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Ability Proposal: Concoction

Flashlight237

VS Battles
Calculation Group
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Alright, so uhh... Here's the deal. From what I've seen, ranging from various oppositions of overly specific abilities (ex. Love Manipulation) to the existence of an ability removal megathread, the wiki seems to prefer umbrella abilities (ex. Non-Standard Breathing, Healing, and Empathic Manipulation) over overly specific abilities (ex. Sand Manipulation, Crystal Manipulation, and Smoke Manipulation). So why am I proposing Concoction? Well, I think it falls under the same umbrella ability quota that the wiki generally prefers. Why is it an umbrella? Well, I believe it accounts for various substances that either would or would not fall under "Poison Manipulation." Let's focus on the ones that don't fall under "Poison Manipulation" as I'm well aware on how that's the elephant in the room.

Pheromones: Okay, so pheromones are these chemicals that are generally used as markers. Insects generally use pheromones for things like identification, signals, mating rituals, whatever. Pretty much it's their way of "speaking." Aside from insects, I can hardly think of examples for this one.

Potions: Okay, now here's the meat of this one. Potions are these weird liquids that can do anything depending on how they're made. Granted there are solid potions out there, like the one the Wicked Witch of the West used enchant a field of poppies in order to entice Dorothy and the Munchkins and put them to sleep, but still. There are many examples of potions that come to mind. The one example that kicked off this thread is this very Mickey Mouse cartoon:


Here, we see Mickey Mouse creating a steroid potion that he makes use of in the form of an old-timey bug sprayer. Said potion puts the affected in a sort of Hulk mode that buffs them to a point of turning against those who had wronged them. I recommend watching the entire cartoon to see what I mean, because the cartoon will explain it better than I can.

Other examples include Steve, who makes use of potions as items, weapons, and arrow-tip enchantments; Dr. Nitrus Brio, who throws bottles of potions as a means of attack and even drinks his potions to turn into a more literal Hulk; and Witch from Puyo Puyo, who for all intents and purposes is a bit of a dummeh when it comes to potions as her potions ranged from completely useless to overly specific. Pokemon Trainers do make use of Potions as healing items, but I don't think they specifically made them, you know?

The fact that Potions can do anything alone should drive home the point that Chemical Manipulation is an umbrella ability, although pheromones and poisons fall under the same umbrella. Potions and poisons are most likely to fall under the supernatural umbrella than pheromones are as pheromones are fairly by-the-books chemicals while potions and poisons can be made to do or even affect anything, with potions being more associated with things like alchemy and magic.

There is a case in fiction where a poison can also be a potion where Tom makes a poisonous milk that immediately kills a fly, but winds up roiding up Jerry: https://tomandjerry.fandom.com/wiki/Dr._Jekyll_and_Mr._Mouse

Non-Toxic Chemicals: You see, skunks are a thing and, well, yeah. They spray weird stuff and it gets stinky... What else am I supposed to write here?

While I personally think it's unlikely that this one would go through due to the stipulations potions may have, I am personally satisfied that I can put this on the table. Plus let's be real, putting Witch in Armorchompy's "Worst User of Every Ability" thread would be the funniest thing ever. So yeah, there's that.
 
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Normally the ability to create or produce powerful chemicals would be classified as concoction. I l know Alfyn Greengrass and Castti Florenz also have this type of ability.
 
Bumping this real quick (got a little concerned that this thread would die if it gets past 30 days).
 
It feels like this ability should've always been a thing when Alchemy is one of the most common things in fantasy settings and potions are almost everywhere
 
That's kinda like having blacksmithing or enchanting or engineering as an ability.
It has pretty little common ground amongst users, as what the ability does in practice is determined by the abilities the things you make have.

We usually classify things more by what they do, rather than how they do it. There are some exceptions (e.g. magic), but generally speaking we don't have such abilities.

I feel like making a potion with X ability, could just be listed as preparation with the explanation that they can prepare said potion, much like you would for someone who can build a time machine given time.
And if you can just produce the potion on the spot, that's basically just having the ability of the option, just like wielding a sword that produces fire would just get listed as you having fire manip.

And the knowledge on how to build / mix something is stuff for the intelligence section, of course.
 
That's kinda like having blacksmithing or enchanting or engineering as an ability.
It has pretty little common ground amongst users, as what the ability does in practice is determined by the abilities the things you make have.

We usually classify things more by what they do, rather than how they do it. There are some exceptions (e.g. magic), but generally speaking we don't have such abilities.

I feel like making a potion with X ability, could just be listed as preparation with the explanation that they can prepare said potion, much like you would for someone who can build a time machine given time.
And if you can just produce the potion on the spot, that's basically just having the ability of the option, just like wielding a sword that produces fire would just get listed as you having fire manip.

And the knowledge on how to build / mix something is stuff for the intelligence section, of course.
Pardon me if I pick a few cherries here, but...

1. Isn't enchanting literally a supernatural ability (usually either Statistics Amplification or Power Bestowal, but can also be Curse Manipulation if you're imbuing curses into stuff)?
2. While yes, you can say that about alchemy, there are certain things about chemistry that don't involve knowledge. The bombardier beetle is an immediate example of such. The bombardier beetle just mixes stuff in its butt to produce its hot chemical spray, bearing in mind that insects are probably just stupid (at least I'm pretty sure insects are stupid; nobody bothered to study insect intelligence).
3. We have some powers/abilities that are more of a knowledge deal than a supernatural deal that are already on the wiki. Examples include weapon mastery, martial arts, vehicular mastery, and hacking. Even one of the types of non-standard breathing is a knowledge-based deal (Type 3). If anything, concoction (the ability to make potions and stuff) sits firmly on the line between knowledge and supernatural abilities, especially given potions granting supernatural abilities aren't exactly a thing real-life knowledge can do.
 
I agree with DontTalkDT.

To concoct something is simply to mix ingredients together.
In a world where these ingredients exist, literally anybody can do this.
To do it right is just a difference of knowledge, which would go under intelligence.
Even if someone had no knowledge, they could just follow a recipe, since the process is just mixing.

Things like martial arts, vehicular mastery, and weapon mastery are different because they rely not only on the knowledge of how to do these things, but the ability to do so. Even if I read a book on how to properly aim a gun, I probably still couldn't accurately shoot down a room of people. The talent to do so is more of an innate ability, and even if it can be obtained through time and training, it's ultimately an ability very few people have.
In contrast, the ability to mix things together is shared by almost anybody, and so it'd be something very few people don't have.

Therefore, I don't see this as an ability, or at least, not one worth writing, similar to other basic capabilities like walking and talking.
 
I personally wouldn't mine if a general "Crafting" ability was made if concoction or blacksmith forging, or mechanical construction are all sub examples of it.
 
I personally wouldn't mine if a general "Crafting" ability was made if concoction or blacksmith forging, or mechanical construction are all sub examples of it.
I will say:
If it's something they do mid-combat, then I could see an even more general ability like "crafting" possible.
That stipulation would also address my concern of everyone being able to do it.
 
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