Does the line on Quick Alchemy about remaining potent for only 1 round matter for poisons once they've been applied?
You swiftly mix up a short-lived alchemical item to use at a moment's notice. You create a single alchemical item of your advanced alchemy level or lower that's in your formula book without having to spend the normal monetary cost in alchemical reagents or needing to attempt a Crafting check. This item has the infused trait, but it remains potent only until the start of your next turn.
I mostly wonder because poisons are applied by being Activated, which seems like it could be distinct for this purpose. Other items have their effects immediately, but poisons can be Activated and have their effects occur later depending on the method of exposure.
Injury: An injury poison is activated by applying it to a weapon or ammunition, and it affects the target of the first Strike made using the poisoned item.
If poisons do have no effect after the turn they were created, does that impact other persistent-effect alchemical items like smokesticks created by Quick Alchemy?
Best Answer
Quick Alchemy Poison Stays on the Weapon
The infused trait normally allows nonpermanent effects to persist for their normal duration (up to the next daily preparations, or longer for afflictions).
Potency is the Ability to be Activated
How Quick Alchemy works depends on what 'potent' means in this context—whether it means an item can be Activated or whether it has any effect.
Most alchemical items have effects with a duration longer than 1 round, so potency as the "ability to have any effect" severely limits Quick Alchemy's usefulness when spontaneously creating virtually all elixirs, poisons, and alchemical tools, and even many bombs which rely on persistent damage or other persistent non-affliction conditions.
Because of this, it seems much more natural that Quick Alchemy limits the time between creation and Activation rather than total duration of effect, potency as the "ability to be Activated".
Applied Poison is Activated
So when using Quick Alchemy to create an injury poison like graveroot, you have until the start of your next turn to Activate the poison by applying it to a weapon or ammunition. As a nonpermanent effect of the poison, this stays applied for its normal duration, limited to your next daily preparations.
If someone is struck with the poisoned weapon, then the affliction that affects them would not be subject to this duration limit because of the exception under the infused trait.