Magical Weights and Measures

[Ker'ion]

Jade is supposed to be the heaviest Magical Material in all of creation, yes?


So, a Jade Mina is 3 inches by 6 inches by 1/4 inch thick (Core Book, page 358, first full paragraph).


With this in mind, a Jade Talent is 4 feet long by 2 feet wide by the same 1/4 inch thickness, being 64 minae, so each talent is 1/6th of a cubic foot.


A talent weighs 68 pounds (Core Book, page 357, bottom left), making each cubic foot of the stuff weigh 408 pounds, while a cubic inch weighs 0.2361 pounds.


Steel weighs about 490 pounds per cubic foot or 0.2836 pounds per cubic inch (here, here, and here).


Gold (for Orichalcum) is 0.698 lbs. per cubic inch (~1206 lbs./ft^3),


Silver (for Moonsilver) is 0.3700 lbs. per cubic inch (~639 lbs./ft^3),


Steel (for Starmetal) is 0.2836 lbs. per cubic inch (~490 lbs./ft^3),


and Soulsteel is supposed to weigh about the same as Orichalcum, from what I read, so there's that as well.


I know there are White Wolf employees floating about on here, and I'd like to interrogate them over this 'discrepancy'. Politely, of course.


Increase the weight of jade to make it the heaviest MM and adding a bit to the average Daiklave weight to adjust for this in 3rd Edition would be preferable, as the size and weight of a daiklave (~20 lbs.) is about on par with the size and weight of a claymore (~6 lbs.) if you adjust the blade width & thickness to match (multiply by about 3.5-ish to double the width and thickness).


For simplicity, I'd just multiply by four to keep it even and have jade weigh 1632 lbs. / ft^3, making a talent weigh 272 pounds. Or you could go the squared route, with it being 1536 lbs. / ft^3 and 256 lbs. per talent of Jade.


[/rant]

 

[Captain Hesperus]

[QUOTE="Ker'ion]

Gold (for Orichalcum) is 0.698 lbs. per cubic inch (~1206 lbs./ft^3),


Silver (for Moonsilver) is 0.3700 lbs. per cubic inch (~639 lbs./ft^3),


Steel (for Starmetal) is 0.2836 lbs. per cubic inch (~490 lbs./ft^3),


and Soulsteel is supposed to weigh about the same as Orichalcum, from what I read, so there's that as well.

[/QUOTE]
This does not take into account the alchemical processes required to create the MM from the raw metal (i.e. refining gold using volcanic heat and sunlight) or the effects of alloying has on the density, nor indeed what effect the imbued magical effects cause on the metal. For all we know Starmetal may be super-light, Moonsilver's weight fluctuates and Orichalcum is lighter than aluminium. I'm of the opinion that the different colors of Jade vary in weight in order of lightness: Air, Fire, Wood, Water, Earth.


Captain Hesperus

 

[Solarn]

[QUOTE="Ker'ion]I know there are White Wolf employees floating about on here, and I'd like to interrogate them over this 'discrepancy'. Politely, of course.

[/QUOTE]
Strange, because you're not being very polite at all.

 

[Captain Hesperus]

Strange, because you're not being very polite at all.

Really? Would you mind elaborating as to how Ker'ion's post is, in your opinion, impolite?

Captain Hesperus

 

[Solarn]

[QUOTE="Captain Hesperus]Really? Would you mind elaborating as to how Ker'ion's post is, in your opinion, impolite?

Captain Hesperus

[/QUOTE]
It just sounds too self-assured. Like he's absolutely, positively certain that now that he brought the Exalted writers' unfortunate oversight to their attention, they will fix it to his specifications.


His entire post reads like "You said Jade was the heaviest MM. Here's why you were wrong. Now here's how you should fix it."

 

[Captain Hesperus]

It just sounds too self-assured. Like he's absolutely, positively certain that now that he brought the Exalted writers' unfortunate oversight to their attention, they will fix it to his specifications.

You must be reading his content differently to myself. All I read was a carefully researched theory regarding a discrepancy within the game's setting, along with a potential 'fix' for a solution, something many who spot these flaws fail to provide. Ker'ion's comment that drew your attention:


"I know there are White Wolf employees floating about on here, and I'd like to interrogate them over this 'discrepancy'. Politely, of course."


sounds, to my ear, to be an open invitation to any of the creative minds within the Exalted dev team to enter into a discourse as to the reasoning behind the figures they quoted in the main rule book, which was never errated at any point. Perhaps the use of the word 'interrogate' seems a little confrontational, or even threatening, but rest assured that any excessive impoliteness will be dealt with by the Exalted forum Moderator or the Admins directly. Though, I think the word is use in light jest, all that was missing was a smiley emote.


I can't speak for Ker'ion, or his meaning, so I shall step out of this thread at this point. Should anyone wish to discuss any issues that arise from this matter in a more formal manner, they are free to address their issues in the 'Admin Contact' forum.


Captain Hesperus

 

[Ker'ion]

Being rather poorly versed in emotional responses, I shall endeavor to point out my lightheartedness in my response.


I do apologize for making my original post seeming as derisive as it appears it may have been taken.

The option I suggested was the simplest thing I could think of as a fix for the weight issue.


Though as Captain Hesperus pointed out in his first post,

[QUOTE="Captain Hesperus]I'm of the opinion that the different colors of Jade vary in weight in order of lightness: Air, Fire, Wood, Water, Earth.
Captain Hesperus

[/QUOTE], perhaps having blue Jade weigh 1/3 of the total weight (544 lbs.), red Jade weigh 1/2 (816 lbs.), green Jade weigh 2/3 (1088 lbs.), black jade weigh 5/6 (1360 lbs.), and white Jade pull the full weight at 1632 lbs. would be more appropriate.
It's really their call, but I'm trying to be helpful.