What happens if you feed a potion to a dead (not unconscious) creature?
Specifically, could you shrink a corpse by force feeding it a Potion of Dimunition?
My gut says there's a reason potions actually need to be ingested (as opposed to showered in/applied topically). Since a corpse lacks the capacity to digest, I feel like the magic wouldn't work. But I don't have anything to back this up.
Best Answer
Some “potions” are applied topically. Actually, these “potions” are called oils, and refer to things like oil of sharpness which, when poured over a piercing or slashing weapon, makes it magically sharper. All of the oils are like that: they are effects for items, not for creatures, and they are applied to the item by pouring or dunking or whatever, rather than ingested.
Potions, on the other hand, use the term “imbibed.” That’s a fancy word for drinking. And drinking means more than just pouring it down a throat, it means swallowing and digestion and the substance making its way into the body. And besides, potions affect creatures, rather than objects the way oils do, and corpses are considered objects.
So pouring a potion down a corpse’s throat accomplishes about the same as pouring the same potion on the ground: nothing. If you specifically wanted a potion-like thing that could be applied to a corpse, that would be, for example, an oil of gentle repose, and that would be applied topically.