How to make a metal with extraordinary property worthless?











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In a RPG scenario, players will look for a MacGuffin Metal (aka MGM.), experiencing the farwest gold fever.



Short Story:



Context : Farwest(~1880), steam punk.




  1. First encounter :

    In a 3-5 minutes time frame, players will have to handle a MGM door.

    Metal property : Lighter than aluminum, strong as steel, silverish.

    Inspection method: pick it, move it, throw it, thrust into, punch bite and claw.


  2. MGM Discovery :

    After the "MGM fever", the frenzy and chaos surrounding this quest for a incredible medal, only a bitter taste remains.
    The MGM is an already known metal! Already discovered decades ago by Dr. MacGuffin, he judges it worthless. And he is right.
    The veins is there near the Xyz town, the mine already exists but somehow the MGM is worthless.



Question :



How to make a metal with extraordinary property worthless?

The MGM has propertied that make it comparable to Titanium.



In-game restriction :



The game cannot accept any kind of Op MGM Armor, or gold like revenue.

No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.

Things it can be used for: horsehoes, knives, things of small value such as spoons and frypans.



Out side restriction :



One of the players is an engineer in a metallurgy company.
He knows a lot about metals, and has the knowledge to bring industrial metal into the West if I allow him enough time to do so.
He starts his study/career because as a kid he was wondering what it will take to go from the bronze age to the steel age.



He is the real reason of my question because I'm afraid he could destroy the plot.



Possible answer I already have:




  • It's magic. It's a precious metal revolutionary! ..Changed my mind it's worthless.

  • You are the engineer, you tell me why it's worthless.

  • Good question, your char ask that but the answer he got is too complex for him to understand.


The answer doesn't need to be hard science, just reasonable enough. You can judge the reasonable based on your own comprehension, Will it fool you?
The argument can include magic, curse, haunted. No hard science needed.










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  • 1




    Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
    – AlexP
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday








  • 1




    You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
    – AlexP
    yesterday






  • 1




    Make more of it. Done
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday















up vote
19
down vote

favorite
4












In a RPG scenario, players will look for a MacGuffin Metal (aka MGM.), experiencing the farwest gold fever.



Short Story:



Context : Farwest(~1880), steam punk.




  1. First encounter :

    In a 3-5 minutes time frame, players will have to handle a MGM door.

    Metal property : Lighter than aluminum, strong as steel, silverish.

    Inspection method: pick it, move it, throw it, thrust into, punch bite and claw.


  2. MGM Discovery :

    After the "MGM fever", the frenzy and chaos surrounding this quest for a incredible medal, only a bitter taste remains.
    The MGM is an already known metal! Already discovered decades ago by Dr. MacGuffin, he judges it worthless. And he is right.
    The veins is there near the Xyz town, the mine already exists but somehow the MGM is worthless.



Question :



How to make a metal with extraordinary property worthless?

The MGM has propertied that make it comparable to Titanium.



In-game restriction :



The game cannot accept any kind of Op MGM Armor, or gold like revenue.

No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.

Things it can be used for: horsehoes, knives, things of small value such as spoons and frypans.



Out side restriction :



One of the players is an engineer in a metallurgy company.
He knows a lot about metals, and has the knowledge to bring industrial metal into the West if I allow him enough time to do so.
He starts his study/career because as a kid he was wondering what it will take to go from the bronze age to the steel age.



He is the real reason of my question because I'm afraid he could destroy the plot.



Possible answer I already have:




  • It's magic. It's a precious metal revolutionary! ..Changed my mind it's worthless.

  • You are the engineer, you tell me why it's worthless.

  • Good question, your char ask that but the answer he got is too complex for him to understand.


The answer doesn't need to be hard science, just reasonable enough. You can judge the reasonable based on your own comprehension, Will it fool you?
The argument can include magic, curse, haunted. No hard science needed.










share|improve this question




















  • 1




    Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
    – AlexP
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday








  • 1




    You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
    – AlexP
    yesterday






  • 1




    Make more of it. Done
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday













up vote
19
down vote

favorite
4









up vote
19
down vote

favorite
4






4





In a RPG scenario, players will look for a MacGuffin Metal (aka MGM.), experiencing the farwest gold fever.



Short Story:



Context : Farwest(~1880), steam punk.




  1. First encounter :

    In a 3-5 minutes time frame, players will have to handle a MGM door.

    Metal property : Lighter than aluminum, strong as steel, silverish.

    Inspection method: pick it, move it, throw it, thrust into, punch bite and claw.


  2. MGM Discovery :

    After the "MGM fever", the frenzy and chaos surrounding this quest for a incredible medal, only a bitter taste remains.
    The MGM is an already known metal! Already discovered decades ago by Dr. MacGuffin, he judges it worthless. And he is right.
    The veins is there near the Xyz town, the mine already exists but somehow the MGM is worthless.



Question :



How to make a metal with extraordinary property worthless?

The MGM has propertied that make it comparable to Titanium.



In-game restriction :



The game cannot accept any kind of Op MGM Armor, or gold like revenue.

No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.

Things it can be used for: horsehoes, knives, things of small value such as spoons and frypans.



Out side restriction :



One of the players is an engineer in a metallurgy company.
He knows a lot about metals, and has the knowledge to bring industrial metal into the West if I allow him enough time to do so.
He starts his study/career because as a kid he was wondering what it will take to go from the bronze age to the steel age.



He is the real reason of my question because I'm afraid he could destroy the plot.



Possible answer I already have:




  • It's magic. It's a precious metal revolutionary! ..Changed my mind it's worthless.

  • You are the engineer, you tell me why it's worthless.

  • Good question, your char ask that but the answer he got is too complex for him to understand.


The answer doesn't need to be hard science, just reasonable enough. You can judge the reasonable based on your own comprehension, Will it fool you?
The argument can include magic, curse, haunted. No hard science needed.










share|improve this question















In a RPG scenario, players will look for a MacGuffin Metal (aka MGM.), experiencing the farwest gold fever.



Short Story:



Context : Farwest(~1880), steam punk.




  1. First encounter :

    In a 3-5 minutes time frame, players will have to handle a MGM door.

    Metal property : Lighter than aluminum, strong as steel, silverish.

    Inspection method: pick it, move it, throw it, thrust into, punch bite and claw.


  2. MGM Discovery :

    After the "MGM fever", the frenzy and chaos surrounding this quest for a incredible medal, only a bitter taste remains.
    The MGM is an already known metal! Already discovered decades ago by Dr. MacGuffin, he judges it worthless. And he is right.
    The veins is there near the Xyz town, the mine already exists but somehow the MGM is worthless.



Question :



How to make a metal with extraordinary property worthless?

The MGM has propertied that make it comparable to Titanium.



In-game restriction :



The game cannot accept any kind of Op MGM Armor, or gold like revenue.

No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.

Things it can be used for: horsehoes, knives, things of small value such as spoons and frypans.



Out side restriction :



One of the players is an engineer in a metallurgy company.
He knows a lot about metals, and has the knowledge to bring industrial metal into the West if I allow him enough time to do so.
He starts his study/career because as a kid he was wondering what it will take to go from the bronze age to the steel age.



He is the real reason of my question because I'm afraid he could destroy the plot.



Possible answer I already have:




  • It's magic. It's a precious metal revolutionary! ..Changed my mind it's worthless.

  • You are the engineer, you tell me why it's worthless.

  • Good question, your char ask that but the answer he got is too complex for him to understand.


The answer doesn't need to be hard science, just reasonable enough. You can judge the reasonable based on your own comprehension, Will it fool you?
The argument can include magic, curse, haunted. No hard science needed.







science western






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edited yesterday









Renan

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asked yesterday









Drag and Drop

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  • 1




    Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
    – AlexP
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday








  • 1




    You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
    – AlexP
    yesterday






  • 1




    Make more of it. Done
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday














  • 1




    Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
    – AlexP
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday








  • 1




    You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
    – AlexP
    yesterday






  • 1




    Make more of it. Done
    – Carl Witthoft
    yesterday










  • @AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday








1




1




Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
– AlexP
yesterday




Titanium would not have been very useful in the 19th century...
– AlexP
yesterday












@AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
– Drag and Drop
yesterday






@AlexP, for the need of the story the medal must be noticable for a avg cowboy. It has to have extraordinary property. Ti is what I comes up with in my research of real life lighter stronger medal.
– Drag and Drop
yesterday






1




1




You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
– AlexP
yesterday




You are aware that only gold and silver are found in their native state in any appreciable quantity? Everything else is smelted from ore, a.k.a. dirt. I seriously doubt that the average cowboy would recognize aluminum ore, or chromium ore, or even iron ore.
– AlexP
yesterday




1




1




Make more of it. Done
– Carl Witthoft
yesterday




Make more of it. Done
– Carl Witthoft
yesterday












@AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
– Drag and Drop
yesterday




@AlexP, they won't. And they don't have to. MGM is not real and it's not Ti, It's clause to what we call Ti. Because I need a base to start. But the Avg cowboy will clause a giant gate and will know it's light.
– Drag and Drop
yesterday










15 Answers
15






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52
down vote













It turns out to be radioactive.



It's light, it's beautiful, it's strong.



... but anyone who carries or wears the metal for more than a very short period of time eventually gets sick.



This wasn't known during the initial gold rush and the metal was used to make various things... but eventually the people who handled it most or wore or carried pieces got sick and died leaving behind a town full of the sick families of former prospectors.



Short exposure isn't an issue... but don't even think about carrying chunks in your pack for weeks.



And anyone foolish enough to try to toy with this metal unprepared?






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  • Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday






  • 1




    Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
    – WhatRoughBeast
    yesterday










  • @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
    – Murphy
    yesterday








  • 2




    Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
    – WhatRoughBeast
    yesterday










  • +2 to cancer risk, eh?
    – user3490
    14 hours ago


















up vote
46
down vote













Titanium is actually a fascinating example standing by itself, because it's not that hard to find (it was identified as an element before 1800, and is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust) but it's very difficult to work.



Titanium can't be shaped simply by heating it and pouring or working it like you might do with iron, steel, brass, or the like. The reason is chemical: pure titanium metal melts at 1668 °C (​3034 °F). However, at about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F), it reacts with oxygen to form a variety of oxides. (The most common, titanium dioxide, is a valuable product in its own right; it's a very strong, bright white pigment and has other industrial uses.) If you try working with titanium the same way you would steel, it will literally burn up.



So in order to work with titanium, you need to work it under an inert atmosphere. Normally pure nitrogen is the go-to for industrial uses... but titanium will burn in nitrogen, too. You need an atmosphere made up of a noble gas, like argon. In this time period this might just about have been possible in a lab, on a very small scale, but it's still the better part of a century from industrial applications.



The one caveat is that most cold shaping methods will still work on titanium once it's purified. If you have an ingot of titanium metal, you can stamp it, roll it, carve it, ream it, etc. and it'll work okay. So it might be hard to justify not allowing your players to cut up your miracle door for body armor or the like, but they'll have a very limited amount to work with, and no way to make more.






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  • 1




    I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
    – Zeiss Ikon
    yesterday










  • While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
    – Drag and Drop
    yesterday






  • 27




    Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
    – pjc50
    yesterday






  • 2




    I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
    – BillThePlatypus
    yesterday






  • 13




    Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
    – Cadence
    yesterday


















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28
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Absurdly strong metal! Well, in the current location/situation - for example, halfway up a snowy mountain.



Unfortunately, those properties change greatly with temperature - taking our "strong when cold" example, by 20°C it's soft, malleable, and can barely hold its own weight up. By 35°C it's completely melted. A good door for withstanding the elements in the cold, but no security against animals or hot weather.



(For reference: standard "room temperature" is about 18°C-22°C, and the Human Body temperature is typically around the 37°C mark)






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  • I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
    – Richard
    yesterday






  • 3




    The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
    – Willk
    yesterday










  • @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
    – Philbo
    13 hours ago










  • @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
    – Richard
    13 hours ago


















up vote
14
down vote













You have answer in your question:




No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.
Thing it can be used for : horse thing, knife, small things with no impact from spoon to frypan




The metal is forgeable only in small sizes:




  • It may be due to heat (very high temperature) it require to be shaped.

  • it proprieties change with size, the more metal you have the more brittle/unstable it become

  • Due to it's proprieties it react to much with it's surrounding. A revolver made with this metal don't allow bullets to leave the barrel. A shield reflect bullets but transfer kinetic energy multiplying it by the square size of shield. A canoe/boat/ship is attracted to the nearest large deposit of MGM rather than direction you want the ship to go.


And last thing. The "tool wear". In woodworking there are woods of different hardness. The hard ones are, well, the best but they wear the tools used to shape them. The saw are dull, chisel are made blunt.

Creating things from MGM destroy your tools. Using hammer and anvil on MGM is like using brass hammer on hard steel. The metal is not scarce, like gold, but creating usable things is not price reasonable. The jewellery made from that metal is costly but ONLY after the dozens of tools are destroyed in the process of making in. So the price comes from waste that was required to create MGM "thing" not from the MGM proprieties.






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    up vote
    12
    down vote













    It reacts with certain common substances. As an example look at aluminum and mercury: https://youtu.be/IrdYueB9pY4



    Imagine this kind of thing happening with something more common, like a certain mixture of water, or an abundant chemical that enemies could easily fetch and use. Your armor might be supa-dupa but if it someone throws a chemical at you and your armor/weapon falls apart or worse kills you... You dont want to be using it.



    Dont know how to work it yet:



    Simply put, they dont know how to use it properly. Pure aluminum is light and strong but sheers easily due to its molecular structure. Add copper to the mix to get construction aluminum and the copper molecules prevent the sheering (if properly cooled), even though copper is counter-intuitively weaker than aluminum it strengthens it! The bits and pieces they found and used were natural deposits of good and bad mixtures. And the only way to work it to the knowledge so far is to chip it into shape, severely limiting what you can make depending on the size of natural material you found. A knife could work, but a full armor...?



    Its hard to work it.



    As mentioned, Tungsten for example is hard to work. Not only does it form oxides when heating it up, but due to the temperature needed to melt it theres virtually nothing you can heat and contain it in! Its one of the reasons we know much less about Tungsten than other materials. It doesnt need to be that restrictive, but it can be so restrictive that only a handful of top-notch master craftsmen can make something out of it and even then theres a high failure rate. So the limiting factor isnt the material, but the expertise to work it. Who cares if you've got 50 metric tons of the stuff if 10 kilo's is enough for a master craftsman to make several attempts and build one armor and practically no one can afford it? This makes it worthless to most people.






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    • Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
      – Drag and Drop
      yesterday


















    up vote
    9
    down vote













    A lot of real-world metals are not intrinsically valuable (like gold is, due to its scarcity), but become valuable in the right context.



    "Damascus steel" was once priceless, because it made the best swords, and most metalworkers had no idea how to produce it; but it was made from ordinary iron and carbon, so you wouldn't be rich just because you discovered the ore seams it was made from. The same is true of titanium and alumin(i)um, which can only be worked and/or refined with modern technology.



    Conversely, many metals are scarce, but did not become valuable until people discovered uses for them (neodymium magnets, yttrium lasers, tantalum capacitors etc.). In 1870, an ingot of tantalum would certainly be expensive, but if you showed it to anyone their reaction would be "so what?"; today, the trade in tantalum fuels deadly conflict.



    A fun idea might be if the MacGuffin metal was some kind of impressive alloy, but it melts at 36°C (perhaps it contains gallium). Getting to and from the town involves two days' travel through Death Valley, and because refrigeration doesn't exist, there's no way to stop the alloy melting on the way.






    share|improve this answer

















    • 3




      Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
      – Wayne Werner
      yesterday


















    up vote
    4
    down vote













    The Titanium answer is a good one, but I'd like to offer some other possibilities: radioactively dangerous to be around.



    A real world example is Mag-Thor, which is only slightly radioactive but still needs special handling. If the magic metal is fairly "hot" radioactive, it will cause visible injuries, sickness and death fairly quickly. That discourages people from trying to make bulletproof vests out of it.






    share|improve this answer




























      up vote
      4
      down vote













      It never had any value to begin with.
      It was a product where the marketing got ahead of the development.
      Some smooth talking salesman found himself in possession of the stuff, silver-tongued his way through a huge sale by promising all sorts of valuable properties to the metal, and it caught on. The material started changing hands, shot up in value as a untested commodity because it's so shiny, it has to be great, right?



      Large organizations (banks, corporations, government factions) caught wind of the hype and started "Go west, young man" campaigns to get cheap labor in on the ground floor. Promises of wealth and a solid career in the MGM industry brought lots of men and women out to seek their fortune. Soon warehouses all over the map were full of the stuff.



      Then the metallurgists got a few samples. People were bringing in nuggets, ingots, anything they could get. All were asking for the miracle devices they were promised to be crafted. Weapons, armor, machine parts, the works.



      It turns out it is only useful as an alloy to other metals, usually metals that are so scarce, large-scale practical uses are too far out of scope for the amount of materials any one person or organization can realistically possess. However, the metallic mix is close to 80% MGM and 20% Unobtainium.



      Or the process of making the alloy is so time consuming or dangerous to not be worth the effort.



      Either way, many small trinkets exist, horseshoes, ashtrays. Whispers exist of a family that has an entire cutlery set made from MGM and Unobtainium (Or just plain MGM if that's what you go for, if so, ignore the next paragraph).



      Because of the scarcity of the Unobtainium, MGM values have plummeted to nil. Sure, some people still run mining ventures because the occasional investor can be duped into thinking that when Unobtainium becomes Scarce-but-still-possible-to-obtainium the future of MGM will blow through the roof.



      As for now, the abundant surplus of MGM sits uselessly in warehouses, frequently in ghost towns. The value of the material is so low it's not worth paying a few laborers a day's work to move the stock.



      The door the party encounters is clearly made of either masterfully crafted MGM or the 80/20 mix.






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      Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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      • In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
        – Volker Siegel
        yesterday


















      up vote
      3
      down vote













      That material should be Wolfraam aka tungsten.



      Since it can be used for very small stuff, but for large stuff it's hard to use because it's brittle, making it worthless



      then maybe add the option of making an alloy of say titanium + tungsten if you want to use it for small/bigger stuff :D



      anyway, maybe just adding the option to make stuff out of alloys in your game would make it better, though it might be hard cus on making an alloy has like at least 3 parameters, the quantity of each metal you use for the alloy, the quantity of different metals, and the reactions some metals have on eachother, which can also depend on many other variables like pressure, heat... and from all that you would need to calculate a bunch of variables for the created alloy.



      besides that, many alloys haven't really been tested, since there are many alloys possible.



      Someone should make an api for this if it doesn't exist already :D, would be nice for an application, even though implementing all real life variables would be like mission impossible.



      Anyway, you could keep the variables limited for your game.






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      • Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
        – Volker Siegel
        yesterday


















      up vote
      2
      down vote













      What if the metal had an inherent, impossible to counteract, and nigh-impossible to slow, decay rate (non-radioactive). When it is in ore form, it is stable and prevented from decay; however, as soon as it is melted down and forged into any form, the decay begins. The larger the item it is forged into, the quicker the onset and severity of the decay, as well as taking a penalty due to the forginig process.



      The Decay



      This is a base template for the decay. Size differences will change these properties:




      • Immediately after forgining it is unchanged, and retains its amazing properties

      • After a few weeks, it has lost both durability and some minor bit of its stregth.


      As time goes on, it continues the decaying process, which only accelerates with time.




      • After three months some twenty percent of its initial strength and durability, therein bringing it closer (but still quite superior) to more attainable, and less questionable, materials

      • By the time six months have passed, it is almost identical to the next-best material; the accelerated decay process has now taken over fifty percent of the properties that originally made it special


      The Size Penalty




      • For small items, the decay rate is as described above. This would include the aforementioned cutlery, horseshoes, hammer and axe heads, and cooking pots/pans

      • For medium items, the decay rate is quadrupled (4 times as severe). This would mean that after three months, an item has lost eighty percent of its initial strength and durability due to decay. As well, as soon as the item was completed, it would take a five percent forging penalty. That would put them item at only fifteen percent of its initial state.

      • For large items, the decay rate is octupled (8 times as severe). This would mean that before even two months, the item would already be destroyed by the decay alone. As soon as the item was completed, however, it would take an immediate twenty-five percent forging penalty. This would effectively mean that the item would last barely one month. This would include armor, shields, or any wearable item. This would also fit into the game rules that exclude such items from being generally made from MGM


      The Forging Requirement




      • The metal requires very high skill and a massive amount of heat to forge


      While this is likely not a perfect solution, I think it is a servicible one from a pseudo-chemistry standpoint. This would make it so that only the most powerful and rich people would be wealthy enough to even consider using this material. As well, their use would come at great cost to themselves. Considering the difficulty, expense, and relative short-term use of the metal for any practical application, the metal would be untenable for use. While it is easily attained, and anyone could use it, why would they? The combined difficulty of melting down the metal and forming it, along with the decay and forging penalties, makes it something that would be very hard to find any use for overall.






      share|improve this answer








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        up vote
        1
        down vote













        It got superseded!



        (Inspired by / adapted from the answer of @Cadence)



        The metal A was immensely valuable because it has good physical properties and is scarce and hard to extract. The metal T, while abundant, was not considered because nobody knew how to work it.



        Then people (maybe not everybody!) discovered the trick to work T (cheaply, maybe in nitrogen), and suddenly A is totally worthless because it is much more scarce than T and its physical properties are significantly less interesting.






        share|improve this answer




























          up vote
          1
          down vote













          The properties aren't that much better



          Sure, it's lighter than aluminium and stronger than steel. But it's only 20% lighter and 20% stronger.



          The metal has some disadvantages too.



          It's got, say, poor fatigue properties. Oh, you didn't notice when it was a door, but it you made a sword out of this you'd be replacing it constantly.



          In the 17th century, the British Royal Navy found that ships with lead or copper plating would have iron bolts and nails disintegrate quickly. MGM is similar; if you make armour with an MGM sheet and steel rivets, it's very prone to corrosion.



          And it's expensive to produce.



          Aluminium is found in an ore called Bauxite which is very common - but expensive amounts of energy are needed to extract the aluminium from the ore, even with modern techniques. Back in 1845, before modern extraction techniques were invented, aluminium cost more than gold.



          MGM is the same way. You've found the ore and that the refined it has these good properties, but it's going to cost a lot more than steel because of the amount of, say, potassium you need to extract the metal from the ore.



          Difficult to make it consistent, too



          For some reason, eight out of ten batches of the metal just don't perform well. And you don't figure that out until right at the end of the manufacturing process, when your armour just isn't as strong as it should be in certain places. Dr MacGuffin thinks the boron used in refining tends to clump together, even though it's the best anyone can make, or possibly that the horse urine was gathered too late in the day. Anyway, the science of the day hasn't been able to solve the problem.



          Did I mention it's expensive to process?



          If you get MGM red hot in a forge, it reacts with air and gets less strong. It ends up less strong than steel, in fact. For it to keep its strength you have to stop the air getting to it, by processing it in a bath of argon. So you can do it, but your world's existing blacksmiths generally can't work with it. They'd need new equipment which is very expensive.



          Oh, and someone else has patented the only extraction process that works



          Tycoon Tom has a patent on the only MGM extraction techniques that seem to work well, and he's got big investments in steel mills. He's not really looking to let anyone use his patents. And your setting has very strict intellectual property laws.



          Plus it's classified



          The government thinks MGM has such important military applications, it's a state secret. All details about it are born secret, even if you discover them without seeing anything secret yourself. The secret applications are mostly in large artillery shell casings, so the properties that make it militarily useful aren't helpful for making swords or anything.



          All things considered, its advantages aren't big enough to outweigh the cost and problems.






          share|improve this answer






























            up vote
            1
            down vote













            It's weak to copper*



            MGM is great. Relatively abundant. Easy to work in its raw state. But after purified and tempered, it is as light as aluminum and stronger than steel or titanium.



            The problem is it is weak to copper. A copper knife will go through it like a hot knife through warm butter. Heck, a copper coin will go through it as easily as a knife. It might be a great metal, but if one can cut through it wil pocket change, it's not terribly useful.



            Now from a scientific standpoint it isn't 'weak' to copper. It is highly reactive with copper. If any copper comes in contact with it, it will immediately form Cu2MGM20, a dodecahedron of MGM atoms around two copper atoms. And the new compound won't react with anything else. It just flakes away as dust, leaving it looking like the copper cut through the MGM. And it's a pain in the neck to split the molecules up again. Since it is a 10 to 1 reaction, one pound of copper will destroy 10 pounds of MGM, or a copper dagger will only lose a thin layer in cutting through a door, armor, or sword. Gold and silver, also being in the precious metals series, may have a similar or reduced reaction with MGM.



            *You could choose a different metal (metal column) instead of copper. Cobalt, nickel, and zinc might work; they are just less likely to be commonly carried (copper being common for coins) and thus discovered as the weakness.






            share|improve this answer






























              up vote
              0
              down vote













              Its so strong, it's not really forgeable, its really heat resistant, so its has no field of use



              Edited away:



              OPT2:

              The market has so much it costs nothing => wothless






              share|improve this answer























              • "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                – Drag and Drop
                yesterday










              • @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                – Jannis
                yesterday


















              up vote
              0
              down vote













              If you're going high-fantasy, the metal is useless outside of the region it's found, due to magic. Of note, this doesn't make it completely useless - just impossible to export. So, your shield, bullet proof vest, etc all work - up to a radius of 20 miles from the veins. This could produce a rather distinctive local culture in time, perhaps a seat of government if the metal is useful enough. Projecting force would be difficult, but it could serve effectively as a defensive deterrent.






              share|improve this answer





















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                15 Answers
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                active

                oldest

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                15 Answers
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                active

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                active

                oldest

                votes








                up vote
                52
                down vote













                It turns out to be radioactive.



                It's light, it's beautiful, it's strong.



                ... but anyone who carries or wears the metal for more than a very short period of time eventually gets sick.



                This wasn't known during the initial gold rush and the metal was used to make various things... but eventually the people who handled it most or wore or carried pieces got sick and died leaving behind a town full of the sick families of former prospectors.



                Short exposure isn't an issue... but don't even think about carrying chunks in your pack for weeks.



                And anyone foolish enough to try to toy with this metal unprepared?






                share|improve this answer























                • Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 1




                  Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                  – Murphy
                  yesterday








                • 2




                  Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                  – user3490
                  14 hours ago















                up vote
                52
                down vote













                It turns out to be radioactive.



                It's light, it's beautiful, it's strong.



                ... but anyone who carries or wears the metal for more than a very short period of time eventually gets sick.



                This wasn't known during the initial gold rush and the metal was used to make various things... but eventually the people who handled it most or wore or carried pieces got sick and died leaving behind a town full of the sick families of former prospectors.



                Short exposure isn't an issue... but don't even think about carrying chunks in your pack for weeks.



                And anyone foolish enough to try to toy with this metal unprepared?






                share|improve this answer























                • Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 1




                  Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                  – Murphy
                  yesterday








                • 2




                  Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                  – user3490
                  14 hours ago













                up vote
                52
                down vote










                up vote
                52
                down vote









                It turns out to be radioactive.



                It's light, it's beautiful, it's strong.



                ... but anyone who carries or wears the metal for more than a very short period of time eventually gets sick.



                This wasn't known during the initial gold rush and the metal was used to make various things... but eventually the people who handled it most or wore or carried pieces got sick and died leaving behind a town full of the sick families of former prospectors.



                Short exposure isn't an issue... but don't even think about carrying chunks in your pack for weeks.



                And anyone foolish enough to try to toy with this metal unprepared?






                share|improve this answer














                It turns out to be radioactive.



                It's light, it's beautiful, it's strong.



                ... but anyone who carries or wears the metal for more than a very short period of time eventually gets sick.



                This wasn't known during the initial gold rush and the metal was used to make various things... but eventually the people who handled it most or wore or carried pieces got sick and died leaving behind a town full of the sick families of former prospectors.



                Short exposure isn't an issue... but don't even think about carrying chunks in your pack for weeks.



                And anyone foolish enough to try to toy with this metal unprepared?







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited yesterday









                fe_alice

                31




                31










                answered yesterday









                Murphy

                23.3k14587




                23.3k14587












                • Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 1




                  Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                  – Murphy
                  yesterday








                • 2




                  Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                  – user3490
                  14 hours ago


















                • Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 1




                  Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                  – Murphy
                  yesterday








                • 2




                  Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                  – WhatRoughBeast
                  yesterday










                • +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                  – user3490
                  14 hours ago
















                Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                – Drag and Drop
                yesterday




                Well with animaginary ratio of 1 Gy per kg of MGM. We have mortality that range from 1Gy = 6-8 Week to 30+Gy=1-2 Day. source
                – Drag and Drop
                yesterday




                1




                1




                Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                – WhatRoughBeast
                yesterday




                Nice scare photograph. You're aware that the picture was taken 11 years after his experimental phase, and is not typical of his appearance even at the time? He was apparently doing something to himself (and various drugs come to mind), but radiation, not so much. Since he was diagnosed in about 2000 as paranoid schizophrenic and bipolar, I'd guess that he got off his meds and did something to himself.
                – WhatRoughBeast
                yesterday












                @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                – Murphy
                yesterday






                @WhatRoughBeast I was under the impression that the photo was from after a second incident where he was suspected to have been exposed to more radiation. Image was only chosen as an illustration... and because it's a top result if you google image search radiation burns.
                – Murphy
                yesterday






                2




                2




                Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                – WhatRoughBeast
                yesterday




                Yes, "it was suspected". Unless the authorities were entirely incompetent, though, (and I cannot rule it out), his belongings and dwelling would have been radiologically surveyed, and any evidence that he was up to his old tricks would have been made public knowledge. No such presentations were made, which suggests very strongly that whatever caused those sores was not radiation. Radiation burns don't appear after 11 years.
                – WhatRoughBeast
                yesterday












                +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                – user3490
                14 hours ago




                +2 to cancer risk, eh?
                – user3490
                14 hours ago










                up vote
                46
                down vote













                Titanium is actually a fascinating example standing by itself, because it's not that hard to find (it was identified as an element before 1800, and is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust) but it's very difficult to work.



                Titanium can't be shaped simply by heating it and pouring or working it like you might do with iron, steel, brass, or the like. The reason is chemical: pure titanium metal melts at 1668 °C (​3034 °F). However, at about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F), it reacts with oxygen to form a variety of oxides. (The most common, titanium dioxide, is a valuable product in its own right; it's a very strong, bright white pigment and has other industrial uses.) If you try working with titanium the same way you would steel, it will literally burn up.



                So in order to work with titanium, you need to work it under an inert atmosphere. Normally pure nitrogen is the go-to for industrial uses... but titanium will burn in nitrogen, too. You need an atmosphere made up of a noble gas, like argon. In this time period this might just about have been possible in a lab, on a very small scale, but it's still the better part of a century from industrial applications.



                The one caveat is that most cold shaping methods will still work on titanium once it's purified. If you have an ingot of titanium metal, you can stamp it, roll it, carve it, ream it, etc. and it'll work okay. So it might be hard to justify not allowing your players to cut up your miracle door for body armor or the like, but they'll have a very limited amount to work with, and no way to make more.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 1




                  I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                  – Zeiss Ikon
                  yesterday










                • While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 27




                  Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                  – pjc50
                  yesterday






                • 2




                  I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                  – BillThePlatypus
                  yesterday






                • 13




                  Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                  – Cadence
                  yesterday















                up vote
                46
                down vote













                Titanium is actually a fascinating example standing by itself, because it's not that hard to find (it was identified as an element before 1800, and is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust) but it's very difficult to work.



                Titanium can't be shaped simply by heating it and pouring or working it like you might do with iron, steel, brass, or the like. The reason is chemical: pure titanium metal melts at 1668 °C (​3034 °F). However, at about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F), it reacts with oxygen to form a variety of oxides. (The most common, titanium dioxide, is a valuable product in its own right; it's a very strong, bright white pigment and has other industrial uses.) If you try working with titanium the same way you would steel, it will literally burn up.



                So in order to work with titanium, you need to work it under an inert atmosphere. Normally pure nitrogen is the go-to for industrial uses... but titanium will burn in nitrogen, too. You need an atmosphere made up of a noble gas, like argon. In this time period this might just about have been possible in a lab, on a very small scale, but it's still the better part of a century from industrial applications.



                The one caveat is that most cold shaping methods will still work on titanium once it's purified. If you have an ingot of titanium metal, you can stamp it, roll it, carve it, ream it, etc. and it'll work okay. So it might be hard to justify not allowing your players to cut up your miracle door for body armor or the like, but they'll have a very limited amount to work with, and no way to make more.






                share|improve this answer

















                • 1




                  I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                  – Zeiss Ikon
                  yesterday










                • While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 27




                  Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                  – pjc50
                  yesterday






                • 2




                  I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                  – BillThePlatypus
                  yesterday






                • 13




                  Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                  – Cadence
                  yesterday













                up vote
                46
                down vote










                up vote
                46
                down vote









                Titanium is actually a fascinating example standing by itself, because it's not that hard to find (it was identified as an element before 1800, and is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust) but it's very difficult to work.



                Titanium can't be shaped simply by heating it and pouring or working it like you might do with iron, steel, brass, or the like. The reason is chemical: pure titanium metal melts at 1668 °C (​3034 °F). However, at about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F), it reacts with oxygen to form a variety of oxides. (The most common, titanium dioxide, is a valuable product in its own right; it's a very strong, bright white pigment and has other industrial uses.) If you try working with titanium the same way you would steel, it will literally burn up.



                So in order to work with titanium, you need to work it under an inert atmosphere. Normally pure nitrogen is the go-to for industrial uses... but titanium will burn in nitrogen, too. You need an atmosphere made up of a noble gas, like argon. In this time period this might just about have been possible in a lab, on a very small scale, but it's still the better part of a century from industrial applications.



                The one caveat is that most cold shaping methods will still work on titanium once it's purified. If you have an ingot of titanium metal, you can stamp it, roll it, carve it, ream it, etc. and it'll work okay. So it might be hard to justify not allowing your players to cut up your miracle door for body armor or the like, but they'll have a very limited amount to work with, and no way to make more.






                share|improve this answer












                Titanium is actually a fascinating example standing by itself, because it's not that hard to find (it was identified as an element before 1800, and is the ninth-most abundant element in Earth's crust) but it's very difficult to work.



                Titanium can't be shaped simply by heating it and pouring or working it like you might do with iron, steel, brass, or the like. The reason is chemical: pure titanium metal melts at 1668 °C (​3034 °F). However, at about 1,200 °C (2,190 °F), it reacts with oxygen to form a variety of oxides. (The most common, titanium dioxide, is a valuable product in its own right; it's a very strong, bright white pigment and has other industrial uses.) If you try working with titanium the same way you would steel, it will literally burn up.



                So in order to work with titanium, you need to work it under an inert atmosphere. Normally pure nitrogen is the go-to for industrial uses... but titanium will burn in nitrogen, too. You need an atmosphere made up of a noble gas, like argon. In this time period this might just about have been possible in a lab, on a very small scale, but it's still the better part of a century from industrial applications.



                The one caveat is that most cold shaping methods will still work on titanium once it's purified. If you have an ingot of titanium metal, you can stamp it, roll it, carve it, ream it, etc. and it'll work okay. So it might be hard to justify not allowing your players to cut up your miracle door for body armor or the like, but they'll have a very limited amount to work with, and no way to make more.







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered yesterday









                Cadence

                11.9k52344




                11.9k52344








                • 1




                  I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                  – Zeiss Ikon
                  yesterday










                • While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 27




                  Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                  – pjc50
                  yesterday






                • 2




                  I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                  – BillThePlatypus
                  yesterday






                • 13




                  Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                  – Cadence
                  yesterday














                • 1




                  I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                  – Zeiss Ikon
                  yesterday










                • While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                  – Drag and Drop
                  yesterday






                • 27




                  Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                  – pjc50
                  yesterday






                • 2




                  I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                  – BillThePlatypus
                  yesterday






                • 13




                  Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                  – Cadence
                  yesterday








                1




                1




                I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                – Zeiss Ikon
                yesterday




                I was thinking along this exact line -- the MGM is titanium, which is worthless in 19th century tech for these exact reasons (mainly, burns before it melts, so can't be purified by 19th century methods). This was the time when aluminum cost more per ounce than gold -- and pure aluminum is almost as soft as pure copper.
                – Zeiss Ikon
                yesterday












                While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                – Drag and Drop
                yesterday




                While I love all the science. But for some reason I will swap argon for nitrogen in my scenari. I would love to see a shooting scene in a lab full of nitrogen. It will be quite a flash.
                – Drag and Drop
                yesterday




                27




                27




                Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                – pjc50
                yesterday




                Lab full of nitrogen is a dull but dangerous place - nothing will go boom excitingly, but it's possible to quietly become unconscious and die.
                – pjc50
                yesterday




                2




                2




                I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                – BillThePlatypus
                yesterday




                I like this answer because it also adds the possibility of artifacts from the ancient advanced tribe made of it.
                – BillThePlatypus
                yesterday




                13




                13




                Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                – Cadence
                yesterday




                Nitrogen compounds are volatile because of how badly they want to go back to being nitrogen gas. It's like a big rock at the top of a hill. But nitrogen gas itself is the same rock at the bottom of the hill: totally stable and having no desire to go anywhere.
                – Cadence
                yesterday










                up vote
                28
                down vote













                Absurdly strong metal! Well, in the current location/situation - for example, halfway up a snowy mountain.



                Unfortunately, those properties change greatly with temperature - taking our "strong when cold" example, by 20°C it's soft, malleable, and can barely hold its own weight up. By 35°C it's completely melted. A good door for withstanding the elements in the cold, but no security against animals or hot weather.



                (For reference: standard "room temperature" is about 18°C-22°C, and the Human Body temperature is typically around the 37°C mark)






                share|improve this answer





















                • I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                  – Richard
                  yesterday






                • 3




                  The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                  – Willk
                  yesterday










                • @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                  – Philbo
                  13 hours ago










                • @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                  – Richard
                  13 hours ago















                up vote
                28
                down vote













                Absurdly strong metal! Well, in the current location/situation - for example, halfway up a snowy mountain.



                Unfortunately, those properties change greatly with temperature - taking our "strong when cold" example, by 20°C it's soft, malleable, and can barely hold its own weight up. By 35°C it's completely melted. A good door for withstanding the elements in the cold, but no security against animals or hot weather.



                (For reference: standard "room temperature" is about 18°C-22°C, and the Human Body temperature is typically around the 37°C mark)






                share|improve this answer





















                • I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                  – Richard
                  yesterday






                • 3




                  The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                  – Willk
                  yesterday










                • @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                  – Philbo
                  13 hours ago










                • @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                  – Richard
                  13 hours ago













                up vote
                28
                down vote










                up vote
                28
                down vote









                Absurdly strong metal! Well, in the current location/situation - for example, halfway up a snowy mountain.



                Unfortunately, those properties change greatly with temperature - taking our "strong when cold" example, by 20°C it's soft, malleable, and can barely hold its own weight up. By 35°C it's completely melted. A good door for withstanding the elements in the cold, but no security against animals or hot weather.



                (For reference: standard "room temperature" is about 18°C-22°C, and the Human Body temperature is typically around the 37°C mark)






                share|improve this answer












                Absurdly strong metal! Well, in the current location/situation - for example, halfway up a snowy mountain.



                Unfortunately, those properties change greatly with temperature - taking our "strong when cold" example, by 20°C it's soft, malleable, and can barely hold its own weight up. By 35°C it's completely melted. A good door for withstanding the elements in the cold, but no security against animals or hot weather.



                (For reference: standard "room temperature" is about 18°C-22°C, and the Human Body temperature is typically around the 37°C mark)







                share|improve this answer












                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer










                answered yesterday









                Chronocidal

                3,505421




                3,505421












                • I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                  – Richard
                  yesterday






                • 3




                  The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                  – Willk
                  yesterday










                • @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                  – Philbo
                  13 hours ago










                • @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                  – Richard
                  13 hours ago


















                • I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                  – Richard
                  yesterday






                • 3




                  The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                  – Willk
                  yesterday










                • @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                  – Philbo
                  13 hours ago










                • @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                  – Richard
                  13 hours ago
















                I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                – Richard
                yesterday




                I suspect there would be an instant fad for putting vaults and manufacturies into cold climates.
                – Richard
                yesterday




                3




                3




                The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                – Willk
                yesterday




                The reverse of this is true for tin. It is good when warm but crumbles into "tin pest" when cold.
                – Willk
                yesterday












                @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                – Philbo
                13 hours ago




                @Richard that might be true, but how hard would it be for a would-be robber to bring a portable heat source to melt their way through?
                – Philbo
                13 hours ago












                @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                – Richard
                13 hours ago




                @Philbo - To be honest, given that this metal has properties similar to titanium, I'm really at a loss why you wouldn't just use titanium :-)
                – Richard
                13 hours ago










                up vote
                14
                down vote













                You have answer in your question:




                No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.
                Thing it can be used for : horse thing, knife, small things with no impact from spoon to frypan




                The metal is forgeable only in small sizes:




                • It may be due to heat (very high temperature) it require to be shaped.

                • it proprieties change with size, the more metal you have the more brittle/unstable it become

                • Due to it's proprieties it react to much with it's surrounding. A revolver made with this metal don't allow bullets to leave the barrel. A shield reflect bullets but transfer kinetic energy multiplying it by the square size of shield. A canoe/boat/ship is attracted to the nearest large deposit of MGM rather than direction you want the ship to go.


                And last thing. The "tool wear". In woodworking there are woods of different hardness. The hard ones are, well, the best but they wear the tools used to shape them. The saw are dull, chisel are made blunt.

                Creating things from MGM destroy your tools. Using hammer and anvil on MGM is like using brass hammer on hard steel. The metal is not scarce, like gold, but creating usable things is not price reasonable. The jewellery made from that metal is costly but ONLY after the dozens of tools are destroyed in the process of making in. So the price comes from waste that was required to create MGM "thing" not from the MGM proprieties.






                share|improve this answer

























                  up vote
                  14
                  down vote













                  You have answer in your question:




                  No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.
                  Thing it can be used for : horse thing, knife, small things with no impact from spoon to frypan




                  The metal is forgeable only in small sizes:




                  • It may be due to heat (very high temperature) it require to be shaped.

                  • it proprieties change with size, the more metal you have the more brittle/unstable it become

                  • Due to it's proprieties it react to much with it's surrounding. A revolver made with this metal don't allow bullets to leave the barrel. A shield reflect bullets but transfer kinetic energy multiplying it by the square size of shield. A canoe/boat/ship is attracted to the nearest large deposit of MGM rather than direction you want the ship to go.


                  And last thing. The "tool wear". In woodworking there are woods of different hardness. The hard ones are, well, the best but they wear the tools used to shape them. The saw are dull, chisel are made blunt.

                  Creating things from MGM destroy your tools. Using hammer and anvil on MGM is like using brass hammer on hard steel. The metal is not scarce, like gold, but creating usable things is not price reasonable. The jewellery made from that metal is costly but ONLY after the dozens of tools are destroyed in the process of making in. So the price comes from waste that was required to create MGM "thing" not from the MGM proprieties.






                  share|improve this answer























                    up vote
                    14
                    down vote










                    up vote
                    14
                    down vote









                    You have answer in your question:




                    No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.
                    Thing it can be used for : horse thing, knife, small things with no impact from spoon to frypan




                    The metal is forgeable only in small sizes:




                    • It may be due to heat (very high temperature) it require to be shaped.

                    • it proprieties change with size, the more metal you have the more brittle/unstable it become

                    • Due to it's proprieties it react to much with it's surrounding. A revolver made with this metal don't allow bullets to leave the barrel. A shield reflect bullets but transfer kinetic energy multiplying it by the square size of shield. A canoe/boat/ship is attracted to the nearest large deposit of MGM rather than direction you want the ship to go.


                    And last thing. The "tool wear". In woodworking there are woods of different hardness. The hard ones are, well, the best but they wear the tools used to shape them. The saw are dull, chisel are made blunt.

                    Creating things from MGM destroy your tools. Using hammer and anvil on MGM is like using brass hammer on hard steel. The metal is not scarce, like gold, but creating usable things is not price reasonable. The jewellery made from that metal is costly but ONLY after the dozens of tools are destroyed in the process of making in. So the price comes from waste that was required to create MGM "thing" not from the MGM proprieties.






                    share|improve this answer












                    You have answer in your question:




                    No full armor or bullet proof vest, light canoe, shield etc.
                    Thing it can be used for : horse thing, knife, small things with no impact from spoon to frypan




                    The metal is forgeable only in small sizes:




                    • It may be due to heat (very high temperature) it require to be shaped.

                    • it proprieties change with size, the more metal you have the more brittle/unstable it become

                    • Due to it's proprieties it react to much with it's surrounding. A revolver made with this metal don't allow bullets to leave the barrel. A shield reflect bullets but transfer kinetic energy multiplying it by the square size of shield. A canoe/boat/ship is attracted to the nearest large deposit of MGM rather than direction you want the ship to go.


                    And last thing. The "tool wear". In woodworking there are woods of different hardness. The hard ones are, well, the best but they wear the tools used to shape them. The saw are dull, chisel are made blunt.

                    Creating things from MGM destroy your tools. Using hammer and anvil on MGM is like using brass hammer on hard steel. The metal is not scarce, like gold, but creating usable things is not price reasonable. The jewellery made from that metal is costly but ONLY after the dozens of tools are destroyed in the process of making in. So the price comes from waste that was required to create MGM "thing" not from the MGM proprieties.







                    share|improve this answer












                    share|improve this answer



                    share|improve this answer










                    answered yesterday









                    SZCZERZO KŁY

                    15.6k22347




                    15.6k22347






















                        up vote
                        12
                        down vote













                        It reacts with certain common substances. As an example look at aluminum and mercury: https://youtu.be/IrdYueB9pY4



                        Imagine this kind of thing happening with something more common, like a certain mixture of water, or an abundant chemical that enemies could easily fetch and use. Your armor might be supa-dupa but if it someone throws a chemical at you and your armor/weapon falls apart or worse kills you... You dont want to be using it.



                        Dont know how to work it yet:



                        Simply put, they dont know how to use it properly. Pure aluminum is light and strong but sheers easily due to its molecular structure. Add copper to the mix to get construction aluminum and the copper molecules prevent the sheering (if properly cooled), even though copper is counter-intuitively weaker than aluminum it strengthens it! The bits and pieces they found and used were natural deposits of good and bad mixtures. And the only way to work it to the knowledge so far is to chip it into shape, severely limiting what you can make depending on the size of natural material you found. A knife could work, but a full armor...?



                        Its hard to work it.



                        As mentioned, Tungsten for example is hard to work. Not only does it form oxides when heating it up, but due to the temperature needed to melt it theres virtually nothing you can heat and contain it in! Its one of the reasons we know much less about Tungsten than other materials. It doesnt need to be that restrictive, but it can be so restrictive that only a handful of top-notch master craftsmen can make something out of it and even then theres a high failure rate. So the limiting factor isnt the material, but the expertise to work it. Who cares if you've got 50 metric tons of the stuff if 10 kilo's is enough for a master craftsman to make several attempts and build one armor and practically no one can afford it? This makes it worthless to most people.






                        share|improve this answer





















                        • Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                          – Drag and Drop
                          yesterday















                        up vote
                        12
                        down vote













                        It reacts with certain common substances. As an example look at aluminum and mercury: https://youtu.be/IrdYueB9pY4



                        Imagine this kind of thing happening with something more common, like a certain mixture of water, or an abundant chemical that enemies could easily fetch and use. Your armor might be supa-dupa but if it someone throws a chemical at you and your armor/weapon falls apart or worse kills you... You dont want to be using it.



                        Dont know how to work it yet:



                        Simply put, they dont know how to use it properly. Pure aluminum is light and strong but sheers easily due to its molecular structure. Add copper to the mix to get construction aluminum and the copper molecules prevent the sheering (if properly cooled), even though copper is counter-intuitively weaker than aluminum it strengthens it! The bits and pieces they found and used were natural deposits of good and bad mixtures. And the only way to work it to the knowledge so far is to chip it into shape, severely limiting what you can make depending on the size of natural material you found. A knife could work, but a full armor...?



                        Its hard to work it.



                        As mentioned, Tungsten for example is hard to work. Not only does it form oxides when heating it up, but due to the temperature needed to melt it theres virtually nothing you can heat and contain it in! Its one of the reasons we know much less about Tungsten than other materials. It doesnt need to be that restrictive, but it can be so restrictive that only a handful of top-notch master craftsmen can make something out of it and even then theres a high failure rate. So the limiting factor isnt the material, but the expertise to work it. Who cares if you've got 50 metric tons of the stuff if 10 kilo's is enough for a master craftsman to make several attempts and build one armor and practically no one can afford it? This makes it worthless to most people.






                        share|improve this answer





















                        • Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                          – Drag and Drop
                          yesterday













                        up vote
                        12
                        down vote










                        up vote
                        12
                        down vote









                        It reacts with certain common substances. As an example look at aluminum and mercury: https://youtu.be/IrdYueB9pY4



                        Imagine this kind of thing happening with something more common, like a certain mixture of water, or an abundant chemical that enemies could easily fetch and use. Your armor might be supa-dupa but if it someone throws a chemical at you and your armor/weapon falls apart or worse kills you... You dont want to be using it.



                        Dont know how to work it yet:



                        Simply put, they dont know how to use it properly. Pure aluminum is light and strong but sheers easily due to its molecular structure. Add copper to the mix to get construction aluminum and the copper molecules prevent the sheering (if properly cooled), even though copper is counter-intuitively weaker than aluminum it strengthens it! The bits and pieces they found and used were natural deposits of good and bad mixtures. And the only way to work it to the knowledge so far is to chip it into shape, severely limiting what you can make depending on the size of natural material you found. A knife could work, but a full armor...?



                        Its hard to work it.



                        As mentioned, Tungsten for example is hard to work. Not only does it form oxides when heating it up, but due to the temperature needed to melt it theres virtually nothing you can heat and contain it in! Its one of the reasons we know much less about Tungsten than other materials. It doesnt need to be that restrictive, but it can be so restrictive that only a handful of top-notch master craftsmen can make something out of it and even then theres a high failure rate. So the limiting factor isnt the material, but the expertise to work it. Who cares if you've got 50 metric tons of the stuff if 10 kilo's is enough for a master craftsman to make several attempts and build one armor and practically no one can afford it? This makes it worthless to most people.






                        share|improve this answer












                        It reacts with certain common substances. As an example look at aluminum and mercury: https://youtu.be/IrdYueB9pY4



                        Imagine this kind of thing happening with something more common, like a certain mixture of water, or an abundant chemical that enemies could easily fetch and use. Your armor might be supa-dupa but if it someone throws a chemical at you and your armor/weapon falls apart or worse kills you... You dont want to be using it.



                        Dont know how to work it yet:



                        Simply put, they dont know how to use it properly. Pure aluminum is light and strong but sheers easily due to its molecular structure. Add copper to the mix to get construction aluminum and the copper molecules prevent the sheering (if properly cooled), even though copper is counter-intuitively weaker than aluminum it strengthens it! The bits and pieces they found and used were natural deposits of good and bad mixtures. And the only way to work it to the knowledge so far is to chip it into shape, severely limiting what you can make depending on the size of natural material you found. A knife could work, but a full armor...?



                        Its hard to work it.



                        As mentioned, Tungsten for example is hard to work. Not only does it form oxides when heating it up, but due to the temperature needed to melt it theres virtually nothing you can heat and contain it in! Its one of the reasons we know much less about Tungsten than other materials. It doesnt need to be that restrictive, but it can be so restrictive that only a handful of top-notch master craftsmen can make something out of it and even then theres a high failure rate. So the limiting factor isnt the material, but the expertise to work it. Who cares if you've got 50 metric tons of the stuff if 10 kilo's is enough for a master craftsman to make several attempts and build one armor and practically no one can afford it? This makes it worthless to most people.







                        share|improve this answer












                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer










                        answered yesterday









                        Demigan

                        6,3731434




                        6,3731434












                        • Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                          – Drag and Drop
                          yesterday


















                        • Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                          – Drag and Drop
                          yesterday
















                        Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                        – Drag and Drop
                        yesterday




                        Cthulhu tentacle coming out of your plated armor while you get cooked it by the exothermic reaction.. Loved it!
                        – Drag and Drop
                        yesterday










                        up vote
                        9
                        down vote













                        A lot of real-world metals are not intrinsically valuable (like gold is, due to its scarcity), but become valuable in the right context.



                        "Damascus steel" was once priceless, because it made the best swords, and most metalworkers had no idea how to produce it; but it was made from ordinary iron and carbon, so you wouldn't be rich just because you discovered the ore seams it was made from. The same is true of titanium and alumin(i)um, which can only be worked and/or refined with modern technology.



                        Conversely, many metals are scarce, but did not become valuable until people discovered uses for them (neodymium magnets, yttrium lasers, tantalum capacitors etc.). In 1870, an ingot of tantalum would certainly be expensive, but if you showed it to anyone their reaction would be "so what?"; today, the trade in tantalum fuels deadly conflict.



                        A fun idea might be if the MacGuffin metal was some kind of impressive alloy, but it melts at 36°C (perhaps it contains gallium). Getting to and from the town involves two days' travel through Death Valley, and because refrigeration doesn't exist, there's no way to stop the alloy melting on the way.






                        share|improve this answer

















                        • 3




                          Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                          – Wayne Werner
                          yesterday















                        up vote
                        9
                        down vote













                        A lot of real-world metals are not intrinsically valuable (like gold is, due to its scarcity), but become valuable in the right context.



                        "Damascus steel" was once priceless, because it made the best swords, and most metalworkers had no idea how to produce it; but it was made from ordinary iron and carbon, so you wouldn't be rich just because you discovered the ore seams it was made from. The same is true of titanium and alumin(i)um, which can only be worked and/or refined with modern technology.



                        Conversely, many metals are scarce, but did not become valuable until people discovered uses for them (neodymium magnets, yttrium lasers, tantalum capacitors etc.). In 1870, an ingot of tantalum would certainly be expensive, but if you showed it to anyone their reaction would be "so what?"; today, the trade in tantalum fuels deadly conflict.



                        A fun idea might be if the MacGuffin metal was some kind of impressive alloy, but it melts at 36°C (perhaps it contains gallium). Getting to and from the town involves two days' travel through Death Valley, and because refrigeration doesn't exist, there's no way to stop the alloy melting on the way.






                        share|improve this answer

















                        • 3




                          Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                          – Wayne Werner
                          yesterday













                        up vote
                        9
                        down vote










                        up vote
                        9
                        down vote









                        A lot of real-world metals are not intrinsically valuable (like gold is, due to its scarcity), but become valuable in the right context.



                        "Damascus steel" was once priceless, because it made the best swords, and most metalworkers had no idea how to produce it; but it was made from ordinary iron and carbon, so you wouldn't be rich just because you discovered the ore seams it was made from. The same is true of titanium and alumin(i)um, which can only be worked and/or refined with modern technology.



                        Conversely, many metals are scarce, but did not become valuable until people discovered uses for them (neodymium magnets, yttrium lasers, tantalum capacitors etc.). In 1870, an ingot of tantalum would certainly be expensive, but if you showed it to anyone their reaction would be "so what?"; today, the trade in tantalum fuels deadly conflict.



                        A fun idea might be if the MacGuffin metal was some kind of impressive alloy, but it melts at 36°C (perhaps it contains gallium). Getting to and from the town involves two days' travel through Death Valley, and because refrigeration doesn't exist, there's no way to stop the alloy melting on the way.






                        share|improve this answer












                        A lot of real-world metals are not intrinsically valuable (like gold is, due to its scarcity), but become valuable in the right context.



                        "Damascus steel" was once priceless, because it made the best swords, and most metalworkers had no idea how to produce it; but it was made from ordinary iron and carbon, so you wouldn't be rich just because you discovered the ore seams it was made from. The same is true of titanium and alumin(i)um, which can only be worked and/or refined with modern technology.



                        Conversely, many metals are scarce, but did not become valuable until people discovered uses for them (neodymium magnets, yttrium lasers, tantalum capacitors etc.). In 1870, an ingot of tantalum would certainly be expensive, but if you showed it to anyone their reaction would be "so what?"; today, the trade in tantalum fuels deadly conflict.



                        A fun idea might be if the MacGuffin metal was some kind of impressive alloy, but it melts at 36°C (perhaps it contains gallium). Getting to and from the town involves two days' travel through Death Valley, and because refrigeration doesn't exist, there's no way to stop the alloy melting on the way.







                        share|improve this answer












                        share|improve this answer



                        share|improve this answer










                        answered yesterday









                        bobtato

                        2,508513




                        2,508513








                        • 3




                          Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                          – Wayne Werner
                          yesterday














                        • 3




                          Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                          – Wayne Werner
                          yesterday








                        3




                        3




                        Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                        – Wayne Werner
                        yesterday




                        Interestingly enough, Damascus steel isn't actually better than modern steels - the layering just made it possible to use crappier steel stronger.
                        – Wayne Werner
                        yesterday










                        up vote
                        4
                        down vote













                        The Titanium answer is a good one, but I'd like to offer some other possibilities: radioactively dangerous to be around.



                        A real world example is Mag-Thor, which is only slightly radioactive but still needs special handling. If the magic metal is fairly "hot" radioactive, it will cause visible injuries, sickness and death fairly quickly. That discourages people from trying to make bulletproof vests out of it.






                        share|improve this answer

























                          up vote
                          4
                          down vote













                          The Titanium answer is a good one, but I'd like to offer some other possibilities: radioactively dangerous to be around.



                          A real world example is Mag-Thor, which is only slightly radioactive but still needs special handling. If the magic metal is fairly "hot" radioactive, it will cause visible injuries, sickness and death fairly quickly. That discourages people from trying to make bulletproof vests out of it.






                          share|improve this answer























                            up vote
                            4
                            down vote










                            up vote
                            4
                            down vote









                            The Titanium answer is a good one, but I'd like to offer some other possibilities: radioactively dangerous to be around.



                            A real world example is Mag-Thor, which is only slightly radioactive but still needs special handling. If the magic metal is fairly "hot" radioactive, it will cause visible injuries, sickness and death fairly quickly. That discourages people from trying to make bulletproof vests out of it.






                            share|improve this answer












                            The Titanium answer is a good one, but I'd like to offer some other possibilities: radioactively dangerous to be around.



                            A real world example is Mag-Thor, which is only slightly radioactive but still needs special handling. If the magic metal is fairly "hot" radioactive, it will cause visible injuries, sickness and death fairly quickly. That discourages people from trying to make bulletproof vests out of it.







                            share|improve this answer












                            share|improve this answer



                            share|improve this answer










                            answered yesterday









                            pjc50

                            4,088723




                            4,088723






















                                up vote
                                4
                                down vote













                                It never had any value to begin with.
                                It was a product where the marketing got ahead of the development.
                                Some smooth talking salesman found himself in possession of the stuff, silver-tongued his way through a huge sale by promising all sorts of valuable properties to the metal, and it caught on. The material started changing hands, shot up in value as a untested commodity because it's so shiny, it has to be great, right?



                                Large organizations (banks, corporations, government factions) caught wind of the hype and started "Go west, young man" campaigns to get cheap labor in on the ground floor. Promises of wealth and a solid career in the MGM industry brought lots of men and women out to seek their fortune. Soon warehouses all over the map were full of the stuff.



                                Then the metallurgists got a few samples. People were bringing in nuggets, ingots, anything they could get. All were asking for the miracle devices they were promised to be crafted. Weapons, armor, machine parts, the works.



                                It turns out it is only useful as an alloy to other metals, usually metals that are so scarce, large-scale practical uses are too far out of scope for the amount of materials any one person or organization can realistically possess. However, the metallic mix is close to 80% MGM and 20% Unobtainium.



                                Or the process of making the alloy is so time consuming or dangerous to not be worth the effort.



                                Either way, many small trinkets exist, horseshoes, ashtrays. Whispers exist of a family that has an entire cutlery set made from MGM and Unobtainium (Or just plain MGM if that's what you go for, if so, ignore the next paragraph).



                                Because of the scarcity of the Unobtainium, MGM values have plummeted to nil. Sure, some people still run mining ventures because the occasional investor can be duped into thinking that when Unobtainium becomes Scarce-but-still-possible-to-obtainium the future of MGM will blow through the roof.



                                As for now, the abundant surplus of MGM sits uselessly in warehouses, frequently in ghost towns. The value of the material is so low it's not worth paying a few laborers a day's work to move the stock.



                                The door the party encounters is clearly made of either masterfully crafted MGM or the 80/20 mix.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.


















                                • In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday















                                up vote
                                4
                                down vote













                                It never had any value to begin with.
                                It was a product where the marketing got ahead of the development.
                                Some smooth talking salesman found himself in possession of the stuff, silver-tongued his way through a huge sale by promising all sorts of valuable properties to the metal, and it caught on. The material started changing hands, shot up in value as a untested commodity because it's so shiny, it has to be great, right?



                                Large organizations (banks, corporations, government factions) caught wind of the hype and started "Go west, young man" campaigns to get cheap labor in on the ground floor. Promises of wealth and a solid career in the MGM industry brought lots of men and women out to seek their fortune. Soon warehouses all over the map were full of the stuff.



                                Then the metallurgists got a few samples. People were bringing in nuggets, ingots, anything they could get. All were asking for the miracle devices they were promised to be crafted. Weapons, armor, machine parts, the works.



                                It turns out it is only useful as an alloy to other metals, usually metals that are so scarce, large-scale practical uses are too far out of scope for the amount of materials any one person or organization can realistically possess. However, the metallic mix is close to 80% MGM and 20% Unobtainium.



                                Or the process of making the alloy is so time consuming or dangerous to not be worth the effort.



                                Either way, many small trinkets exist, horseshoes, ashtrays. Whispers exist of a family that has an entire cutlery set made from MGM and Unobtainium (Or just plain MGM if that's what you go for, if so, ignore the next paragraph).



                                Because of the scarcity of the Unobtainium, MGM values have plummeted to nil. Sure, some people still run mining ventures because the occasional investor can be duped into thinking that when Unobtainium becomes Scarce-but-still-possible-to-obtainium the future of MGM will blow through the roof.



                                As for now, the abundant surplus of MGM sits uselessly in warehouses, frequently in ghost towns. The value of the material is so low it's not worth paying a few laborers a day's work to move the stock.



                                The door the party encounters is clearly made of either masterfully crafted MGM or the 80/20 mix.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.


















                                • In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday













                                up vote
                                4
                                down vote










                                up vote
                                4
                                down vote









                                It never had any value to begin with.
                                It was a product where the marketing got ahead of the development.
                                Some smooth talking salesman found himself in possession of the stuff, silver-tongued his way through a huge sale by promising all sorts of valuable properties to the metal, and it caught on. The material started changing hands, shot up in value as a untested commodity because it's so shiny, it has to be great, right?



                                Large organizations (banks, corporations, government factions) caught wind of the hype and started "Go west, young man" campaigns to get cheap labor in on the ground floor. Promises of wealth and a solid career in the MGM industry brought lots of men and women out to seek their fortune. Soon warehouses all over the map were full of the stuff.



                                Then the metallurgists got a few samples. People were bringing in nuggets, ingots, anything they could get. All were asking for the miracle devices they were promised to be crafted. Weapons, armor, machine parts, the works.



                                It turns out it is only useful as an alloy to other metals, usually metals that are so scarce, large-scale practical uses are too far out of scope for the amount of materials any one person or organization can realistically possess. However, the metallic mix is close to 80% MGM and 20% Unobtainium.



                                Or the process of making the alloy is so time consuming or dangerous to not be worth the effort.



                                Either way, many small trinkets exist, horseshoes, ashtrays. Whispers exist of a family that has an entire cutlery set made from MGM and Unobtainium (Or just plain MGM if that's what you go for, if so, ignore the next paragraph).



                                Because of the scarcity of the Unobtainium, MGM values have plummeted to nil. Sure, some people still run mining ventures because the occasional investor can be duped into thinking that when Unobtainium becomes Scarce-but-still-possible-to-obtainium the future of MGM will blow through the roof.



                                As for now, the abundant surplus of MGM sits uselessly in warehouses, frequently in ghost towns. The value of the material is so low it's not worth paying a few laborers a day's work to move the stock.



                                The door the party encounters is clearly made of either masterfully crafted MGM or the 80/20 mix.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                It never had any value to begin with.
                                It was a product where the marketing got ahead of the development.
                                Some smooth talking salesman found himself in possession of the stuff, silver-tongued his way through a huge sale by promising all sorts of valuable properties to the metal, and it caught on. The material started changing hands, shot up in value as a untested commodity because it's so shiny, it has to be great, right?



                                Large organizations (banks, corporations, government factions) caught wind of the hype and started "Go west, young man" campaigns to get cheap labor in on the ground floor. Promises of wealth and a solid career in the MGM industry brought lots of men and women out to seek their fortune. Soon warehouses all over the map were full of the stuff.



                                Then the metallurgists got a few samples. People were bringing in nuggets, ingots, anything they could get. All were asking for the miracle devices they were promised to be crafted. Weapons, armor, machine parts, the works.



                                It turns out it is only useful as an alloy to other metals, usually metals that are so scarce, large-scale practical uses are too far out of scope for the amount of materials any one person or organization can realistically possess. However, the metallic mix is close to 80% MGM and 20% Unobtainium.



                                Or the process of making the alloy is so time consuming or dangerous to not be worth the effort.



                                Either way, many small trinkets exist, horseshoes, ashtrays. Whispers exist of a family that has an entire cutlery set made from MGM and Unobtainium (Or just plain MGM if that's what you go for, if so, ignore the next paragraph).



                                Because of the scarcity of the Unobtainium, MGM values have plummeted to nil. Sure, some people still run mining ventures because the occasional investor can be duped into thinking that when Unobtainium becomes Scarce-but-still-possible-to-obtainium the future of MGM will blow through the roof.



                                As for now, the abundant surplus of MGM sits uselessly in warehouses, frequently in ghost towns. The value of the material is so low it's not worth paying a few laborers a day's work to move the stock.



                                The door the party encounters is clearly made of either masterfully crafted MGM or the 80/20 mix.







                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer






                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                answered yesterday









                                Emmitt Nervend

                                411




                                411




                                New contributor




                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                                New contributor





                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                                Emmitt Nervend is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.












                                • In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday


















                                • In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday
















                                In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                – Volker Siegel
                                yesterday




                                In the first paragraph, I wasn't sure whether you talk directly about diamonds, or you use that approach to end up with a metal! De Beers - converting small amounts of hard dirt into large amounts of equally hard cash.
                                – Volker Siegel
                                yesterday










                                up vote
                                3
                                down vote













                                That material should be Wolfraam aka tungsten.



                                Since it can be used for very small stuff, but for large stuff it's hard to use because it's brittle, making it worthless



                                then maybe add the option of making an alloy of say titanium + tungsten if you want to use it for small/bigger stuff :D



                                anyway, maybe just adding the option to make stuff out of alloys in your game would make it better, though it might be hard cus on making an alloy has like at least 3 parameters, the quantity of each metal you use for the alloy, the quantity of different metals, and the reactions some metals have on eachother, which can also depend on many other variables like pressure, heat... and from all that you would need to calculate a bunch of variables for the created alloy.



                                besides that, many alloys haven't really been tested, since there are many alloys possible.



                                Someone should make an api for this if it doesn't exist already :D, would be nice for an application, even though implementing all real life variables would be like mission impossible.



                                Anyway, you could keep the variables limited for your game.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.


















                                • Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday















                                up vote
                                3
                                down vote













                                That material should be Wolfraam aka tungsten.



                                Since it can be used for very small stuff, but for large stuff it's hard to use because it's brittle, making it worthless



                                then maybe add the option of making an alloy of say titanium + tungsten if you want to use it for small/bigger stuff :D



                                anyway, maybe just adding the option to make stuff out of alloys in your game would make it better, though it might be hard cus on making an alloy has like at least 3 parameters, the quantity of each metal you use for the alloy, the quantity of different metals, and the reactions some metals have on eachother, which can also depend on many other variables like pressure, heat... and from all that you would need to calculate a bunch of variables for the created alloy.



                                besides that, many alloys haven't really been tested, since there are many alloys possible.



                                Someone should make an api for this if it doesn't exist already :D, would be nice for an application, even though implementing all real life variables would be like mission impossible.



                                Anyway, you could keep the variables limited for your game.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.


















                                • Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday













                                up vote
                                3
                                down vote










                                up vote
                                3
                                down vote









                                That material should be Wolfraam aka tungsten.



                                Since it can be used for very small stuff, but for large stuff it's hard to use because it's brittle, making it worthless



                                then maybe add the option of making an alloy of say titanium + tungsten if you want to use it for small/bigger stuff :D



                                anyway, maybe just adding the option to make stuff out of alloys in your game would make it better, though it might be hard cus on making an alloy has like at least 3 parameters, the quantity of each metal you use for the alloy, the quantity of different metals, and the reactions some metals have on eachother, which can also depend on many other variables like pressure, heat... and from all that you would need to calculate a bunch of variables for the created alloy.



                                besides that, many alloys haven't really been tested, since there are many alloys possible.



                                Someone should make an api for this if it doesn't exist already :D, would be nice for an application, even though implementing all real life variables would be like mission impossible.



                                Anyway, you could keep the variables limited for your game.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                That material should be Wolfraam aka tungsten.



                                Since it can be used for very small stuff, but for large stuff it's hard to use because it's brittle, making it worthless



                                then maybe add the option of making an alloy of say titanium + tungsten if you want to use it for small/bigger stuff :D



                                anyway, maybe just adding the option to make stuff out of alloys in your game would make it better, though it might be hard cus on making an alloy has like at least 3 parameters, the quantity of each metal you use for the alloy, the quantity of different metals, and the reactions some metals have on eachother, which can also depend on many other variables like pressure, heat... and from all that you would need to calculate a bunch of variables for the created alloy.



                                besides that, many alloys haven't really been tested, since there are many alloys possible.



                                Someone should make an api for this if it doesn't exist already :D, would be nice for an application, even though implementing all real life variables would be like mission impossible.



                                Anyway, you could keep the variables limited for your game.







                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                share|improve this answer



                                share|improve this answer






                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                answered yesterday









                                Noob

                                312




                                312




                                New contributor




                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.





                                New contributor





                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.






                                Noob is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.












                                • Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday


















                                • Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                  – Volker Siegel
                                  yesterday
















                                Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                – Volker Siegel
                                yesterday




                                Simulating unknown alloys? Fascinating idea! One could use genetic algorithms to find unusual alloys... I'm sure it takes just too much computing cycles to work... I mean, really too much. I think it would need simulation on quantum mechanics level... but it could find alloys useful in ways we did not even know!
                                – Volker Siegel
                                yesterday










                                up vote
                                2
                                down vote













                                What if the metal had an inherent, impossible to counteract, and nigh-impossible to slow, decay rate (non-radioactive). When it is in ore form, it is stable and prevented from decay; however, as soon as it is melted down and forged into any form, the decay begins. The larger the item it is forged into, the quicker the onset and severity of the decay, as well as taking a penalty due to the forginig process.



                                The Decay



                                This is a base template for the decay. Size differences will change these properties:




                                • Immediately after forgining it is unchanged, and retains its amazing properties

                                • After a few weeks, it has lost both durability and some minor bit of its stregth.


                                As time goes on, it continues the decaying process, which only accelerates with time.




                                • After three months some twenty percent of its initial strength and durability, therein bringing it closer (but still quite superior) to more attainable, and less questionable, materials

                                • By the time six months have passed, it is almost identical to the next-best material; the accelerated decay process has now taken over fifty percent of the properties that originally made it special


                                The Size Penalty




                                • For small items, the decay rate is as described above. This would include the aforementioned cutlery, horseshoes, hammer and axe heads, and cooking pots/pans

                                • For medium items, the decay rate is quadrupled (4 times as severe). This would mean that after three months, an item has lost eighty percent of its initial strength and durability due to decay. As well, as soon as the item was completed, it would take a five percent forging penalty. That would put them item at only fifteen percent of its initial state.

                                • For large items, the decay rate is octupled (8 times as severe). This would mean that before even two months, the item would already be destroyed by the decay alone. As soon as the item was completed, however, it would take an immediate twenty-five percent forging penalty. This would effectively mean that the item would last barely one month. This would include armor, shields, or any wearable item. This would also fit into the game rules that exclude such items from being generally made from MGM


                                The Forging Requirement




                                • The metal requires very high skill and a massive amount of heat to forge


                                While this is likely not a perfect solution, I think it is a servicible one from a pseudo-chemistry standpoint. This would make it so that only the most powerful and rich people would be wealthy enough to even consider using this material. As well, their use would come at great cost to themselves. Considering the difficulty, expense, and relative short-term use of the metal for any practical application, the metal would be untenable for use. While it is easily attained, and anyone could use it, why would they? The combined difficulty of melting down the metal and forming it, along with the decay and forging penalties, makes it something that would be very hard to find any use for overall.






                                share|improve this answer








                                New contributor




                                Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                                  up vote
                                  2
                                  down vote













                                  What if the metal had an inherent, impossible to counteract, and nigh-impossible to slow, decay rate (non-radioactive). When it is in ore form, it is stable and prevented from decay; however, as soon as it is melted down and forged into any form, the decay begins. The larger the item it is forged into, the quicker the onset and severity of the decay, as well as taking a penalty due to the forginig process.



                                  The Decay



                                  This is a base template for the decay. Size differences will change these properties:




                                  • Immediately after forgining it is unchanged, and retains its amazing properties

                                  • After a few weeks, it has lost both durability and some minor bit of its stregth.


                                  As time goes on, it continues the decaying process, which only accelerates with time.




                                  • After three months some twenty percent of its initial strength and durability, therein bringing it closer (but still quite superior) to more attainable, and less questionable, materials

                                  • By the time six months have passed, it is almost identical to the next-best material; the accelerated decay process has now taken over fifty percent of the properties that originally made it special


                                  The Size Penalty




                                  • For small items, the decay rate is as described above. This would include the aforementioned cutlery, horseshoes, hammer and axe heads, and cooking pots/pans

                                  • For medium items, the decay rate is quadrupled (4 times as severe). This would mean that after three months, an item has lost eighty percent of its initial strength and durability due to decay. As well, as soon as the item was completed, it would take a five percent forging penalty. That would put them item at only fifteen percent of its initial state.

                                  • For large items, the decay rate is octupled (8 times as severe). This would mean that before even two months, the item would already be destroyed by the decay alone. As soon as the item was completed, however, it would take an immediate twenty-five percent forging penalty. This would effectively mean that the item would last barely one month. This would include armor, shields, or any wearable item. This would also fit into the game rules that exclude such items from being generally made from MGM


                                  The Forging Requirement




                                  • The metal requires very high skill and a massive amount of heat to forge


                                  While this is likely not a perfect solution, I think it is a servicible one from a pseudo-chemistry standpoint. This would make it so that only the most powerful and rich people would be wealthy enough to even consider using this material. As well, their use would come at great cost to themselves. Considering the difficulty, expense, and relative short-term use of the metal for any practical application, the metal would be untenable for use. While it is easily attained, and anyone could use it, why would they? The combined difficulty of melting down the metal and forming it, along with the decay and forging penalties, makes it something that would be very hard to find any use for overall.






                                  share|improve this answer








                                  New contributor




                                  Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                  Check out our Code of Conduct.




















                                    up vote
                                    2
                                    down vote










                                    up vote
                                    2
                                    down vote









                                    What if the metal had an inherent, impossible to counteract, and nigh-impossible to slow, decay rate (non-radioactive). When it is in ore form, it is stable and prevented from decay; however, as soon as it is melted down and forged into any form, the decay begins. The larger the item it is forged into, the quicker the onset and severity of the decay, as well as taking a penalty due to the forginig process.



                                    The Decay



                                    This is a base template for the decay. Size differences will change these properties:




                                    • Immediately after forgining it is unchanged, and retains its amazing properties

                                    • After a few weeks, it has lost both durability and some minor bit of its stregth.


                                    As time goes on, it continues the decaying process, which only accelerates with time.




                                    • After three months some twenty percent of its initial strength and durability, therein bringing it closer (but still quite superior) to more attainable, and less questionable, materials

                                    • By the time six months have passed, it is almost identical to the next-best material; the accelerated decay process has now taken over fifty percent of the properties that originally made it special


                                    The Size Penalty




                                    • For small items, the decay rate is as described above. This would include the aforementioned cutlery, horseshoes, hammer and axe heads, and cooking pots/pans

                                    • For medium items, the decay rate is quadrupled (4 times as severe). This would mean that after three months, an item has lost eighty percent of its initial strength and durability due to decay. As well, as soon as the item was completed, it would take a five percent forging penalty. That would put them item at only fifteen percent of its initial state.

                                    • For large items, the decay rate is octupled (8 times as severe). This would mean that before even two months, the item would already be destroyed by the decay alone. As soon as the item was completed, however, it would take an immediate twenty-five percent forging penalty. This would effectively mean that the item would last barely one month. This would include armor, shields, or any wearable item. This would also fit into the game rules that exclude such items from being generally made from MGM


                                    The Forging Requirement




                                    • The metal requires very high skill and a massive amount of heat to forge


                                    While this is likely not a perfect solution, I think it is a servicible one from a pseudo-chemistry standpoint. This would make it so that only the most powerful and rich people would be wealthy enough to even consider using this material. As well, their use would come at great cost to themselves. Considering the difficulty, expense, and relative short-term use of the metal for any practical application, the metal would be untenable for use. While it is easily attained, and anyone could use it, why would they? The combined difficulty of melting down the metal and forming it, along with the decay and forging penalties, makes it something that would be very hard to find any use for overall.






                                    share|improve this answer








                                    New contributor




                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                    What if the metal had an inherent, impossible to counteract, and nigh-impossible to slow, decay rate (non-radioactive). When it is in ore form, it is stable and prevented from decay; however, as soon as it is melted down and forged into any form, the decay begins. The larger the item it is forged into, the quicker the onset and severity of the decay, as well as taking a penalty due to the forginig process.



                                    The Decay



                                    This is a base template for the decay. Size differences will change these properties:




                                    • Immediately after forgining it is unchanged, and retains its amazing properties

                                    • After a few weeks, it has lost both durability and some minor bit of its stregth.


                                    As time goes on, it continues the decaying process, which only accelerates with time.




                                    • After three months some twenty percent of its initial strength and durability, therein bringing it closer (but still quite superior) to more attainable, and less questionable, materials

                                    • By the time six months have passed, it is almost identical to the next-best material; the accelerated decay process has now taken over fifty percent of the properties that originally made it special


                                    The Size Penalty




                                    • For small items, the decay rate is as described above. This would include the aforementioned cutlery, horseshoes, hammer and axe heads, and cooking pots/pans

                                    • For medium items, the decay rate is quadrupled (4 times as severe). This would mean that after three months, an item has lost eighty percent of its initial strength and durability due to decay. As well, as soon as the item was completed, it would take a five percent forging penalty. That would put them item at only fifteen percent of its initial state.

                                    • For large items, the decay rate is octupled (8 times as severe). This would mean that before even two months, the item would already be destroyed by the decay alone. As soon as the item was completed, however, it would take an immediate twenty-five percent forging penalty. This would effectively mean that the item would last barely one month. This would include armor, shields, or any wearable item. This would also fit into the game rules that exclude such items from being generally made from MGM


                                    The Forging Requirement




                                    • The metal requires very high skill and a massive amount of heat to forge


                                    While this is likely not a perfect solution, I think it is a servicible one from a pseudo-chemistry standpoint. This would make it so that only the most powerful and rich people would be wealthy enough to even consider using this material. As well, their use would come at great cost to themselves. Considering the difficulty, expense, and relative short-term use of the metal for any practical application, the metal would be untenable for use. While it is easily attained, and anyone could use it, why would they? The combined difficulty of melting down the metal and forming it, along with the decay and forging penalties, makes it something that would be very hard to find any use for overall.







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                                    New contributor




                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.









                                    share|improve this answer



                                    share|improve this answer






                                    New contributor




                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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                                    answered 11 hours ago









                                    Paul Beverage

                                    1213




                                    1213




                                    New contributor




                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.





                                    New contributor





                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






                                    Paul Beverage is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
                                    Check out our Code of Conduct.






















                                        up vote
                                        1
                                        down vote













                                        It got superseded!



                                        (Inspired by / adapted from the answer of @Cadence)



                                        The metal A was immensely valuable because it has good physical properties and is scarce and hard to extract. The metal T, while abundant, was not considered because nobody knew how to work it.



                                        Then people (maybe not everybody!) discovered the trick to work T (cheaply, maybe in nitrogen), and suddenly A is totally worthless because it is much more scarce than T and its physical properties are significantly less interesting.






                                        share|improve this answer

























                                          up vote
                                          1
                                          down vote













                                          It got superseded!



                                          (Inspired by / adapted from the answer of @Cadence)



                                          The metal A was immensely valuable because it has good physical properties and is scarce and hard to extract. The metal T, while abundant, was not considered because nobody knew how to work it.



                                          Then people (maybe not everybody!) discovered the trick to work T (cheaply, maybe in nitrogen), and suddenly A is totally worthless because it is much more scarce than T and its physical properties are significantly less interesting.






                                          share|improve this answer























                                            up vote
                                            1
                                            down vote










                                            up vote
                                            1
                                            down vote









                                            It got superseded!



                                            (Inspired by / adapted from the answer of @Cadence)



                                            The metal A was immensely valuable because it has good physical properties and is scarce and hard to extract. The metal T, while abundant, was not considered because nobody knew how to work it.



                                            Then people (maybe not everybody!) discovered the trick to work T (cheaply, maybe in nitrogen), and suddenly A is totally worthless because it is much more scarce than T and its physical properties are significantly less interesting.






                                            share|improve this answer












                                            It got superseded!



                                            (Inspired by / adapted from the answer of @Cadence)



                                            The metal A was immensely valuable because it has good physical properties and is scarce and hard to extract. The metal T, while abundant, was not considered because nobody knew how to work it.



                                            Then people (maybe not everybody!) discovered the trick to work T (cheaply, maybe in nitrogen), and suddenly A is totally worthless because it is much more scarce than T and its physical properties are significantly less interesting.







                                            share|improve this answer












                                            share|improve this answer



                                            share|improve this answer










                                            answered 12 hours ago









                                            Law29

                                            1834




                                            1834






















                                                up vote
                                                1
                                                down vote













                                                The properties aren't that much better



                                                Sure, it's lighter than aluminium and stronger than steel. But it's only 20% lighter and 20% stronger.



                                                The metal has some disadvantages too.



                                                It's got, say, poor fatigue properties. Oh, you didn't notice when it was a door, but it you made a sword out of this you'd be replacing it constantly.



                                                In the 17th century, the British Royal Navy found that ships with lead or copper plating would have iron bolts and nails disintegrate quickly. MGM is similar; if you make armour with an MGM sheet and steel rivets, it's very prone to corrosion.



                                                And it's expensive to produce.



                                                Aluminium is found in an ore called Bauxite which is very common - but expensive amounts of energy are needed to extract the aluminium from the ore, even with modern techniques. Back in 1845, before modern extraction techniques were invented, aluminium cost more than gold.



                                                MGM is the same way. You've found the ore and that the refined it has these good properties, but it's going to cost a lot more than steel because of the amount of, say, potassium you need to extract the metal from the ore.



                                                Difficult to make it consistent, too



                                                For some reason, eight out of ten batches of the metal just don't perform well. And you don't figure that out until right at the end of the manufacturing process, when your armour just isn't as strong as it should be in certain places. Dr MacGuffin thinks the boron used in refining tends to clump together, even though it's the best anyone can make, or possibly that the horse urine was gathered too late in the day. Anyway, the science of the day hasn't been able to solve the problem.



                                                Did I mention it's expensive to process?



                                                If you get MGM red hot in a forge, it reacts with air and gets less strong. It ends up less strong than steel, in fact. For it to keep its strength you have to stop the air getting to it, by processing it in a bath of argon. So you can do it, but your world's existing blacksmiths generally can't work with it. They'd need new equipment which is very expensive.



                                                Oh, and someone else has patented the only extraction process that works



                                                Tycoon Tom has a patent on the only MGM extraction techniques that seem to work well, and he's got big investments in steel mills. He's not really looking to let anyone use his patents. And your setting has very strict intellectual property laws.



                                                Plus it's classified



                                                The government thinks MGM has such important military applications, it's a state secret. All details about it are born secret, even if you discover them without seeing anything secret yourself. The secret applications are mostly in large artillery shell casings, so the properties that make it militarily useful aren't helpful for making swords or anything.



                                                All things considered, its advantages aren't big enough to outweigh the cost and problems.






                                                share|improve this answer



























                                                  up vote
                                                  1
                                                  down vote













                                                  The properties aren't that much better



                                                  Sure, it's lighter than aluminium and stronger than steel. But it's only 20% lighter and 20% stronger.



                                                  The metal has some disadvantages too.



                                                  It's got, say, poor fatigue properties. Oh, you didn't notice when it was a door, but it you made a sword out of this you'd be replacing it constantly.



                                                  In the 17th century, the British Royal Navy found that ships with lead or copper plating would have iron bolts and nails disintegrate quickly. MGM is similar; if you make armour with an MGM sheet and steel rivets, it's very prone to corrosion.



                                                  And it's expensive to produce.



                                                  Aluminium is found in an ore called Bauxite which is very common - but expensive amounts of energy are needed to extract the aluminium from the ore, even with modern techniques. Back in 1845, before modern extraction techniques were invented, aluminium cost more than gold.



                                                  MGM is the same way. You've found the ore and that the refined it has these good properties, but it's going to cost a lot more than steel because of the amount of, say, potassium you need to extract the metal from the ore.



                                                  Difficult to make it consistent, too



                                                  For some reason, eight out of ten batches of the metal just don't perform well. And you don't figure that out until right at the end of the manufacturing process, when your armour just isn't as strong as it should be in certain places. Dr MacGuffin thinks the boron used in refining tends to clump together, even though it's the best anyone can make, or possibly that the horse urine was gathered too late in the day. Anyway, the science of the day hasn't been able to solve the problem.



                                                  Did I mention it's expensive to process?



                                                  If you get MGM red hot in a forge, it reacts with air and gets less strong. It ends up less strong than steel, in fact. For it to keep its strength you have to stop the air getting to it, by processing it in a bath of argon. So you can do it, but your world's existing blacksmiths generally can't work with it. They'd need new equipment which is very expensive.



                                                  Oh, and someone else has patented the only extraction process that works



                                                  Tycoon Tom has a patent on the only MGM extraction techniques that seem to work well, and he's got big investments in steel mills. He's not really looking to let anyone use his patents. And your setting has very strict intellectual property laws.



                                                  Plus it's classified



                                                  The government thinks MGM has such important military applications, it's a state secret. All details about it are born secret, even if you discover them without seeing anything secret yourself. The secret applications are mostly in large artillery shell casings, so the properties that make it militarily useful aren't helpful for making swords or anything.



                                                  All things considered, its advantages aren't big enough to outweigh the cost and problems.






                                                  share|improve this answer

























                                                    up vote
                                                    1
                                                    down vote










                                                    up vote
                                                    1
                                                    down vote









                                                    The properties aren't that much better



                                                    Sure, it's lighter than aluminium and stronger than steel. But it's only 20% lighter and 20% stronger.



                                                    The metal has some disadvantages too.



                                                    It's got, say, poor fatigue properties. Oh, you didn't notice when it was a door, but it you made a sword out of this you'd be replacing it constantly.



                                                    In the 17th century, the British Royal Navy found that ships with lead or copper plating would have iron bolts and nails disintegrate quickly. MGM is similar; if you make armour with an MGM sheet and steel rivets, it's very prone to corrosion.



                                                    And it's expensive to produce.



                                                    Aluminium is found in an ore called Bauxite which is very common - but expensive amounts of energy are needed to extract the aluminium from the ore, even with modern techniques. Back in 1845, before modern extraction techniques were invented, aluminium cost more than gold.



                                                    MGM is the same way. You've found the ore and that the refined it has these good properties, but it's going to cost a lot more than steel because of the amount of, say, potassium you need to extract the metal from the ore.



                                                    Difficult to make it consistent, too



                                                    For some reason, eight out of ten batches of the metal just don't perform well. And you don't figure that out until right at the end of the manufacturing process, when your armour just isn't as strong as it should be in certain places. Dr MacGuffin thinks the boron used in refining tends to clump together, even though it's the best anyone can make, or possibly that the horse urine was gathered too late in the day. Anyway, the science of the day hasn't been able to solve the problem.



                                                    Did I mention it's expensive to process?



                                                    If you get MGM red hot in a forge, it reacts with air and gets less strong. It ends up less strong than steel, in fact. For it to keep its strength you have to stop the air getting to it, by processing it in a bath of argon. So you can do it, but your world's existing blacksmiths generally can't work with it. They'd need new equipment which is very expensive.



                                                    Oh, and someone else has patented the only extraction process that works



                                                    Tycoon Tom has a patent on the only MGM extraction techniques that seem to work well, and he's got big investments in steel mills. He's not really looking to let anyone use his patents. And your setting has very strict intellectual property laws.



                                                    Plus it's classified



                                                    The government thinks MGM has such important military applications, it's a state secret. All details about it are born secret, even if you discover them without seeing anything secret yourself. The secret applications are mostly in large artillery shell casings, so the properties that make it militarily useful aren't helpful for making swords or anything.



                                                    All things considered, its advantages aren't big enough to outweigh the cost and problems.






                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                    The properties aren't that much better



                                                    Sure, it's lighter than aluminium and stronger than steel. But it's only 20% lighter and 20% stronger.



                                                    The metal has some disadvantages too.



                                                    It's got, say, poor fatigue properties. Oh, you didn't notice when it was a door, but it you made a sword out of this you'd be replacing it constantly.



                                                    In the 17th century, the British Royal Navy found that ships with lead or copper plating would have iron bolts and nails disintegrate quickly. MGM is similar; if you make armour with an MGM sheet and steel rivets, it's very prone to corrosion.



                                                    And it's expensive to produce.



                                                    Aluminium is found in an ore called Bauxite which is very common - but expensive amounts of energy are needed to extract the aluminium from the ore, even with modern techniques. Back in 1845, before modern extraction techniques were invented, aluminium cost more than gold.



                                                    MGM is the same way. You've found the ore and that the refined it has these good properties, but it's going to cost a lot more than steel because of the amount of, say, potassium you need to extract the metal from the ore.



                                                    Difficult to make it consistent, too



                                                    For some reason, eight out of ten batches of the metal just don't perform well. And you don't figure that out until right at the end of the manufacturing process, when your armour just isn't as strong as it should be in certain places. Dr MacGuffin thinks the boron used in refining tends to clump together, even though it's the best anyone can make, or possibly that the horse urine was gathered too late in the day. Anyway, the science of the day hasn't been able to solve the problem.



                                                    Did I mention it's expensive to process?



                                                    If you get MGM red hot in a forge, it reacts with air and gets less strong. It ends up less strong than steel, in fact. For it to keep its strength you have to stop the air getting to it, by processing it in a bath of argon. So you can do it, but your world's existing blacksmiths generally can't work with it. They'd need new equipment which is very expensive.



                                                    Oh, and someone else has patented the only extraction process that works



                                                    Tycoon Tom has a patent on the only MGM extraction techniques that seem to work well, and he's got big investments in steel mills. He's not really looking to let anyone use his patents. And your setting has very strict intellectual property laws.



                                                    Plus it's classified



                                                    The government thinks MGM has such important military applications, it's a state secret. All details about it are born secret, even if you discover them without seeing anything secret yourself. The secret applications are mostly in large artillery shell casings, so the properties that make it militarily useful aren't helpful for making swords or anything.



                                                    All things considered, its advantages aren't big enough to outweigh the cost and problems.







                                                    share|improve this answer














                                                    share|improve this answer



                                                    share|improve this answer








                                                    edited 4 hours ago

























                                                    answered 4 hours ago









                                                    mjt

                                                    61145




                                                    61145






















                                                        up vote
                                                        1
                                                        down vote













                                                        It's weak to copper*



                                                        MGM is great. Relatively abundant. Easy to work in its raw state. But after purified and tempered, it is as light as aluminum and stronger than steel or titanium.



                                                        The problem is it is weak to copper. A copper knife will go through it like a hot knife through warm butter. Heck, a copper coin will go through it as easily as a knife. It might be a great metal, but if one can cut through it wil pocket change, it's not terribly useful.



                                                        Now from a scientific standpoint it isn't 'weak' to copper. It is highly reactive with copper. If any copper comes in contact with it, it will immediately form Cu2MGM20, a dodecahedron of MGM atoms around two copper atoms. And the new compound won't react with anything else. It just flakes away as dust, leaving it looking like the copper cut through the MGM. And it's a pain in the neck to split the molecules up again. Since it is a 10 to 1 reaction, one pound of copper will destroy 10 pounds of MGM, or a copper dagger will only lose a thin layer in cutting through a door, armor, or sword. Gold and silver, also being in the precious metals series, may have a similar or reduced reaction with MGM.



                                                        *You could choose a different metal (metal column) instead of copper. Cobalt, nickel, and zinc might work; they are just less likely to be commonly carried (copper being common for coins) and thus discovered as the weakness.






                                                        share|improve this answer



























                                                          up vote
                                                          1
                                                          down vote













                                                          It's weak to copper*



                                                          MGM is great. Relatively abundant. Easy to work in its raw state. But after purified and tempered, it is as light as aluminum and stronger than steel or titanium.



                                                          The problem is it is weak to copper. A copper knife will go through it like a hot knife through warm butter. Heck, a copper coin will go through it as easily as a knife. It might be a great metal, but if one can cut through it wil pocket change, it's not terribly useful.



                                                          Now from a scientific standpoint it isn't 'weak' to copper. It is highly reactive with copper. If any copper comes in contact with it, it will immediately form Cu2MGM20, a dodecahedron of MGM atoms around two copper atoms. And the new compound won't react with anything else. It just flakes away as dust, leaving it looking like the copper cut through the MGM. And it's a pain in the neck to split the molecules up again. Since it is a 10 to 1 reaction, one pound of copper will destroy 10 pounds of MGM, or a copper dagger will only lose a thin layer in cutting through a door, armor, or sword. Gold and silver, also being in the precious metals series, may have a similar or reduced reaction with MGM.



                                                          *You could choose a different metal (metal column) instead of copper. Cobalt, nickel, and zinc might work; they are just less likely to be commonly carried (copper being common for coins) and thus discovered as the weakness.






                                                          share|improve this answer

























                                                            up vote
                                                            1
                                                            down vote










                                                            up vote
                                                            1
                                                            down vote









                                                            It's weak to copper*



                                                            MGM is great. Relatively abundant. Easy to work in its raw state. But after purified and tempered, it is as light as aluminum and stronger than steel or titanium.



                                                            The problem is it is weak to copper. A copper knife will go through it like a hot knife through warm butter. Heck, a copper coin will go through it as easily as a knife. It might be a great metal, but if one can cut through it wil pocket change, it's not terribly useful.



                                                            Now from a scientific standpoint it isn't 'weak' to copper. It is highly reactive with copper. If any copper comes in contact with it, it will immediately form Cu2MGM20, a dodecahedron of MGM atoms around two copper atoms. And the new compound won't react with anything else. It just flakes away as dust, leaving it looking like the copper cut through the MGM. And it's a pain in the neck to split the molecules up again. Since it is a 10 to 1 reaction, one pound of copper will destroy 10 pounds of MGM, or a copper dagger will only lose a thin layer in cutting through a door, armor, or sword. Gold and silver, also being in the precious metals series, may have a similar or reduced reaction with MGM.



                                                            *You could choose a different metal (metal column) instead of copper. Cobalt, nickel, and zinc might work; they are just less likely to be commonly carried (copper being common for coins) and thus discovered as the weakness.






                                                            share|improve this answer














                                                            It's weak to copper*



                                                            MGM is great. Relatively abundant. Easy to work in its raw state. But after purified and tempered, it is as light as aluminum and stronger than steel or titanium.



                                                            The problem is it is weak to copper. A copper knife will go through it like a hot knife through warm butter. Heck, a copper coin will go through it as easily as a knife. It might be a great metal, but if one can cut through it wil pocket change, it's not terribly useful.



                                                            Now from a scientific standpoint it isn't 'weak' to copper. It is highly reactive with copper. If any copper comes in contact with it, it will immediately form Cu2MGM20, a dodecahedron of MGM atoms around two copper atoms. And the new compound won't react with anything else. It just flakes away as dust, leaving it looking like the copper cut through the MGM. And it's a pain in the neck to split the molecules up again. Since it is a 10 to 1 reaction, one pound of copper will destroy 10 pounds of MGM, or a copper dagger will only lose a thin layer in cutting through a door, armor, or sword. Gold and silver, also being in the precious metals series, may have a similar or reduced reaction with MGM.



                                                            *You could choose a different metal (metal column) instead of copper. Cobalt, nickel, and zinc might work; they are just less likely to be commonly carried (copper being common for coins) and thus discovered as the weakness.







                                                            share|improve this answer














                                                            share|improve this answer



                                                            share|improve this answer








                                                            edited 3 hours ago

























                                                            answered 4 hours ago









                                                            Xavon_Wrentaile

                                                            3,183819




                                                            3,183819






















                                                                up vote
                                                                0
                                                                down vote













                                                                Its so strong, it's not really forgeable, its really heat resistant, so its has no field of use



                                                                Edited away:



                                                                OPT2:

                                                                The market has so much it costs nothing => wothless






                                                                share|improve this answer























                                                                • "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                  – Drag and Drop
                                                                  yesterday










                                                                • @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                  – Jannis
                                                                  yesterday















                                                                up vote
                                                                0
                                                                down vote













                                                                Its so strong, it's not really forgeable, its really heat resistant, so its has no field of use



                                                                Edited away:



                                                                OPT2:

                                                                The market has so much it costs nothing => wothless






                                                                share|improve this answer























                                                                • "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                  – Drag and Drop
                                                                  yesterday










                                                                • @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                  – Jannis
                                                                  yesterday













                                                                up vote
                                                                0
                                                                down vote










                                                                up vote
                                                                0
                                                                down vote









                                                                Its so strong, it's not really forgeable, its really heat resistant, so its has no field of use



                                                                Edited away:



                                                                OPT2:

                                                                The market has so much it costs nothing => wothless






                                                                share|improve this answer














                                                                Its so strong, it's not really forgeable, its really heat resistant, so its has no field of use



                                                                Edited away:



                                                                OPT2:

                                                                The market has so much it costs nothing => wothless







                                                                share|improve this answer














                                                                share|improve this answer



                                                                share|improve this answer








                                                                edited yesterday

























                                                                answered yesterday









                                                                Jannis

                                                                96215




                                                                96215












                                                                • "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                  – Drag and Drop
                                                                  yesterday










                                                                • @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                  – Jannis
                                                                  yesterday


















                                                                • "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                  – Drag and Drop
                                                                  yesterday










                                                                • @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                  – Jannis
                                                                  yesterday
















                                                                "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                – Drag and Drop
                                                                yesterday




                                                                "The market has so much" it's a discover.. There can't be no known market
                                                                – Drag and Drop
                                                                yesterday












                                                                @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                – Jannis
                                                                yesterday




                                                                @DragandDrop haven't seem that in your question ... i'm sorry
                                                                – Jannis
                                                                yesterday










                                                                up vote
                                                                0
                                                                down vote













                                                                If you're going high-fantasy, the metal is useless outside of the region it's found, due to magic. Of note, this doesn't make it completely useless - just impossible to export. So, your shield, bullet proof vest, etc all work - up to a radius of 20 miles from the veins. This could produce a rather distinctive local culture in time, perhaps a seat of government if the metal is useful enough. Projecting force would be difficult, but it could serve effectively as a defensive deterrent.






                                                                share|improve this answer

























                                                                  up vote
                                                                  0
                                                                  down vote













                                                                  If you're going high-fantasy, the metal is useless outside of the region it's found, due to magic. Of note, this doesn't make it completely useless - just impossible to export. So, your shield, bullet proof vest, etc all work - up to a radius of 20 miles from the veins. This could produce a rather distinctive local culture in time, perhaps a seat of government if the metal is useful enough. Projecting force would be difficult, but it could serve effectively as a defensive deterrent.






                                                                  share|improve this answer























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                                                                    If you're going high-fantasy, the metal is useless outside of the region it's found, due to magic. Of note, this doesn't make it completely useless - just impossible to export. So, your shield, bullet proof vest, etc all work - up to a radius of 20 miles from the veins. This could produce a rather distinctive local culture in time, perhaps a seat of government if the metal is useful enough. Projecting force would be difficult, but it could serve effectively as a defensive deterrent.






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                                                                    If you're going high-fantasy, the metal is useless outside of the region it's found, due to magic. Of note, this doesn't make it completely useless - just impossible to export. So, your shield, bullet proof vest, etc all work - up to a radius of 20 miles from the veins. This could produce a rather distinctive local culture in time, perhaps a seat of government if the metal is useful enough. Projecting force would be difficult, but it could serve effectively as a defensive deterrent.







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                                                                    answered 7 hours ago









                                                                    Iiridayn

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