Conan vs The Shadow

[Geek Mangacomic]

Conan the Barbarian vs The Shadow
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ScenarioConditions

• Conan has a bow, a quiver full of arrows, a sword, and a shield.
• The Shadow has his standard equipment
• In-Character
• The fight takes place here:

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[Sharpandpointies]

I hear the sound of pearl-handled .45's firing, followed by the sound of Conan hitting the floor....

[Carabas]

Does Conan even have feats for being able to hit the broad side of a barn with a bow?

[Sharpandpointies]

Either way, he needs to ready the bow, draw an arrow, nock, and loose. All before Cranston draws and opens fire. I don't see this happening; as Carabas implies, Conan isn't exactly known for tremendous archery work. Craftiness, physical prowess, and killing stuff with his sword? Sure. But not superhuman use of the bow.

What I instead see happening is Conan having a choice of either struggling to endure a withering barrage of gunfire before loosing his first arrow, or struggling to endure a withering barrage of gunfire while charging.

And I see Conan as neither bullet-proof nor capable of walking off multiple .45 ACP rounds.

Frankly, the second option is his best - looking at the venue, it's fairly close range. It's entirely plausible that he'll get to Cranston before Cranston shoots, or AS Cranston begins shooting. 21' rule, yo (less applicable to people like Cranston, who likely has feats for drawing in the 'blink of an eye', but still worth noting). Conan IS pretty quick on his feet.

I guess it really depends if they start with a weapon in-hand or not.

[Sharpandpointies]

Looking at this further, I'm going to assume they start at opposite ends of the room, rather than standing nose to nose.

Based on the floor having tatami, the room is ten tatami in width. Let's say each tatami is roughly 3' in width (they vary, but this is close enough to peg it). So that's 30'.

Conan is faster than normal - MUCH faster than normal - but it's safe to say that Cranston isn't some normal stooge, either. The distance is close to one-third greater than for the 21' Rule. I don't give Conan good odds to charge and get to Cranston before Cranston manages to draw and fire twice, and that's assuming Cranston isn't moving himself to try to evade. Plus, Conan needs to draw his sword while charging (which he can do, but I doubt it does his overall speed any good).

We could then say 'What if Conan starts with weapon in-hand?' in which case Cranston should also start weapon in-hand, which means Conan gets about one step before he starts eating a hot .45 slug sandwich, again and again.

My money is on Cranston, here.

[BitVyper]

Guns win, it's true. However, depending on the type of shield, assuming he starts with it strapped on (it's basically useless otherwise), Conan has at least a chance of stopping a couple bullets from hitting anything vital. I'm not really sure how a .45 stacks up against the type of shield he'd have, but it should at least give him a chance of making a rush.

Overall though, Cranston wins. I mean, this isn't even considering that depending on the version, he has a whole bunch of other skills that could potentially win the fight.

Edit: For my uneducated money, I'd probably ask for a pavise, or a Roman legionary's shield in this case, both because they protect the whole body, and because, especially with the Roman shield, they're rounded enough that they might deflect a bullet they wouldn't stop.

[Sharpandpointies]

Well-put.

*limit dance*

[Ptrvc]

Looking at this further, I'm going to assume they start at opposite ends of the room, rather than standing nose to nose.

Based on the floor having tatami, the room is ten tatami in width. Let's say each tatami is roughly 3' in width (they vary, but this is close enough to peg it). So that's 30'.

Conan is faster than normal - MUCH faster than normal - but it's safe to say that Cranston isn't some normal stooge, either. The distance is close to one-third greater than for the 21' Rule. I don't give Conan good odds to charge and get to Cranston before Cranston manages to draw and fire twice, and that's assuming Cranston isn't moving himself to try to evade. Plus, Conan needs to draw his sword while charging (which he can do, but I doubt it does his overall speed any good).

We could then say 'What if Conan starts with weapon in-hand?' in which case Cranston should also start weapon in-hand, which means Conan gets about one step before he starts eating a hot .45 slug sandwich, again and again.

My money is on Cranston, here.

I would make the argument that Conan wouldn't need to draw his sword, if he gets ahold of Cranston, unless the latter has some good hand to hand feats that's probably the end of it.

That's a pretty big IF though.

[BitVyper]

It kinda depends on the version of The Shadow in play here. Some of them have hypnosis type powers, at least one can outright turn invisible, and there's some recent comics that have him fighting about evenly with Batman, I believe (haven't actually read them, just seen some scans, so take that as you will).

[The Chou Lives]

Yeah there are versions of the Shadow that has legit Kung fu skills and others that he was genetically remastered bunpeople of Shangri La to be a sort of Paladin male Wonder Woman deal but without that much power.

[Powerboy]

Even if this were unarmed, I would give it to the Shadow. They both have feats of being about the strongest there is and being masters of combat and the Shadow, especially if this is original novel Shadow which would be the default, is a master of hiding in plain sight to the point he might as well be invisible. These two guys are about equally matched in terms of fighting except one of them is also effectively invisible.

[Powerboy]

Either way, he needs to ready the bow, draw an arrow, nock, and loose. All before Cranston draws and opens fire. I don't see this happening; as Carabas implies, Conan isn't exactly known for tremendous archery work. Craftiness, physical prowess, and killing stuff with his sword? Sure. But not superhuman use of the bow.

What I instead see happening is Conan having a choice of either struggling to endure a withering barrage of gunfire before loosing his first arrow, or struggling to endure a withering barrage of gunfire while charging.

And I see Conan as neither bullet-proof nor capable of walking off multiple .45 ACP rounds.

Frankly, the second option is his best - looking at the venue, it's fairly close range. It's entirely plausible that he'll get to Cranston before Cranston shoots, or AS Cranston begins shooting. 21' rule, yo (less applicable to people like Cranston, who likely has feats for drawing in the 'blink of an eye', but still worth noting). Conan IS pretty quick on his feet.

I guess it really depends if they start with a weapon in-hand or not.

One little nitpick is that, in the original source, the Shadow is not Lamont Cranston. Cranston is another person and the Shadow simply uses his identity as one of many identities. But the original book Shadow puts the radio Shadow to shame. He really can stand in the middle of an unfurnnished room in broad daylight and be unseen on pure skill. He also outmuscles a guy whose strength is superhuman and generally is a super ninja. Ironically, that original version never kills unless absolutely necessary, even shooting to wound.

[Sharpandpointies]

Useful to know. My earliest encounter with the Shadow is on the radio programs (my father bought me some tapes when I was a kid). Thanks.