Captain America Falling

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by cptbutton

Why are they so different?

Carbon-11: 20.3 minutes
Carbon-12: Stable (for practical purposes)
Carbon-14: 5730 years

Why are they so different?

The general answer is that the balances between the strong, electrostatic, and weak forces are different in the different isotopes, as is the physical arrangement of the components. All three isotopes could reach a lower energy state if only they could split up, but there's a speed bump in the way. The state of the parts of any particular nucleus fluctuates (thanks, quantum tunneling weirdness), so sometimes the components of the nuclei can temporarily pick up enough energy to get over the speed bump, and so the nucleus comes apart to the lower energy state. The different composition of the different isotopes makes this more or less easy to do in each case, so they're more or less likely to randomly pick up that extra energy and come apart. The typical interval between decays varies with that probability, so some isotopes decay more often (have shorter half-lives) than others.

If you wanted a specific answer for Ds, I'll also have to plead non-qualification. I don't understand the process in enough detail to walk through that calculation.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Otaku

Pity; that misses the point of Batroc, at least the version I grew accustomed to in the late 90s/early 00s. The goofy costume and accent are supposed to make you underestimate him... especially when you run into him and he isn't in costume.

My memories of Batroc have made him out to be a less than credible threat to Cap, even though he always seemed to be played as one. He looked like a better sparring partner for Daredevil. 'Course CA can relate a bit himself to being underestimated.

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

As one handwave, make the shield a little smarter than a passive lump of metal. Perhaps it has an embedded control mechanism

...
*g* It's actually been done... way back in the day in Avengers #6, where it's shown that Iron Man has installed circuitry in the shield that allows Cap to move and control it remotely. Apparently, the idea did not go over well, for Cap notes a few months later (in Tales of Suspense #62) that he removed them because they interfered with the weapon's balance.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

...
*g* It's actually been done... way back in the day in Avengers #6, where it's shown that Iron Man has installed circuitry in the shield that allows Cap to move and control it remotely. Apparently, the idea did not go over well, for Cap notes a few months later (in Tales of Suspense #62) that he removed them because they interfered with the weapon's balance.

Makes sense as it removes the awesomeness of CA, and puts it in the hands of technology. Not much different than if he simply told a robot to do something. CA is not a drone pilot. ;)

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by Mister Ed

That seems not unlikely give what I've read. Saw a quote from Kevin Feige that said "Mr. Redford is not shy about the fact that his grandkids are a fan of this and he wanted to do something that his grandkids would watch him in."

The movie publicity has stated explicitly that they're riffing on 1970s thrillers, Three Days of the Condor in particular. So I suspect Marvel was as happy as Redford's grandkids to have Redford in the movie.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Fact is, we really don't know the full properties of cinema-verse vibranium. All we really know is that it can substitute for palladium in a miniaturized arc reactor (the Iron Man 2 novelization indicated that the "impossible to synthesize" element that Tony cooked up in his garage (!) was vibranium)

That might provide a reason other than a sight gag as to why the shield is propping stuff up in Tony's garage. Maybe he shaved a bit off for his arc reactor, rather than synthesizing it.

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by vitruvian

Movie version is at least slightly superhuman in terms of strength and durability - throwing large male humans considerable distances with a single hand, flinging them back similar distances with blows, bending steel, denting steel plate with punches (actually shown by Red Skull, but they're shown as equally matched for brute ST). Assuming he's not constantly using Extra Effort, call it ST somewhere in the 30s to low 40s. If you wanted to define him as no more than ST 20 to keep him arguably 'peak human', you'd also need Extra Effort and/or an innate ability to use Power Blow for higher effective ST.

If he's ST/HP 30-40, but only on the order of HP 12-15 for purposes of calculating collision damage (including inflicted/incurred by Slams, but also taken from falling), 'massless' HP being an option, that alone would make him more tolerant of long falls. Throw in some DR and/or IT:DR good against Crushing (to allow him brawling durability against comparable foes even without wearing armor or shield), a very high DX for use in Swimming and Acrobatics rolls to take falls in the best possible manner, and these feats seem very doable.

That's kind of the way I see it. Movie Cap needs at least a ST of 30 to do things like routinely lift overhead three show girls and a motorcycle. I could go higher - the Red Skull was able to dent a bullet proof shield with his fist and he and Cap are roughly even (in the movie.)


I know it's by the book but I don't like just assuming cinematic license or a really good swimming roll. The rest of his team including Black Widow stick to parachutes. Remember, you can make a strong case for the Widow having Fist! around 25 or so with DX of 18. I find it more plausible (in the context of the movie) to assume she's using the parachute because she's much squishier than Cap.

In game terms, I could go with a ST of 30 or 40 with most of the Hit Points massless. Other alternatives:

ST 20, External ST +20 with the Costs Fatigue limitation for quick, reliable surges of ST. Add on IT: Damage Reduction possibly with a Crushing Only limitation. That lets him trade punches with super power brawlers while still worrying about knives and bullets.

(for those without Supers, External ST is just Striking plus Lifting ST.)

A more extreme version - ST 20, Super ST +8/+50 and IT: Damage Reduction again. A bit high but Cap did hold his own against Loki.

Also, apparently part of movie Cap's super soldier serum abilities is the ability to acquire skills quickly- in GURPS terms probably treated as high IQ and DX. This is the explanation for his more sophisticated fighting techniques in the new movie. It also justifies acquiring Olympic level diving skill. Which in fairness shows they thought things through more than "The Dark Knight Rises" with Bruce Wayne being crippled after maybe a year as Batman.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

To be fair, in the comics Batroc is one of the few folks that can consistently fight Cap to a draw.

Well he can make a lengthy fight of it. However the real Batroc is no mass murderer.

[Not another shrubbery]

Originally Posted by Infornific

A more extreme version - ST 20, Super ST +8/+50 and IT: Damage Reduction again. A bit high but Cap did hold his own against Loki.

You think so? Loki seemed to me to not be trying too hard in that sequence, since he apparently wanted to be captured anyway. I think that, if you were to go with Super ST, it would probably be better down in the cost-inefficient range.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Infornific

That's kind of the way I see it. Movie Cap needs at least a ST of 30 to do things like routinely lift overhead three show girls and a motorcycle.
.

Probably not, BL for ST 20 is 80lbs Max lift (without Extra Effort or Lifting Skill) is 8x that. Even just 20% extra from Lifting at his probably HT of 20 adds 20% and can be added on _every_ lift. No FP expenditure required. That would cover 3 showgirls and a medium-sized motorcycle.

You might have some points about other feats but not that lift.

[Otaku]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

Well he can make a lengthy fight of it. However the real Batroc is no mass murderer.

Again, part of the charm of the version of Batroc I remember. Granted, I only saw him show up a handful of times, possibly only once in more than a glorified cameo, so I realize I could have just had the wrong idea of him this whole time. The time I actually liked the character was his appearance I already mentioned in Deadpool; that included the seemingly evil act of kicking a paraplegic out of a window several stories up... but into a pool. It is pointed out that odds of surviving even that were low, but given Batroc's own dialog later, he just didn't think it through (paraplegic through window into pool... not healthy person into pool of balcony). Batroc himself was thrown from the same height onto the ground and survived with a broken leg as the worst of it.

Batroc honestly could fit that "fun" villain role if handled properly; he's a bad guy, but he's in it for the money, and he avoids doing (or at least being caught) doing anything blatantly vile. Then again, maybe that's not how he has been the other 99.9999% of the time. ^^'