I just finished a conversation with my nanotech/chemical engineering partner about how we could explain the physiology of dragon breath scientifically for the fantasy-meets-industrial-age RPG setting that we're creating…
best kind of nerding is done with loved ones— Kienna 💖 @ so much writing (@KiennaS) July 6, 2019
I have seen a great article on this, acid & poison direct from nature, cold is all about pressure (think canned air), Fire was a little tricky but there is a chemical that works – Lighting is the tough one it is all about aim and it not grounding out.I gravitate to a stream of ionized gas or vapor that carries the discharge.
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 6, 2019
I would argue that ionized air in sufficient volume would look more like a plasma torch than lightning. Ionizing air requires ~3 million Volts/meter gap. Over a ~50 cm gap like the sides of a dragon’s throat then requires 1.5M V and a huge amount of current, say 1,000 Amps. mean a stream of ionized has that a discharge follows as the path of least resistance. The capacitor/generator the dragon uses is entirely internal, then directed along the vapor or gas’s path.
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 6, 2019
Depends on how realistic we have to go
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 6, 2019
If we have to stay super realistic I’m not sure how to feasibly generate a lightning bolt.
If we can get weird, a large, or series of, piezoelectric crystals in the dragon’s chest.
— Dan Dillon 👥 (@Dan_Dillon_1) July 6, 2019