Any Chemist/Physicist out there ?

[Paragon]

I'm currently worldbuilding and I'd like to have a crafty Artificer (pun intended) as a ruler of one of the major powers in my setting.
I picture it living in a city, Sharn style with lots of mechanical and technological tools powered by magic and the likes.

Now what kind of fun chemical reactions can you think of that would pose a challenge to my PCs ? Stuff like the baking soda/vinegar volcano, gunpowder and the likes.

On the physics side, I don't want nuclear reaction type of physics right but simple devices that can prove to be a real headache for PCs to deal with (radiowaves, solar ovens etc.)

The crazier the better :smallbiggrin:

[mattie_p]

My brain has latched on electricity. Use a quicksilver device (mercury thermometer or tilt switch) to complete a circuit and discharge electricity as a trap. Nice fun nonmagical trap that essentially releases a spell effect (shocking grasp, lightning bolt, etc) as a trap

[Thomas Cardew]

How chemically advanced are you interested in? For example, Sticky Foam is a pressurized hydrocarbon solution used in securing nuclear material designed to reinforce barriers and/or delay attackers. Pop the seal and it expands 40X, sticks to everything, then hardens. It's solvent resistant and takes hours to cut through even with modern power tools.

[Telonius]

I've always wanted to plug this guy into one of my campaigns, but have never quite worked out the proper pun or situation to do it: an evil outsider named Maxwell (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon). (Actually a devil, since he's bringing order to chaos, but he constantly gets called a demon and is kind of sensitive about that). I suppose he could be working with the Artificer to help him build a perpetual motion machine.

[Khedrac]

The short answer is "make it up" - in general the D&D world does not run on real-world physics or chemistry therefore alchemists and artificers can make whatever the DM (you) thinks is reaonable.

If you plan to give clues as to what is about to happen (such as the smell of vinegar) then I woud cry "foul" as PC knowledge is not the same as character knowledge and you would need to call for skill checks to identify the clues and, more importantly, what they might mean.

This has the added advantage that if a player tries to metagme against you using real world knowledge their character should not have it's not going to work.

So, with that advice given, what things could you make up?

Colored flames and smoke (so onlookers know which trap was triggered)

Something that burns with a howl-like sounds - could rather unnerve the players (and their characters)

Instant ice - fun for making that "climbable" wall into a slide into a pit or trap.

Something that really stinks - makes it hard to talk or cast spells if you are trying to not inhale.
Not to mention the party being kicked out of their lodgings until clean and the public baths not admitting them

Liquid (or smoke) that stains the pary for after the raid identification - like real-world dyepacks.
(I would not go as far as "only visible under X" as that is a very modern concept. Perhaps add that in once the party regularly beat basic dying.)

[Maat Mons]

Maybe give these (https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/category/things-i-wont-work-with) a look?

[NichG]

I'm currently worldbuilding and I'd like to have a crafty Artificer (pun intended) as a ruler of one of the major powers in my setting.
I picture it living in a city, Sharn style with lots of mechanical and technological tools powered by magic and the likes.

Now what kind of fun chemical reactions can you think of that would pose a challenge to my PCs ? Stuff like the baking soda/vinegar volcano, gunpowder and the likes.

On the physics side, I don't want nuclear reaction type of physics right but simple devices that can prove to be a real headache for PCs to deal with (radiowaves, solar ovens etc.)

The crazier the better :smallbiggrin:

Prince Rupert's Drops (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Rupert%27s_drop) writ large... Buildings with components that explode into powder if slightly damaged, causing the building to collapse in strategic ways or even more structured forms of residual stress which lead to defenses or barricades automatically being pulled into place in response to damage.

[Buufreak]

If memory serves from my more destructive days, iodine crystals are purple, very fine like a powder (though can be larger for much much greater effect), and completely safe when still liquid. Once applied to surfaces, such as light switches, light bulbs, door knobs, or whatever really tickles your fancy, and allowed to dry, thus forming the crystals, will explode. Now, this reaction is highly dependant on the size and quantity of the crystals; any that I made in lab produced a very minor pop. The true hazard is the gas produced, which is essentially pure gaseous iodine, which when inhaled will both poison you but cause solid formations to precipitate in your lungs.

... feel free to figure out your own appropriate DCs for that.

[Paragon]

Thanks everyone this is great stuff to work out off !

I will have a full city of crafters, a kind of very influential guild with different areas corresponding to different specializations.

One for electricity (ty mattie_p)
Another for chemical explosives probably
One concerning mechanical devices and tiny clock-making style trinkering
One for alchemical substances & adventuring gear

Any other themed idea ?

[daremetoidareyo]

Underground bunker of Zombies on hamster wheels generating electricity for Tesla coil based electro weapons. A free funeral cost social safety net in exchange for bodies of townsfolk. Are the townsfolk in on it? If no, there’s some political intrigue for ya. If yes, how does it shape a culture to know that grandmas remains are being used to power electro weapons? Patriotic? Nihilistic?

[vasilidor]

the real issue is not finding things that go boom, it is surviving to profit from your experiments.

[Rebel7284]

Lasers?
Radiation poisoning?
Robots/Drones?
Teflon covered surfaces for being extra slippery?
Oil spills and microplastics as environmental hazards?
Playing with liquid nitrogen is always fun

[fallensavior]

Aqua regia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia)

Liquid currency.

[Paragon]

Aqua regia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_regia)

Liquid currency.

The look on their face if the massive amount of loot is hanging by a thread and they need to solve some riddle otherwise it drops in Aqua Regia :smallsigh:

[Fouredged Sword]

Another fun thing you could turn into ether a puzzle or a puzzle trap is gallium.

It's a metal that looks a little like lead.

It melts just under the surface temperature of a person. To be specific it melts at 86 degrees and turns into something that looks like mercury. It's actually what is in a lot of in mouth thermometers because while somewhat toxic is a lot LESS toxic than mercury but acts essentially the same above 86 degrees.

So you could do a lot of interesting things. Maybe you could have a room where the players discover the floor melts under their campfire. Maybe there is a key the players have to not handle or it melts, all the while dodging fire traps.

[Bronk]

Thanks everyone this is great stuff to work out off !

I will have a full city of crafters, a kind of very influential guild with different areas corresponding to different specializations.

One for electricity (ty mattie_p)
Another for chemical explosives probably
One concerning mechanical devices and tiny clock-making style trinkering
One for alchemical substances & adventuring gear

Any other themed idea ?

One for electricity: This and other energy sources would be great for planar specializing wizards.
Another for chemical explosives probably: Rogues would work great for this, and adding in stonefire and so on.
One concerning mechanical devices and tiny clock-making style trinkering: Perfect for tinker gnomes and the odd mechanically inclined dwarf
One for alchemical substances & adventuring gear: Perfect for the straight up artificer class

You could also add in crafting things reeeeeeeeeally well, using the advanced crafting rules from Dragonlance, items of renown and of legend and so on.

It would be fun to have experimental testing areas that pay people down on their luck to be guinea pigs for protective devices (oops!) or transformation magic (double oops!).

I don't know if you've read Terry Pratchett's "Maurice and His Educated Rodents", but it's a story about a bunch of mice that ate some magical waste materials tossed out in back of the Unseen University and became sentient. All sorts of weird stuff could end up wandering your city...

Speaking of which, maybe a guild trying to keep the city running, maybe waste management? The prior zombie idea could be part of that, sort of like how it's illegal in a lot of IRL cities to bury the deceased within city limits... Maybe there's a dumping ground for failed crafts, some of which might be partially usable, and maybe gangs challenging your PCs loot it for equipment? Or maybe someone tossed out a broken/old/not quite right rust monster wand, and now there's a rash of growing rust monsters, or people are messing with the rich and nobility by slingshotting some of the larvae into their homes...