should a "Ricochet" attack using boomerang be possible in realistic games? how hard?

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anthony

In a realistic game, it simply doesn't work because objects don't actually bounce that way.

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

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Plane

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

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.

[Plane]

Originally Posted by Anthony

it won't retain enough accuracy
on a tumbling non-aerodynamic trajectory in a mostly random direction
not really much skill can do about it

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

Originally Posted by Farmer

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

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.

Originally Posted by Agemegos

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.

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.

Originally Posted by naloth

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".

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?

[Farmer]

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

[WingedKagouti]

Originally Posted by Plane

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

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

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Plane

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

Target motion in the time between throw and impact is sufficient to render it random, and skill cannot compensate for that. Also, there isn't any solution where the batarang keeps spinning in a normal way after the first impact.

[Farmer]

Originally Posted by Plane

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

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.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Plane

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

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.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Plane

If taking a "Batman is realistic he's just a skill god" approach . . .

. . . you'll fail to match many of his tricks. He clearly talked his original GM into a really nice limitation value for "not obviously superpowered" and sticks to the letter of the wording, but has worked on his image to the point where people believe he can do all sorts of things. See "I'm Batman, and I can breathe in space!"