Chemistry needs some changes.

[Morrigi]

This is a thread where Clarks and Weavel are right about the things they do best: alchemical hijinks.

As it is (or, well, as I've been able to figure out from it), Chemistry is linear as heck: make this, add some of that, get some of these in 1-unit amounts or some of this in rationed amounts to add to foam, smoke, or a spray bottle. That's more or less it, save for the rising popularity of borg patches.

cogwerks has been moving in a direction with different reactions from the manufacture and use of chemicals, such as found in the unprotected production of crank and sarin, but where else does Chemistry really do an interesting thing other than in its weights and measures? Hell, I've been pushing for LIGHT TUBE CHEMISTRY for a while, but it seems to be on the back burner along with all the other Chemistry-related things. Chemistry ought to do more with its reactions and (un)intended consequences. Reagent-flavored ices that have all the slipping properties of foam with propagation of chemical transfer per tick? Reducing the slipperiness of foam to increase its spread? Ice that behaves like ice and not water?

If Clarks or Weavel appear smug, they're not. Apart from (I guess) SailorDave and a few other people, they know what they're talking about.

I agree. Chemistry needs more research options. There should be ways to tweak the various solutions of reagents to create more customized effects. Perhaps some mechanic involving solutions and purity could be added? Chemicals could be processed through distillation, cooling, mixture with catalysts, etc. to result in a more pure product, or one with subtle differences in effect.

Let's take cyanide as an example. In real-world chemistry, there are three well-known cyanide compounds. Hydrogen cyanide is the best-known, as a deadly gas. However, it has some interesting properties. Its boiling point is just under 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and could thus be vaporized and spread into the air by a relatively small application of heat, or a room that's a bit too warm.

Sodium cyanide is produced by treating hydrogen cyanide with sodium hydroxide. Sodium cyanide is a solid at room temperature and its boiling point is nearly three thousand degrees. However, it will rapidly release hydrogen cyanide when exposed to strong acids, and more slowly when exposed to water.

Potassium cyanide is unique as well, and is produced by mixing hydrogen cyanide with a solution of 50% solution of water and potassium hydroxide, before boiling off the solution in a vacuum. Potassium hydroxide is soluble in water.

Consider the following: A particularly devious chemist leaves a beaker of hydrogen cyanide in a potted plant before adding a small amount of pyrosium and leaving. Over time, the solution will heat up and the hydrogen cyanide will boil, filling the room with a deadly, invisible gas. Meanwhile, his less competent colleague accidentally starts a fire in the chemistry lab, with a similar beaker of hydrogen cyanide right in the middle of it. R.I.P.

I'm sure you can imagine what a creative chemist could do with these three closely related chemicals alone, to say nothing of others.