Noob questions. Vorpal and Sharpness

[Zentermi]

Hey folks.

I have a question about those two.

I know both are keen, and that doubles critical range... but does one need to roll again for the sever? I know you have to for the crit damage but wasn't sure about the effect.

 

[Zappo]

First of all, welcome to the boards.

Secondly, there is a Rules forum; you can usually get faster and more accurate answers about rules there.

Thirdly, neither of them are automatically keen, though a sword *can* be keen and vorpal (totalling a +6 enchantment, +7 with the obligatory +1 enhancement bonus, though - not something you find at Walmart). In any case, the vorpal kills on a critical, and a roll of 20 isn't a critical unless it's confirmed. So yes, you need to roll again.

 

[Zentermi]

1. Thank you for the welcome.

2. I didn't realize that a question like mine didn't belong on this one. I figured it would either go on this one or D&D Rules. Guess I made a bad call.

3. Since the creation of a Vorpal weapon require:
Caster 18th level, Craft Magic Arms/Armor, keen edge and Death Spell, I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that that would bestow the 'keen' quality upon the weapon.

4. Since there is no mention of Swords of Sharpness in 3E PHB... I likened it to Vorpal, but not with an automatic kill(limb sever).

Reading the description of Vorpal once again though... "Upon a successful critical hit..." does strongly imply that threat and confirmation need to be rolled.

Thanks fer yer input. I will try to place my posts more carefully in the future.

 

[Destil]

Monte Cook's magic item FAQ is good reading on the topic of this sort of thing:

http://www.montecook.com/arch_dmonly3.html

In general, the prerequesit spells don't have anything to do with a magic item's function. Unless the spell is a spell trigger or completion item, you can ignore the spells description and simply rely on the description of the item. (Which may refrence a spell)

 

[Dr. Zoom]

Hey folks.

I have a question about those two.

I know both are keen, and that doubles critical range... but does one need to roll again for the sever? I know you have to for the crit damage but wasn't sure about the effect.

There is no sword of sharpness in core D&D 3e. Vorpal requires a critical hit for it to sever the head, so yes it requires the initial crit roll, then the confirmation roll. Vorpal weapons are not keen by virtue of the prerequisite spell. You may add the keen quality to the weapon, of course.