Questions tagged [combat]
For questions involving the specifics of combat.
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Cryomancer, combat style
Cryomancy is cool, ice is cool and ice mages too. But does it actually hold any utility other than keeping your food fresh, specially martially wise(?)
How could an individual with ice magic powers ...
user56803
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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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Why don't mages use side weapons? [closed]
In fiction mages usually only hold wands, staffs, books or some magic orbs/discs floating around them and most of the time they run around empty handed.
How can it be justified other than the rule ...
user56803
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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 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 thick a stone castle wall needs to be to withstand a modern tank?
From In what war would one modern military vehicle make a difference? question I presume a tank could decimate something like an ordinary medieval castle as have survived to this day.
But at some ...
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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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Which MMA style would be most effective in an Ancient Roman Colosseum? [closed]
Premise
Poof! A MMA heavyweight has been transported back in time to ancient Rome. He is to fight in the colosseum. One of the (many) things that fascinates me about this juxtaposition of worlds is ...
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Physical Force Generation- Applications, weaknesses, and the science behind it [closed]
I've been developing this anti-hero, "Vicious," for a few weeks now- but I need some help concerning the specifics. Vicious has an ability known as "physical force generation." From any point on her ...
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How can a scythe be used for mass assassinations? [closed]
I want a scythe to be used for a mass murder, far-range combat, & close-range combat, and I need it to be large to create fear in opponents.
Although the massive scythes shown in anime can be ...
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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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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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What could a person able to re-arrange their muscle strength accomplish?
Suppose there is a type of person who is otherwise a normal human, but can temporarily transfer muscle strength from one part of their body to another. Whether this occurs through mutant genes, ...
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Are folding Xiphoi practical?
I have a character that fights with a pair of xiphoi (double-edged, one-handed shortswords used by the ancient Greeks). These swords are stored in thick nylon sheaths around the character's forearms, ...
user48508
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A 21st Century Duelling Code
A few years from now, perhaps 10 or so, after a horribly botched first-contact led to the temporary conquest of humanity by aliens until humans could adjust to alien technology, humans are once again ...
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Dresses for swordplay?
I've tried to write up a few new styles of swordsmanship for a story I've been planning. I've got a lot of mileage from different sword types and techniques, but have one idea that I can't find any ...
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Would ai surpass humans in bipedal combat?
I was thinking of writing a story where a bipedal walker has the tactical, mechanical, and autonomy of a real person. Would it be viable to use an base ai that has already learned and trained to pilot ...
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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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What kinds of weapons produce little or no recoil that could be used aboard a spacestation?
And by "Weapons" I mean ranged weapons specifically. Melee weapons would certainly be useful for close-quarters, but due to the range at which combat occurs in this question, I'm looking for ranged ...
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How would soldiers with indestructible bones fight?
In order to increase both offensive and defensive capabilities in hand to hand combat, what would be some defensive and offensive maneuvers we might observe in a soldier with indestructible bones?
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Man-portable weapons for post-disaster Arkansan troll hunters
I have a short story in the making where two young men go hunt a troll for an old widow. I have some ideas for what they could be carrying, but am aware that messing up something as fundamental as ...
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Martial art for a pacifist in a wold of kung-fu? [closed]
A hero with no name is a strong pacifist. The why is not important right now.
The problem: he lives in a world of kung-fu where just being quiet and polite to live happily can't work for long. This ...
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What mechanism would be needed to contain and inject super-heated plasma into a target?
Two days ago, I proposed a design for dual forearm-mounted super-heated stabbing blades composed of a Titanium-Coltan alloy and capable of reaching 1,000 °C. These arm-blades were intended to act as ...
user48508
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What are the practicalities and impracticalities of ultraheated forearm-mounted blades utilized by a robot? [duplicate]
I have a series of humanoid combat robot dubbed the Atlanta-Types created specially to fight someone (codenamed Heracles) with the powers of electrokinesis and
Low-Mid regeneration on equal footing. ...
user48508
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Designing an anti-Degenerate combat robot [closed]
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
After a massive explosion ravages Sydney and kills 2.1 million people,
a multinational black-ops unit called S.W.O.R.D (an expy of the SCP Foundation and Blackwatch is tasked ...
user48508
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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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How much of an advantage in medieval-style combat would it be to have four arms with pivoting shoulders?
So I'm writing a story about humans of the modern world being given various superhuman powers by an unknown entity, which eventually causes society to partially collapse and turn into a bizarre mash-...
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Offensive Insect attacks (turn back Entomophobs)
I got this character that has micro-robots in his nervous system that come together and send signals to insects with the micro-robots in them. These effectively give him mind control over these ...
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How could an outrigger or catamaran ship be modified for age of sail naval combat?
If Age of Sail era Ships were to come into regular contact with Polynesian outrigger and Catamaran ships like the Hōkūleʻa, and the people using the ships did not start using the foreign design of ...
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Fighting Styles That Would Focus on Armoring the Extremities? [closed]
I had a thought, are there any conceivable fighting styles that would generate a focus on armoring the limbs, like gauntlets on the arms and boots on the legs, over the main body? Does anyone have any ...
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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 technological improvements need to be made to gyrojets in order for them to be militarily effective?
Gyrojets are weapons that fire rocket propelled darts,they are lightweight, they have low recoil, are very silent, and at long ranges have extremely high velocity. They however are highly inaccurate, ...
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Would centaurs shoot more accurately than a cavalryman from horseback?
The question is fairly simple. If a Mongol and a Centaur ride by and shoot at you, who has the better chance of giving an arrow a new home in your gizzard?
That is, given equal skill in shooting, ...
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Applications of Limited Kinetic Energy Manipulation [Superpower]
I see that similar questions have been asked before, but I have yet to find a sufficient answer. I'll try to keep it short. I'm currently working on a story involving a soldier who discovered he's ...
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What weapon would be suitable for bats? [closed]
I would like to arm fruit bats with weapons in this modern age (2017), but I don't know what to arm them with. A couple of bits of info:
They are as intelligent as humans, so that is not a barrier.
...
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To justify mortal combat
The setting is now-ish, with better robots and stuff to do our jobs for us. Somehow - that's the question - people bring back mortal combat to resolve their conflict (accepted by the law of course).
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How could one create mecha that could be controlled with one's mind? [closed]
How could someone create a suit of mecha that could be controlled with one's mind?
Looking at different methods of building such technology using near future technology. The mecha would be 18 feet ...
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How would medieval weaponry and combat be influenced in a world where humans project a magical barrier? [closed]
The barrier while active would keep anything from making contact, but force could still be transferred.
Its not always on and can be "drained" from multiple blows. Approximately 20 full strength ...
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How can people kill considerably death-resistant aliens with everyday objects?
In a world where people find aliens invading their homes, with what household object or objects found on the street or nearby, could people defend themselves against the invader?
The rules of the ...
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Would human body adaption to sub-zero temperatures be actually beneficial in arctic climates?
The setting is in tribal times.
I was thinking about a being (or a tribe of beings), living in arctic climates where the temperature is mostly or even exclusively below 0 °C, that is identical to an ...
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A gold coin for an orc's ear: just how tough is an orc?
Suppose a generic medieval fantasy setting, where a well-to-do lord desires to keep the orc- and condottiero population down during times of peace, so as to prolong said times of peace. Therefore, he/...
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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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Feasibility of melee weapons in a highly futuristic sci-fi-fantasy setting? [duplicate]
What would be the feasibility of short ranged weapons, such as swords, brass knuckles, clubs and gauntlets in a sci-fi-fantasy setting?
To clarify further, we are ignoring the standard bullet-beats-...
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Calculating the Resistance of Water, for Purposes of Violence
I'm writing a story about mermaids. For this reason, I'm wondering how much you can hurt someone by say, throwing a punch, hitting them with a rock, or even throwing a spear or rock.
I'm not sure how ...
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Where realistically could somebody be stabbed and heal without modern medicine?
Assuming we are in post-apocalyptic wilderness where herbs are readily available for treatment, would it be feasible for someone to be stabbed with a knife and not only survive but heal enough to keep ...
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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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How Could a Human beat a Centaur in a Fight?
I write centaurs as wild barbarians that love fighting - especially with weakling, little humans. So let's say our centaur and hero are fighting in an open, little, dirt circle in the middle of the a ...
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Feasibility of the "Instant Legolas" quick shooting bow
Recently, the youtuber JoergSprave released a new video, where he built a bow capable of firing an arrow unpracticed at full power every second, as opposed to his initial 1 every 4 seconds. He does ...
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Swords more effective than guns [closed]
In our beautiful little world there are guns like pistols and rifles and for simplicity sake let's say they are of the Old West variety. In this world there also exist many beasts different and ...
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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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