DeepArk Games, a studio founded by mainstream industry veterans, has launched a crowdfunding campaign for The Black Book of Potions, a 130-page alchemy supplement designed for Dungeons & Dragons 5e. Currently live on Kickstarter, the project has swiftly surpassed its initial funding goal, securing over £1,260 from more than 90 backers in its opening days, with 16 days remaining.
The supplement aims to completely reconstruct how tabletop groups handle magical mixtures, moving away from simple numeric stat-buffs toward an integrated, socio-political campaign element. Rather than treating concoctions as disposable treasure found in dungeon chests, the book provides systems for brewing procedures, market fluctuations, shelf lives, and structured mixing results across ten distinct potion families.
Moving Beyond “Spell Scrolls with Corks”
For many 5e tables, a potion of healing or resistance is rarely more than a number noted down in an inventory slot, quickly forgotten until a mechanical emergency arises. The Black Book of Potions designer Kevin Fontolan argues that in a high-magic setting, alchemy should carry significantly more weight.
Fontolan explains:
In a high-magic world, if you are not a wizard, bottled magic becomes infrastructure. Potions are medicine for commoners, contraband for criminals, battlefield tools for soldiers, sacred objects for temples, and emergency magic for desperate people. Once you give a potion a shelf life, a black-market price, or a faction controlling its supply or circulation, it stops being forgotten loot and becomes part of the campaign’s politics.”
The supplement structures its content around making these liquids feel like tangible parts of the setting before a player ever decides to drink them. Fontolan notes that the goal was to distance the design from standard fantasy tropes.
I wanted to get away from treating potions as ‘spell scrolls with corks’. A good potion should feel like a real object in the world: someone made it, someone sells it, someone lies about it, someone is trying to regulate it, and someone is probably smuggling it.”
Authored Alchemy vs. Random Explosions
Mechanically, the book introduces 100 distinct potions categorised into ten thematic families, including Ember Vials, Changeling Draughts, Frost Oils, and Venom Vials. A core pillar of the supplement is its approach to mixing multiple brews together.
While many standard roleplaying games relegate potion-mixing to complete GM improvisation or chaotic, high-damage random explosion tables, this supplement introduces predictable, logical reactions that reward clever play.
For mixing, I did not want the answer to be only a random explosion table. I wanted it to feel like authored alchemy. Fire and frost might create steam, pressure, or unstable force. Shadow and memory might reveal something that should have stayed buried. The fun is giving players a reason to think like alchemists instead of just chugging whatever is in the satchel.”
By establishing fixed reactions, such as a fire draught reacting specifically when touched by frost, the system intends to spark a broader narrative economy at the table.
A lot of 5e tables already have potions, but they rarely have a potion economy. Who can brew them? Who can afford them? Where can the ingredients be found? What happens when a batch spoils? Those questions are where the table starts getting stories instead of just inventory.”
Campaign Details and Production
The final grimoire will feature full mechanical breakdowns, side effects, lore, and precise gold-piece valuations for both legal and illicit trade.
- Alchemist Scholar (PDF) [c. £12 / $15]: Provides a digital PDF copy of the supplement and access to all unlocked stretch goals.
- Gifted Alchemist Scholar (PDF) [c. £13 / $17]: Includes the digital PDF, all stretch goals, and your name added to the book’s credits.
- Alchemist Master (PDF + POD) [c. £19 / $25]: Includes the digital PDF and all stretch goals, plus a Print-on-Demand link to order a premium hardcover copy via DriveThruRPG at manufacturing cost.
- Legendary Alchemist (PDF + POD) [c. £21 / $27]: Recieves the digital PDF, stretch goals, the hardcover print-on-demand link, and a name inclusion in the credits.
- Alchemist of a New Potion [c. £75 / $99]: Offers direct collaboration with the design team to create a custom potion entry with bespoke mechanics, lore, and mix hooks to be included in the final book, alongside the PDF, print-on-demand link, and special credits.
Per the campaign’s mandatory disclosures, DeepArk Games utilises AI-generated baselines for the book’s initial illustrations, which are then manually refined and edited using Krita. The studio notes that the book’s layout, text, and underlying mechanics remain entirely handcrafted.
The campaign is being run out of Sheridan, Wyoming, and offers digital PDF tiers alongside a premium hardcover print-on-demand option fulfilled via DriveThruRPG.
Quick Links
- Kickstarter: Black Book of Potions
