HERO System Stress Test: Homo Sapien versus Musca Domestica

[Ragitsu]

Just how does a cinematic martial artist engage in a successful grapple against the fly with his chopsticks?

[L. Marcus]

Beginner's luck.

[Hyper-Man]

Sorry I missed this before...

 

I think the Housefly would have either 270 degree Vision and/or 360 degree Sense Air Currents and some level of Defense Maneuver. 

It also has several Levels with Flight which are then applied towards a Dive For Cover anytime it senses nearby movement.

 

re: A skilled Martial Artist using chopsticks to overcome these natural defenses.

 

I would argue that the MA is using high skill to apply the Invisible Power Effect Advantage to the attack to negate the fly's Perception Roll.  This is in addition to several CSL's vs.its small size.

 

HM

[ghost-angel]

Biggest success in killing a fly is attacking directly from above. A fly takes off by jumping vertically before switching to horizontal, if you can come in fast enough or from a blind spot and attack straight down (or perpendicular to the fly) you can usually catch it before it can get away.

 

Have a friend who kills flies regularly with that tactic.

[Marcus Impudite]

Are we talking about an average Joe or Jane human catching and killing a fly with their bare hands? I could see that if you've got trained reflexes like Keisuke Miyagi or Daniel-San, but an average human? Nope. There's a reason humans invent things like flyswatters, bug lamps, and Raid.

[ghost-angel]

My friend regularly kills flies with his bare hands, he is not trained in much of anything and has pretty average reflexes. So it's entirely possible to do so without being super fast to just kill a fly. Catching in chop sticks, yes; squishing, no.

 

We invented things like fly swatters to increase out chances of success, for sure, and to prevent fly guys from getting on your hands, but they are not magical devices that make us faster.

[Scott Baker]

My friend regularly kills flies with his bare hands, he is not trained in much of anything and has pretty average reflexes. So it's entirely possible to do so without being super fast to just kill a fly. Catching in chop sticks, yes; squishing, no.

 

We invented things like fly swatters to increase out chances of success, for sure, and to prevent fly guys from getting on your hands, but they are not magical devices that make us faster.

Just stretching and some sort of AOE/PSLs vs. Small size.

[NuSoardGraphite]

When i was a kid, i used to hunt flies with rubber bands. The thin rubber bands i called "slicers" because after i hit them with it, i could usually only find half the fly. the thick ones i called "crushers" because, well they crushed em.

 

I got pretty proficient at it. i was once able to bullseye a fly sitting on the back of a chair in the kitchen and i targeted the fly from the living room (20 feet or more away). i found half the fly (a slicer) and amazed my sister who thought i missed it.

[Ndreare]

Also of consideration the fly could be using the dive for cover maneuver and making a dex roll to avoid being killed by those viscous humans and their AOE hands. Making us resort to using a slightly larger AOE attack built as 

 

 

2 Fly Swatter - Compound power; [1: 1 pip hand to hand attack, area of effect accurate, OAF] & [1: +1 OCV with fly swatter, AOF, only versus tiny little bugs].