Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-19-2018, 12:36 AM   #71
Daigoro
 
Daigoro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Meifumado
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by mr beer View Post
So that suggests to me that a 110lbs mace is well beyond human strength to use as a weapon.
Did he use it as a weapon of battle or a tool for execution?
__________________
Collaborative Settings:
Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation
Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse
And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!
Daigoro is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2018, 03:54 AM   #72
mr beer
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro View Post
Did he use it as a weapon of battle or a tool for execution?
As described earlier ITT: Historical accounts relate his "effortless" and "tireless" skill with his giant mace wielded in one hand.
mr beer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2018, 12:09 PM   #73
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by mr beer View Post
Sure, but I'm highly sceptical about claims of objectively miraculous feats from historical figures who also just happened to be absolute tyrants.

So routinely defeating multiple wrestlers at one time is possible but the balance of probabilities favour the likelihood that they took a dive rather than, say, break the Sultan's wrist or ram an elbow into his sacred groin. I think they fought hard enough to put up a show but not to win, that includes waiting around for their 'turn' a bit like in the movies when the hero beats up crowds of mooks.

A human wielding a 110lbs mace one handed as a useful fighting weapon is not at all plausible IMO. A strong enough man could swing it clumsily or use it to dispatch a stationary foe, that's it. And they would have to be seriously strong to even do that. I am in decent shape and can lift that kind of weight clear of the floor with one hand, but no more than that. I'd need two hands to get it overhead.

Contrast to the heaviest widely used historical weapons, items in the 10lbs+ range, that kind of weight in a stick-like form is trivial for me to lift two handed (like any other able bodied adult) and I can wave around a bit but probably not wield it deftly. So that suggests to me that a 110lbs mace is well beyond human strength to use as a weapon.
Now that I think about it I wonder if that was why old time monarchs liked war and hunting so much. Those were the only two sports where they can be sure they had an honest opposition.
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-19-2018, 01:42 PM   #74
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
Now that I think about it I wonder if that was why old time monarchs liked war and hunting so much. Those were the only two sports where they can be sure they had an honest opposition.
Those who liked honest opposition. Nero seems to have been happy to win every event at the Olympic Games in his time.
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2018, 12:13 PM   #75
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
I'd mention, by the way, that when I ask Duck Duck Go for images of attractive men, what I get seems incredibly European (including American) centered.
Do your search in a non-European language and/or from a non-US IP address, and I'd bet that you'd see very different results! ;)
Pursuivant is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2018, 02:31 PM   #76
whswhs
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
Do your search in a non-European language and/or from a non-US IP address, and I'd bet that you'd see very different results!
Very likely, but not practical for me to implement.

Of course I could search for "most attractive Chinese men" and "most attractive African men" and so on. But I find it worth noting that the standard for "attractive" as a general human trait seems to be interpreted as including "of European ancestry."
__________________
Bill Stoddard

I don't think we're in Oz any more.
whswhs is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-20-2018, 05:00 PM   #77
jason taylor
 
jason taylor's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs View Post
Very likely, but not practical for me to implement.

Of course I could search for "most attractive Chinese men" and "most attractive African men" and so on. But I find it worth noting that the standard for "attractive" as a general human trait seems to be interpreted as including "of European ancestry."
If you entered those words you would get a porn site.
__________________
"The navy could probably win a war without coffee but would prefer not to try"-Samuel Eliot Morrison
jason taylor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-21-2018, 12:43 AM   #78
Pursuivant
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
Originally Posted by jason taylor View Post
If you entered those words you would get a porn site.
But you would get accurate search results! :D
Pursuivant is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-21-2018, 01:19 AM   #79
Flyndaran
Untagged
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

I somewhat disagree. Most attractive for porn is not the same as a general, most attractive. Context is key for aesthetics, especially when libidos are concerned.
__________________
Beware, poor communication skills. No offense intended. If offended, it just means that I failed my writing skill check.
Flyndaran is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-21-2018, 05:58 AM   #80
Rasna
 
Rasna's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Pisa, Tuscany, Italy
Default Re: Link an historical character to the cited advantage

Quote:
10. Intelligence (Maximum)
Perhaps Leonardo da Vinci, a true universal genius.

Quote:
12. Strength (Maximum)
Perhaps the roman Emperor Maximinus Thrax, who was a proportioned giant

According to Historia Augusta:
"...he was able to drag a four-wheeled wagon with the power of his arms, to move alone a wagon full of people, to break the teeth of a horse with a punch, to break his hocks with a kick..."
Rasna is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.