Why Osmium?

[Sunken Valley]

Out of all the high density elements in the world, why did Redcloak pick Osmium?

[Mutant Sheep]

Why not? It shows he hasn't forgotten his Chem notes since the siege, and its shiny and scary. Better than any classic elementals, and he already used clorine and titanium. What, you want him to use a fire elemental?:smalltongue:

[Phoenix Xul]

It's the highest density, slightly more dense than Iridium. As a result, it would have the best resistance to the Resistance.

[Iamyourking]

Obviously he's a Zoofights fan and is summoning osmium from there.

[Kareasint]

It's the highest density, slightly more dense than Iridium. As a result, it would have the best resistance to the Resistance.

Given what RC knew about the Resistance, the elemental probably has damage reduction to normal weapon attacks as a result.

[Math_Mage]

High density, oxidizes to a poisonous gas (useful for dealing with swarms of mooks).

[rewinn]

Out of all the high density elements in the world, why did Redcloak pick Osmium?

It's an anagram for "I so mum!" ...

...which is either a reference to its silence, or a tribute to RC's mother, slain by paladins.

[NerfTW]

Probably just for the further humor value of Redcloak summoning obscure elementals. Rich probably just picked a dense metal. I doubt there's anything behind it.

[Soylent Dave]

Out of all the high density elements in the world, why did Redcloak pick Osmium?

Osmium is both highly dense and stable (which would translate to hefty damage reduction and no stupid weakness like exploding when you throw water at it)

It's incredibly hard, has a ridiculously high melting point and doesn't compress under pressure (until you get silly).

Osmium is king of the super-hard metals, basically - we don't use it much in the real world because it's so hard and brittle that it's really difficult to work it (and it's pretty heavy); when you're summoning elementals that probably isn't too much of a concern...

[edit: it's also one of the high-density metal elements which is easily recognisable from its abbreviation, which is probably something to think about when you're doing a comic strip you want people to find accessible]

[Hecuba]

Osmium is the densest naturally occurring elements. As such, it pops up in cat-girl killing conversations with some regularity in reference to true creation and matter/anti-matter explosions. The crux is that true creation is volume based, thus making the heaviest naturally occurring element (osmium) and its anti-matter equivalent (anti-osmium) the most efficient use of the trick that your dm will never let you use anyways.

[Howler Dagger]

Why not? It shows he hasn't forgotten his Chem notes since the siege, and its shiny and scary. Better than any classic elementals, and he already used clorine and titanium. What, you want him to use a fire elemental?:smalltongue:

Fire is a reactional/nitpick

Isn't Osmium really dense? I would guess that would be why.

[King of Nowhere]

Probably just for the further humor value of Redcloak summoning obscure elementals. Rich probably just picked a dense metal. I doubt there's anything behind it.

Probably that is the rigth answer


Osmium is both highly dense and stable (which would translate to hefty damage reduction and no stupid weakness like exploding when you throw water at it)

It's incredibly hard, has a ridiculously high melting point and doesn't compress under pressure (until you get silly).

Osmium is king of the super-hard metals, basically - we don't use it much in the real world because it's so hard and brittle that it's really difficult to work it (and it's pretty heavy); when you're summoning elementals that probably isn't too much of a concern...

[edit: it's also one of the high-density metal elements which is easily recognisable from its abbreviation, which is probably something to think about when you're doing a comic strip you want people to find accessible]

That's not the reason at all. the reason it is almost never used is that it is the very rares element on heart, so it is quite expensive and hard to get. If that elemental is not empty inside, i would surmise that all osmium mined on heart in all of history would suffice to create no more than a couple of those elementals. Maybe it won't be enough to create one. I don't really want to check right now, but I'm pretty sure it's much more expensive than gold too. Damn, now i want to mine that elemental.
Anyway, osmium has very good mechanical and chemical properties. I guess it it was more common it would be used for almost everything where wheigth is not a concern. I suppose an Os elemental would be similar to an heart elemental, but far stronger.

It is also the densest stable element, but Iridium (another metal with very good properties but extremely rare) is very close to that, with a ddifference in specific weigth of a few dozens grams/dm^3, and many metals are not far behind, so I would not think osmium was used for the weigth

[Mutant Sheep]

Fire is a reactional/nitpick

*cough* classic elements* cough*. :smalltongue:

[KoboldRevenge]

I've got a question! Why does it not have slanted evil eyes? Like others have here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0423.html)and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0457.html). Do elementals have different alignments based on this?

(Also @^ why the hearts instead of earths?)

[Chronos]

(Also @^ why the hearts instead of earths?)I'm guessing he's posting from a tablet or phone that autocompletes words to make typing easier. Those can make silly decisions sometimes.

[Dr.Epic]

Out of all the high density elements in the world, why did Redcloak pick Osmium?

It's the densest. Thus is packs the most punch. Has the most momentum.

[Dalenthas]

I've got a question! Why does it not have slanted evil eyes? Like others have here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0423.html)and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0457.html). Do elementals have different alignments based on this?

(Also @^ why the hearts instead of earths?)

I'd guess it would be to help differentiate it visually from the Titanium Elementals.

[Grimly Feendish]

Possibly because of Os - Order (of the) stick

[Zeful]

It's probably a reference to the Anti-Osmium bomb (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2010735#post2010735) Swordguy devised on this forum.

[Gift Jeraff]

(Also @^ why the hearts instead of earths?)There's already a planet named Earth, so why not have planets named Fire, Water, Wind, and Heart?!

[KillianHawkeye]

There's already a planet named Earth, so why not have planets named Fire, Water, Wind, and Heart?!

Bad idea. That would just lead to somebody trying to smash those worlds together to form some kind of super PLANET.

[Dr.Epic]

Bad idea. That would just lead to somebody trying to smash those worlds together to form some kind of super PLANET.

They already kind of did:
http://images.wikia.com/gurennlagann/images/5/5f/TengenToppaGurren-LagannMECH.jpg

[rewinn]

The basic elements of an computer system are the hardware (HW), Operating System (OS), and Application Software (SW).
An OS elemental should be able to multitask and facilitate recovery after TPK.

[Esprit15]

3,141st person to say "Heavy metal that's highly poisonous yet stable."

[Soylent Dave]

That's not the reason at all. the reason it is almost never used is that it is the very rares element on heart, so it is quite expensive and hard to get.

I don't want to flash my 'chemist' card around, but I will anyway.

The least abundant elements on Earth are astatine, polonium, francium, radium, actinium, and protactinium - there's almost none of each (except as by-products of fannying about with other radio-active elements)

Iridium (next to Osmium in the periodic table) is also less abundant than Osmium - most Iridium in the crust probably comes from the asteroid(s) that killed the dinosaurs - but is slightly easier to work with.

(Not that Osmium isn't ALSO pretty rare, just that there are still plenty of elements which are harder to find - on Earth, at least)

Osmium has a spectacularly high melting point, is supremely hard and not very reactive - this makes it incredibly difficult to work. Osmium tetroxide is also toxic, so it's pretty much universally useful as an alloy.

If you do make the effort of working the Os into an alloy with another tough metal, you can use it for incredibly hard-wearing applications (pacemakers, fountain pen nibs etc.) - but let's not pretend heating things up to 3300K and working them while avoiding oxidation is straightforward!


-

[as a side point, I'm still holding out for a Wolfram elemental]

[Adoendithas]

If you have elementals like Osmium, could you combine them into Compoundals?

[Nekron 99]

Finely divided metallic osmium is pyrophoric. Highly reactive with water...so you attack it with a file and bucket of water.

[RaggedAngel]

Finely divided metallic osmium is pyrophoric. Highly reactive with water...so you attack it with a file and bucket of water.

That would work, if it didn't have the responds of "Osmium smash."

By the way, am I the only one who finds it oddly cute? Because it seems incredibly cute, partially due to the way it's drawn, but also because of its plodding, slow nature.

[ExuroCastellum]

does it have to be naturally occurring on earth to be valid as an elemental in OOTS? regardless of properties and usefulness or actually managing to exist for longer than several negative orders of tens of seconds (magic!) i want an unununium elemental. unununununuumium. unumiumuniumununium. fun.

EDIT:
That would work, if it didn't have the responds of "Osmium smash."

By the way, am I the only one who finds it oddly cute? Because it seems incredibly cute, partially due to the way it's drawn, but also because of its plodding, slow nature.

No, not even close. As soon as i saw him (...it?) i immediately passed out from the psychological struggle of deciding whether it or the Celestial Tree Sloth was cute. I decided Celestial tree Sloth b/c i have no doubts about getting it tattooed somewhere (the attack formation, not hanging)

[One Skunk Todd]

Out of all the high density elements in the world, why did Redcloak pick Osmium?

So that Rich could make a Donny and Marie joke. ~rimshot~ Thank you, I'll be here all week, try the veal. :)

[Soylent Dave]

Finely divided metallic osmium is pyrophoric. Highly reactive with water...so you attack it with a file and bucket of water.

It ignites spontaneously in air if it's fine enough...

(fire elemental?)

[ORione]

That would work, if it didn't have the responds of "Osmium smash."

By the way, am I the only one who finds it oddly cute? Because it seems incredibly cute, partially due to the way it's drawn, but also because of its plodding, slow nature.

I've never seen anything snap a paladin's spine so adorably.

[Esprit15]

By the way, I'm holding out for the Francium elementals in the final battle. Or Ceasium elemental protected by a Xenon elemental until it's close to the good guys.

[skaddix]

By the way, I'm holding out for the Francium elementals in the final battle. Or Ceasium elemental protected by a Xenon elemental until it's close to the good guys.

That would have been cool when they were trying to breach the walls. RC might have done something like that if he was not a douche.

[willpell]

I've got a question! Why does it not have slanted evil eyes? Like others have here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0423.html)and here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0457.html). Do elementals have different alignments based on this?

His eyes are slanty on top, they just aren't round on the bottom. Probably to emphasize his denseness by giving him a "flatter" look than the Titaniums (Titanium being fairly light by metallic standards).


There's already a planet named Earth, so why not have planets named Fire, Water, Wind, and Heart?!

I don't know about Wind and Heart, but I definitely want to go back in time and visit Planet Water (specifically Boomtown) before the residents of the recently-blown-up Planet Fire could blow it up too. (How exactly you blow up a planet that's entirely liquid is a separate issue.)

[Gandariel]

I really don't see the point of this discussion..

I'm pretty sure the Giant just glued a Table of the Elements on a wall and threw a dart at it...

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Fire is a reactional/nitpick



*cough* classic elements* cough*. :smalltongue:

Redcloak would agree with both of you... (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0423.html)

:smallsmile:

[Vinyadan]

Because osmium's HEAVY METAL!

http://cdn.costumesupercenter.com/csc_inc/images/items/343x432/6802830PM.jpg

That's why!

[Esprit15]

I really don't see the point of this discussion..

I'm pretty sure the Giant just glued a Table of the Elements on a wall and threw a dart at it...

I think people here have shown some pretty good reasons to choose osmium over, say, iron.

[King of Nowhere]

I don't want to flash my 'chemist' card around, but I will anyway.

The least abundant elements on Earth are astatine, polonium, francium, radium, actinium, and protactinium - there's almost none of each (except as by-products of fannying about with other radio-active elements)

Iridium (next to Osmium in the periodic table) is also less abundant than Osmium - most Iridium in the crust probably comes from the asteroid(s) that killed the dinosaurs - but is slightly easier to work with.



I intended stable elements. of course, short-lived radioactive elements are even rarer.

And as for osmium being the rarest, i read it on wikipedia. I'm a chemist myself, but the list of elements in order of abundance in the heart's crust is not part of my curriculum.
that same wikipedia page estimate the worldwide osmium mining as less than 1 ton/year, and given how dense it is, it is likely that the elemental contains more osmium that whhat has been mined in all of history

[Knaight]

[edit: it's also one of the high-density metal elements which is easily recognisable from its abbreviation, which is probably something to think about when you're doing a comic strip you want people to find accessible]

That probably is pretty significant. Even other incredibly well known high density metals, such as lead (Pb) and tungsten (W) often have abbreviations which require at least basic knowledge of the periodic table. Granted, for many of them said basic knowledge is a single high school chemistry course, in which people paid attention, but Os is exceptionally obvious. Between that, how incredibly suitable it is, and how it has become relevant to the D&D community due to various spell exploits it is a near perfect candidate.

[KillianHawkeye]

They already kind of did:
http://images.wikia.com/gurennlagann/images/5/5f/TengenToppaGurren-LagannMECH.jpg

That doesn't have anything to do with Captain Planet.... :smallconfused:

[TwylyghT]

I have a theory that it may be that OS is also the medical abbreviation of Oculus Sinister, left eye. Could be completely coincidental, but very fitting for Redcloak. Even if it was accidental its worth note.

[Sith_Happens]

That doesn't have anything to do with Captain Planet.... :smallconfused:

It's not, it's the Gurren Lagann (or some variant thereof).

[Finn Solomon]

Even people who know nothing about chemistry remember the fun fact that Osmium is the densest of metals. Trying to make sure everyone got the joke.

[The Succubus]

Even people who know nothing about chemistry remember the fun fact that Osmium is the densest of metals. Trying to make sure everyone got the joke.

So it's got a pretty low INT score then? :smallconfused:

[FatJose]

That doesn't have anything to do with Captain Planet.... :smallconfused:

Its...a...Powers Combined kind of thing...The joke is sort of...a really long stretch. Personally, I consider GL to be alot more closer to Voltron x100 than Captain Planet

The Oculus Sinister is an interesting possible reference. I'm pretty dumb so it's fun learning things from conversations about stick figure comics.

[KillianHawkeye]

Its...a...Powers Combined kind of thing...The joke is sort of...a really long stretch. Personally, I consider GL to be alot more closer to Voltron x100 than Captain Planet

Unless it has something to do with the powers of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water & Heart, then it was a very long stretch indeed.

[LuPuWei]

Maybe it just signifies Redcloak levelling up to a point where he finally can summon an Osmium Elemental (which, for reasons stated above seems to be the best Heavy Metal Elemental).

After all, he's won a major battle, re-built a city and done TheDarkOne-knows-what since the last time we saw him, so he's probably just evolved passed using Titaniums.

[sr123]

It ignites spontaneously in air if it's fine enough

Fun fact: almost everything can ignite in air if it's fine enough - sorta acts like an oxygen substrate. (actually, not entirely sure of that, so correct me if I'm wrong)

Also, if you want an elemental that can best resist the Resistance, how about Sulfur or Teflon, or better yet, Vacuum (conceivably one could/should create a vacuum elemental - that would be unbelievable awesome).

[Reluctance]

Maybe it just signifies Redcloak levelling up to a point where he finally can summon an Osmium Elemental (which, for reasons stated above seems to be the best Heavy Metal Elemental).

After all, he's won a major battle, re-built a city and done TheDarkOne-knows-what since the last time we saw him, so he's probably just evolved passed using Titaniums.

He used Titanium elementals during the siege because they were light and could fly farther. If the situation came up again, he'd re-use them. The only thing stopping it is that he'd be re-using the exact same joke, which is a bit much even by OotS standards.


Also, if you want an elemental that can best resist the Resistance, how about Sulfur or Teflon, or better yet, Vacuum (conceivably one could/should create a vacuum elemental - that would be unbelievable awesome).

Pure sulfur is very soft, and teflon isn't an element. Compoundinals would open too many "what if?" doors while simultaneously racing to a singularity of ridiculousness.

Vacuum (technically void) actually is part of the expanded D&D elemental cosmology. It would annoy the scientifically minded RC (summoning the absence of something makes no sense), and it falls firmly under the "classic" territory he considers gauche.

[LuPuWei]

He used Titanium elementals during the siege because they were light and could fly farther.

This is true.

[Sriad]

does it have to be naturally occurring on earth to be valid as an elemental in OOTS? regardless of properties and usefulness or actually managing to exist for longer than several negative orders of tens of seconds (magic!) i want an unununium elemental. unununununuumium. unumiumuniumununium. fun.

Talk about power-gaming... "I summon an ununununiumum elemental... I've calculated that everything within 300 feet takes 3500d10 hard radiation damage, fort save for half." :smallbiggrin: