05-20-2012, 07:12 PM | #21 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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05-20-2012, 08:26 PM | #22 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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05-20-2012, 08:32 PM | #23 | |
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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More to thepoint we've matured as civilizations go and tech improvements have fueled that maturing.
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...().0...0() .../..........\ -/......O.....\- ...VVVVVVV ..^^^^^^^ A clock running two hours slow has the correct time zero times a day. |
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05-20-2012, 08:40 PM | #24 | ||
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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As to whether tech improvements have fueled nebulous maturation of civilizations that has reduced societal acceptance of duelling I'm skeptical. If necessary simply assume that the civilization in question has dematured while getting cooler toys. |
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04-17-2020, 10:17 AM | #25 |
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
One version known in-I think-New Guinea is somewhere between a tourney and a duel. At slaughtertime there are regular interclan disputes over livestock that lead to insults (though one wonders if they are taken seriously or just part of the fun). As a result the young men of the clan line up and shoot arrows at each other. There is some handicap, I forget, what that prevents this causing to much injury, like fighting at extreme range or using blunt arrows or something. Elders wait behind to call the matter off if things are getting to hot. The affair is heavily wagered and the victorious clan comes off with extra pigs that year.
This is probably closer to a tourney than a duel as several participate. But it is nominally a grudge match and takes place at an arranged time and place. Another example which is definitely a Code Duello is found among the "Fierce People" of the Amazon. There is an elaborate series of types of duels. Most of them seem to be centered around acquiring mates. This example may be a little to exotic for sci fi which usually has the viewpoint society be one the reader/viewer/player can identify with. While rare among English speaking peoples, it has been known on the Continent to have duels on horseback with sabers. They had one like that in "The Duelists". Just some thoughts.
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04-17-2020, 06:23 PM | #26 |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
Dueling isn't something I considered for my Harpyias setting (which is Space Opera), and doesn't really fit any of the major powers, but there could certainly be some minor cultures that use it. A moderately common melee weapon in the setting is a retractable vibrokatar with a built-in shock effect (comparable to the zap gloves from UT), which is itself often built into armor. Using such, along with armor, is likely for a duel - you basically try to penetrate each other's armor to deliver the electric shock. For most duels, the weapons would be set to simply shock and incapacitate the enemy, but for more serious duels the "kill" setting would be used.
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04-18-2020, 09:10 AM | #27 |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
The dead walk among us! (thread from 2012)
I would probably have ulta-tech duels normally settled with less lethal means - shock batons, for example. A fight that causes serious injury is likely seen as an exercise in stubbornness (if caused by the loser's refusal to accept an honorable defeat) or brutality (if caused by the winner taking things too far). In addition, I - and by extension, my worlds - generally consider duels a final resort, only acceptable after all other attempts at redress have failed. If you refuse to back down purely because you know you will win the duel, you could be held for assault or murder, even if you were the one challenged.
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
04-18-2020, 10:51 AM | #28 |
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Central Europe
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
Duels in Europe were connected to the lack of professional crime investigation or forensic science: if there are very important questions where the only way to decide is to choose who to trust, you let God decide (and people noticed that He made some pretty odd decisions). So to get duelling in an ultratech setting, you probably want to undermine trusted police forces and forensic science and surveillance (this can be within a subculture).
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04-18-2020, 12:41 PM | #29 | |
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Southeast NC
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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RyanW - Actually one normal sized guy in three tiny trenchcoats. |
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04-18-2020, 01:53 PM | #30 | |
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Re: Duelling in Spaaaaaaace!
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I'm currently debating, thanks to this thread, if ranged duels might be a thing in Harpyias (melee duels using the previously-mentioned electro-vibrokatars I've decided are popular in some minor polities). The same technology used to make lethal blasters can also make less-lethal ones (in fact, the less-lethal ones came first, and the lethal variant is a more advanced design). Such weapons aren't entirely safe, of course - a likely dueling pistol would weigh 2 lb, have RoF 1, and deal 1d-2 cr with triple knockback, with a follow-up HT-1 affliction (causes the same knockdown/stunning effect as a Major Wound). If effectively being punched and getting shoved around by being struck is deemed too dangerous, the affliction has AD (5) against metal, so metal armor of some flavor could be worn for protection. These "ion blasters" (totally stolen from Star Wars, but so are the blasters, honestly) are also extremely short-ranged, which would work just fine for a duel. Do note if such a weapon were instead a typical blaster, it would deal 9d burn with a 2d-1 cr ex follow-up, which would indeed be rather lethal.
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Tags |
brainstorm, duel, martial arts, space, ultra-tech |
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