What would be the effect/use of Orichalcum or Orichalcum-tipped bullets?

Bankruptcy...

Keep the Faith

REALLY fast

Assuming you can absorb the expense of creating them, what effect would they have in combat?

Orichalcum's actual properties dont seem to be spelled out very well anywhere.

None over and above normal rounds unless some critter has an allergy to the substance then it would have the effect of "silver" bullets.

Really you best bet is to just ancer spells to rounds of your chocie but even then its super expensive.

This is kind of like asking what would be the effect / use of dragonbone bullets, or of a katana made of diamond studded platinum.

It's just really rare stuff. It's not useful for much except magical shenanigans.

~Umidori

It's like the cars they made with gold wiring in the 50s. It doesn't actually improve performance very much, and is significantly more expensive than normal, but it's a statement of awesomeness and wealth to do it.

Hell, how much is Orichalcum worth? It sounds like if your targets survive they could get a friendly doc to dig out the bullets, split the money, and get a nice bundle of credsticks.

Now that sounds like the kind of game a Dragon might use to motivate his snack food / chief guests.

"I'm going to shoot at you with very expensive bullets. If you take a bullet and survive, you could carry out a small fortune... if I catch you first, though, you're going to be deliciously spiced."

Orichalcum is 50,000 nuyen per unit, availability 12
Refined Gold is 20,000 nuyen per unit, availability 6
Refined Silver is 600 nuyen per unit, also availability 6
Refined Copper is 200 nuyen per unit, also availability 6
Refined Iron is 100 nuyen per unit, also availability 6
Street Magic, page 185

As far as I can tell a unit is a subjective measure, and may not even be the same from one material to the next (especially when alchemy will let you get a maximum of 8 units of orichalcum out of 4 units of reagents). Unless there's a printing somewhere that actually says what the weight and/or volume of a "unit" is, I don't think I've seen it yet.

Teaches me for not reading Street Magic yet, I missed this little gold mine.

Be interested in someone could find the answer to the unit size (if it exists) as I've always worked on the assumption that it is expensive, but now that I know 'how' expensive, I'm still eluded to 'how' 'much' expensive in regards to actual size/weight.

Just ignore me if that made no sense, I'm not sure if I understand what I wrote.

What makes you think anything unusual would happen?

Orichalcum is crazy expensive, like 1,000,000 per pound...

Or about 50,000 an ounce. How about that math?

Iron at 100 per "unit" looks to be along the lines of 1 unit being about 100 pounds or more. Even in the Sixth World iron is going to be dirt cheap (today's price for steel: about $500-$700 per tonne).

Copper is ~$3.50 / lb today, making 1 unit about 57 pounds.

Refined Iron, not Iron.

It is Iron that has been mined / treated for use as a regent for enchanting. Taking a chunk out of a chain-link fence does not suffice (assuming said fence is even made out of the metal).

[By memory - cannot access Street Magic at the moment]



I do not know where you got the value of 1,000,000 per pound from, but I am assuming earlier editions. If I understand correctly, the Nuyen in 4th is comparatively significantly more valuable than it was in 1st - 3rd (either that, or everything else is significantly less valuable).

Regardless, I am personally fine with a "Unit" being equal to 1 ounce of the given material.

If Orichalcum is 50k per ounce, a bullet of it would cost thrice less - a standard 7.62 weighs around 9 grams.

So only 16,000¥ per round? What a screaming deal!

And if you call right now and order no less than 15, we'll include this stylish clip absolutely for FREE.

But Sir, my gun holds more than 15 bullets! What can I, the common consumer, do about this?

Our special offer is only available if you load no more than 15 bullets.
Please contact your local representative to get information on whether you can load less than a full clip for your gun.

Touche. I still think it would be possible that each "unit" is a different size based on material, but treating them all as 1 oz. isn't a bad idea.

http://wiki.dumpshock.com/index.php/Orichalcum

One unit is 10 grams.

Making a detonation bullet would be nice. A Nova spell force 6 casted by the bullet on impact. Or a simple light spell casted from the inside of a nosferatu...

Stupidly expensive, anchored spell bullets? Am I the only one getting flashbacks to Outlaw Star?

Yes you are. Me, myself and i, we are getting flashbacks to forums.dumpshock.com some months ago ^^

Anchored spells on bulttes for the assain the know he needs to kill that tank with a hold out pistol.

From the 1st – 3rd Edition sourcebooks:

• “A unit of metal or mineral ore weighs about 10 kilograms. A unit of plant material weighs about 5 kilograms.” (The Grimoire, p. 21)
  “A unit of herbal material weighs about 5 kilograms. A unit of mineral or metal material weighs about 10 kilograms.” (Magic in the Shadows, p. 40)
  
• “A unit of refined material weighs half as much as the original raw material: 2.5 kilograms for herbal material and 5 kilograms for metals or minerals.” (The Grimoire, p. 21)
  “A unit of refined material weighs half as much as the original raw material: 2.5 kilograms for herbal material and 5 kilograms for metals or minerals.” (Magic in the Shadows, p. 41)
  
• “A unit of radical material weighs one-hundredth as much as the raw material: 50 grams for herbals and 100 grams for metals or minerals.” (The Grimoire, p. 23)
  “A unit of radical material weighs one-hundredth the weight of the raw material: 50 grams for herbals and 100 grams for metals or minerals.” (Magic in the Shadows, p. 42)
  
• “A unit of orichalcum weighs only 10 grams.” (The Grimoire, p. 23)
  “A single unit of orichalcum weighs only 10 grams.” (Magic in the Shadows, p. 42)

I was told there would be no math.

Personally, in my campaigns, either an orichalcum bullet—or a mundane bullet properly enchanted, and bonded—ignores magical defenses such as immunity to normal weapons. Orichalcum, would also trigger any allergies to gold, silver, copper, or mercury.

IMHO, the cost of an orichalcum bullet provides game balance for such a ruling. As for an enchanted bullet, the world simply needs such things to be possible when something wicked is coming.

Somehow I get an impression there might be nerds among us. You know their type - can't live without Math and the rest of the load no normal guy needs.
Just think about it - nerds on the Internet!

"There's no way I'd use all four one right after the other."
(Note: it was four, right? Its been a few years. Also, I love how the episode in which he gets them is typically not aired, even on Adult Swim)

I feel obligated to quote the Simpsons whenever I see math, be it Malibu Stacy saying "Math is hard" or Reiner Wolfcastle saying "I was told there would be no math". As such, I too, maybe in fact, be a nerd.

Do enchanted stuffs have astral forms? Am I right in thinking that a very fast astral form striking another (say, that Force 6 Fire Spirit) would possibly do some hurtage?

By this, I mean, enchant the Orichalcum bullets (Exotic Telesma?) and shoot spirits. The equivalent to smacking into an astral barrier when 'running' in astral projection?

Everything magic has an astral form.
You can destroy the astral construct.
The stuff itself does not neccesarely break, but it does not work as an enchantment anymore.

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA....that was good.^^

Why Thank You...

Keep the Faith

Now, we've all seen a gun that shoots swords - but that line got me thinking, surely a gun shooting spirits would be even more awesome. And even if those are bound, they are still cheaper than orichalcum, as previously calculated.