Hey @MelonHead! Where you at?!

Want me to start us off? Makes more sense considering the scenario.

Just for the benefit of anyone watching, my character won't have access to the Vials of Blood ability.

Ok then.

@Rilla can I get an opinion on the cutting a musket-ball in half defence, I'm pretty sure it's only just physically possible to move your body in that fashion, but more importantly I don't think cutting the musket-ball in half is plausible (or would even help, as presumably the ball would carry its momentum forward in two equally dangerous fragments.)

Deflecting the ball would probably be possible from front on (although with an ordinary steel sword I feel like the effects would be unpredictable) but the circumstances are a little dubious, as you can read.

Just thought I'd let you have a gander before I continue on.

If you would like to reconsider your defence before Rilla can be bothered to look over it in his official judging capacity go ahead Rush, I don't much care for gaining an advantage from my opening attack, I'd just prefer a plausible defence.

I want to hear what he has to say, if anything. In nu estimation you had him dead to rights, and with the little distance, I would be hard pressed to see him adjusting focus from the princess to turning quick enough to slice the ball in half.

He does have inhuman agility, buy even at that distance he probably would have been hit by the two half spheres.

Cutting a bullet, as well as an iron ball from a musket, is indeed possible - of course, having the speed to react to it is a different story, but that's not what you wanted to hear, right?

Anyway, muskets don't have the caliber to break a steel sword. Also, due to it's own velocity, the moment it comes in contact with the blade it effectively cuts itself - the blade just helps with that. As for the two pieces, because of the impact, the direction they split will go in a wide angle - where they land is unsure, but it's definitely going to be far from the one holding the sword.

I hope you don't mind my commenting, you did ask :)

Quite honestly, there is no plausible defense against a bullet to the back. None that I can think of anyway. I just only used an implausible defense to keep the fight from ending before it even started.

That's up to your character's agility. If he was fast enough to make the turn and block, then there. If he wasn't fast enough it can go two ways: he gets shot and the match ends OR he gets shot, but because of attempting to change directions, he didn't get hit in an important or fatal area.

My thing is though, can he reasonably do it before the musket ball clears the six feet between them.

Cutting a bullet, as well as an iron ball from a musket, is indeed possible - of course, having the speed to react to it is a different story, but that's not what you wanted to hear, right?

Anyway, muskets don't have the caliber to break a steel sword. Also, due to it's own velocity, the moment it comes in contact with the blade it effectively cuts itself - the blade just helps with that. As for the two pieces, because of the impact, the direction they split will go in a wide angle - where they land is unsure, but it's definitely going to be far from the one holding the sword.

I hope you don't mind my commenting, you did ask :)

Do you have a youtube video or something similar of a lead musket ball being cut in half six or so feet from the firer? I'm not sure if this is just conjecture or what, I did wonder if maybe the impact of the blade would have a baseball bat effect on the ball, but I think at this proximity its momentum would just carry it through regardless.

Like I said, with your character's agility (and super senses) I feel like he would have a significantly better chance of parrying the musket ball away with the flat of the blade, it's mostly just the cutting in two that wouldn't really help you in this situation.

I feel like he would have a significantly better chance of parrying the musket ball away with the flat of the blade, it's mostly just the cutting in two that wouldn't really help you in this situation.

In that case, it's time for editing.

Uh, that will definitely break the sword, so you know.

Uh, that will definitely break the sword, so you know.

On what evidence are you backing all these statements? I don't mind someone random jumping into a point of contention but I find it difficult to accept someone on their word alone.

(Probably the by-product of two years of source analysis at Uni.)

I was actually just watching some youtube videos in which it was shown that swords can theoretically cut bullets in two mid flight, though the path of the fragments seemed rather erratic, sometimes deflecting outward at an angle and other times simple travelling on a similar path as two pieces.

Whether the bullet was deflected or cut, however, seems rather moot to me, as the true impossibility lies in turning one's body around in mid air in the time it takes a musket ball to travel six feet.

Data varies on how fast a musket ball from a flintlock pistol will travel, but I found data ranging from a muzzle velocity of 700 fps to as high as 1500 fps depending on the composition of the black powder and the particularities of the gun used. Even using the lowest number of 700 fps, the time that it would take the musket ball to reach Guardian at a range of six feet is approximately 0.00857 seconds, or less than one hundredth of a second.

Even if Guardian were somehow able to turn himself around in the air without having used the proper leverage when leaving the ground, it seems impossible to do so in such a tiny fraction of a second, no matter how agile he is or how good his reflexes are. Even more difficult would be locating, tracking, and deflecting the flying musket ball after doing so, all within less than 1/100 of a second. Not trying to be a jerk to anyone here, but this act seems physically impossible to me, even had Guardian possessed superhuman speed to go with his agility and reflexes.

I was actually just watching some youtube videos in which it was shown that swords can theoretically cut bullets in two mid flight, though the path of the fragments seemed rather erratic, sometimes deflecting outward at an angle and other times simple travelling on a similar path as two pieces.

Whether the bullet was deflected or cut, however, seems rather moot to me, as the true impossibility lies in turning one's body around in mid air in the time it takes a musket ball to travel six feet.

Data varies on how fast a musket ball from a flintlock pistol will travel, but I found data ranging from a muzzle velocity of 700 fps to as high as 1500 fps depending on the composition of the black powder and the particularities of the gun used. Even using the lowest number of 700 fps, the time that it would take the musket ball to reach Guardian at a range of six feet is approximately 0.00857 seconds, or less than one hundredth of a second.

Even if Guardian were somehow able to turn himself around in the air without having used the proper leverage when leaving the ground, it seems impossible to do so in such a tiny fraction of a second, no matter how agile he is or how good his reflexes are. Even more difficult would be locating, tracking, and deflecting the flying musket ball after doing so, all within less than 1/100 of a second. Not trying to be a jerk to anyone here, but this act seems physically impossible to me, even had Guardian possessed superhuman speed to go with his agility and reflexes.

I was running on the assumption that he had already used his superhuman reflexes to pre-empt the gunshot and had already moved before the bullet was fired.

There are a -lot- of issues for Rush surviving this attack, but I'm not particularly interested in persecuting him with the first move. What I would say for you however Rush is literally never jump anime style through the air in post by post combat, especially if your opponent has a firearm. Literally never leave the ground at all unless your character can control themselves in the air (a.k.a fly) because otherwise this will always happen. Don't feel bad though, a -lot- of people do it.

I don't know what it is, but people always want to jump at my characters on RPG.

I had three opponents in one tournament dive at my character once upon a time, it was insane and never worked.

After watching a video of the specific pistol my character is using, I think it would be safe to say your sword would be a little worse for wear after being used to deflect the musket shot. Not necessarily broken though, as you deflected the shot rather than stopping it outright.

I grow tired of this physics debate. Let's just conveniently overlook logic this one time and get on with the fight.

I grow tired of this physics debate. Let's just conveniently overlook logic this one time and get on with the fight.

Already done

Thank you

I overlook logic all the time. That's how Melon's character was dropped kicked in the back by a giant chicken and head butted the ass of another character, who head butted a tree and died from a broken neck.

I overlook logic all the time. That's how Melon's character was dropped kicked in the back by a giant chicken and head butted the ass of another character, who head butted a tree and died from a broken neck.

You're bringing up terrible memories for me right now.

Ironically, I've had a deep rooted fear of ostriches for most of my life after one bit me when I was about seven, so I've come to expect that sort of shit from giant birds.