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Swords, guns, and materials

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Loveless, Aug 7, 2014.

  1. Loveless

    Loveless New Member

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    Alright, alright, hang on a second. Recently, Elmwell had an argument ICly about weapon choice. She's kind of a bitch, but something about the conversation concerns me.

    I asked two questions, "Can swords cut through two inches of steel?" and "Can you kill four people at the other end of a room with a sword?" Logic would normally dictate that both is a no, but surprisingly they were both answered with yes.

    1.
    Now, I decided to do some research, but I didn't have to look very far for my answer.
    Impervium would be great for armor and horrendous for weapons. Durasteel would be the opposite, so let's see about that.
    Supposedly, durasteel is titanium and regular steel fused together through scifi stuff. But would the sword, when sharpened, be able to cut through steel?

    No, it wouldn't. Even if it was glossed over with nanotechnology it wouldn't be able to get through a set of medieval armor. That's what armor was designed for. That's also why there were blunt weaponry. Even if we took the best factors of steel and titanium and nanoteched that bitch up, it wouldn't get through the armor. If it did, somehow, miraculously get through, it would completely destroy the sword.

    2.
    As for the second answer, no, you can't. Period. To do so would be powergaming, not to mention probably break the laws of physics.

    Why does it matter, Loveless?
    Because this isn't an isolated case. I don't doubt that similar flawed logic is used by others to, even inadvertently, power-game. And partially because I'm a big baby who doesn't like losing.
    If you have a character that mainly uses a sword (hell, Valentine does) there's nothing wrong with that, there are plenty of reasons somebody would choose that specific weapon. But to say they're as or more efficient than a firearm is silly, if that were the case our soldiers would still be having medieval raids.

    Thoughts? Comments? Want to tell me I'm an asshole? Think I'm over analyzing and need a life?
    You're in luck, just hit reply!
     
  2. Kirby teh Pink

    Kirby teh Pink Puts the Coo in Cool

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    If you have a sword, and they have a gun. You're going to lose.

    No, you can't dodge bullets.
     
  3. JimHarrison

    JimHarrison Grouchy Player

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    You're a beautiful man.
     
  4. Edvyn

    Edvyn Permanently Banned

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  5. Sen

    Sen Guest

    Forbidden knowledge, Kirby. The uninformed masses must not know that the gun is mightier than the sword.
     
  6. JimHarrison

    JimHarrison Grouchy Player

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    huehuehue

    the pen is mightier than the sword.
    get it?
    I know people in the FLEET SKYPE CALL GET IT.
    HEEEEEEEEEEEEEYO
     
  7. Kirby teh Pink

    Kirby teh Pink Puts the Coo in Cool

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    [​IMG]
     
  8. Doctor Frohman

    Doctor Frohman New Member

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    If somebodies using Impervium as Armour or a Weapon, I recommend you just leave.
    They obviously want to win, and Impervium is basically powergame.
     
  9. Tomwell1

    Tomwell1 New Member

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    At least, where I RP, if you want to have imperium weapons, the general opinion is that its OK, since people might not want to RP weapon repair.
    Also, wouldnt an imperium club be like, the shit?
     
  10. Xaron

    Xaron Who is this guy?

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    I thought that Impervium was the lightest and strongest metal lore-wise, hence why it's great for armors. For a club?
    Imagine beating someone down with a bat made of aluminum foil. While yes, it will hurt an unarmored person, a straight-up iron or steel bat would be much more effective. Granted, that is IF impervium is indeed the lightest metal in-game. If it's the heaviest and strongest (Which, realistically, would make the most sense) then...yeah an Impervium club probably wouldn't even be able to be lifted.
     
  11. Felonious

    Felonious Restart Monkey

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    "Not wanting to take time for repairs" is a fancy way of saying "Too lazy to RP damage." It's like saying "I have an impervium body because healing takes too long." In the end, Impervium is fine if it's used, but like everything else, it is so very often abused. That's why it's often roleplayed as a hard-to-get, somewhat expensive element. Because anyone doing anything is too often trumped with "but I have an impervium groin-cup, so kicking me in the balls wouldn't hurt."

    Impervium's good for being lazy, not much else it seems.

    Now, on the argument of 'a melee weapon versus a gun', a gun is going to win 90% of the time, and if the melee weapon wins, it's because circumstances are bent heavily in the melee fighter's favor (inexperienced enemy, bad shooter, terrain, surprise, what-have-you). "But Fel!" you cry out in badass-induced anguish "I'm a total ninja!" I know you are, hypothetical cliche badass. But a sword is simply not a good weapon for going up against someone with a machine gun. Or assault rifle. Or pistol. There's a reason the katana wielding samurai isn't a thing, or the claymore swinging knights. Firearms killed them. Literally.
     
  12. Loveless

    Loveless New Member

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    Even V, a master fencer, eventually was met with odds not in his favor. (I should point out that he has debatably more odds stacked in his favor and he still dies an excruciating death in the next scene as the shield he used as armor was completely decimated by multiple repeated anti-armor rounds. It only protected him enough for that final outburst, and that was due to adrenaline.)

     
    #12 Loveless, Aug 9, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2014
  13. Felonious

    Felonious Restart Monkey

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    That scene is questionable, unrealistic at worst. A work of fiction at best. While yes, having 'supah armor' would help, if the other side has 'supah armor' too, then the bullets are likely to win faster than the sword. If only because they can draw you on while you can't do anything to them, have more flexibility in a fight and can take advantage of more types of terrain.

    TL/DR, there's a reason most armies don't use swords today. 400 years from now?
     
  14. Keycross

    Keycross -Insert title here-

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    Nowadays, armies don't even use combat knives for silent kills. Why they have to, when there's suppressed pistols and submachineguns?

    The only scenario which comes to mind to use a knife to take someone out silently is in a night scenario because guns still flash when shooting and it's easily seen in those conditions. But yet, it's a very particular scenario and 90-95% times they will use a suppressed gun to do the job.

    Materials. We had some good laughs months back with impervium jokes, after it spiraled out of hand (this is why we can't have nice things).

    Generally, top weapons/armors are made of durasteel, the most acepted material. For joints, reinforcements, and generally keeping it as additional materials (never the main one), it's also accepted to use aegisalt, ferozium and cerulium, as long there's some explanation for their use and you don't abuse those (and generally for machinery and buildings, never for weapons/armors).

    Tipically, movies aren't the best examples to defend cases if they are from mid 90's and onwards, when year after year special effects were used more widely, to the point some action movies are mostly that, and see who makes the most badass one, using imagination.
     
  15. Malachar

    Malachar Heir to Madness

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    I've always been of a mind that of course, the mane with the gun beats the man with a sword unless the swordsman is already close, like, has the blade at the throat and the gun isn't drawn.

    As for materials, people get too worked up over impervium.
    It isn't unobtanium, it's quite abundant if your character somehow has the balls and resources to go deep into the most dangerous parts of the universe for it.

    The fact still remains that, as said, while great, but by no means invulnerable for armor, it would be absolutely horrible for weapons, especially blades.

    You see, while Impervium is one of the strongest metals, it's also mentioned as one of the lightest.

    You ever try to cut with something that has no weight behind it?

    Even if you sharpen a piece of plastic to madness, the duller metal blade is better.

    The same logic applies doubly so if armor is involved. You simply cannot the weight needed behind an impervium or titanium sword to get through armor, hence why blunt weapons are a thing.

    And Impervium is also mentioned as being an excellent conductor of heat as read by the floran armor. So just take a flamethrower and cook the impervium wearers alive.
     
  16. Cole Ombre

    Cole Ombre Lurking Admin

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    Also, and this could be wrong, if Impervium is the strongest material in the game, wouldnt it also take a butt-ton of effort and machinery to mold/forge it into the shape needed for use?
     
  17. Malachar

    Malachar Heir to Madness

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    Possibly, being very conductive to heat, it might actually be easier to mold into shapes needed.

    This of course depends on just how hot it would need to be before being "ready", but it definitely wouldn't be a backyard project like conventional metals.

    And being a very strong metal, you'd likely need something like a durasteel hammer to get the force needed to make it, if not specialized factory machinery.

    Although, granted the every space jockey apparently can use pixels to create space-tech nanite stoves, who knows.

    Though the discussion for pixel printing in RP terms is for another thread, that I might actually make.
     
  18. Kirby teh Pink

    Kirby teh Pink Puts the Coo in Cool

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    I like how none of the bullets impacted his head. Quite a feat really, they must be some well-trained gunmen.
     
    #18 Kirby teh Pink, Aug 9, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2014
  19. Malachar

    Malachar Heir to Madness

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    Imperial Stormtrooper quality
     
  20. Cole Ombre

    Cole Ombre Lurking Admin

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    Its a wonder they hit at all, if thats the case