Orichalcum: The Orphan Magical Material

[pcontop]

This "orphans" the other materials just as much. Griping over this is just about perspective.

The other materials already have other exalts that are meaningfully tied to them. Orichalcum does not.

[pcontop]

It is. If you skim through Arms the orichalcum artifacts have the most Evocations on average that build on Solar Charms.

That's a statistic misapprehension. This perceived advantage disappears if you take into consideration artifact level and type (armor, weapon, etc).

For instance:
Armor Ess 3

Orichalcum
Baldaqin: 7
Heartsbalm: 6
avg: 6.5

Starmetal
Kaijin: 6
avg: 6

Jade:
Midnight Thorn: 8
avg: 8

Winner: Jade!

[pcontop]

Not having a strict mechanic representation for it does not mean the effect does not exist. Just as the case of some MMs being better (or even required) for artifacts with specific thematics is not something that is clearly defined in a strict mechanical way, but is still there, and should not be ignored.
(...)

If you are saying that orichalcum is better than other materials for solars, then the system fails completely in representing that.

[Epee102]

You couldn't make Vainglory or Zealtor or Balandquin or Talion out of anything but Orichaculum.
We can see that you _can_ make fire spear out of jade (there's one in Arms!), but not Zealtor. Not the one that undoes miles and miles of workings with a single thurst.Raw power is hard to discuss because frankly that's a matter of dots not material--but messing with sorcery directly is more Orichalcum then Jade. Like, we can look at "what artifacts are made of Orichalcum, what does the book say about orichalcm" and that will tell us why in universe Solars are associated with orichalcum.
We can alternatively look for mechancial reasons. Like that no one else gets the most of it--so even if most Solars had jade weapons, the Orichalucm ones were notable for that alone. Its not particularly worse than other magical materials, and its rarity was less relevant when you could you know. Make it in the First Age.
AS others have said, if you want "Who just uses Orichalcum" its probably Infernals.

[reseru]

If you are saying that orichalcum is better than other materials for solars, then the system fails completely in representing that.

It's the only magical material that exclusively Solars are resonant with, so I think it's unfair to say the system fails in representing their favoring of it. If you disagree that's fine! Several people have tried to justify to you its synergy with Solars both mechanically and in-setting, and if that wasn't enough by now then I don't think anyone is going to convince you otherwise.

Maybe we all can steer the conversation in creating a solution then (which is kinda what you asked initially anyway, admittedly)?

[autXautY]

If you are saying that orichalcum is better than other materials for solars, then the system fails completely in representing that.

The Exalted system is not very granular, it fails to represent a lot of things.
All bows are divided into 2 levels of strength. I'm pretty sure that actual, real-world archers put a lot of effort into getting a bow with the exact right draw strength for them.
Strength score is divided into 5 levels, 2 of which are dedicated to extremely unusual individuals. Many real-world people are would best be represented by strength 2, even if they have noticeable differences in strength (let alone differences between legs strength, arm strength, core strength, grip strength, etc).
I'm not sure if this is true, but I get the impression dragon blooded mostly use the color of jade matching their aspect. Nothing in the rules enforces this.
The difference in someone's skill at singing, dancing, oratory, playing the piano, and playing the trumpet aren't represented in their performance ability. Most performers are exactly equally skilled at these, except for some who have a specialty and divide these into 2 groups, exactly 1 die apart in skill.

[Verzio]

Hi, welcome to Exalted 3rd, where the provided mechanics are not the setting's physics, and therefore setting elements that are not backed by direct mechanics are still valid setting elements.

It is absolutely true that the mechanics do not enforce an "It's easier to make high-level artifacts out of orichalcum than other materials" on the people playing the game. This does not, in any way, mean it can't be true that it's easier in-setting to make high-level artifacts out of orichalcum. That people at your table table don't suffer an explicit rules-imposed disadvantage for choosing a material other than orichalcum when attempting to make an Artifact 5 doesn't mean that there isn't a setting-level disadvantage that affected the collective output of artificers over the length of the First Age.

[Epimetheus]

Hi, welcome to Exalted 3rd, where the provided mechanics are not the setting's physics, and therefore setting elements that are not backed by direct mechanics are still valid setting elements.

It is absolutely true that the mechanics do not enforce an "It's easier to make high-level artifacts out of orichalcum than other materials" on the people playing the game. This does not, in any way, mean it can't be true that it's easier in-setting to make high-level artifacts out of orichalcum. That people at your table table don't suffer an explicit rules-imposed disadvantage for choosing a material other than orichalcum when attempting to make an Artifact 5 doesn't mean that there isn't a setting-level disadvantage that affected the collective output of artificers over the length of the First Age.

You could just revert the rules which as apparently added near the end of development and just keep everyone resonant in their own metals if it's an issue.

[Synapse]

The other materials already have other exalts that are meaningfully tied to them. Orichalcum does not.

Orichalcum is meaningfully tied to Solars.
Solars are currently the only exalts that can draw from orichalcum to its maximum, and Orichalcum "feels" more solar than any other material, just like how the other materials "feel" similar to their respective favorite exalts.

[Elfive]

Also it is the metal associated with THE ACTUAL SUN.

You know, the guy who gives solars their power? Big guy. Four arms. Wears a shitload of orichalcum.

[Beast of Bitter Oblivion]

My main issue against anyone using Orichalcum to begin with is that its the tackiest of the magic materials. Same way how people wearing lots of gold look stupid , you dont want your own character to be ashamed of his daiklave or armour.

[Sith_Happens]

*hammiest

Big difference.

[Astralporing]

If you are saying that orichalcum is better than other materials for solars, then the system fails completely in representing that.

Perhaps. Not every nuance of the Creation can be clearly mapped to a specific mechanic. Nor can everything be represented in the form of clear numerical bonuses. You can think it means the system fails to represent those cases. My take is that narrative representation is still a representation. If the system tells me that orichalcum artifacts are the best match for Solar powers, then that's enough for me. I don't need to see it represented as some numbers or clearly defined advantages to believe it is true.

Also, notice, that one case that does exist and is clearly mentioned (thematical advantages of different magical Materials) is also something you keep ignoring only because it cannot be easily quantified and is not presented in a form of a numerical advantage.

Basically, the game rules should always be considered to be at best a very simplified and imperfect representation of the game world, nothing more. Thinking otherwise starts you on a path that leads to such 2e abominations as Creation Slaying Oblivion Kick, reacting to any attempt at small talk with combat initiation, and ancient elders shooting doom missile arrows from their bunkers at any new exalt they see.
It is not a path one should be treading on.

[Florin]

You have a bunch of Solar Exalted all suffering from The Great Curse. They make bad decisions. They get paranoid. They know they are resonant with orichalcum, and no one else is. Therefore, they start filling their panoplies with powerful orichalcum artifacts because those would be less useful to their servants should those servants choose to rise up against their masters. But what are the chances of that, really?

[Sith_Happens]

Fundamentally you’re thinking about this exactly backwards. Compared to Solars there is no Material X that Exalt Y is better with, only Materials W & Z that they’re worse with.