• This forum is strictly intended to be used by members of the VS Battles wiki. Please only register if you have an autoconfirmed account there, as otherwise your registration will be rejected. If you have already registered once, do not do so again, and contact Antvasima if you encounter any problems.

    For instructions regarding the exact procedure to sign up to this forum, please click here.
  • We need Patreon donations for this forum to have all of its running costs financially secured.

    Community members who help us out will receive badges that give them several different benefits, including the removal of all advertisements in this forum, but donations from non-members are also extremely appreciated.

    Please click here for further information, or here to directly visit our Patreon donations page.
  • Please click here for information about a large petition to help children in need.

New Ability: Marksmanship

Honestly I'd say so, machetes aren't throwing weapons so getting that kind of distance and still landing a lethal shot is pretty implausible, without even considering that it's on a moving target in the dark
 
So how much range would a character need to be able to hit a human at to get this?
I guess hitting things consistently over a kilometer or two without stuff like a scope would probably suffice?
Any of these feats should count:

  • Only 21 confirmed sniper kills in history to have happened at a range of over 1250 meters, with the greatest being at 3540.
  • Simo Häyhä, known as possibly the deadliest sniper in history, killed over 500 enemy soldiers in less than one year of service, all of this without a scope.
  • Olympic shooters and archers are capable of reliably hitting tiny targets at long distances.
  • Bob Munden can draw a revolver and accurately tag multiple targets in one tenth of a second, as well as shoot coins out of the air.
  • Bill Hays can hit small targets blowing in the wind with a slingshot at almost 40 feet of distance.
  • David Adamovich can throw over 100 knives in one minute all with great accuracy.
  • The world record holder for axe throwing can hit a target at over 27 meters of distance.
 
Any of these feats should count:
The only ones of those that are about range are the sniper kills, but those are with scope. What about no scope?
Like, I'm looking for limits on shooting energy projectiles or whatever.

And is Simo's record really applicable? Seems like number of people killed is more an opportunity issue. Like, hypersonic character with a gun can shoot 10k people point blank with no problem.
David's is more of a speed thing as well, I would say.
 
The only ones of those that are about range are the sniper kills, but those are with scope. What about no scope?
Like, I'm looking for limits on shooting energy projectiles or whatever.
I'd say 1 km+ is superhuman or close enough
And is Simo's record really applicable? Seems like number of people killed is more an opportunity issue. Like, hypersonic character with a gun can shoot 10k people point blank with no problem.
David's is more of a speed thing as well, I would say.
I mean, these people don't have superhuman speed statistics, nor could Simo fight recklessly like a hypersonic character would be able to. Being capable of killing hundreds of enemies in a war without holding a serious stat advantage compared to them, and being able to pull off western-style quick draws where you defeat multiple foes at once (without being inherently faster than them, just more trained at landing quick shots are all feats I've seen in fiction that could be compared to these.
 
As much as I still dislike this addition, I think there is some characters that may qualify for this ability.

RoboCop is pretty self-explanatory, as he was already trained for this before he was killed.

Krypto should also qualify for this ability due to these scans
 
So how much range would a character need to be able to hit a human at to get this?
I guess hitting things consistently over a kilometer or two without stuff like a scope would probably suffice?
I think part of the equation is where you're intentionally aiming at as well. For example, an eye is generally harder to hit than either the head or the chest.
 
As much as I still dislike this addition, I think there is some characters that may qualify for this ability.

RoboCop is pretty self-explanatory, as he was already trained for this before he was killed.

Krypto should also qualify for this ability due to these scans
I was about to mention Robocop yeah, but also.
 
I mean, these people don't have superhuman speed statistics, nor could Simo fight recklessly like a hypersonic character would be able to. Being capable of killing hundreds of enemies in a war without holding a serious stat advantage compared to them, and being able to pull off western-style quick draws where you defeat multiple foes at once (without being inherently faster than them, just more trained at landing quick shots are all feats I've seen in fiction that could be compared to these.
There are countless factors in how many people you manage to kill besides how good your shooting is. Heck, for Simo himself it was not pure shooting skill, but also things like hiding skill, patience and the environment. A blanket kill count just seems unsuitable.

And while you can argue that quick draw is impressive, that's only a measure for characters with regular human stats then.
 
Yeah, we might as well be nuking a lot of things that are just general skills and not "Superpowers" by that logic. Martial Arts, Weapon Mastery, Acrobats, Social Influencing, Vehicular Mastery. None of those are superpowers that require superhuman levels of skill to recieve.
Okay. I suppose we can probably include absolute peak human marksmanship and upwards then.
 
The only ones of those that are about range are the sniper kills, but those are with scope. What about no scope?
Like, I'm looking for limits on shooting energy projectiles or whatever.

And is Simo's record really applicable? Seems like number of people killed is more an opportunity issue. Like, hypersonic character with a gun can shoot 10k people point blank with no problem.
David's is more of a speed thing as well, I would say.
There are countless factors in how many people you manage to kill besides how good your shooting is. Heck, for Simo himself it was not pure shooting skill, but also things like hiding skill, patience and the environment. A blanket kill count just seems unsuitable.

And while you can argue that quick draw is impressive, that's only a measure for characters with regular human stats then.
@M3X_2.0

I suppose that your draft text needs to be adjusted a bit then.
 
Should we use more than one degree type of marksmanship? Meaning, peak human marksmanship (Type 1), and at least one level of superhuman marksmanship (Type 2 or higher), with some examples included?
 
I'm personally against the usage of types here.

I think all my examples are good to use even if some of them won't be 100% applicable to all fiction, they still showcase the great ability that people IRL can reach
 
Okay. I would personally prefer if we keep peak human and ridiculously superhuman marksmanship feats as separate types though.
 
Seeing as Marksmanship is a unique ability in it's own way, it does need a little more rewording as this doesn't actually need to be achieved in Superhuman ways
 
Should we use more than one degree type of marksmanship? Meaning, peak human marksmanship (Type 1), and at least one level of superhuman marksmanship (Type 2 or higher), with some examples included?
Okay. I would personally prefer if we keep peak human and ridiculously superhuman marksmanship feats as separate types though.
What do the rest of our staff members here think about this?
 
It seems like we now have an underused Superhuman Precision page created by Promestein, which covers all types of precision, not just marksmanship, so it is likely not necessary anymore.
Please disregard my above post. I changed my mind.

 
Yeah, not sure if the abilities are the same thing. Also, marksmanship is pretty much just supposed to be weapon mastery but specifically for ranged weapons. It's something historical figures such as Nasu no Yoichi in the form of bowman ship or Billy the Kid as far as gunslinger status. Though, some argued being exceptionally skilled at throwing rocks or having gunslinger like skills with Ki blasts could technically qualify. It's a skill proficiency like martial arts or weapon mastery and not so much a superpower.
 
Back
Top