New version of Vorpal

[kreynolds]

The group that I play in always had a problem with the Vorpal weapon enhancement, so a fellow DM and myself sat down and came up with what we think is a damn good solution. Check it out:

Vorpal: This potent and feared enhancement bears an extraordinarily sharp blade. Upon a successful critical hit, the blade of the weapon is replaced by a planar rift, allowing the blade to cut through even the hardest materials. The vorpal enhancement deals an additional x4 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) + 4d8 (vorpal damage) points of damage. A 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.
Caster Level: 18th; Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, keen edge, finger of death; Market Price: +5 bonus.

Here's a link to another thread on this site where it has already been briefly discussed, just in case you would like some more info or other opinions. Let me know what you peeps think.

 

[Crothian]

It is very much like a burst weapon and is worth a little less then +5, I think +3 or +2 is a bit better.

 

[kreynolds]

It is very much like a burst weapon and is worth a little less then +5, I think +3 or +2 is a bit better.

Even though it's force damage, and no creatures anywhere have any resistance or immunity to it, including Ghosts (though there is still the miss chance)? I figured that aspect alone would pretty much put it way up there. Also, I kept in mind that the bigger the weapon, the more damage it will deal. Whatdya' think?

 

[Crothian]

Right, but it only helps during a confirmed crit. It's a good utility weapon since it will help against anything, but unless the campaign is odd monster filled, I think a burst weapon would be better. They do the extra d6 on every strike and that is really good.

 

[kreynolds]

Right, but it only helps during a confirmed crit. It's a good utility weapon since it will help against anything, but unless the campaign is odd monster filled, I think a burst weapon would be better. They do the extra d6 on every strike and that is really good.

Also, keep in mind that I support the rules in that enhancements like these function on the complete/modified threat range of the weapon, not just the original. That's one of the reasons why I toned down vorpal so much, because of how I support these types of enhancements that function on critical hits.

 

[Crothian]

Also, keep in mind that I support the rules in that enhancements like these function on the complete/modified threat range of the weapon, not just the original. That's one of the reasons why I toned down vorpal so much, because of how I support these types of enhancements that function on critical hits.

I do the same, makes these enchantments worthwhile. Have you thought about making it work of the multiplier like burst weapons? have it deal 2d8 per multiplier. So x2 does 4d8, x3 does 6d8, and x4 does 8d8. That would be worth about +4 in my book. Granted, it's a little to like the burst weapons but everything's like something else.

 

[kreynolds]

I do the same, makes these enchantments worthwhile. Have you thought about making it work of the multiplier like burst weapons? have it deal 2d8 per multiplier. So x2 does 4d8, x3 does 6d8, and x4 does 8d8. That would be worth about +4 in my book. Granted, it's a little to like the burst weapons but everything's like something else.

I thought about that, but I still wanted to preserve the lethality of Vorpal. In the case of a longsword, +4d8 points of force damage may not be enough to instantly kill a tough creature, but it sure will hurt a hell of a lot.

Also, I stuck with the premise that the bigger the weapon, the more it'll hurt. For instance, a dagger can only deal so much damage (+4d4 vorpal damage), whereas a greatsword will deal far more (+8d6 vorpal damage). Then there is also the factor of monsters that possess such weapons. For example, there is a Balor in one of my campaigns that I beefed up, and he's now a Huge creature, so imagine how nasty his Huge Vorpal Greatsword is.

Just like Flaming Burst, it will deal the most damage on a Mercurial Greatsword (x4 crit) but you make a sacrifice because the weapon has a very small criti range (18-20 at best). However, on a dagger, Flaming Burst deals very little damage (x2 crit) but the threat range can be much higher (15-20), and the dagger can also be thrown. Then there's the Falchion, for when it has Flaming Burst, it will hurt well enough (again only a x2 crit), but with a maximum threat range of 12-20, my god can you deal some damage with that puppy! Like the burst enhancements, I wanted our Vorpal enhancement to balance itself out, no matter what weapon you placed it on, be it a shuriken or a scythe.

 

[Crothian]

That's cool, just offering my opinion on it. Have you hada chance to playtest it?

 

[kreynolds]

That's cool, just offering my opinion on it.

Hey, don't get me wrong. I really do value your opinion. I just wanted to communicate to you everything that I took into account, such as crit ranges, base weapon damage, keen, improved critical, my supported method of handling crit function weapon enhancements, etc. I just realized that I didn't include any of that in the original post. Whoops.

Actually, three minds are better than one (usually) so I'll bounce your +3 to +4 suggestion off of the other DM that helped me come up with this and see what he thinks.

Have you hada chance to playtest it?

A decent amount, yes. So far, it's shown its worth, as far as a +5 market price modifier is concerned. After all, you can harm ethereal creatures with it, chew through inanimate objects (full damage, not halved like elemental damage, except for sonic of course), and deal a boat load of damage to creatures immune to critical hits.

I won't, however, say that it's been playtested more than enough. As far as I'm concerned, it won't be fully playtested until I run into a problem with it.

 

[Crothian]

Ya the "just offering my opinion" line did seem a little defensive of me. Wasn't meant that way at all. It's just frustrating because I think you are on the right track here and I feel I'm close to a break through that's not forthcoming.

You are right about the usefulness of the ability. After hearing that I'm thinking this is a +3 or +4, but still not +5. My biggest arguement for lowering it from +5 is Wizards had their instant kill as +5 and your version is considerably weaker.