"I think Hydrogen is a rare element" and other science facts.

[Umbran]

Poul Anderson (of Appendix N Three Hearts and Three Lions fame) had a book about one of those (Tau Zero). I think Star Trek ships supposedly have magnetic collectors on the front of their nacelles. Conceptually (IIRC), it works. It's just no longer considered a likely path to interstellar travel because 1) the (general) interstellar medium is a lot less dense than initially predicted, and 2) fusing Hydrogen-1 (the bulk of what would be scooped up) is a lot harder than we thought it would be.

Yep. Fusing basic hydrogen is a pain. There have been various mathematical attempts to make it work since, but they certainly aren't practical at our technological levels.

But, you can handwave it pretty easily ("Look, a nebula! Dense, and enriched with deuterium and tritium!"). So, handwaving getting hydrogen from an even more dense source, like a gas giant atmosphere, really shouldn't be that bad.

 

[Umbran]

Yep. One of the exams in one of my astronomy classes had "why won't they work?" as a question. Professor was expecting one answer, I gave him two and a half.

Yeah, well, reasons why they won't work have been around since 1978, so don't get too cocky about that.

 

[Edgar Ironpelt]

So I had a conversation about this once. We were discussing common, expensive material components for spells, ones that have set prices. 100 gp pearls, diamonds and diamond dust, that sort of thing. If there components are consumed by casting (as happens in many versions of D&D), what happens when, you know, the world runs out of them? Even though pearls are grown, there can't be that many of the right price. Or does inflation and local pricing matter? Does Identify require lesser pearls in the desert than it does in a sea town?

Do diamonds automatically replenish themselves, perhaps due to some rift to an elemental plane? Do the Gods do it? Will prices or even components change over time? Are these things bought and sold in a "mage marketplace"?

And what does happen if an enterprising Wizard opens a Gate to the Elemental Plane of Earth and negotiates with the Dao for gems in bulk?

And if creating undead requires black onyx gems, why aren't black onyx gems contraband - and why aren't there search & destroy campaigns against them?

In my games I normally rule that substitutes and synthetics are available for that sort of magical use. In any case I prefer to move away from cut and dried recipes that must be adhered to when it comes to material components for spellcasting or item creation. Mileage may vary, but I find that such cut and dried recipes make magic feel less magical and wondrous, and more tech-like and industrial.

(A contributing factor here is my utter loathing of spell fumble systems, and thus of substitution being used as an excuse to inflict spell fumbles. I Will Not Punish a wizard, either PC or NPC, with a spell fumble or weird side effect for using 50gp worth of otto of roses in a spell when the 'standard, official' version of the spell calls for 50gp worth of ruby dust.)

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Yet, going plaid make still makes more sense than going salamander

Hey, once you go salamander you'll never go... never mind.

 

[James Gasik]

Yep. Fusing basic hydrogen is a pain. There have been various mathematical attempts to make it work since, but they certainly aren't practical at our technological levels.

But, you can handwave it pretty easily ("Look, a nebula! Dense, and enriched with deuterium and tritium!"). So, handwaving getting hydrogen from an even more dense source, like a gas giant atmosphere, really shouldn't be that bad.

Feel the need for an obligatory quote. "There's coffee in that nebula."

 

[Livemike]

Free soup for everyone!

Hope you have the "Iron Stomach" ability because there is going to be a LOT of bacteria.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Hope you have the "Iron Stomach" ability because there is going to be a LOT of bacteria.

Probiotic Soup!

 

[Ruin Explorer]

But sometimes, the GM just gets the science wrong!

I fairly recently had to explain the nigh-incompressibility of water and how the equalization of water pressure would work to the DM in our Mothership game, because it was causing some... issues. Indeed unless it's medical (we have an MD!) the DM of that tends to ask me about science stuff, or watches my face to see if he's getting science stuff wrong lol. Most of the time he's "close enough".

 

[Staffan]

Reminds me of a biotech device they had in an Aeon supplement, the Flor de Água. It was a biotech flower, but instead of using photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, it produced water.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Reminds me of a biotech device they had in an Aeon supplement, the Flor de Água. It was a biotech flower, but instead of using photosynthesis to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, it produced water.

Also know as "the suffocator"!