This is kind of a formal feedback discussion or appeal to tweak some Medicine/Herbalism changes for characters that are interested in medicine.  I've been messing with it off-and-on for the better part of a year (and some change) with it and have encountered some concerns that I would like to have typed out for the developers to consider.

So, at present, there is no way for any critter to verify that the effects of a potion will happen or should happen. If a critter hands another a potion and says: "This does X." there is no guarantee that the effects will happen, or if the potion will work in a timely manner, or it will even be medicine to the critter to begin with. It is, to my knowledge and experimentations for the length of time I have been working with; chance. 

And I do mean chance, because I am an exceptionally practiced character that has extremely high intelligence (23) and have Mastered Medicine (Level 50). It should be that I could have a means to have something happen almost within a minute of someone quaffing my medicines. 

My reasoning for the balancing is; why do medicine when you can just be a mage and support people with noticeable and immediate results? 

"Aw, man, I'm scarred and messed up pretty bad... Can you help me with a battle?"
White mage: "Yes! Here's a passive HP Buff and your scars removed immediately, WITH an anti-magic shield! :)"

Medicine-Maker: "Here's a potion I made cooked into some drink that MIGHT make combat easier for you and MIGHT restore your HP in combat, but there's no guarantee that it'll happen when you're in combat and just has a mind of it's own to work AFTER the battle ended... I also have no idea how long it'll last and if it's even effective for you. That'll be 1 Luna, please! :)" 

I have kind of experimented with most of the crafting skills, and have determined that (to me, anyways) Medicine has the most inconsistent and esoteric results... I cannot nail down exactly what something will do... I have mixed Scalewort (Which increases strength) once mixed into a freshly-made cup of juice and had the effect proc but it did not increase my strength at all. I have mixed several herbs into one container, and there IS a limit to how many you can add to one brew, I have observed a failure/crit fail to add herbs... so there IS mechanics on that. 

The downside is the critters I talk to (off and on farwoods) also don't have any idea on how it works, either... It's so esoteric and cryptic that a lot of us are scratching our heads on it's utility or how a critter could sell what is essentially placebos.

So here's my feature requests... 

1) Stoneworkers could get a new recipe using glass, wood, metal pieces to craft a glass magnifier, which is used on drinks/food/potions that uses the medicine skillcheck to verify the contents of the drink/food if there is any! 
For example: Squirrel does not trust that their barrel of root beer hasn't been tampered with. They hire Mouse Medicine-maker to verify the contents with their magnifier. Mouse verifies the keg contains Head-Splitter through their high skill check and the magnifier takes durability damage.

Why: This removes A LOT of the ambiguity and 'guesswork' out of the nature of medicine, giving critters more assurance that something can be sold to someone instead of based off a 'chance'. Smiths immediately know the result of their work, woodworkers know the immediate result of their work as well as any crafter knows the result of their work but Medicine/Skullduggery have to assume it's a quality product, often for coin on the purchasing critters behalf.  Critters that take product from Medicine-makers have only everything to lose. Once you pay for a product, you assume you're getting what you pay for. This change would highly benefit critters that want to get into it, with a high cost to acquire it for some assurances.

2) More results should happen when you add herbs to anything. This is pretty self-explanatory... but when you add herbs to something, feedback would be appreciated heavily! For example... 

When you add ONE pestle of Dragoneye to something, a flavor text (added to the item description) should say: "The [Item Name] smells faintly of medicine" upon successful addition of a medicinal herb. A failure should be like magic where: "The [Item name] bubbles faintly.". Adding multiple herbs to the brew should respond similarly... "The [Item Name] smells overpowering of medicine!" and so on. Have that flavor text be tied to the medicine skill, so a regular layman won't really recognize the scent of medicine in a mixture.

Why: It's very hard to track what's added to what, and you specifically have to figure out which of your stack of vials has medicine in it, or which of your stack of teas has the rogue dragoneye in it... They (all) stack with each other since when you add herbs to something, it's not unique. (It doesn't count as a separate object). There's also no obvious feedback to adding multiple herbs to something does [anything]. You CAN add multiple herbs to something, but there is no verification or 'feedback' that it does absolutely anything in regards to effect. 

3) A lorebook on the subject would be much appreciated. Something from the 'developers' perspective regarding how medicine/skullduggery works would be SO appreciated... If you need someone to help write it I am very much available to help with that. But there's so far nothing to help "Advanced" Medicine-makers get further in their craft. Once you 'know' magic, you pretty much know all you need to know... Once you 'know' how to craft an item, that's the extent of your experiences... Once you COOK something, you watch, see and sometimes even taste the result with high visual feedback. There's nothing (to my knowledge) of that regard in the slightest. A primer would be VERY appreciated.

And that's my feedback! I apologize if the tone of the thread is dodgy but it's coming from a place of minor frustration but I'm very addicted to the gameplay loop of getting the materials to craft these customized brews that [do] things... sometimes... maybe. Some tweaks would make it near-addicting!