A Homebrewed series of Consumables...?

[DefKab]

So.
I have a small party, only three players, and I'm trying to give them consumables to raise the number of viable tactics presented to them at the table, and I want to give them two (2) bottles of four types of consumables, and I want them to be themed off of the class roles.

Some are easy, like a striker, the Whetstone adds a 1d8 damage to a roll IF the player hits with the next attack.
I can just use potions for the Leader...
But, the controller and defender are harder...
I wanna have a Defender consumable that works like the Shield utility power... Once drunk, they have the encounter to use the Shield encounter power once, whenever they want...
And the controller one seems like it should be a thrown consumable that creates difficult terrain, maybe like a Primal power to cause weeds to overgrow maybe? Any ideas?

[Ashdate]

So.
I have a small party, only three players, and I'm trying to give them consumables to raise the number of viable tactics presented to them at the table, and I want to give them two (2) bottles of four types of consumables, and I want them to be themed off of the class roles.

My question would be, "why are the existing consumables not sufficient enough?"

Strikers, for example, might get bonus damage/to hit from an Augmenting Whetstone, or you could simply use something like a Frozen Whetstone for some extra damage each encounter.

For a defender, an Elixir of Defense or Stone of Shielding might work well.

For a controller, there are tons of consumables that do controller-y stuff (albeit more single-target, but that's probably by design). If you want. Four-Sided Caltrop creates a small zone that slows creatures that enter/start their turn there, while Toadcackle is a burst effect that slows and gives vulnerability to damage.

At the very least, you'll probably have an easier time homebrewwing something by seeing what's already available for you to use.

[Breccia]

First of all, Ashdate has a very good point. The existing rulebooks have a ton of existing items you can easily use to fill most situations. Of course, this is of little help if you don't own the aforementioned books, but it's a good place to start.

That said, there's nothing wrong ever with coming up with your own items. You can use the old DM "these items were made by a secret formula the PCs don't get" to restrict access in case they turn out too strong. But basing them off existing items (again, Ashdate said this) is a good place to start. And if you're going to make your own, consider doing it based on the specific characters in your campaign.

Let's say, hypothetically, your party has a wizard that happens to have more push/pull/slide attacks than normal, and enjoys using them. You could create

Flask of Featherweight
Throw this flask as a ranged weapon 5/10 attacking with the item's level + 3 vs. Reflex. On a hit, the victim is featherweighted and any forced movement adds 2 squares to the result for
-- the next attack, or next turn (level 1/6/11...)
-- save ends (level 3/8/13...)
-- the encounter (level 5/10/15...)

Remember to keep the item's level always involved. A potion that, for example, adds +2 to your AC is pretty much always useful, and if that was its only rule, there'd be no reason to get higher level versions, ever. There's a list of defensive items in...um...the MMV? Anyhow, they do the following (paraphrased): Drink the potion and lose a healing surge. At any point in the encounter, you can replace your Fort defense with 20/25/30... (based on the potion's level) for one attack. And Reflex and Will exist too, of course, I see no reason you couldn't do the same with AC. The scaling nature of enemies means that the low-level versions eventually phase out of usefulness.

Remember that a defender is tasked not only with being hard to kill themselves, but also keeping others from harm. Consider items that can be thrown as reactions to enemies attacking other targets, penalizing that attack or reducing the damage inflicted. Sometimes, you can't mark quickly enough.

For your leader, consider beneficial potions that can be thrown at teammates. Adding +1 level to an existing item should compensate for this added feature.

And finally, don't forget Wondrous Items. I love these things. They're not exactly what you're looking for, true, but imagine the following choice:
-- the party gets 5 flasks that cause a zone burst 1 within 10 to become difficult terrain, or
-- the party gets a no-slot magic item that does this once per day.
It's a difference between burst and sustainability. There are some fun and interesting Wondrous Items, like the golden spade, that are worth looking into.