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Wearing a cape during combat?
In a book I'm writing, a king has a bodyguard of a dozen elite swordsmen, trained their whole lives to protect their sovereign. Their capes are long and trail behind them. What are the disadvantages and advantages (if any) of wearing a cape during…
RedBadgeOfCourage
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How do sorcerers attempt to prevent common people, or other sorcerers, from duplicating their spell scrolls?
Simply put, the world has magic, though it would be considered "science" by the world itself. This first section is going to provide a background for how the magic works.
"Spells" can be cast via some medium (usually paper) which have the spell…
DoubleDouble
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How big would a pair of wings need to be to allow an adult human to fly in a given environment?
Lets indulge in a bit of Mad Science, here.
Assuming the world described here: Making the Enterprise Fly
(60% of earth's gravity, 50% denser atmosphere) what is the wingspan needed to allow an average adult human to fly?
Assume feathery wings, and…
Danny Reagan
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Why would the mouth of a creature evolve to be away from the head?
Exhibit A: The apex predator of my world, one that can both fly and swim under water.
This deadly monster employs 4 limbs - they act as wings in the air, and fins in the water. It hunts for game in the air, in the oceans, and on land. This body of…
Aify
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Preventing Blackdamp in fantasy dungeons
Blackdamp is the condition where the breathable oxygen is removed from the air underground. Causing asphyxiation in humans and humanoids. Normally seen in modern day mines.
The base area of the dwarven fortress is almost mined out and the dwarves…
Magic-Mouse
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Nuclear apocalypse in a nuclear submarine
You're a sailor on (in?) a brand-spanking-new Virginia-class nuclear submarine. You just set sail a couple of weeks ago, and were doing some routine exercises in the North Atlantic (about 500 miles north of Bermuda/500 miles east of New York), when…
Seth
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Creating a realistic world map - Mineralogy
This Query is part of the Worldbuilding Resources Article.
I know how continents are formed and how they evolve over time but what does it look like under the surface? The crust of the planet is mostly made of rocks but there are also different…
Vincent
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How to conquer a country, forever
I am going to post this question in general terms, but resemblance with our Earth is totally intentional - to the level that I am tagging this question alternate-world, so if unsure, assume the behavior and technology level of Earth, in the current…
Pavel Janicek
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What are the effects of making a woman as light as a duck?
With a pinch of handwavium, Clarabelle the witch causes an accident. She became permanently as heavy as an ordinary duck, while her body remained the same.
Her density was forever altered. She is five feet (1½ metre) tall and weighs only 4 lb…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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Proving a world is in our galaxy
A portal about 30ft in diameter appears on the surface of our present-day Earth. It appears for about 5 minutes each day before disappearing. Hesitantly, scientists go through it and discover a new world! This new world is "Earth-like" in that it…
Unknown
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Rural broomstick navigation on a moonless night
These days we have so much street lighting that the stars are blocked out, and cities are easily seen from space. That wasn't the case a few centuries ago. Flyers in the middle ages (witches on broomsticks) would have a nice view of the stars - but…
KeizerHarm
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Time travel coordinates
My problem is as follows:
mr Average Joe has designed a device for time travel in his garage/basement
at the moment he has sent the device forward in time (for testing purposes) a couple of times (first time a full second, afterward parts of a…
States
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Least impossible explanation for superhero flight
How does Superman fly?
(or rather, a Superman like character in a different world. This is not a question about the existing fictional character but a similar being.)
He does not simply use high powered jumps and follow a ballistic trajectory.…
Guran
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How could a resurrected Jesus prove he is Jesus without performing miracles?
Let's say that a long, long time ago, on a world not too different from our own, there walked a prophet, a divine figure. He went about doing various deeds, and eventually died. A religion sprung up around him.1
A long, long time later, when the…
HDE 226868
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How can I keep my kingdom intact when the price of gold suddenly drops?
I am Queen Aerith the 3rd of Alagaesia. I rule a large and powerful nation in a time period technologically equivalent to the 17th century or so. Most of my world map is known, and cross-ocean trade is increasingly common.
However, I have a problem.…
Globin347
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