Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="TheAuldGrump" data-source="post: 2176818" data-attributes="member: 6957">Though it might be better at penetrating armor - platinum is harder than steel. This is one of several reasons thet platinum pieces do not occur in my game. if the blank is harder than the press then you don't make coins with it!The other two reasons are the high smelting point - no cast coins either, and finally, humans have not yet discovered platinum. (Dwarfs have, but they do not make coins with it, having more industrial uses.)Platinum is the key for efficient hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells. Mind you, it still won't replace gasoline, it takes more energy to crack the hydrogen out of water than you get from the fuel cell... I think of this every time someone brings up hydrogen as a fuel.Back on topic - Electric eals use their electrical generation to hunt prey. In D&D terms it would only be nonlethal damage, but being stunned while underwater is not a good thing.<a href="http://www.didyouknow.cd/animals/octopus.htm" target="_blank">Blue Ringed Octopus</a>, a tiny octopus about the size of a golf ball, with a truly powerful poison. It finds a place where a current passes through a confined space, releases its poison, an lets the current carry the toxin into the confined space to kill the prey. A lot of people have been killed by the blue ringed octopus, people think that the bright blue glowing rings look cool... The toxin is the same one contained in puffer fish.The Auld Grump*EDIT* My view of octopi was permanently warped by one that a science teacher had as a pet. Not just an aquarium fish, the thing (Mrs. Grundy) was friendly, and had even been taught tricks. (How to plop through a hoop, and shaking hands, shaking hands with a tea cup sized octopus feels exactly the way you would think it does! Sort of like rubberbands covered in wet chicken skin. But it liked people.</blockquote>

Verification