how powerful are shardblades really

[MrMarksman108]

i was wondering because Syl changes into a spear for Kallidin so could she change into say a gun?

[TheSurvivorofDeath]

She could change into the shape of a gun, but she wouldn’t be a functional mechanical firearm. Spren can only be one solid piece. There could be ways around it but with current knowledge in-world it doesn’t work. I think it’s mentioned somewhere that some Radiants had their spren take the form of bows, but they had to carry the string since the spren could only be one piece.

[alder24]

13 minutes ago, MrMarksman108 said:

i was wondering because Syl changes into a spear for Kallidin so could she change into say a gun?

Rafo: 

Spoiler

Questioner

Would it be possible to have a "Shardgun"? (Shardblade in the form of a gun)

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

FAQFriday 2017 (June 16, 2017)

But yes, you can have Syl turning into a Shardgun, but you would need to have a separate, normal ammo for it. She can only turn into one thing. Spren can turn into any metallic object, like into a Shardbow without a string, or into a Shararrow to fabrial Shardbows. Or into a Shardgun or Shardbullet of some sort. If you are bonded with 2 spren, one could turn into a Shardgun, the other into a Shardbullet, but you would still need a shell filled with gunpowder, into which Shardbullet would be placed. Spren can't move on their own, so you need to make a proper propulsion system.

[MrMarksman108]

so if you got enough spren you could make a shard shotgun?

Edited March 31, 2023 by MrMarksman108

[Frustration he/him]

How okay are you with spoilers?

[MrMarksman108]

if it answers my question its ok

[StormingTexan he/him]

Some clues in the Sixth of Dusk sequel chapter here  This is far future Cosmere compared to "current" timeline. 

If you want the cliff-notes version here is the exact clue but I'd read the entire chapter 

Spoiler

The alien thrust out his armored hand, and smoke or mist coalesced there out of nowhere. It formed into a gun; longer than a pistol, shorter than a rifle, wicked in shape with flowing metal along the side like wings. It was to Sapling's pistol what a shadowy deep beast of the oceans might be to a minnow. The alien raised his other hand, snapping a small box (perhaps a power supply) into the side of the rifle, causing it to glow ominously.

 

Edited March 31, 2023 by StormingTexan

[MrMarksman108]

ok thanks but how big could a spren make a shard blade?

could they make a shard planet?

[alder24]

10 minutes ago, MrMarksman108 said:

ok thanks but how big could a spren make a shard blade?

could they make a shard planet?

No, they're very limited. Likely a Shardblade size is the biggest they can manifest in the Physical Realm

SA5 chapters:

Spoiler

Syl in spren form grew as big as a room or something like that, but that was in a spren form, not physical, and she noted it was her limit.

 

[MrMarksman108]

Just now, alder24 said:

12 minutes ago, MrMarksman108 said:

ok thanks but how big could a spren make a shard blade?

could they make a shard planet?

No, they're very limited. Likely a Shardblade size is the biggest they can manifest in the Physical Realm

you said in the physical relm so could they in another place? say shades mar?

[alder24]

Just now, MrMarksman108 said:

you said in the physical relm so could they in another place? say shades mar?

No, Shardblades are how spren manifest fully in Physical Realm, in Cognitive Realm (Shadesmar) they already have "a body" there, we saw this in OB, after the Kholinar siege. They can't change their form when they are fully in CR. But when bonded, they partially exist in both CR and PR, when they are in the form of a Shardblade, they exist mostly in PR. They are limited in how big they can get, because they have a certain amount of Investiture in them, and can't get bigger than that.

[MrMarksman108]

ok thanks!

 

[Shadonin he/him]

Also things like guns are not known yet in the Rosharan world.

[Kendelian he/him]

On 3/31/2023 at 9:14 AM, alder24 said:

Rafo: 

  Reveal hidden contents

Questioner

Would it be possible to have a "Shardgun"? (Shardblade in the form of a gun)

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO!

FAQFriday 2017 (June 16, 2017)

But yes, you can have Syl turning into a Shardgun, but you would need to have a separate, normal ammo for it. She can only turn into one thing. Spren can turn into any metallic object, like into a Shardbow without a string, or into a Shararrow to fabrial Shardbows. Or into a Shardgun or Shardbullet of some sort. If you are bonded with 2 spren, one could turn into a Shardgun, the other into a Shardbullet, but you would still need a shell filled with gunpowder, into which Shardbullet would be placed. Spren can't move on their own, so you need to make a proper propulsion system.

Is it possible for a Radiant to bond multiple spren? I feel like i should know this, but i dont

[alder24]

23 minutes ago, Kendelian said:

Is it possible for a Radiant to bond multiple spren? I feel like i should know this, but i dont

It is, but spren must be willing to share the bond, and they are not likely to do so:

Spoiler

Questioner

Could someone bond with two spren and wield two swords?

Brandon Sanderson

It is theoretically possible, but the spren aren't going to like it.  So you are not going to see it very often.

Firefight Seattle Public Library signing (Jan. 7, 2015)

 

[Odiumiumium he/him]

26 minutes ago, Kendelian said:

Is it possible for a Radiant to bond multiple spren? I feel like i should know this, but i dont

Brandon has said it is possible but difficult. Bonding two is already very hard since you would have to juggle 2 sets of oaths which could contradict. I don't remember the rest, but I'm pretty sure there are also other complications from bonding multiple spren, exacerbated by bonding more. 

Edit: ninja'd 

Edited April 19, 2023 by Odiumiumium

[Kendelian he/him]

3 minutes ago, Odiumiumium said:

Brandon has said it is possible but difficult. Bonding two is already very hard since you would have to juggle 2 sets of oaths which could contradict. I don't remember the rest, but I'm pretty sure there are also other complications from bonding multiple spren, exacerbated by bonding more. 

Edit: ninja'd 

Thanks my guy

[Kendelian he/him]

5 minutes ago, alder24 said:

It is, but spren must be willing to share the bond, and they are not likely to do so:

  Reveal hidden contents

Questioner

Could someone bond with two spren and wield two swords?

Brandon Sanderson

It is theoretically possible, but the spren aren't going to like it.  So you are not going to see it very often.

Firefight Seattle Public Library signing (Jan. 7, 2015)

 

Thanks my guy

[alder24]

6 minutes ago, Odiumiumium said:

Brandon has said it is possible but difficult. Bonding two is already very hard since you would have to juggle 2 sets of oaths which could contradict. I don't remember the rest, but I'm pretty sure there are also other complications from bonding multiple spren, exacerbated by bonding more. 

Edit: ninja'd 

There are also other consequences, there is a limit on how much can a soul handle:

Spoiler

Questioner

Is someone limited to how many Nahel bonds they can form, or could someone go play Pokéspren and catch them all, getting access to all Surges?

Brandon Sanderson

There are limits to what a soul can handle. These limits are soft caps, not hard caps. Pokéspren is theoretically possible, but there would be hoops, not just the normal "I want to bond two spren" hoop, which is already a pretty big one.

YouTube Spoiler Stream 4 (June 16, 2022)

I'm Ninja! 

2 minutes ago, Kendelian said:

Thanks my guy

Just now, Kendelian said:

Thanks my guy

Please, try to avoid double posting. You can use "+" button at the bottom of post to quote multiple posts at once  More on this here:

Spoiler

At the bottom left of a post you will see a "+" icon, a "Quote" link, and (your posts only) and Edit link. On the bottom right you will see an up arrow.

• The Up Arrow is how you thank people or "like" a post
• The "Quote" link is exactly that, when you click it the quote will be added to the reply at the bottom of the thread wherever the cursor is
  • So, if you have already started to reply before you decide to quote you can then add the quote before or after your text depending on the cursor location when you click "Quote"
• The + icon is multi-quote. As you read a thread, if you want to quote multiple items you click that for each post
  • As you click +, you should see a toaster pop-up on the bottom right of the browser window showing how many quotes you will have
  • They are added in the order you click the + icon, not in the original post order, so you can set the order of quotes for your reply
  • When you are ready to reply, click on the toaster pop-up and it will take you directly to the reply section and add the quotes automatically
• Finally, you can also highlight a small section of a post and, when hovering over the highlit portion, click the "Quote" button that pops up.
• Also note that you can move quotes after they have been added to your reply.
  • For example, you add a quote and realize there are no empty lines below it for you to type - so you can hit "enter" before the quote to make an empty line then when you hover over a quote you will see a 4-way arrow at the top-left that you can use to drag the quote up (or down)  and move the quote to before the empty line. . .
• Use the Edit link to make changes to a completed post or add information to your post if it is the most recent (to avoid double posting)
  • Quote buttons will still send a quote to "Reply" if you have a post open for edit, but it is easy to cut/paste the quote to the Edit box
  • Editing allows you to add a reason for the edit (Spelling and grammar (SPAG), formatting, clarification, new information, etc.), but it is not required.
• Next to Edit you will also find an "options" dropbox, you can use this to hide your post if you want to remove it after posting
• At the top of a post you will find "Report Post"
  • Use this if you do accidentally double-post (sometimes it's the browser or a slow link that causes a double post) - just leave a message that it was an accidental double post and the Mods can fix it. If it was the first post of a new thread that doubled, they usually can merge the threads if they both have answers, so all of the content is retained.

Hope that helps.