Talk:DryOil (3.5e Equipment)

Science

I know this is totally nerdy and irrelevant, but here it is.

“	Hygroscopy is the ability of a substance to attract water molecules from the surrounding environment through either absorption or adsorption.	”
—Wikipedia

DryOil is probably a chemical desiccant, something like calcium chloride or lye (sodium hydroxide). The process by which calcium chloride absorbs water is exothermic, it'll burn you if you stay in contact with it. Lye is a strong base, and can also be used as a chemical desiccant. But these two chemicals alone aren't really that oily. So what would Dry Oil be made of? Well, calcium chloride in an aqueous (dissolved in water) solution might do it. But again, not really oily. Bases, however, are known to be very "oily" to the touch. So I'd be guessing that DryOil would be a caustic soda of some sort, like sodium hydroxide, or potassium hydroxide. The chemical burn effect would also contribute to dehydration. But there's the other problem, though. The description of DryOil says nothing about dealing damage. So very strong chemical desiccants are probably unlikely, because they leave burns. How about something that is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, and disturbes the natural electrolytes? Well, how about Methyl Ethyl Ketone? It is rapidly absorbed into the skin, it tends to irritate mucous membranes (causing tears). It's also not considered a large health threat. But again, it's not a particularly effective dehydrating agent. So how about alcohols? Alcohols are often used as a chemical dryer...ethanol dissolved in oil? hmm, maybe... --Othtim 16:13, 5 October 2007 (MDT)

It is an ethanol dissolved in olive oil plus good-ol'-fashioned D&D alchemy. It's in an oil form because I wanna use it in an alchemical crossbow.--Gruegirl 14:07, 7 October 2007 (MDT)

How many times can the vial be used? Is it one use per vial? If so, I think it should be made cheaper. A flask of alchemists fire is only 20gp. 100 gp just to get an opponent dehydrated seems a little extreme. I don't have "Sandstorm", though - what happens when you are Dehydrated? --Othtim 20:39, 10 October 2007 (MDT)

Dehydration counts as fatigued and if you get dehydrated on top of dehydrated it causes constitution damage. Also edited to show uses per vial. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Gruegirl (talk • contribs) 13:39, 11 October 2007 (MDT). Please sign your posts.

Would someone who is immune to fatigue be immune to dehydration? I'd guess no, but I'm just curious. =S --Othtim 14:01, 11 October 2007 (MDT)