20
votes
What is the ideal way for a superhuman to carry a mortal?
Realistically, it’s impossible. No normal human can survive the rapid acceleration and deceleration of “leaping tall buildings” regardless of how they are held. Your internal organs, especially your ...
- 1,085
14
votes
What is the ideal way for a superhuman to carry a mortal?
Tactile Telekinesis rather than super strength
Superhumans are great for comics and cartoons, but if you want to bring physics into it... well, either physics gets unhappy or the superhumans (or ...
- 7,238
11
votes
Accepted
What effects would the instant release of large amounts of light have on the air?
EDIT: This was written before the OP changed the question to say 1Mj. However, note my comparison to the sunlight absorbed at the equator on the longest day of the year, below.
Next to nothing
Your ...
- 132k
9
votes
How well would Sivatherium Giganteum work as a mount
There are a few features of Sivatherium that suggest that they may not have been good mounts.
The males have horns (well, more likely ossicones). Creatures that have horns, antlers or ossicones are ...
- 66.9k
7
votes
What is the ideal way for a superhuman to carry a mortal?
In wife-carrying competitions, the Estonian lift is generally felt to be the fastest for running in straight lines. This video compares the various lifts. There are other choices such as the fireman's ...
- 12.5k
4
votes
How well would Sivatherium Giganteum work as a mount
Not great as a mount, better as a work animal
It is very large; 1250 kg plus. That's half the size of an elephant, several times larger than a normal horse, almost twice the size of a Clydesdale or ox....
- 8,725
4
votes
Accepted
How Could A 19th century setting effectively Saddle and ride a domesticated Sivatherium Giganteum
Worldbuilding is about research and imagination
We need to analyze the animal we're dealing with. We have the benefit of thousands of years of hindsight in saddle design, so let's put it to work. We ...
- 132k
3
votes
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Cheesy is in the eye of the beholder
Imagine being in the early medieval period and writing a fantasy book. You'll include modern guns. Initially you'll feel they are cheesy. A single person could mow ...
- 40.1k
2
votes
How Could A 19th century setting effectively Saddle and ride a domesticated Sivatherium Giganteum
First things first: Let's look at a lifelike reconstruction of the animal:
and its skeleton:
... and note that Wikipedia (from which these images were sourced) says that:
Sivatherium resembled the ...
- 66.9k
2
votes
What is the ideal way for a superhuman to carry a mortal?
Strapped to a stretcher.
This is similar to how injured people are transported to avoid jostling them and injuring them further. When the accelerations are much greater, you want to avoid jostling ...
- 14.8k
1
vote
What is the ideal way for a superhuman to carry a mortal?
faster than the normal can run
Reduce acceleration, not speed
Humans are fine going at high speeds. Concorde passengers sipped their champagne whilst zooming through the air at Mach 2. The first ...
- 21.3k
1
vote
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Very high concentration requirement
This answer is very opinion based, but if you want to limit the use of flight skills in battles, just make it difficult to use, e.g. define that the conjurer ...
- 51
1
vote
How do I realistically write flight as a skill for an elemental Conjurer's ability, without making it seem too cheesy
Flying is Dangerous. Especially in combat situations.
Naval aviators (the pilots that land on aircraft carriers) have the highest mortality rates of all servicemen (including infantry). Your conjurers ...
- 1,232
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible