Nerd Math: Preventing teleportation with Gorgon blood.


Lost Omens Campaign Setting General Discussion


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If you go back. Way back. Way back to the 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual, you will find that

Monstrous Manual, Tim Beach et al, Random House New York, 1993 wrote:
"Gorgon blood, properly prepared, can seal an area against ethereal or astral intrusion"

Gorgons in the D&D tradition are consistently described as being physically similar in size and shape to domestic cattle. Turning to the Wikipedia article on blood volume we find that a cow has, on average, 50ml of blood by kg weight. The Wikipedia article on cattle suggests that their weight varies greatly based on age, sex, and breed. For our purposes we shall assume a 600kg gorgon.

At 50ml per 1kg of body weight our 600kg gorgon has approximately 30,000ml or 30l of blood.

According to the paint calculator at the BBC's home improvement page a room of 3x3x3m with two 2mx1m doors will require ~3l of paint to cover the walls.

Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that a single gorgon will provide enough blood that, when properly prepared, one may ward no less than ten separate 10'x10' rooms with an orc and a treasure chest in the middle.

And this is the nerdiest thing I have ever done involving math.

Scarab Sages

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While I approve of any thread that proves how awesome the khalkatauri are, I cannot forgive the implications that we exist to be used as interior decorating supplies.

<petrifies the offending thread>


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Hahah! Dot.


I thought a gorgon was the race of Medusa?

Sovereign Court

One of my favorite past characters wrote an extensive list of folksy wisdom and clever sayings. Sort of a poor boy's almanac for the high fantasy setting. His advice on interior design was "No color makes a room feel cozier than Gorgon's blood."


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Sitri wrote:
I thought a gorgon was the race of Medusa?

Outside D&D and things derived from D&D, yes.

But somehow Gygax decided that it was a metal-skinned bull with a breath weapon. (I think they got mixed up somehow with the catoblepas, and maybe the fire-breathing bronze bulls -- the khalkotauri Snorter mentions.)


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Capture it alive, put a yoke on it to control the breath weapon direction and horns, and the pull a Maasai...There is no need to harvest ALL the blood at a time.

Sovereign Court

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KtA wrote:
Sitri wrote:
I thought a gorgon was the race of Medusa?

Outside D&D and things derived from D&D, yes.

But somehow Gygax decided that it was a metal-skinned bull with a breath weapon. (I think they got mixed up somehow with the catoblepas, and maybe the fire-breathing bronze bulls -- the khalkotauri Snorter mentions.)

The mistake was made in a medieval bestiary and Gygax lifted it.

Never been corrected despite being confusing and counter-intuitive.

Scarab Sages

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Medusa was a johnny-come-lately copycat, who should get her own schtick.


Snorter wrote:
Medusa was a johnny-come-lately copycat, who should get her own schtick.

Wait, wait, wait. Are you saying you want your blood to be a valuable harvesting agent so that people slaughter your kind for interior decorating?


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Or could it be placed in a small sealed container and thrown at wizards to prevent escape?


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Or as a trap balance a bucket of gorgon blood on the door so when the wizard opens it he's drenched and cannot teleport away. Then you jump out and yell gotcha!

Scarab Sages

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Gorgon blood is a far more dangerous substance, when it's still wrapped in its original gorgon-shaped container.

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