguise	Hides, silences or changes the drinker	Tincture of Unseen Passage
Love and emotion	Stirs or soothes feeling	Cordial of Fond Memory

The Words for a Potion

The vessel words are real terms from medicine and alchemy, and each has its own shade of meaning. A draught is a single dose to be swallowed at once. A tincture is a substance dissolved in alcohol and taken by the drop. A salve or balm is rubbed on the skin. A cordial was a medicine meant to strengthen the heart, from Latin cor, and an elixir was the alchemists' name for the liquid that would cure all illness. A philtre is a love potion and nothing else. Choosing the right word tells the players how the thing is used before they read the rules.

Potions at the Table

Two habits make potions more interesting in play. Give unidentified potions a name by appearance and reveal the real name once someone works out what it is. And let a few potions have a maker: a healing draught sold by one alchemist becomes a reason to go back to that shop. For the alchemist's shelf, the Spell Name Generator and the Magic Item Name Generator cover scrolls and enchanted objects, and the Tavern Name Generator covers drinks of the ordinary kind.

How to Use the Potion Name Generator

Choose a name format: Pick the "of" format, such as Elixir of Mending, or a describing word and a vessel, such as Crimson Tonic.
Choose the kind of potion: Healing, poison, strength, mind and magic, stealth or love. Each has its own vocabulary.
Generate: Each press gives six new potion names.
Copy: Use the copy button beside the name you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I name a potion?

Say what the bottle holds and what it does. Dungeons & Dragons uses the plainest form, Potion of Healing or Potion of Giant Strength. Swapping the first word for elixir, draught, tincture or philtre and making the effect more specific gives a name with more character, such as Draught of the Steady Heart.

What is the difference between a potion, an elixir, a tincture and a philtre?

In ordinary use, a potion is any drink with a medicinal or magical effect. An elixir is a sweetened medicinal liquid, and in alchemy the substance that grants long life. A tincture is something dissolved in alcohol. A philtre is specifically a love potion. Games use them loosely, and the differences are a useful way to make brews feel distinct.

What are good names for a poison?

Ones that describe what the victim notices, or fail to. Venom of Quiet Lungs and Tincture of Slow Sleep say how the poison works without the word death. Plant names also carry weight, because hemlock, nightshade and wormwood are real poisons or bitter herbs with long histories.

Does the generator give the potion's effect?

The name states the effect in a few words, and the rules are left to you. Decide how long it lasts, how strong it is and what it costs, to suit the game you are running.

Why describe a potion by colour?

Because characters often meet a potion before they know what it is. A label that says Crimson Tonic or Inkblack Philtre gives players something to see and argue about, and the effect becomes a discovery. Use the second format for unidentified loot.

Was alchemy real?

As a practice, yes. For many centuries alchemists in the Islamic world and Europe worked at furnaces and stills, trying to turn base metals into gold and to make a universal medicine. They did not succeed, but they developed distillation and much of the apparatus that later chemistry used.