Okay, I read the following passage from Wizard’s Workshop (Redbrand Hideout, Area 11) and then went down a rabbit hole for, like, an hour.

Iarno is trying to master the art of brewing potions and concocting alchemical mixtures. The books and notes scattered around the room are basic texts on alchemy. Any character proficient in Arcana can see that Iarno’s apparatus appears to be set up to brew potions of invisibility—not that he has succeeded so far.

Lost Mine of Phandelver, pg. 25

I’m assuming Glasstaff doesn’t have Invisibility copied into his spellbook, because I’d like to think that a wizard with an Intelligence score of 17 would realize it’s much easier (not to mention much cheaper) to scribe a spell scroll of invisibility rather than brew a potion of invisibility.

According to the Dungeon Master’s Guide, to brew a potion of invisibility, the wizard brewing the potion must be an 11th level spellcaster, cough up 50,000 gp in the process, and spend 1,000 days laboring over it. All to make a grape-flavored version of a 2nd level spell.

If we’re going by the guidelines in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, the spellcaster requirement becomes a non-factor, the cost comes down to a more reasonable 10,000 gp (ten THOUSAND gold pieces), and the time is reduced to a tenday over one fiscal quarter.

Hopefully this absurdity is something that will be addressed in the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons. But until then, Glasstaff will need to live with continued disappointment. The Faerûnian version of Doctor Doofenshmirtz.

Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes. Let’s spiff up the Wizard’s Workshop and turn it into an Eeevil Wizard’s Laboratory.

Adding all of these would be overkill, so pick and choose what you think would work best for your game

• An Unseen Servant. Yet another utility spell that many players won’t consider for their characters because of the lack of offensive output. But they can be a lot of fun for a DM to add to their Eeevil Wizard Laboratory. The spell duration is only an hour, but it’s a ritual spell that takes a single action to cast. So Glasstaff isn’t wasting precious resources having an unseen servant (or several of them) stirring his alchemical concoctions, keeping braziers stoked, pouring drinks for guests upon their arrival, or sweeping the floors. Non-arcane characters are left to wonder what force is driving these things, while arcane characters get a chance to shine by succeeding a DC 11 Intelligence (Arcana) check to identify the spell effect.
• Books. The box text describes “bookshelves crowded with sheaves of parchment and strange-looking tomes.” Here are my recommendations for tomes that catch the eye:
  • A clinical journal penned by Glasstaff, recording his findings on the faint aura of necromancy emanating from the crevasse, and its effects on the corpse of Thel Dendrar, which appears to gradually be animating. Glasstaff also theorizes that the close proximity of the crypts to the crevasse has animated the skeletons interred there.
  • A ritual spellbook with Unseen Servant and one other 1st level ritual spell from the wizard spell list.
  • The Apprentice’s Companion, Volume I
  • On Potions and Elixirs
  • Poisons And Known Antidotes
  • Brewing Ale, Beer and Wine
  • Boom, Bang, Blast. The Joy of Fireworks
• Lidded granite jars. Each contains the following:
  • A miniature version of a shrieker. This shrieking shittake keens loudly when the lid to its jar is removed.
  • A miniature version of a gray ooze, which attacks anyone who uncovers its jar. Its psuedopod attack deals 1 bludgeoning damage plus (1d4) acid damage.
  • A crawling claw, which attacks anyone who uncovers its jar.
• A covered wicker basket. Contains a docile giant centipede. Beside the basket is a potion stand with 2 vials of giant centipede poison.
• A small wire cage. Contains a cockatrice chick that attacks anyone who frees it from the cage.
• A jar filled with formaldehyde. A dead pixie floats inside it. A dead sprite is pinned to a board next to it, in the midst of being dissected.
• Several small jars and containers. A successful DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check identifies the contents of these stores as material spell components:
  • Tiny bell and fine silver wire (Alarm)
  • A diamond worth 50 gp (Chromatic Orb)
  • Red, yellow, and blue sand (Color Spray)
  • Charcoal, incense, and herbs (Find Familiar)
  • Mercury (Floating Disk)
  • A pearl worth 100 gp and an owl feather (Identify)
  • Lead-based ink (Illusory Script)
  • String and a small tiny of wood (Unseen Servant)
  • Gold dust (Arcane Lock)
  • Ruby dust (Continual Flame)
  • Jade dust and honeycombs (Magic Mouth)

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