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Back in the second edition of AD&D, potions of Youth and Longevity were valuable, both to GMs as plot devices, and as a useful way for players to compensate for the variety of supernatural effects that caused aging. However, when Third Edition was released, unnatural aging was largely removed as a gameplay mechanic, having been replaced, for the most part, by experience point costs and negative levels. Potions of youth and longevity were removed at the same time, presumably as being no longer needed as a way of balancing powerful spells. (Also, third edition and 3.5 both moved potions away from having effects not covered by spell effects, and Pathfinder both removed the concept of experience point costs and made negative levels much easier to deal with. These aren't obviously relevant to my question, but I mention them here in case they're relevant to someone's answer in a way I can't predict.)

I'm looking to return the flavourful potions of Youth and Longevity to my Pathfinder game... But I'm worried that I might unbalance the game, or severely weaken the vermilisitude of a setting if I make eternal youth too cheap and easy to obtain.

Compounding this is the fact that I've got no actual play experience with second edition, so it's easy for me to misjudge the effect these potions had on the game.

Has anyone attempted to adapt potions of youth and longevity for Pathfinder before? For that matter, are there any published rules for it? What pitfalls should I look out for? How should I go about adapting second edition's Youth and Longevity potions to the Pathfinder rules?

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When introducing a new item/effect into a system I've found it's best to drip feed it and/or make such things exceedingly rare until the implications of this new item/effect can be understood. Rare components (unicorn tears, etc) or large expense can help this, but your world system could be rocked if aging powerful npcs hear word of what this is, a whole war could be sparked off over a single potion... – Rob Mar 29 '12 at 7:57
@Rob Thanks for pointing that out. I'm actually planning to take the "Oh, youth potions were part of the setting the whole time. You didn't notice?" route, so I'm less concerned about the changes the items will make to the setting than the changes the items should have made to the setting retroactively. – GMJoe Mar 30 '12 at 5:01
@user867 The game lets you play Elans, an immortal race, at LA +0. You could also become undead or Deathless (BoED) at any point in the game. No, immortality is not really unbalanced. – Yandros Mar 30 '12 at 12:57
@Yandros I'm not concerned about immortality, itself, being the unbalancing factor, so much as I am about the possibility of players sinking vast fortunes into potions of youth and having little left ot spend on other magical items. I could compensate for that by giving them extra cash, of course, but I'd prefer not to. – GMJoe Apr 4 '12 at 7:00

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20th Level Alchemists in Pathfinder have the option of taking eternal youth as the Grand Discovery capstone ability.

Eternal Youth: The alchemist has discovered a cure for aging, and from this point forward he takes no penalty to his physical ability scores from advanced age. If the alchemist is already taking such penalties, they are removed at this time. (from the Advanced Players Guide, page 31)

Likewise, 20th level Wizards can take the Immortality Arcane Discovery in place of their 20th Level bonus feat

Immortality (Ex): You discover a cure for aging, and from this point forward you take no penalty to your physical ability scores from advanced age. If you are already taking such penalties, they are removed at this time. You must be at least a 20th-level wizard to select this discovery. (Ultimate Magic, Page 86).

Most games do not span over decades so these sorts of rules are more for flavour. I don't think it would be game breaking to bring in homebrew rules to allow characters to achieve this earlier, like at 10th level.

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Death from unlucky dice rolls is far more common than death from advanced age. – okeefe Mar 29 '12 at 12:38
Heh, I've never had a character around long enough to get the "old penalties". They always either die or reach a high level and retire before they're out of their young years. – BBlake Mar 29 '12 at 14:07
Interesting... While this doesn't specifically refer to the potions, it kinda-sorta-definitely implies that such potions should only be created by relatively powerful magic-users. Come to think of it, in second edition, potions could only be made by characters of ninth level and higher. That kind of requirement could definitely help keep the in-setting rarity high. – GMJoe Mar 30 '12 at 4:56

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