Questions tagged [combat]
For questions involving the specifics of combat.
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What (modern) weapons could be used to destroy skeletal enemies as completely as possible?
As per the cliché, after getting hit by a truck, our protagonist finds herself in a 'swords and sorcery' fantasy world. Also as per the cliché, she is granted an overpowered ability to make her new ...
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How would a dragon be used in a modern military?
The military of (insert nation here) has finished training its latest asset: an adult dragon. Let's call him Private Firestorm. He's got everything the top brass wants from a soldier: he's ...
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Making the 'Master Swordsman' fantasy realistic?
The idea of a truly masterful swordsman capable of taking on dozens of average swordsmen by himself (sometimes even above average!) is a pretty common depiction in fantasy media.
A recent example I ...
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How to Defeat a Precognitive Warrior? [closed]
My hapless wanderer (let's call her Alice) escaped the Wold forest only to stumble upon a large, featureless and dusty plane, at the center of which lies Castle Morrow, a fort populated by mechanical ...
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Are gunswords feasible?
A common trope weapon in science fantasy (such as RWBY or the appropriately named Gun Sword) is the gunsword. As the name implies, a gunsword is a sword that's also a gun, or vice versa. This has ...
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What would be the best way to fight a duel with lightsabers?
Lightsabers are really, really different from modern swords. They have weightless blades, will cut through their targets independent of velocity, and can be turned on and off fairly quickly.
In light ...
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How would exposing a female warrior's (mostly) bare bottom help her in combat?
There's a valid discussion about feminism and objectification of women to be had. This is not the place for it, nor do I attempt to make it one.
I noticed that in Fire Emblem: Fates (and probably ...
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Would a non-lethal military be effective?
An empire spanning the globe has a military force trained and equipped for the temporary impairment of combat forces, such as sleeping gas, shields and nets.
The empire is by far the most ...
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How horny can humans get before it's too horny
Trying to create horns which are both ornamental and defensive, I've read somewhere that beards evolved in humans because we punch each other so much that even just a minuscule amount of hair cushion ...
user104995
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How could a group of 6 people destroy an army?
One of my wow moments when playing Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal happened when the three most powerful Bhaalspawn siblings (Imoen, Sarevok and the Player Character), together with just three more ...
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Realism of throwing knives or daggers
It lots of fictional settings and worlds, 'rogues' and other skilled martial fighters are constantly throwing knives and daggers at people. Furthermore, assassins/rogues are often pictured as having a ...
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How do I stop annoyed wizards from killing people all the time?
How do I stop annoyed wizards from killing people all the time?
In my fantasy world, wizards are quite powerful, and they can kill anyone they know the location of with just a thought. The usual ...
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Despite being invulnerable against ballistic projectiles, why does a wizard's robe still get wet during rain?
A battlemage practiced the art of close combat fighting, and could deal huge amounts of damage to his opponents at point blank range. He also had a special robe, which was enchanted by a powerful ...
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How can I explain a one-shot, slow-to-reload laser sidearm?
I'm writing a semi-realistic science fiction story set, let's say, 500 years in the future, where humanity has colonized some of the solar system. For combat purposes, I've been playing with the idea ...
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In modern day combat, what would warrant singing during battle?
Cicad the singer is having a downtime in his career.
Over the millennia, Cicad sang anywhere from royal courts to farmers' cottages and have been rewarded with many, many hand-claps.
But to keep ...
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What would a battle between supercomputers be like with the battleground being the internet?
Assuming these supercomputers can think/reason in "internet battle terms", aka. having the capability to predict their opponents' movements and recognize patterns and prepare for different types of ...
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How advantageous is an invisible sword?
An adventurer has come into possession of an invisible sword. How advantageous in a duel or skirmish would this be? Good for a one-time trick, a significant advantage throughout a fight, or even a ...
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What kind of a unit/army would prefer fighting from a low ground position?
It's a well-known fact that attacking or defending from a high ground gives a wide range of advantages over an opponent occupying a lower position.
I'm DM-ing a campaign where PCs are about to defend ...
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How long could a late WW2-era battleship last under sustained ship of the line cannon fire?
In an alternate world of magic, a battleship similar in design to the Bismarck is stopped in the middle of the ocean. It was built by a society of Earth humans who moved to this world. All other ...
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Time-traveling Combat
Introduction
This question is based on the time travel mechanic discussed in my previous question The Tricky Trouble with Two Time Travelers. I'll lay out the rules that I've decided on so far:
...
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What would be the most effective melee weapon against heavily armored opponent?
In my world front line assaults are done with Mechanized Assault Vehicles, or MAVs. They are kind of like the vehicles in the Mecha universe, but more armor than weapon, more humanoid, than purpose ...
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How to defend when attacked by an avian species?
Bird people are humanoid creatures with a wingspan of 4 meters, they are as tall as humans and the fittest of them weight 72 kilograms or slightly less, so they are quite lighter than the average ...
user56803
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Wearing a cape during combat?
In a book I'm writing, a king has a bodyguard of a dozen elite swordsmen, trained their whole lives to protect their sovereign. Their capes are long and trail behind them. What are the disadvantages ...
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How can guns be countered by melee combat without raw-ability or exceptional explanations?
I'm writing a science fantasy setting for a tabletop game. Its major influences are Dune, Final Fantasy 7, and Borderlands. My goal is to give a universal account why swords, spears, etc., equal or ...
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Why do my monster minions all have obvious weak points that instantly kill them?
A malevolent force is lurking the shadows creating monsters to be its army and take over the world. WHY in the world does it put a highlighted weak point on all of them? It makes sense from a writers' ...
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Pragmatically, what is the ideal shape for enchanted jewelry to take?
Enchanted jewelry is a major mainstay of basically any genre of fiction involving magic. It comes in many forms, but the concept is the same: wear it, and it gives you certain powers or protects you ...
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What would the proper shooting stance be for a recoil-free arm cannon?
Quick summary: it’s the modern day, and everyone can use magic. Some of that magic is of the variety that lets you launch energy blasts from your fists, similar to a Mega Man style arm cannon. You ...
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How do I create armor for a physically weak species?
In a world I am building, the sapient species (the Lokk) have discovered another species (the Lotl) and they have decided to go to war. The problem is that their bone design is physically weak against ...
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Could Finger-Fencing be Fatal?
At the King's court, duels are sometimes used as a way of settling disputes. However to avoid too many injuries the king has decreed that combatants must use only one finger as a weapon. Any finger ...
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War eagles, feasible?
Let's assume that there's a species of eagles that's about the size of an Andean Condor (about 3m wingspan, 1.5m length, 10kg) and that there's a culture that has managed to tame this creature (or ...
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Personal Teleportation as a Weapon
I've always considered teleportation to be one of the most under-rated super powers in all ways, but at the moment I'm thinking through the ramifications of personal teleportation as a superpower in ...
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Magic as Luck Control
Note: A fair bit of setting-lore is laid out in the more subtle magic question, so it might be worth paying that a visit, if you haven't already.
The sky is dark and gloomy in the swamplands, the ...
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How could people in the medieval times defeat an armored vehicle?
In my setting there is a mad artificer making armored cars for the army. The cars have wooden frames with 10 mm of steel on every side, wooden wheels with metal plates covering them, and are propelled ...
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How would I make guns uncreatable in a post-apocalyptic world?
I am building a world in which technology has taken an enormous step back due to an apocalyptic event. For one reason or another guns no longer exist in the world and I would like to have a reason why ...
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Best fighting style for a pacifist
I am looking for a fighting style a semi pacifist could use; someone who hates violence but has no problem defending himself and putting someone down. He has no problem HURTING the infected, but he ...
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Zero-gravity space bar fight?
I am having a bar fight instead. 8 space marines are getting hammered when all of a sudden a cult shows up and starts a bar fight in the zero-G bar where the marines are. The cult is also rather ...
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What body armor protects against a laser?
I've been working on a mostly-realistic story set, let's say, 500 years in the future. Humans have colonized the solar system and no longer live on Earth. Semi-automatic weapons with frangible rounds ...
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Are mechanical walking vehicles useful in combat? [duplicate]
This is a highly contested issue on this site, and I have seen many different opinions on this topic. Are mechanical legged vehicles (or mechs) useful in combat in a near future scenario? If so where?
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Why do the enemies have finite aggro ranges?
Edit: (September 18 2021) So far there are are many good answers that address why a group of guard monsters or unaffiliated group of humans might have a finite aggro range.
However these answers are ...
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How to contain a shapeshifter
As mentioned in an earlier question of mine, my particular world has a class of humanoids which have the magical ability to change into a single animal form at will. As detailed in the linked question,...
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How hard magic could make bows, swords and other early/mid- medieval weapons relevant alongside fairly advanced gunpowder weapons?
Introduction
In a quite a lot of games swords, bows and so forth exist on a regular basis alongside guns, and often are as powerful, if not more so, than firearms. In a realistic, non-magical setting, ...
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Shield only combat
Asking this for a more realistic view for ''rising of the shield hero' and possible uses in future writings.
A shield is not a weapon, it is basically armor, that's why heavy armored knights rarely ...
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Surviving within SCP-3008 (The Infinite IKEA)? [closed]
There was an old SCP I liked called SCP-3008 (The Infinity IKEA) here it is: http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3008
My question is, if a group of people were trapped within SCP-3008, what would be the ...
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Curses work by shouting - How to avoid collateral damage?
If I want to curse my enemy I say the curse to him. As a result, he will become sick and have a lot of bad luck.
However, if he puts his fingers in his ears or uses some kind of earplug, I have to ...
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What would be the physical effects of a fistpunch with greatly magnified strength? [duplicate]
Assume a humanoid with greatly increased strength. He (or she) throws a massive direct punch at the middle of the breast of a human, who is standing in range.
Assume a punching force of about 1000 KN....
user6415
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Superheated bullets and the damage they would deal
So, imagine that we're using technology that allows us to fire superheated bullets, and we decide to implement it against three types of opponents:
Unarmored, wearing just normal clothes
Lightly ...
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What effects would propellant that expands at near light speed have on firearm technology?
Think of firearm technology similar to that of today with better materials, machining, etc. A colony of humans has discovered a way to make propellant that expands at near light speed. What advantages ...
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What would be the best melee weapon(s) to emphasize arboreal mobility?
I'm currently trying to come up with various different Melee weapon "load outs" for the creatures in my world, and have come up with a few different ones for certain situations already. The warriors ...
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Is there a military benefit to humanoid combat robots?
There have been questions of the validity of combat mechs and the shape of police robots before, but the general consensus is that the main reason for a mech to be humanoid is to appear less ...
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What is a good excuse for why an early 1900's-like fantasy world has not yet invented rifles / guns of any sort?
I am writing a book where the world is split into multiple kingdoms, with each kingdom using a similar magic system to the rest, but using different powers. IE one can control the elements, another ...
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