The Science of an Unbreakable Weapon.

[Anaraxes]

Reminds me of what some games like to call "dim mak" in the sense of distant touch rather than death touch. The object transmits all your force to the target, then it's going to transmit all the target's resistance back to you. (It's not like the rod knows.) So it's just like hitting the target directly. Might as well slap him -- but with a long rod, at least you can slap them with Reach 1 or 2.

[Blood Legend]

The object in question is a sword granted by a djinn. Its one of those "get what you ask for" deals. The loot is supposed to be inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as I guess I made it out to be in the original post. In this matter the djinn isnt malicious, he simply cant grant a straight forward wish.

I dont deal in mana zones or enchantments or other circumstantial null fields, so its not magical in a sense, it was created and simply "is" what it is. In that regard I feel its closer to the one ring than the absolute bog standard modern view of video game magic we have everywhere right now.

A more powerful djinn could destroy it, and a god could certainly unmake it. Still need some aspect of it that makes it a pain to deal with. My first thought was just to make it SUPAH heavy but that's dull.

[Nereidalbel]

To me, "unbreakable" means the material is even more chemically inert than the noble gases, and the binding energy between molecules is some absurd value you just aren't going to reach in a given setting. Looking at Captain America's shield for an example, it takes a blow strong enough to shatter a planet to kill that thing. As far as I'm concerned, that's unbreakable, since anything that CAN break it won't leave you with enough of a planet to care what happened to the shield anyway.

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

A more powerful djinn could destroy it, and a god could certainly unmake it. Still need some aspect of it that makes it a pain to deal with. My first thought was just to make it SUPAH heavy but that's dull.

All that kinetic energy it absorbs has to go somewhere, what with physics and all. So, the more hits it takes, the hotter it gets. While convenient for setting a campfire without tools or any sort of mage, it may suck when a battle lasts too long...and good luck if there's no convenient body of water nearby to act as a heat sink!

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

All that kinetic energy it absorbs has to go somewhere, what with physics and all. So, the more hits it takes, the hotter it gets. While convenient for setting a campfire without tools or any sort of mage, it may suck when a battle lasts too long...and good luck if there's no convenient body of water nearby to act as a heat sink!

What kinetic energy it absorbs? What property has it absorbing kinetic energy? If anything being unbendable would tend to guarantee it doesn't 'absorb' any kinetic energy.

This is also, you know, kind of a property of any ordinary sword. It turns out not to be much of a problem...

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

What kinetic energy it absorbs? What property has it absorbing kinetic energy? If anything being unbendable would tend to guarantee it doesn't 'absorb' any kinetic energy.

In terms of physics, an elastic collision is one where any energy that produces a deformation of the structure of an object is completely restored as motion; in effect, the material is a perfect spring, and kinetic energy is conserved, as well as momentum. An inelastic collision is one where not all of the energy comes back out. It seems to me that a material whose collisions were all elastic would be "unbreakable."

Where can energy go if it doesn't come back out? Into permanent deformation of the shape, including compression. Into formation of new surface area, also known as "fracture." Into heat, as was mentioned earlier. Those are the main effects in ordinary mechanical collisions.

[Jack Sawyer]

Originally Posted by Nereidalbel

To me, "unbreakable" means the material is even more chemically inert than the noble gases, and the binding energy between molecules is some absurd value you just aren't going to reach in a given setting. Looking at Captain America's shield for an example, it takes a blow strong enough to shatter a planet to kill that thing. As far as I'm concerned, that's unbreakable, since anything that CAN break it won't leave you with enough of a planet to care what happened to the shield anyway.

All that kinetic energy it absorbs has to go somewhere, what with physics and all. So, the more hits it takes, the hotter it gets. While convenient for setting a campfire without tools or any sort of mage, it may suck when a battle lasts too long...and good luck if there's no convenient body of water nearby to act as a heat sink!

I like the Captain America analogy since it's a good way to visualize it. Although like you imply the effects on the shield do not mean the wielder (or anyone/anything around them) will resist equally well. At least I think it ought to in order to avoid potential game/science breaking issues that might happen otherwise.

Originally Posted by whswhs

In terms of physics, an elastic collision is one where any energy that produces a deformation of the structure of an object is completely restored as motion; in effect, the material is a perfect spring, and kinetic energy is conserved, as well as momentum. An inelastic collision is one where not all of the energy comes back out. It seems to me that a material whose collisions were all elastic would be "unbreakable."

Where can energy go if it doesn't come back out? Into permanent deformation of the shape, including compression. Into formation of new surface area, also known as "fracture." Into heat, as was mentioned earlier. Those are the main effects in ordinary mechanical collisions.

Not that I disagree, but I can't help but admit your first paragraph put me in mind of a person swinging the weapon at a target only to have it go 'SPROINNGGGG' off the target like in some Bugs Bunny Cartoon. :D

Originally Posted by Blood Legend

The object in question is a sword granted by a djinn. Its one of those "get what you ask for" deals. The loot is supposed to be inconvenient, but not as inconvenient as I guess I made it out to be in the original post. In this matter the djinn isnt malicious, he simply cant grant a straight forward wish.

I dont deal in mana zones or enchantments or other circumstantial null fields, so its not magical in a sense, it was created and simply "is" what it is. In that regard I feel its closer to the one ring than the absolute bog standard modern view of video game magic we have everywhere right now.

A more powerful djinn could destroy it, and a god could certainly unmake it. Still need some aspect of it that makes it a pain to deal with. My first thought was just to make it SUPAH heavy but that's dull.

I really get this feeling we're descending into 'Can modern or future science destroy Sauron's One Ring' territory.... Oh well. If assume the wielder and companions/surroundings are less durable than the weapon:

One possibility is to give the weapon some sort of awareness and make it especially aggressive. Basically it seeks out a 'suitable' challenge for its powers which means the wielder may end up being dragged up against particularly dangerous enemies or struggle with the sword to avoid such confrontations. An aggressive blade that wants to charge the Fire Breathing Dragon currently attacking that town village could be a real hinderance to team coordination.

Alternately, you could just put some sorts of odd conditions on the weapon. Something like 'If the weapon is unsheathed it must taste the blood of the strongest enemy present before being put in its scabbard or it will lose its power.' It doesn't have to kill or defeat the enemy necessarily, just injure it.

Given the weapon is tougher than the wielder, either could present a real hazard. And the ideas aren't mutually exclusive, either.

[mr beer]

Unbreakable isn't a particularly huge advantage so it doesn't need to be super inconvenient to compensate I think.

Maybe it tends to wear through scabbards or something?

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Jack Sawyer

Not that I disagree, but I can't help but admit your first paragraph put me in mind of a person swinging the weapon at a target only to have it go 'SPROINNGGGG' off the target like in some Bugs Bunny Cartoon. :D

That's actually not a bad idea - the blade needs to hit perfectly edge-on to do any damage to the foe, otherwise it slides off and bends like light rubber, causing little or no damage to the target. For that effect, roll an additional off-color 1d when you roll for damage. On a 1-3 on an impaling weapon, 1-4 on a cutting weapon, or 1-5 (that is, anything but a 6) on a crushing weapon, it hits in a manner that causes it to SPROING and do no damage. On anything higher, the off-color die can (player's choice) replace the lowest roll on the damage dice. If you want to make the effect of hitting more dead-on more powerful, add the off-color die's result to damage. Optionally, the character can get a +1 to the off-color result (to a maximum result of 6) for each -2 he takes on the to-hit roll, allowing a more skilled character to successfully do damage more often.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by Varyon

That's actually not a bad idea - the blade needs to hit perfectly edge-on to do any damage to the foe, otherwise it slides off and bends like light rubber, causing little or no damage to the target. For that effect, roll an additional off-color 1d when you roll for damage. On a 1-3 on an impaling weapon, 1-4 on a cutting weapon, or 1-5 (that is, anything but a 6) on a crushing weapon, it hits in a manner that causes it to SPROING and do no damage. On anything higher, the off-color die can (player's choice) replace the lowest roll on the damage dice. If you want to make the effect of hitting more dead-on more powerful, add the off-color die's result to damage. Optionally, the character can get a +1 to the off-color result (to a maximum result of 6) for each -2 he takes on the to-hit roll, allowing a more skilled character to successfully do damage more often.

Actually I don't think it works that way. The blade hits the target, deforms, and then springs back perfectly to its original shape, because anything else would leave energy in the blade. But the target can deform.

[Bruno]

"Sproooinioioioiong" actually is another way to release the energy of collision - a loud noise, or alternately you could have it magically transformed to visible light (a bright flash each time or a building glow that takes time to dissipate).