Questions tagged [weapons]
For questions about existing weapons or designing new ones.
6
votes
4answers
157 views
Designing a magic-compatible polearm
The people in my story's universe all have various magical powers, and if they want the effects of these powers to extend to their clothes or equipment, said equipment needs to be designed to a few ...
-4
votes
6answers
357 views
Can medieval weapons (swords, spears, polehammers, etc) be more viable than guns in this SciFi setting?
Context In this world, laws of physics are roughly the same as ours. No placeholder magic involved. Wars are fought by cyborgs/mutants/synthetic mutants (super soldiers) who can manipulate certain ...
4
votes
8answers
343 views
How can I make the Solar System uninhabitable?
For the Universe I'm creating Humanity has devolved into groups of scattered tribes. This is due to the fact we ran afoul of a really nasty alien race, who decided to leave us homeless. A coalition of ...
9
votes
5answers
577 views
How durable are silver inlays on a blade?
Motivation (fictional of course)
Fantasy is full of references to silver swords and other weapons thought to make a poor lycanthrope‘s life miserable. Since silver appears to be too soft for blades, ...
3
votes
2answers
204 views
Anatomically Correct Ego Sword
I'm reading a comic set in a really unique fantasy game. One of the creatures that really caught my attention were a type of slime/sword called ego sword. In their normal form they're a blob but can ...
5
votes
5answers
368 views
How to weaponize gravitational waves
In the future, defensive technology has advanced so much that weapons strong enough to kill an enemy soldier tend to cause unacceptable collateral damage. Sure, we can make a weapon that generates ...
21
votes
17answers
9k views
How to hide rifle during medieval town entrance inspection?
Here is my fantasy medieval scenario:
There is pair of adventurers, a Supportive/Non-Offensive mage and a swordsman.
The swordsman is actually a disguised rifleman who carries a scoped rifle.
In ...
1
vote
5answers
339 views
Could a camera on a sniper rifle see the kill? [closed]
We are in the a slightly gritty future. There is space travel, but technology is reasonable. People still shoot bullets and not lasers. Vehicles are powered by nuclear reactors and not magic space ...
2
votes
2answers
143 views
How to shrink the human population? [closed]
So I'm writing a post apocalyptic story. Basically, a war happens and after a solar storm there's very few human survivors on Earth. This world has "magic" crystals, rocks that emanate energy.
The ...
8
votes
7answers
2k views
How much water is needed to create a Katana capable of cutting flesh, bones and wood?
I've created a character for my world that has the ability to manipulate water with her magic. She applied this ability by using it with a katana hilt. I will try to explain how she uses this ability ...
3
votes
6answers
354 views
Medieval weapons and Armor without gunpowder [Siege machines]
The firearm has thought to have been what had killed the age of knights and skilled swordsmen. While it could take years of hard work and practice for a warrior to master a blade or bow, he could pick ...
5
votes
1answer
215 views
Can a sound of 125dbs from a watch be used to cause pain for self defense?
I was planning on creating a watch capable of producing around 125 dbs of sound for self defense: it would irritate/incapacitate an attacker and possibly give the victim an opportunity to leave the ...
3
votes
3answers
304 views
Ballistics of a 19.25mm revolver
A lead off from my last question, the actual ballistics of the round. I've learned from the last question and ran some numbers and come up with a basic idea for the ballistics of the revolver.
Lead ...
6
votes
4answers
311 views
A world without fire - what will the military use as their main soldier level weapon?
Assume that modern day Earth discovers a way to create portals to another planet. Travel between the two planets is fast, safe, and easy.
The way this works is that there are fixed points on earth ...
25
votes
7answers
7k views
Could a 19.25mm revolver actually exist?
I'm working on writing a story wherein there is a revolver inspired by Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy's samaritan. My question is; can such a gun, as described below, work? Or would it be a bone breaker ...
18
votes
14answers
7k views
A steel-cutting sword?
So within my world there exists a faction of monks on a secluded mountain whose scientific and philosophical knowledge outstrips the outside medieval world. And with these monks being famous more for ...
9
votes
14answers
3k views
Natural Armour and Weapons
In my fantasy world, the magic system pretty much makes metal armour and weapons obsolete. The magic system's specifics aren't important, just note that the magic system allows the users to 'penetrate'...
29
votes
8answers
6k views
Is my plasma cannon concept viable?
I’ve developed a concept for a plasma cannon, and I need it reality-checked.
The cannon would gather ammunition by pumping air into the gun through an external fan. The air would gather inside a ...
0
votes
4answers
266 views
Need help developing a weapon for destroying a dam [closed]
I am working on a story that happens in a dystopian world where the only source of energy is Coal.
I wanted to know whether it is possible to break a dam by pressurizing Dam walls with coal GAS
...
8
votes
7answers
464 views
Can a firearm stay functional in a hidden cache in a jungle in Vietnam or in Siberia for 700 years?
I'm creating a world several hundred years after an apocalypse, but am struggling to get the decay of our current civilization right.
The world in short: Earth was hit by an apocalypse in the 2060 (...
11
votes
5answers
2k views
Is a diamond sword feasible? [duplicate]
I have been browsing the internet, and I have started to wonder whether a diamond sword is feasible or not. I would very much like to know the answer.
2
votes
3answers
520 views
Would a Glass “Rupert Drop” Weapon be Plausible?
Can a large glass Rupert Drop somehow be manufactured into a useful and effective weapon in medieval warfare, such as a club?
I've developed a society that primarily lives in the desert with sand in ...
2
votes
1answer
308 views
How effective are bows when used by a race with superior strength? (numerically)
The Situation: In this world a race of Neanderthal-like humans have grown and evolved separate from mankind in a harsh environment that forced them to be strong and warlike. Humans of this war have ...
-6
votes
1answer
122 views
Insterstellar Psycho - What damage can he do? [closed]
The Interstellar Psycho just wants to cause damage to others. He regularly shoots intense laser bursts in all directions into space from his base on Earth's Moon. He sends one every hour.
Question
...
1
vote
3answers
207 views
Could a percussion rifle be produced in the 15th-17th century?
Could a percussion rifle such as the springfield m1861 be made somewhere between the 15th-17th century? If so how would it be made?
21
votes
17answers
3k views
Weaponising the Grasp-at-a-Distance spell
Wizards have developed a Grasp-at-a Distance spell. It has numerous uses in everyday life of course but the Emperor (may he live forever) wants it to be deployed as a weapon of war.
Spell operation
...
6
votes
3answers
260 views
Most effective melee weapons for arboreal combat? (pre-gunpowder technology)
The creatures I am working with are primate-like, hexapodal aliens with a terrestrial/ arboreal lifestyle. On flat land they are able to walk bipedally, freeing up their top 4 arms for manipulating ...
3
votes
9answers
301 views
How do I give my alien mercenaries a fighting chance?
So, Earth has run afoul of an alien power. The aliens have a working FTL drive, but no one else (including us) does. They have used their technological superiority to create a far flung mercantile ...
8
votes
2answers
171 views
Ball lightning projection as an alternative to plasma weaponry
Plasma weaponry is a staple of science fiction, but is often objected to on the basis that it expands too readily. There's no way to effectively deliver it to a target without spending a lot of effort ...
12
votes
12answers
4k views
Is it possible to make sharp wind that can cut stuff from afar?
You know the typical wind slash in anime or games where the swordsman slashes from afar either vertically or horizontally and the wind pressure or projectile cut the opponent, like in this image for ...
5
votes
4answers
261 views
Can spiky arm guards/bracer be an alternative weapon for blunt attack or will wielder get broken bones upon hitting?
Basically what's in the title: If someone uses a spiky arm guard/bracer (long bracelet type armor not gauntlet) while bashing/battering an opponent (with or without armor) would this result in the ...
7
votes
3answers
246 views
After the head, what part of the body is most vulnerable to blunt force trauma?
I'm in the process of re-evaluating what weapons my superhuman characters would find useful when fighting each other, and something recently occurred to me regarding blunt weapons like hammers, maces, ...
8
votes
5answers
837 views
Fencing style for blades that can attack from a distance [closed]
Due to all the edits and clarifications asked I will re write the question tomorrow, thanks for your patience. Leaving this up until then, for reference.
In the setting I'm working on, magitech has ...
4
votes
3answers
176 views
What would a lethal laser attack by a sorcerer look like?
In a magic system that allowed the manipulation of energy by sorcerers, what would a bystander observe during such an attack? Some details are relevant:
As I understand it, lasers are visible due to ...
6
votes
3answers
317 views
Which edge shape is better to cut things with for a chain sword type/style?
To help you get the idea of what I mean, here is an example of the edge. Imagine the edge can move like a chain sword or chain saw, so don't take it too literally. Don't consider the entire sword ...
1
vote
4answers
454 views
Can titanium chain mail stop a bullet?
Can a titanium chain mail stop a bullet? How thick the chains would need to be?
Or a titanium plate would be more efficient? How thick the plate should be?
Of course, against normal weapons, like ...
4
votes
3answers
202 views
How to have a robotic whip move effectively?
I recently read The Prefect (now named Aurora Rising) by Alistair Reynolds. The book is about a police force protecting a belt of space stations. The local democratic regime has mostly disarmed the ...
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votes
2answers
201 views
Firing a gun instead of a bullet
NOTE - To the person who edited the title. I was not asking about recoil
in the sense of the gun travelling in the opposite direction to a
bullet. Please read the question carefully. There is no ...
-4
votes
12answers
395 views
A properly malfunctioning gun [closed]
A friend of mine wrote me: "I have designed a rifle that cannot be used for a terrorist attack. It fails to shoot in the instance of it. Other than that it is a good gun. In fact it is the best and a ...
0
votes
3answers
152 views
Is using Casaba Howitzer like devices as precision-cutting implements plausible?
How well would something like a Casaba Howitzer work as a beam weapon? A Casaba Howitzer is a type of directional blast that focuses energy from an explosion into a specific shape or direction. For ...
0
votes
7answers
238 views
Predators part 2: How can a boarding action from super aliens be repelled? [closed]
NOTE: This question has been reworded in response to an "on hold" designation.
In this post there is a description of an alien species: (You are murderous alien pirates, how do you get onboard a ...
0
votes
2answers
213 views
Making a low-budget flash grenade during medieval era
In a world consisting of dark-age-esque technology, how would an alchemist go about making a low-budget "flash grenade?"
8
votes
3answers
207 views
Could a mass-proportional physical speed limit on projectiles “nerf” guns but not ruin archery?
Like many other writers, I'm hoping to create some sort of justification for destroying the monopoly firearms have on the modern combat scene so that I can justify mixing things up with melee weapons, ...
1
vote
0answers
51 views
What kind of weapons are needed to deal with modern pirates [closed]
I know modern american destroyers use CIWS and VLS for their ships but what is needed for dealing with modern day piracy and any other non-military threats such as terrorism or cartels?
9
votes
5answers
214 views
Are handheld electric weapons realistic?
I want to use Teslapunk weapons in my semi-realistic science fantasy RPG that behave somewhat like flamethrowers, in the aspect that they fire out a branching arc of raw electricity. It would ...
4
votes
2answers
150 views
Weaponising Implosion instead of Explosion
Explosions are really messy - they cause debris to be spread over a wide area. They may also cause collateral damage. I want to use implosion instead.
I wish to use a force-field sphere that contains ...
4
votes
1answer
102 views
What would be the ideal way to weaponize plasma?
Plasma is a relatively common weapon in science fiction, with weapons that fire magnetically-bound superheated plasma or melee weapons that hold plasma in a containment field to burn through just ...
2
votes
6answers
214 views
Stealthy and hard to sink marine drone made out of… fiberglass and styrofoam
OK, the weapon idea is the following:
general shape similar to the drone on this picture
modular armament, in default configuration with anti-ship missiles (but goes with torpedos, gun, mines, etc.) ...
5
votes
6answers
317 views
How could a silver sword give off a golden glow in the light?
Now, I am not talking about a golden glow that overtakes the sword itself. I'm not looking for a Lightsaber. I'm talking about a sword that is silver in color giving off a golden reflection (or ...
12
votes
11answers
3k views
Hot air balloons as primitive bombers
Imagine a medieval-style city, besieged by enemy army. It might be big and have wide river preventing besiegers from direct attack on the walls and launching projectiles significantly far into the ...
