Can you make several of the same potion at once?

Question

The DMG says that brewing a potion takes 1 day. What if my priest prepares 3 slots with the same spell and has 3 times the ingredients? Can he then make 3 potions?

Does anyone have an idea about creating batch or multiple haling potions in 1 day?

Answer 1

Can a creature with the feat Brew Potion brew multiple potions in a day?

No. The Benefit of the feat Brew Potion (PH 89) reads, in part,

You can create a potion of any 3rd-level or lower spell that you know and that targets one or more creatures. Brewing a potion takes one day.

Emphasis mine. Thus no matter how many times the creature could have brewed the potion, the creature must take 1 day to brew 1 potion.

However, potions are largely considered the most inefficient of magic items. The game would likely be unharmed were the DM to house rule away that restriction.

Is there a way for a creature to brew multiple potions in a day?

Yes. Although Pathfinder works around this naturally, in Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 such an ability is limited to prestige classes.

• The prestige class alchemist savant (MoE 53) at each of levels 3 and 5 can brew 1 additional potion per day (eventually, then, 3 potions per day).
• The prestige class master alchemist (Mag 34), at each of levels 1, 5, and 9 can brew 1 additional potion per day (eventually, then, 4 potions per day).

Conveniently, the prerequisites allow a full caster to take both to their ends. Unfortunately, the abilities that allow brewing multiple potions in a day are worded to prevent them from combining. A DM who has a PC so committed to the fine art of potioneering that the PC'd take both classes would be wise to house rule away this restriction and let the abilities combine.

Answer 2

No - Unless you also have 3 Clerics, it'll take 3 days

Magic Items creation rules state that: (emphasis mine)

Creating an item requires one day per 1,000 gp in the item’s base price, with a minimum of at least one day. Potions are an exception to this rule; they always take just one day to brew. The character must spend the gold and XP at the beginning of the construction process. [...] The caster works for 8 hours each day. He cannot rush the process by working longer each day. But the days need not be consecutive, and the caster can use the rest of his time as he sees fit.

So no matter how many materials and spells you have, a single crafter can craft a single item per day (or work on a single item for an item requiring more than one day).

Also, consider that thematically, brewing a potion is much more than merely following a chemical recipe - it is the act of trapping magic in a bottle. Not only must the brewer spend magical effort (exhausting a spell as if it was cast), but he also loses some of his own "essence" or "life force" (the XP creation cost) - this doesn't sound like something you should be able to industrialize.

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By the way: in Pathfinder, they've fixed that for cheap potions and scrolls:

Brewing a potion takes 2 hours if its base price is 250 gp or less, otherwise brewing a potion takes 1 day for each 1,000 gp in its base price.

and similarly:

Scribing a scroll takes 2 hours if its base price is 250 gp or less, otherwise scribing a scroll takes 1 day for each 1,000 gp in its base price.

You may want to use that as a houserule to avoid having to spend 4 days every time your cleric wants to prepare 4 cure-light-wounds potions...

Answer 3

Prestige Class:

 Alchemist Savant    (This has already been discussed. [MoE pg53])

Familiar/Construct:

 Improved Familiar   7th lvl; There are homunculus that can be familiars.
                       Might be able to get a Dedicated Wright(Homunculus).

 Craft Construct     Dedicated Wright. You can make multiple of these Constructs.

Dedicated Wright

  **Item Creation (Su)**: A dedicated wright can perform
  the daily tasks related to item creation on behalf of its
  master. The master must meet (or emulate) all the prerequisites
  to create the desired item normally, and pays
  the gold and XP cost himself. The only cost a dedicated
  wright can help with is time. The master spends 1 hour
  initiating the process, channeling spell prerequisites into
  the dedicated wright, and paying the XP cost to make the
  item. He may then leave, allowing the wright to carry the
  process through to completion.

It says 8 hours to create, but only 1/day. You are prepping it, but the Wright is creating the item. You spend 1 hour to set it up, and let it go. You might be able to have 2-3 Wrights, creating over the day. Your DM will have to make that call.