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aphilosoraptor
2017-05-25, 08:43 AM
just as the title says what are some strange things you've had to ask you're local libation or more likely some search history that have almost certainly put you on some watch lists

aka totally not a serial killer it was just D&D officer


for me its mostly things like
1. how to depose of bodys without the use of modern tools
2. whats the best things to feed a large amount of slaves confined mostly underground
3. reference pictures of sever burn scares

Recherché
2017-05-25, 09:16 AM
*Economic systems and livestock prices in medieval Iceland

*The nutritional content of hyena livers

LokiRagnarok
2017-05-25, 10:42 AM
Not P&P, but dabbling in writing sometimes.

* history of sheep domestication in Asia

Calthropstu
2017-05-25, 11:04 AM
chinese and japanese standing army sizes in 4th century.
latrine sizes for armies.
The effects of falling into a latrine.

AceOfFools
2017-05-26, 01:36 AM
My search history has, in sequence:
Map of DC natural history museum
DC gun laws
Best pistols for concealed carry.

If you're looking for an interesting read, look up the origin of municiple police forces in the US and Spain.

Recherché
2017-05-26, 01:40 AM
I have also researched the legality of performing necromancy in the greater San Fransisco Bay Area.

Don't do it for money but if you aren't charging anyone for the service you're probably okay. Same applies to most other kinds of magic or divination.

Mechalich
2017-05-26, 01:43 AM
- Height of the ski jump at the Olympic park in Oslo, Norway.

I don't think I will ever top that one.

AshfireMage
2017-05-26, 02:43 AM
* History of porcelain dolls
* Chances of getting pregnant from a single unprotected intercourse
* How to make brainwashing drugs in your living room (fortunately not connected to the above)
* 1980's X-men storylines
* History of the British housing market
* "can you break all of your ribs without dying" (turns you can, as long as whatever was responsible doesn't keep crushing and damage all the stuff those ribs were protecting)

Fri
2017-05-26, 02:45 AM
chinese and japanese standing army sizes in 4th century.
latrine sizes for armies.
The effects of falling into a latrine.

I like this one because how connected those are.

Berenger
2017-05-26, 03:43 AM
Romeo and Juliet laws in Idaho.

How angel wings may be incorporated into an otherwise human set of bones and muscles.

How to modify clothes to be worn with angel wings in a way that doesn't compromise one's modesty, fashion sense or capability of flight.

Existence of Apps designed to keep vampire / werewolf teenagers up-to-date concerning sunset, sunrise, moonrise and lunar phases.

Consequences for bringing your rat familiar into the high school's cafeteria.

Consequences for storing a claymore sword in your locker at high school.

Consequences for storing a claymore mine in your locker at high school.

Consequences for spiking the punchbowl at prom night with three bottles of vodka.

How long a kidnapped victim can survive in a car trunk in midsummer.

How long an unconscious victim can survive in a swimming pool.

Average number of mirrors in an american household.


All for the same game.

Lorsa
2017-05-26, 05:17 AM
I have searched for so many weird things, but the worst was when I tried to find pictures of fairly sexy child models. It was hard to even convince myself that it was okay and only for a roleplaying campaign (which was set in Eclipse Phase that has Neotenic morphs). I don't think I've ever searched for anything that made me feel more morally despicable.

Glorthindel
2017-05-26, 06:11 AM
chinese and japanese standing army sizes in 4th century.
latrine sizes for armies.
The effects of falling into a latrine.

Ah, the old adage; if you have something a PC can fall in to, someone is going to fall into it (or get pushed in to it). I admire your preparation for the inevitable.

Vknight
2017-05-26, 06:29 AM
Lets see they can be divided into intentional and unintentional
You know your looking up one thing then learn cape fur seals and canines are similar

Oh a few fun ones
Cannibalistic Tendencies
Cannibals In History
Hannibal's Recipes
How much salt does it take to persevere a pork leg(for aging purposes also a quick reminder pork and human well similar so there you go)
Effects of Cannibalism
Those double down because I was studying to go into forensics in college so yeah some of those are rpg some of those are course related.

What proof of whiskey is best for starting a fire
Arson Investigation
Using cooking oil to start a fire
Ayup lets just say rpgs take us to strange places

TheCountAlucard
2017-05-26, 07:16 AM
Age of Sail-era hardtack recipes
How long it takes stored water to go bad at sea
The history of the practice of baking
How triremes were built
Various stories about Poseidon
Hooksword combat techniques
Banana beer
Sailor chanties

ellindsey
2017-05-26, 02:45 PM
History of the printing press.
Optical telegraphs.

DigoDragon
2017-05-26, 02:54 PM
The compressive strength of the poles used for the US flags planted on the moon.

EccentricCircle
2017-05-26, 04:36 PM
Not really strange, so much as interesting, but the last thing I googled for one of my games was populations of cities throughout history.

I'd originally used the numbers in the D&D DMG, but found they were all rather on the low side.
The 5e DMG suggests that a large city might have a population of up to 25,000 people.

This might have been representative of cities in England or France in the middle ages, but numerous cities had populations of a million at various points, including Rome and Alexandria in antiquity and Bagdad, Beijing and various other Chinese cities in the middle ages.

In short I think D&D's numbers are a bit skewed by their European aesthetic, whereas in reality the cities of a high magic setting should have far more people.

Xuc Xac
2017-05-26, 05:06 PM
My search history has, in sequence:
Map of DC natural history museum
DC gun laws
Best pistols for concealed carry.


Guess who's on a list at the FBI? :tongue:

Vinyadan
2017-05-26, 05:11 PM
Not really strange, so much as interesting, but the last thing I googled for one of my games was populations of cities throughout history.

I'd originally used the numbers in the D&D DMG, but found they were all rather on the low side.
The 5e DMG suggests that a large city might have a population of up to 25,000 people.

This might have been representative of cities in England or France in the middle ages, but numerous cities had populations of a million at various points, including Rome and Alexandria in antiquity and Bagdad, Beijing and various other Chinese cities in the middle ages.

In short I think D&D's numbers are a bit skewed by their European aesthetic, whereas in reality the cities of a high magic setting should have far more people.

That sounds like Northern Europe and England. Italy had much larger cities in the Middle Ages: Florence was around 100.000 inhabitants, Milan 200.000, Palermo 350.000, Amalfi 80.000. The DMG evaluation would pretty much only be valid for the earliest centuries of the Middle Ages, when the breakdown of Roman authority, lack of safety, ruin of trade, series of pestilences, and very frequent political unrest caused a general abandonment of cities that made most fall to a population below 5.000 inhabitants and others be outright destroyed by the Lombards. There was also a change in surface, with most cities shrinking by a lot (60%). Rome was left with 15.000 inhabitants, and the city kind of divided itself among different villages, with large urban areas turned into fields and orchards.

But, of course, they had no magic to help.

I think that the strangest thing I looked for was how to make gingerbread men, because I wanted to play as one. They aren't really a thing where I live.

Bohandas
2017-05-27, 04:08 PM
Not really strange, so much as interesting, but the last thing I googled for one of my games was populations of cities throughout history.

I'd originally used the numbers in the D&D DMG, but found they were all rather on the low side.
The 5e DMG suggests that a large city might have a population of up to 25,000 people.

This might have been representative of cities in England or France in the middle ages, but numerous cities had populations of a million at various points, including Rome and Alexandria in antiquity and Bagdad, Beijing and various other Chinese cities in the middle ages.

In short I think D&D's numbers are a bit skewed by their European aesthetic, whereas in reality the cities of a high magic setting should have far more people.

It gets even stupider with planar metropolises (metropoli?). These are the central population and trading centers of places that serve as the afterlives of countless worlds, but they don't even have enough people to cover the non-tourist population of Vegas

EDIT:
Speaking of which, US cities by population

JAL_1138
2017-05-28, 09:48 PM
How fuel-air bombs work
Chemicals used for fuel-air bombs
Can a fuel-air bomb be effectively deployed from ground level
Size of a fuel-air bomb
Effects of detonating a fuel-air bomb in an enclosed space
Run-flat tires
Anti-vehicle barricades
How to avoid/bypass anti-vehicle barricades

Guess who's A) almost certainly on a watch list and B) not allowed to play Riggers anymore.

lunaticfringe
2017-05-28, 10:08 PM
Lots of creepy angel pics, the old school ones with all the eyes.

Looking for Anthropomorphic Animal People tends to get weird fast in my experience.

bulbaquil
2017-05-28, 10:35 PM
Mine is fairly tame by some standards, but:

- antimatter comet
- July 20, 1969 moon phase
- Lake Baikal time zone
- objects associated with being old
- how high something needs to be to not hear a sonic boom
- smoking in a private plane
- Egyptian person

Bohandas
2017-05-28, 11:54 PM
If we include crpg modding and non-rpg discussions of fantasy and science fiction and stuff that I've looked up for RPG purposes but has yet to make it into a game...

How to make nitroglycerine (for a Dungeons of Dredmor mod)
English translation of the Zohar (for a discussion about how there's no such thing as a rare book or obscure mysticism anymore)
English translation of the Gospel of Judas (Same discussion)
The Lesser Key of Solomon
Switchblades and gravity knives
Screenshots from the movie Mystery Men
Screenshots from the movie Dune
Stock photos of peppers
US Cities by population'
What is Aqua Fortis (it's nitric acid)
What is oil of vitriol (it's sulfuric acid)
Other obscure alchemical terms and symbols
Obscure superheroes
Synonyms for the word "cosmic"
When did H.P.Lovecraft die

Bohandas
2017-05-29, 12:02 AM
- how high something needs to be to not hear a sonic boom


How high the plane needs to be or how high the person potentially hearing it needs to be

bulbaquil
2017-05-29, 09:28 AM
How high the plane needs to be or how high the person potentially hearing it needs to be

The former, though the latter would also be amusing.

Cealocanth
2017-05-29, 01:41 PM
"How long does it take for a human to bleed out when hanging by the back from a meat hook?"

"Infanticidal predators of the fertile crescent"

"How to order batracitoxin from the black market"

"What emotions are useful to program into complex AI?"

"Snowboarding yeti character portrait"

raygun goth
2017-05-29, 02:12 PM
had a legit FBI agent and detective show up at a Shadowrun venue because two players were talking about their characters' plans for that night's game

FBI dude took one look at our dice and sheets and wanted to tell us about this time his elf decker saved the world with a spork

the detective was totally clueless

my last few google searches were

"200 foot owl statue New York City"
"yttrium"
"places United States named after satan devil"
"history asian europe contact trade"
"coral castle"

Esprit15
2017-05-29, 11:10 PM
Same games grouped together.

Switchblade legality.
Legal length of knives in Japan.
Krav maga techniques.
How to apply for the CIA.

Contents of embalming fluid.
Uses of formaldehyde.
Hydrogen peroxide reactions.
What year were medical gloves invented?

Mass of a throwing knife.
Coefficient of drag of a throwing knife.

When did money replace barter?
How fast must a human run to walk on water?
When did humans invent language?
When did humans form settlements?

Radius of the smallest nuclear explosion.
Effects of radiation.
Names of the angle of death.
Apartment complex names.
Materials necessary for a tokamak reactor.

Invention of Greek fire.
Flower symbolism.

How does one hire an assassin?

H. H. Holmes house map.

Symptoms of bipolar disorder.
Symptoms of dissociative identity disorder.

Normal vital sign range for a human.
How long can a person survive unconscious?
Effects of hypothermia on the body.

Yale degree programs.

Arthropod phylums.

Calthropstu
2017-05-30, 12:16 AM
Ah, the old adage; if you have something a PC can fall in to, someone is going to fall into it (or get pushed in to it). I admire your preparation for the inevitable.

Actually I needed to know if it would be a more sludge like consistency resulting in a splort or a more watery consistency resulting in a splash. I knew the players would hide the bodies of the people they were impersonating in the latrine, so I needed to know how likely it was that the body dumping would alert someone, and whether it would be large enough or deep enough to hide 6 bodies.

TheCountAlucard
2017-05-30, 02:23 AM
When did money replace barter?Just in case you didn't find it...

Money didn't replace barter, because the notion of barter existing as a system that predated money seems to have been invented wholesale by Adam Smith as a little wishful thinking on his part. Before money came in and complicated things, communities usually engaged in elaborate webs of credit, or before even that, just focused on helping each other survive for the good of the community; barter was mostly something you only did with strangers or known jerks, because they weren't part of your community, so getting one over them was actually kinda the objective.

hymer
2017-05-30, 03:00 AM
how to depose of bodys without the use of modern tools

Then I hear the best thing to do is feed them to pigs. You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig ****, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".

I'll try and think of some weird stuff I've researched in a moment.

Eldan
2017-05-30, 03:38 AM
It gets even stupider with planar metropolises (metropoli?). These are the central population and trading centers of places that serve as the afterlives of countless worlds, but they don't even have enough people to cover the non-tourist population of Vegas

EDIT:
Speaking of which, US cities by population

(Proper plural of Polis is Poleis, but Polises is acceptable in English.)

Eh, Sigil has been mentioned as having anywhere from a million to 20 million people in it by different sources. That's quite big for a city without proper sewers or even its own air and water.

Strange things I looked up:
Structure of a Spanish Inquisition trial
Bestiality laws and punishments in medieval Spain
How to make different kinds and qualities of gunpowder by hand
A lot of medieval alchemy
Polynesian high sea navigation
Religious drug use around the world
How much blood can a horse lose without dying
How to fool motion sensors
Toxic plants found in European forests
How to extract toxins from said plants
Goetica and other lists of medieval demons

EccentricCircle
2017-05-30, 07:28 AM
My best "set" of research topics, all related to the preparing the same game was probably:

Date of Innesmouth "incident",
Biography of Nikola Tesla,
History of Tierra del Fuego,
Location of Ry'leh,
Oceanic Pole of inaccessibility
Lucid dreaming,
Bikini Atoll nuclear tests,
Geography of the Marshal Islands
Polynesian folklore,
Pacific Rim fan theories,
Original Godzilla movie.

The best thing was that not only did the dates work out quite well for Tesla to have faked his own death to go and build Jaegers for Delta Green, but there was an occasion when he was nearly killed in a road accident, which was clearly the Cthulhu cult trying to assassinate him.

CharonsHelper
2017-05-30, 08:00 AM
Just in case you didn't find it...

Money didn't replace barter, because the notion of barter existing as a system that predated money seems to have been invented wholesale by Adam Smith as a little wishful thinking on his part. Before money came in and complicated things, communities usually engaged in elaborate webs of credit, or before even that, just focused on helping each other survive for the good of the community; barter was mostly something you only did with strangers or known jerks, because they weren't part of your community, so getting one over them was actually kinda the objective.

I realize that that theory is based upon study of some primitive peoples, but it wouldn't be at all viable with any group of more than a few hundred people at most. And it's only once you get more people than that involved (such as with strangers) that the true advantages of the division of labor really start to take hold - but that was sort of Adam Smith's whole point. (And in a different book he talks about clans etc. - such as Scottish clans and how they work together even when only distantly related.)

In addition - just because gift economies exist doesn't mean that barter economies never did - that could easily be survivorship bias. Arguably they just quickly shifted to money economies because of the inefficiencies that Adam Smith pointed out.

I've read some of Professor Graeber’s argument - and it's some round-about method of claiming that Adam Smith was pro-imperialism or some such. (which shows he hasn't really read Adam Smith - plus his basis is a pretty blatant economic fallacy of money being a concrete value and therefore puts a specific value on things such as human life)

As to early money - I believe that cowry shells were used before any metal coinage.

Edit: And Graeber is kind of a tool - http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2013/01/the-very-last-david-graeber-post.html

Braininthejar2
2017-05-30, 08:14 AM
tribal and ritual scarification.

Guizonde
2017-05-30, 09:03 AM
things i looked up:

how to generate an emp.
home-made remote detonators.
current status of cold-fusion (and its developmental history)
history of centerfire cartridges.
composition of smokeless powder (associated research: how to manufacture its components)
a lot of traumatic injuries, the results thereof, how to create them, and treatment.
spinal injuries and where to hit to cause the most damage.
the chemical composition of ayahuasca, risperidone, rohypnol, rivotril, stilnox, and other hypnotics, psychedelics, and antipsychotics.
the ld50 of the above, as well as the ld100.
how to generate the most efficient wildfire.
infernos and how to feed them.
improvised explosives on a budget (that was more out of curiosity than a real need in-game, what can i say? i like playing with matches)
average tensile strength of different kinds of rope.
natural night-vision in humans (genetic mutation. not as rare as one would think)
waaaaaaay too much info on poisons and drugs. (there's actually an entire wiki on it).

that'll do for now, i can't think of anything else right now, but there's more.

CharonsHelper
2017-05-30, 11:29 AM
I've searched out how far different planets are from the sun and various other astronomical measurements. I'm not going with a super hard science setting, but I don't want what descriptions of measurements that I have to be inconsistent and/or totally wrong.

Talyn
2017-05-30, 11:44 AM
For a Hunter: the Vigil game back when I was in law school, I definitely had a search history that would have made my old buddies in the Department of Homeland Security nervous.

- map of the DC metro
- map of the DC subway
- bus stations in DC
- storage units in DC
- warehouses in DC
- police response times in DC
- emergency response times in DC
- what tools and supplies are in ambulances
- what first aid supplies are in police cars
- standard issue police handguns in DC
- standard issue police rifles in DC
- DC swat team response times
- DC swat team armor
- DC swat team equipment
- how to get blood out of clothes
- temperature needed for cremations

And so on in that vein. "I swear, it's for a game where we pretend to hunt vampires in DC" would probably not have impressed the FBI. It didn't help that I had a 'crazy person map' of the greater DC metro area, with little pins representing "vampire attacks" and scribbled handwritten notes pinned to it up in my living room.

Lord Torath
2017-05-30, 11:49 AM
I've searched out how far different planets are from the sun and various other astronomical measurements. I'm not going with a super hard science setting, but I don't want what descriptions of measurements that I have to be inconsistent and/or totally wrong.I've done this as well.

Also:
Phases of the moon in 2053-54: (http://www.isla-vieques.com/moon-calendar.php?date=2677122000)
Great-Cricle distance from Southern Germany to Seattle, WA (http://www.travelmath.com/flying-distance/)
Density of Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Copper (how many coins can I get out of a cubic foot of precious metal?)
Map of Redmond Dump outside Seattle, WA.
How much damage will an asteroid impact cause?

Jay R
2017-05-30, 03:01 PM
When designing a Superman-like hero for a game of Champions, I looked up the velocity of a speeding bullet.

[Yes, there's a huge range, but I found out that range.]

Guizonde
2017-05-30, 03:13 PM
When designing a Superman-like hero for a game of Champions, I looked up the velocity of a speeding bullet.

[Yes, there's a huge range, but I found out that range.]

considering that ballistics is a wide field that goes from "pop-gun" to "giggle-inducingly overkill", that must've been some range!

Jay R
2017-05-30, 04:24 PM
considering that ballistics is a wide field that goes from "pop-gun" to "giggle-inducingly overkill", that must've been some range!

Sure, but neither "pop-gun" nor "giggle-inducingly overkill" were intended by the phrase "faster than a speeding bullet" in the historical documents.

I assumed an average high-caliber pistol (because that's the image on the screen in the George Reeves series during that line).

Lord Torath
2017-05-30, 04:27 PM
Sure, but neither "pop-gun" nor "giggle-inducingly overkill" were intended by the phrase "faster than a speeding bullet" in the historical documents.

I assumed an average high-caliber pistol (because that's the image on the screen in the George Reeves series during that line).He did out-fly a cruise missile...

Guizonde
2017-05-30, 06:06 PM
Sure, but neither "pop-gun" nor "giggle-inducingly overkill" were intended by the phrase "faster than a speeding bullet" in the historical documents.

I assumed an average high-caliber pistol (because that's the image on the screen in the George Reeves series during that line).

my bad, by pop-gun i meant a .22 cal. or equivalent subsonic, low-recoil small cartidge. still very much lethal, however. "giggle-inducing" would be anything that isn't man-portable, like a tank shell (some actually count as bullets, believe it or not).

wikipedia on muzzle velocity states anywhere from 700 m/s to over 1500 m/s for rifles and up. a .357 magnum is around the 400 m/s mark, which would place it squarely in the "golden age" era, being a powerful cartridge designed in 1934. that's... really fast, all things considered, since the speed of sound is 340.29 m/s. wait, there are bullets that fly at mach 5... superman is crazy fast.

... also, guess who just researched bullet velocity? fbi watchlists hello again.

MintyThe1st
2017-05-30, 06:46 PM
sacrifical offerings to Bastet

the cash value of a sentient being's soul

how much blood you can safely extract from a person each month.

EccentricCircle
2017-05-31, 05:09 AM
the cash value of a sentient being's soul


Did you find the answer to this one with the google search? Inquiring minds want to know...

Eldan
2017-05-31, 08:02 AM
sacrifical offerings to Bastet

the cash value of a sentient being's soul

how much blood you can safely extract from a person each month.

Hah. Yeah, that sounds familiar. I did google "Did people really sacrifice children to Baal".

CharonsHelper
2017-05-31, 08:25 AM
Hah. Yeah, that sounds familiar. I did google "Did people really sacrifice children to Baal".

If you want to hear about creepy child sacrifices - look up the Carthaginians. Ugh.

Jay R
2017-05-31, 08:39 AM
To design a set of artifacts, I looked up the colors, metals, symbols and other aspects associated with the seven classical planets.

hymer
2017-05-31, 09:06 AM
Methods of execution through the ages is probably the most morbid I've researched for RPG purposes.

MintyThe1st
2017-05-31, 01:08 PM
Did you find the answer to this one with the google search? Inquiring minds want to know...

all i came up with is that Satan promises imesurable wealth at the cost of your soul.

i belive it's written somwhere that a human life is worth about $7.6 million though

CharonsHelper
2017-05-31, 01:09 PM
i belive it's written somwhere that a human life is worth about $7.6 million though

Based upon what? I don't think that the few places which still have slavery charge nearly that much. (not that I want to go there and find out)

I could see that as the average lifetime income in the US another industrialized country - but even that would be ignoring the inherent costs involved.

Guizonde
2017-05-31, 01:12 PM
Based upon what? I don't think that the few places which still have slavery charge nearly that much. (not that I want to go there and find out)

I could see that as the average lifetime income in the US another industrialized country - but even that would be ignoring the inherent costs involved.

black market hits in first world countries go for as low as 2000usd. frankly, i'd pay even less for seeing some people slaughtered, but you gotta think about the hitman's well-being, thus the fee.

Eldan
2017-05-31, 01:15 PM
Based upon what? I don't think that the few places which still have slavery charge nearly that much. (not that I want to go there and find out)

I could see that as the average lifetime income in the US another industrialized country - but even that would be ignoring the inherent costs involved.

There's a few ways to estimate it. Like how much is too much to spend on safety features vs. how many lives they save.

arclance
2017-05-31, 01:23 PM
The maximum allowed depth of civilian underground buildings (i.e. how many floors your basement can legally have).

Honest Tiefling
2017-05-31, 01:27 PM
Greco-Roman forms of forgery and adulteration of gemstones and pearls
Various musical instruments throughout history
Extensive research into fashion, because if you have a social event where fashion is a must, you need some way to explain it.
Also doubling down on the flower symbolism, but that's because I'm sick of roses everywhere. Let's get creative with flowers!

Lord Torath
2017-05-31, 01:31 PM
Names of gods of thunder in various cultures.
Words that mean "flower" in different languages.

Calthropstu
2017-05-31, 01:34 PM
Based upon what? I don't think that the few places which still have slavery charge nearly that much. (not that I want to go there and find out)

I could see that as the average lifetime income in the US another industrialized country - but even that would be ignoring the inherent costs involved.

The average American, working at minimum wage (now 10/hr in most states) makes 400/week at 40 hours.
400×50 = 20,000 per year.
20,000 *50 = about 1 mil.
That's 50 years at min wage. The median wage is 3 times that, so the median is about 3 mil over 50 years.
I can see doubling it or tripling it to account for the life itself.

Shark Uppercut
2017-05-31, 01:45 PM
Wikipedia's List of Serial Killers by number of victims was very helpful, because I wanted to know if a demon-worshipping caravan of elves murdering 20 people over a year was too unrealistic.
(It's actually pretty realistic.)

The list of Rampage Killers wasn't really helpful, as they're the guys who 'go nova' over one day. But it's still interesting for knowing what NPC criminals could be capable of.

CharonsHelper
2017-05-31, 01:45 PM
That's 50 years at min wage. The median wage is 3 times that, so the median is about 3 mil over 50 years.
I can see doubling it or tripling it to account for the life itself.

While you might increase it for the life itself (at least YOU might - bwa ha ha) you'd have to lower it for basic room and board, along with at least basic clothing expenses.

Though - if you used the mean income instead of median it'd be a good chunk higher.

hymer
2017-05-31, 03:14 PM
The maximum allowed depth of civilian underground buildings (i.e. how many floors your basement can legally have).

And what was the limit (and where?)?

arclance
2017-05-31, 03:29 PM
And what was the limit (and where?)?
If I recall correctly in the US it was mostly just one floor (maybe 2?) or the depth of the water table, whichever is less.
This was at least 6 months ago, not 100% sure I am right on that.

I wanted to know how much trouble the secret base under a warehouse in Detroit would get the Villain/Mega Corp in with the government (Federal in this case I think due to the depth) just on building code violations.
It was at least 10 floors deep, I collapsed it to make "reveal" it to the public.

bulbaquil
2017-05-31, 09:22 PM
If I recall correctly in the US it was mostly just one floor (maybe 2?) or the depth of the water table, whichever is less.
This was at least 6 months ago, not 100% sure I am right on that.


That sort of thing is probably at the state or even municipal level at the US (since it would be building codes) and would vary accordingly. I'd be very surprised if any allowed basements beneath the water table, though.

hymer
2017-06-01, 04:51 AM
@ arclance: Thank you much! :smallsmile:

Eldan
2017-06-01, 05:41 AM
That sort of thing is probably at the state or even municipal level at the US (since it would be building codes) and would vary accordingly. I'd be very surprised if any allowed basements beneath the water table, though.

I'm not in the US, but my parent's house has a basement where you have to bend over and put your head at shoulder level to stand up, because the water level is a few fingers below the floor, even with a pump. Builders assured them that it would be possible to go deeper, legally too, but prohibitively expensive.

Seclora
2017-06-01, 08:28 AM
Gosh, so many things, and a few for writing/editing too.

In no particular order, I have searched for:
Tranquilizers that can be ingested as well as injected.
weight of a steel accordion gate

Average Rainfall in Vienna Austria
CCs of silver in 25 silver pieces(actually a whole string of math, but I can't remember all the steps off hand)
Average Rainfall in Amazon Rainforest
Silver toxicity in Humans

How to pronounce 'Asmodeus'
How to pronounce 'Geas'(I think we've all had to check that one though)

How much does a church bell weigh

How much blood in a Live human vs a Dead human
Iron content of a sword.

Lord Torath
2017-06-01, 08:43 AM
Average monthly/daily rainfall in Southeast Asia ("Siam" on the old RiskTM board). Also average max/min daily temperatures, number of sunny/cloudy days per month, etc.

Berenger
2017-06-01, 09:19 AM
How much blood in a Live human vs a Dead human
Iron content of a sword.

Let me guess: "How many corpses do I need to craft a sword from iron extracted from human blood?"

S@tanicoaldo
2017-06-01, 09:55 AM
-Homosexuality in the hyborian age.
-Human like undead.
-Burned corpse(it seemed like a good idea at the time, I regret doing it so much).

Vknight
2017-06-01, 10:05 AM
-Homosexuality in the hyborian age.
-Human like undead.
-Burned corpse(it seemed like a good idea at the time, I regret doing it so much).

Yeah that last one sucks
Oh fun fact most cannibals prefer to not eat the organs but instead use the fats and things to make baked goods like sweets.

Phoenixguard09
2017-06-01, 10:39 AM
My weirdest one would probably be the nitrate concentration of guano.

arclance
2017-06-01, 11:04 AM
That sort of thing is probably at the state or even municipal level at the US (since it would be building codes) and would vary accordingly. I'd be very surprised if any allowed basements beneath the water table, though.
I think the water table part was Federal because of a EPA regulation to protect drinking water, but I might be wrong it has been a while since we looked it up.

Bohandas
2017-06-01, 11:26 AM
Wikipedia's List of Serial Killers by number of victims was very helpful, because I wanted to know if a demon-worshipping caravan of elves murdering 20 people over a year was too unrealistic.
(It's actually pretty realistic.)

Also I think the numbers on that list may actually be a bit low. The number listed for Albert Fish is well short of what he confessed to


The list of Rampage Killers wasn't really helpful, as they're the guys who 'go nova' over one day. But it's still interesting for knowing what NPC criminals could be capable of.

I thought the phrase was 'go postal'

Knaight
2017-06-01, 11:40 AM
That sort of thing is probably at the state or even municipal level at the US (since it would be building codes) and would vary accordingly. I'd be very surprised if any allowed basements beneath the water table, though.

There's also some fun reasons for these restrictions - basements near the Rocky Mountains are comparably rare at all and fairly restricted, because it's a radon heavy area and radon's a heavier than air gas.

Back to topic:


Is molten glass technically lava?
History of United Fruit (several books, not a Google search).

Honest Tiefling
2017-06-01, 12:33 PM
I'm not in the US, but my parent's house has a basement where you have to bend over and put your head at shoulder level to stand up, because the water level is a few fingers below the floor, even with a pump. Builders assured them that it would be possible to go deeper, legally too, but prohibitively expensive.

I'm currently in the US, and while there's a lack of head room for tall people it's not actually underground so there's that.


-Burned corpse(it seemed like a good idea at the time, I regret doing it so much).

Given the noted similarities between pig and human corpses (pig corpses are often used to determine corpse decomposition for instance), couldn't you just just looked up a burnt pig? I assume someone screwed up a pig cookout in some fashion or another to have information available.

And if players point out discrepancies, you know not to play with them again because they are a little TOO knowledgeable.

Spore
2017-06-01, 12:43 PM
"How to improvise explosives from day to day chemicals"
"Impromptu lockpicks"
"Maps of giant local chemical company"
"History of muslimic laws and their influence on modern society."

It was about a post apocalyptic RPG officer. I swear!

Fyi, didn't construct these statements for shock value but picked the most fitting ones that prepared me mentally on greeting terror survelllance at my door. Having a history in chemistry and a character that can (ab)use my knowledge of explosive and hallucinogenic chemicals in a post apocalyptic scenario does that to one.

Guizonde
2017-06-01, 09:21 PM
"How to improvise explosives from day to day chemicals"
"Impromptu lockpicks"
"Maps of giant local chemical company"
"History of muslimic laws and their influence on modern society."

It was about a post apocalyptic RPG officer. I swear!

Fyi, didn't construct these statements for shock value but picked the most fitting ones that prepared me mentally on greeting terror survelllance at my door. Having a history in chemistry and a character that can (ab)use my knowledge of explosive and hallucinogenic chemicals in a post apocalyptic scenario does that to one.

for the last one, i had a course on that in college. fascinating culture, the muslims, at least from the 7th to the 15th century (my course unfortunately stopped at the fall of constantinople).

regarding the improvised explosives, i once made a chemistry major do a spit-take by saying "look at the funny pictograms, play mixologist and hope you get lucky". apparently, that's not how you chemistry, despite evidence to the contrary.

i've got a friend who reliably tells me that you can very well improvise a lockpick with credit cards, paperclips, and crowbars.

blame a mispent youth in a rural part of the colonies. now stop staring.

Honest Tiefling
2017-06-01, 10:31 PM
Welp, now I can add marshmellow girls to the list. Where the **** does someone go to find out weights/heights?

Bohandas
2017-06-02, 12:02 AM
How much blood in a Live human vs a Dead human


Wouldn't that depend on cause of death?

chainer1216
2017-06-02, 12:34 AM
How much Iron is in the average human being.

Followed shortly by the average weight of a Longsword.

Lord Torath
2017-06-02, 08:06 AM
Welp, now I can add marshmellow girls to the list.Marshmallow girls? Do I even want to know?

If you can find the density of a marshmallow, you can get weight, assuming an average height and "apparent BMI" and assuming an approximate human density of about 1 g/cm3.

I've actually looked up how the Body Mass Index is calculated, for coming up with semi-realistic character heights and weights, and built it into a spreadsheet for ease of use. Fun Fact: Someone twice as tall as you are with the same build has a BMI exactly twice yours. (BMI is proportional to Mass over Height squared, or M/H2)

CharonsHelper
2017-06-02, 08:27 AM
Fun Fact: Someone twice as tall as you are with the same build has a BMI exactly twice yours. (BMI is proportional to Mass over Height squared, or M/H2)

Yet another example of how BMI is silly. (Though of course - someone x2 your height would likely have issues with the same build as his feet would have x2 more pressure on them per square inch.)

I mean - it was invented in the 1840's specifically for the (then) current population of Belgium.

Lord Torath
2017-06-02, 09:32 AM
Yet another example of how BMI is silly. (Though of course - someone x2 your height would likely have issues with the same build as his feet would have x2 more pressure on them per square inch.)Oh, sure. It's extremely limited. But it's still useful as long as you are aware of its limitations.

Plus, in D&D (and similar) we have 10-meter humanoids. Square-cubed law is only a thing when it makes the game more fun.

Velaryon
2017-06-02, 09:08 PM
A few random things I've Googled or otherwise researched for various D&D or other RPGs over the years...

-floor plans for Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, and numerous other castles in England and Scotland
-biography of the pirate Bartholomew Roberts
-1940's slang
-1930's slang
-1920's slang
-release dates for various songs and albums from the 1980's and 1990's
-the Necronomicon
-how long does a human pregnancy last
-when does a pregnancy begin to show
-causes and effects of premature birth
-medieval torture methods (this also came up in discussion on a first date once, and a bit surprisingly, did not lead to awkward silence or my date mumbling an excuse and leaving)

I'm sure there are more, but that's what I can think of at the moment.

Quertus
2017-06-03, 06:52 AM
I've looked up so many things. The ones most likely to get me on watch lists are all the maps and building layouts, plus information on demolitions usage and composition.

The weirdest? Hmmm...

How much fecal matter do various species produce?
Methods of drying fecal matter.
Using fecal matter for heating / cooking.


How fuel-air bombs work
Chemicals used for fuel-air bombs
Can a fuel-air bomb be effectively deployed from ground level
Size of a fuel-air bomb
Effects of detonating a fuel-air bomb in an enclosed space
Run-flat tires
Anti-vehicle barricades
How to avoid/bypass anti-vehicle barricades

Guess who's A) almost certainly on a watch list and B) not allowed to play Riggers anymore.

So, uh, what were your findings, and how did that work out in the game?


Let me guess: "How many corpses do I need to craft a sword from iron extracted from human blood?"


How much Iron is in the average human being.

Followed shortly by the average weight of a Longsword.


How much blood in a Live human vs a Dead human
Iron content of a sword.

How did I never think of this before? Well, I've got a new character goal now.

Braininthejar2
2017-06-03, 02:23 PM
"Iron enough to make a nail
Lime enough to paint a wall
Water enough to drown a dog
Sulphur enough to stop the fleas
Potash enough to wash a shirt
Gold enough to buy a bean
Silver enough to coat a pin
Lead enough to ballast a bird
Phosfor enough to light the town
Poison enough to kill a cow"

Seclora
2017-06-03, 10:39 PM
Let me guess: "How many corpses do I need to craft a sword from iron extracted from human blood?"
One of my players decided to make a sword out of people, but since we were fighting zombies the math was different.
He ended up running the other side of the game when I split the campaign. His former Character automatically finished the sword. It is one of several annoyances about the situation. The rain calculations are another.


How did I never think of this before? Well, I've got a new character goal now.
Please don't, it's morally dubious, socially problematic, and exceptionally inefficient in both invested time and useful outcome. Besides, where are you going to store it all, and how are you going to isolate the useful elements?

Obviously, such a sword would also have traits determined by your DM, such as insanity and being magical.

LokiRagnarok
2017-06-04, 02:09 AM
Somebody on the Internet already did the calculations for the blood iron sword.



Please don't, it's morally dubious, socially problematic, and exceptionally inefficient in both invested time and useful outcome.


So... an average Murderhobo PC goal, then?


Besides, where are you going to store it all, and how are you going to isolate the useful elements?

Eh, you can probably store the blood in a Bag of Holding or something. This thread (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2psga?Bags-of-Holding-Liquids-and-Retrieving-the) suggests it should be possible.

Or create something like a Decanter of Endless Water, thus cutting out the middle man.
Or research a spell that turns water to blood.


Obviously, such a sword would also have traits determined by your DM, such as insanity and being magical.

¯\_(ツ)_/ ¯

Bohandas
2017-06-04, 09:35 AM
Somebody on the Internet already did the calculations for the blood iron sword.

I think someone on this forum did calculations for a blood sword

GPS
2017-06-04, 10:05 PM
Then I hear the best thing to do is feed them to pigs. You got to starve the pigs for a few days, then the sight of a chopped-up body will look like curry to a pisshead. You gotta shave the heads of your victims, and pull the teeth out for the sake of the piggies' digestion. You could do this afterwards, of course, but you don't want to go sievin' through pig ****, now do you? They will go through bone like butter. You need at least sixteen pigs to finish the job in one sitting, so be wary of any man who keeps a pig farm. They will go through a body that weighs 200 pounds in about eight minutes. That means that a single pig can consume two pounds of uncooked flesh every minute. Hence the expression, "as greedy as a pig".

I'll try and think of some weird stuff I've researched in a moment.
That's...oddly specific and almost feels anecdotal.


I have searched for so many weird things, but the worst was when I tried to find pictures of fairly sexy child models. It was hard to even convince myself that it was okay and only for a roleplaying campaign (which was set in Eclipse Phase that has Neotenic morphs). I don't think I've ever searched for anything that made me feel more morally despicable.
I'm sorry, I'm having a very hard time believing there's ever a time when running an RPG where you need to find pictures of "fairly sexy child models" (outside of maybe FATAL, but if you'd running FATAL it's already too late). At that point, it's probably time to take a step back ans reflect on your campaign. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you have to exert effort to convince yourself that something is ok if it's only for a campaign, it's probably not ok.

Honest Tiefling
2017-06-04, 10:36 PM
Marshmallow girls? Do I even want to know?

Chubby, attractive women, and no, not made of marshmallow because that is a layer of Hell I will NOT dive into.


I've actually looked up how the Body Mass Index is calculated, for coming up with semi-realistic character heights and weights, and built it into a spreadsheet for ease of use. Fun Fact: Someone twice as tall as you are with the same build has a BMI exactly twice yours. (BMI is proportional to Mass over Height squared, or M/H2)

BMI is good for average people, admittedly. Once you get into the chubby/athletic territory, it's a horrible gauge of anything. For male athletes I tend to look up UFC weight classes since well...It's really easy to find pictures of the athletes mostly-naked for a musculature comparison.

VincentTakeda
2017-06-05, 12:15 AM
How many acres of land are required per person for self sustainability.
Restaurants in the vicinity of wales alaska
Pedal kayaks
Pricing and availability for single person submarines

hewhosaysfish
2017-06-05, 12:56 AM
That's...oddly specific and almost feels anecdotal.

Do you know what "nemesis" means? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qy4Zv4snI)

LokiRagnarok
2017-06-05, 01:28 AM
Do you know what "nemesis" means? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3qy4Zv4snI)
I love how that video is categorized as "Education".

hymer
2017-06-05, 02:07 AM
I love how that video is categorized as "Education".

:smallbiggrin: That is lovely.

As for apparently suspicious things to research, I guess trying to find out the fastest way to take down a bridge could qualify. I never found the answer, probably because it's not exactly a straightforward question.

Lorsa
2017-06-07, 06:47 AM
I'm sorry, I'm having a very hard time believing there's ever a time when running an RPG where you need to find pictures of "fairly sexy child models" (outside of maybe FATAL, but if you'd running FATAL it's already too late). At that point, it's probably time to take a step back ans reflect on your campaign. Here's a good rule of thumb: if you have to exert effort to convince yourself that something is ok if it's only for a campaign, it's probably not ok.

You can judge me if you like. Eclipse Phase is a setting where neotenic (child-like morphs) are fairly common, and I wanted to know just how disturbing one can make such a morph in order to accurately portray the world (or rather, a very specific NPC). I know what sort of campaign I had, and reflecting on it still puts it in the box of campaigns I am proud of.

By sharing this, rather distasteful search of mine, I was hoping to make people more comfortable coming forward with their searches. I mean, it can't be worse than Lorsa, can it?

(Also, while my search goal was to find fairly sexy child models, that really wasn't what I typed in into the search field. There are limits, even for me.)

Quertus
2017-06-07, 01:36 PM
One of my players decided to make a sword out of people, but since we were fighting zombies the math was different.
He ended up running the other side of the game when I split the campaign. His former Character automatically finished the sword. It is one of several annoyances about the situation. The rain calculations are another.


Please don't, it's morally dubious, socially problematic, and exceptionally inefficient in both invested time and useful outcome. Besides, where are you going to store it all, and how are you going to isolate the useful elements?

Obviously, such a sword would also have traits determined by your DM, such as insanity and being magical.

I'm not seeing the problem. Animate Dead is my favorite D&D spell, after all.

How to get the iron out? Magic. Invent a new spell, have a Life / Matter mage do it, whatever. Don't store it as blood, just store it as iron. And, by my calculations, 500 people should suffice for a katana blade; a nice round 1000 would make two.

Oh, and what's that about rain calculations?

Xuc Xac
2017-06-07, 04:27 PM
Please don't, it's morally dubious, socially problematic, and exceptionally inefficient in both invested time and useful outcome. Besides, where are you going to store it all, and how are you going to isolate the useful elements?

Obviously, such a sword would also have traits determined by your DM, such as insanity and being magical.

You don't have to hurt anyone to make a sword out of iron from blood. In my life, I've lost more blood than my body can even contain. It grows back if you don't die. Harvesting iron from blood to make a sword is much slower and less efficient than just digging up some ore, but it could be worthwhile. On the chemical level, the iron is identical. On a mystical level, blood iron is different than iron from the earth for the same reason that a ritual has requirements like "during a full moon" instead of "whenever you can get the supplies together". Those magical traits are kind of the point of doing something like this. If you just want a plain steel blade, there are easier ways to get one. Even if you're only motivation is to kill a bunch of people to get the blade and say "this blade cost a thousand lives (mwahaha)", you could just kill people and sell their stuff for cash and buy a sword with the "blood money".

Removing the iron from the blood is fairly easy if you don't care about saving the other components of the blood. You can just extract the iron from each portion as you collect it and save it as powdered rust in a jar until you have a large enough amount to refine it into a chunk of metal. You'll need much more than the weight of the finished sword because you'll lose some at every step of the process, most especially during small scale refinement but also during forging and shaping. I wouldn't bother to start the process until I had double the iron of the finished product just to be sure. You don't want to get to the forge and discover that your long sword is going to have to be a big knife instead.

Seclora
2017-06-07, 06:27 PM
I'm not seeing the problem. Animate Dead is my favorite D&D spell, after all.

How to get the iron out? Magic. Invent a new spell, have a Life / Matter mage do it, whatever. Don't store it as blood, just store it as iron. And, by my calculations, 500 people should suffice for a katana blade; a nice round 1000 would make two.

Oh, and what's that about rain calculations?
Level 1 Warlock, not really a good class for inventing spells, I was eventually talked into an amulet to collect/store the blood.

The rain came later. After he took over the other half of the party, as DM, the same player let them 'sanctify' an Orb of Storms so that it created holy water rain, negating the zombie threat in the region by dropping heavy rainfall on the region for weeks. I tried to explain how that would be bad for crops and ended up trying to figure out the silver content of the rain also. Turns out that dropping 22.5 inches of holy water on a 5 mile radius puts enough powdered silver into the ecosystem to be toxic.
It turned into a fruitless argument about the nature of holy water. Huge waste of time, but I did learn a lot about global rainfall, silver toxicity, and the effects of flooding on agriculture.

Guizonde
2017-06-07, 07:29 PM
You don't have to hurt anyone to make a sword out of iron from blood. In my life, I've lost more blood than my body can even contain. It grows back if you don't die. Harvesting iron from blood to make a sword is much slower and less efficient than just digging up some ore, but it could be worthwhile. On the chemical level, the iron is identical. On a mystical level, blood iron is different than iron from the earth for the same reason that a ritual has requirements like "during a full moon" instead of "whenever you can get the supplies together". Those magical traits are kind of the point of doing something like this.

this sounds absolutely brutal and unbearably metal. a dude bleeding himself, harvesting his blood, extracting the iron, and forging a sword out of it.

"i'm so metal i hit you with my blood! now die, plebe!!!" - killmaimburn the edgelord warmonger, singer in the black metal band "killed by the black death twice" (excerpts).

... also, i kinda want to try that to make me a knife. unfortunately, i don't have the space to stock that amount of blood. i'm thinking by the time i've harvested enough of my blood, i'll have managed to learn how to bladesmith and have my own workshop (about 5 years at the quickest).

GPS
2017-06-07, 09:34 PM
this sounds absolutely brutal and unbearably metal. a dude bleeding himself, harvesting his blood, extracting the iron, and forging a sword out of it.

"i'm so metal i hit you with my blood! now die, plebe!!!" - killmaimburn the edgelord warmonger, singer in the black metal band "killed by the black death twice" (excerpts).

... also, i kinda want to try that to make me a knife. unfortunately, i don't have the space to stock that amount of blood. i'm thinking by the time i've harvested enough of my blood, i'll have managed to learn how to bladesmith and have my own workshop (about 5 years at the quickest).
The sword also wouldn't be that good. A sword made of pure iron isn't a great sword for many reasons.

Guizonde
2017-06-07, 10:29 PM
The sword also wouldn't be that good. A sword made of pure iron isn't a great sword for many reasons.

ok, ok... how about... uh, you rip the heart out of a hippy (with your bare hands) for minerals, take the skull of your father (that you ate while watching porn) for carbon, and the tears of your mother (collected in the skull of your father, naturally) for quenching the blade? it'd be very low quality steel, but since we're on the subject of pure fantasy, i'm taking the path of "over the top silliness", not efficacy and efficiency.

Knaight
2017-06-08, 12:11 AM
The sword also wouldn't be that good. A sword made of pure iron isn't a great sword for many reasons.

If you can't figure out how to get some carbon content in it from a carbon based source then you probably need to get out of mystical swordsmithing.

Xuc Xac
2017-06-08, 01:12 AM
The carbon in the blood would be lost during the iron extraction process, but steel is already made from iron that comes from inorganic ore so it's not a problem to add carbon later.

chainer1216
2017-06-08, 02:14 AM
If youre making a sword out of blood or bodies theres more than enough carbon to go about.

Also magic.

GPS
2017-06-08, 08:06 AM
If you can't figure out how to get some carbon content in it from a carbon based source then you probably need to get out of mystical swordsmithing.
Fair enough

NascragMan
2017-06-08, 08:33 AM
I once did quite a bit of research into the British East India Company for a series of adventures I was writing

Lord Torath
2017-06-08, 10:01 AM
Level 1 Warlock, not really a good class for inventing spells, I was eventually talked into an amulet to collect/store the blood.

The rain came later. After he took over the other half of the party, as DM, the same player let them 'sanctify' an Orb of Storms so that it created holy water rain, negating the zombie threat in the region by dropping heavy rainfall on the region for weeks. I tried to explain how that would be bad for crops and ended up trying to figure out the silver content of the rain also. Turns out that dropping 22.5 inches of holy water on a 5 mile radius puts enough powdered silver into the ecosystem to be toxic.
It turned into a fruitless argument about the nature of holy water. Huge waste of time, but I did learn a lot about global rainfall, silver toxicity, and the effects of flooding on agriculture.Wait, Holy Water has silver in it? :smallconfused:

Coniferous
2017-06-08, 11:59 AM
Lots of google searches about cults and serial killers. The NSA must be having a field day with me.

Bohandas
2017-06-08, 01:26 PM
Wait, Holy Water has silver in it? :smallconfused:

It does in D&D. Something to jack up the price presumably for balance reasons

Bohandas
2017-06-08, 01:32 PM
(for Dungeons of Dredmor mods)
*Stock images of Thufir and Piter from the David Lynch version of Dune
*Stock images of chili peppers and burritos
*how to make gelignite, nitrocellulose, and nitroglycerine
*The text of Mendez' prayer to the Atomic Bomb in Beneath the Planet of the Apes
*plugins for GIMP to make photos look like cartoons, so I don't actually have to use my own crappy drawing skills
*stock images of bongs
*stock images of grandfather clocks

Lord Torath
2017-06-08, 01:55 PM
Wait, Holy Water has silver in it? :smallconfused:


It does in D&D. Something to jack up the price presumably for balance reasonsIn my day, we didn't have no... silver in our holy water! We had our clerics PRAY over that tiny ewer of water for THREE HOURS! And that's the way it was, and we liked it! WE LOVED IT! Dang whippersnappers today! Git off my dang lawn!

Actually, I do recall rules for creating Holy Water in 2E AD&D, but I don't recall exactly what (or where) they were. Hmmm... something to go research...

Eldan
2017-06-08, 03:03 PM
There is a cleric spell in 3E that makes holy water, but it requires silver as a component.

Lord Torath
2017-06-08, 03:14 PM
Found it!
In a temple of the god, three priests of second level or higher stand over an empty water-basin and perform a ritual of prayer. They pray for the gods blessing and protection for an entire hour. At the end of that time, they each cast a spell, and do so simultaneously: One casts create water, the second casts protection from evil, and the third casts purify food & drink. Half a gallon of holy water is created.So technically, yes, three hours of prayer, just performed simultaneously, and in a temple of the deity.

Edit: And on topic, how to calculate the length of the umbral shadow of a celestial body (http://mathscinotes.com/2010/10/solar-eclipse-math/).