A kinder, gentler vorpal weapon.

[Whodat]

One of the players in the group that I’m in is looking to purchase a vorpal weapon. The GM is understandably hesitant about allowing players to carry “lightsabres” – especially since this character is already a walking splatterfest.

He asked us for suggestions on how to tone-down vorpal weapons, without de-clawing them entirely.

The idea was suggested that instead of instant death upon a successful critical-hit, simply add 4 to the weapon’s critical multiplier. As a result, a long sword (which normally has a multiplier of 2) now has a multiplier of 6. That way a vorpal weapon is still bad news, but it can be survivable – in theory.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Geoff Watson]

I'd give it a saving throw, like Devestating Critical in the Epic level handbook.

Geoff.

 

[S'mon]

Bring back Swords of Sharpness - severs a limb on a crit. Probably a DC20 Fort save or go into shock and fall unconscious at -1 hp, plus Wounding effect from severed artery: -1 hp/round till death/stabilised. I use d10 for Sharpness effects:

1-2: Head (death)
3-4: Right arm
etc

 

[Corlon]

Just get vorpal or don't get it, if the GM doesn't allow it, then don't get it... but mabye a fort save would be good, if it allowed that, then I'd tone it down to a +4 bonus

 

[kreynolds]

Any other suggestions?

Here's how I do it.

Sharpness: This potent and feared enhancement bears an extraordinarily sharp blade. Upon a successful critical hit, a planar rift, allowing the weapon to cut through even the hardest materials, replaces the blade of the weapon. The sharpness enhancement deals an additional x4 force damage. For instance, a longsword deals 1d8 points of damage per hit. So a sharpness longsword will deal 1d8 (normal damage) + 1d8 (normal critical damage) + 4d8 (sharpness/force damage) points of damage. Also, upon a critical hit, sharpness weapons completely bypass the hardness of all objects they strike.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspA sharpness weapon must be a slashing weapon. The damage dealt by a sharpness weapon is force damage and can even harm creatures that are immune to critical hits.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspCaster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, gate, keen edge; Market Price: +3 bonus.

and...

Vorpal: This potent and feared enhancement bears an extraordinarily sharp blade. Upon a successful critical hit, a planar rift, allowing the weapon to cut through even the hardest materials, replaces the blade of the weapon. The vorpal enhancement deals an additional x10 force damage. For instance, a longsword deals 1d8 points of damage per hit. So a vorpal longsword will deal 1d8 (normal damage) + 1d8 (normal critical damage) + 10d8 (vorpal/force damage) points of damage.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspA vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon. The damage dealt by a vorpal weapon is force damage and can even harm creatures that are immune to critical hits.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspCaster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, finger of death, gate, keen edge; Market Price: +5 bonus.

It's been suggested that I use a Fort save (DC = damage dealt, or DC = half damage dealt) or die but I haven't platested it like that. I've only playtested these as you see them here.

 

[zebfray]

What I’ve done is to give vorpal weapons a save DC of 28, Fort Save, modified by the size of the target. The save modifier is the AC modifier for size, only inverted (Large +1, Huge +2 etc.). If the target saves, then the hit is still considered a crit, and the weapon gets a +1 crit multiplier.

 

[Cheiromancer]

kreynolds,

Also, sharpness weapons completely bypass the hardness of all objects they strike.

A few questions:

1. Does it always disregard hardness (even adamantine?), or only on a critical hit?

2. Would this bypass the DR of high-level Barbarians and certain monsters, or is DR/- different from hardness?

 

[comrade raoul]

kreynold's version is pretty good; it means a vorpal weapon gets an irresistable 10-80 damage on a critical hit, which seems more or less balanced.

I like the "insteat death" aspect of vorpal weapons, however, though I'd include some caveats: a vorpal weapon does not behead creatures who are more than one size larger than the weapon, or who are protected from death effects. Against such creatures, a vorpal weapon causes a critical hit as normal; however, increase the hit's multiplier by one. (Vorpal weapons can deliver deadly critical hits even when they cannot behead their targets.) Of course, vorpal weapons also do not behead creatures who are immune to critical hits, nor do they cause critical hits against them (increased multiplier or no).

 

[kreynolds]

1. Does it always disregard hardness (even adamantine?), or only on a critical hit?

Only on a crit. Thanks for asking the question. I'll tweak the description a bit.

EDIT: I should mention that I also have another version of Sharpness that always bypasses hardness, even on a normal hit. Give me a bit and I'll post it also.

2. Would this bypass the DR of high-level Barbarians and certain monsters, or is DR/- different from hardness?

DR is different from hardness, so in the case of DR/-, it still doesn't bypass it.

 

[kreynolds]

Razor: If there ever existed a magical blade that could cut through anything, this is it. A weapon with this enhancement ignores the hardness of all objects it strikes. Razor weapons also deal an additional 1d4 points of force damage with a successful hit. However, upon a successful critical hit, a powerful stroke of magic surges through the weapon, dealing an additional x4 force damage to the target struck. For instance, a longsword deals 1d8 points of damage per hit. So, a razor longsword will deal 1d8 (normal damage) + 1d8 (normal critical damage) + 4d8 (razor/force damage) points of damage. All damage dealt by razor weapons bypass the hardness of objects.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspA razor weapon must be a slashing weapon. The additional force damage dealt by a razor weapon can even harm creatures that are immune to critical hits.
&nbsp&nbsp&nbspCaster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, keen edge, wall of force; Market Price: +??? bonus.

I haven't decided if this should be a +4 or +5 enhancement, but my gut tells me to lean towards +5.