Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

I tend not to make Mjolnir a gadget at all. There are only a handful of people in the universe who could actually pick it up, let alone steal it (granted one of them is a teammate), and it always returns. The fact that it is an object that he can throw is a special effect.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

+1. They just don't.

Now if you want to replace the word "realistic" with "cinematic," then by all means toss in whatever Enhancements/caveats one pleases.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

Are you saying it's impossible for a boomerang to bounce off a physical object and retain enough kinetic force to disarm a man?

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

It might retain enough energy, but it won't retain enough accuracy. After the first impact, it's on a tumbling non-aerodynamic trajectory in a mostly random direction, and there's not really much skill can do about it. Replace the boomerang with a hard rubber ball and it would maybe be possible.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

As a kid I threw boomerangs at things often enough - not just high in the air to get them to return.

Bear in mind they are rotating and aligned mostly parallel to the ground and rely on that to generate lift. If you interfere with that (by hitting something) it tends to randomly.go somewhere very close with not much force and fall to the ground. Particularly if it strikes against the rotation.

It's not that it won't bounce, it's that it is not controllable or predictable, and usually doesn't have much energy left. A deliberate ricochet would be very, very hard because of the rotation - you can't know which part of the boomerang will hit first.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

He might not be, but I will. It’s not a matter of “kinetic force”, its a matter of rotation. A flying boomerang is a rotating wing, and there is no way for it to maintain the necessary speed or plane of rotation through a collision. After it hits something a boomerang is a tumbling stick.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

While Thor's hammer has been used by more people (more than a dozen and counting) than any gadget I've had in even long running games, I'd agree that it shouldn't qualify for "Can Be Stolen".

Thor does lose access his hammer quite often even though it's usually not stolen. It functions more like equipment than he usually has than an intrinsic power with a hammer effect. We had a thread about gadgets that can be taken from you or that you might have to surrender voluntarily. The net result was that's worth about -10%.

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

Since it's not truly random and since skill has no upper limit in GURPS seems like it's just a matter of the proper penalties. You and I can't conceive of planning the aerodynamics because we're not skill 40+ ultradetectives

I think it only seems random because it's hard to control exactly which part hits exactly what part of your target, but high-skill Bats could prob do that.

As far as "not much force", Batman probably throws it super-hard compared to us, so he'd have more left over.

A bigger question might be "does the burglar drop his gun so easily that the gun doesn't provide enough resistance to bounce off". You'd need to predict the firmness of the grip to figure the bouncing angle since how the gun shifts in response to getting hit can alter that angle of ricochet.

Obviously initials horizontal speed plus rotational speed will drop, but there's bound to be some backlash horizontal momentum that could be redirected a couple feet away.

The issue with him is it's only Can Be Stolen to the minority of people who either have that right mix of physical strength and/or purity of heart.

I might have a gadget that is "requires IQ roll, hard to use -12" that's largely unusable by average people who aren't geniuses like my char... but there isn't really any 'requires ST roll' limitation like for other attributes.

Also something like "required disadvantage" for his Code of Honor?

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

Plane - the question posed was "realistic". The answer is "no".

Re: should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how ha
 

A realistic game would not have a character with 30+ skill.