Vorpal: DMs, Players, Games, and Snicker-Snack

[Particle_Man]

Now if you used SWSE rules, where a natural 20 was a crit., no confirmation needed, then that might be something.

 

[Destil]

So, for everyone who's mentioned that it's not worth the cost, what would you price it at?

 

[Eltharon]

We had a 20th level goblin wizard with a vorpal dagger (yeah, i know its technically illegal...). Considering he was a wizard (and that the fighter could kill a balor in 2 combat rounds without taking any damage), it was used sparingly, and only decapitated a single mind flayer who my wizard would have vaporized next round anyway. No-one else has used one, and we've never played 20th level adventures again. The amount of powergaming one can do is amazing. the dwarf had DR17/-, resist all elements 30, a permenant death ward (the spell that prevents ANY instant death effect), and a ring of blink which he used constantly. Yes, his armour and weapon were ghost touch. He remains a legend among our group.

 

[anhar]

I've only had one situation where Vorpal weapons came into play, and it was in 3e.

we had a paladin, fighter, and wizard fighting an advanced, armored, hasted balor. it had a +3 Vorpal Sword rather than +1. we fought if for a while, every time it attacked physically, we would cringe. Finally, in the last round of combat, it decapitated the paladin, and then the fighter killed it.

So we raised the pally immediately with the help of a gated in solar. Then proceeded to go after the four NPC's who had summoned the balor.

after a bunch of stuff, we found them, and the paladin, using the Balor's vorpal blade, proceeded to take 3 heads in four attacks over the course of 2 rounds. The fourth NPC was held by the wizard, then hit with flensing, and eventually disintegrated.

it wasn't keen, and the pally didn't have improved critical. he just rolled 3 confirmed crits in 4 attacks.

I'd say the 3e version was worth the +5, and could even be highly overpowered with the right combination (power critical anyone?).

but in 3.5 I'd say it should be +4 or +3. But then again I think brilliant energy should be much lower, and wounding should be considerably higher, so what do I matter.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I don't like vorpal as it is. Stuff like that should not be in.

We changed it so a N20 Crit turns into a coup de crace, so you have at least some chance to survive it. (A character just did two weeks ago, with the required natural 20 on the save).

 

[Mouseferatu]

Crit = dead is not something I'd inflict on my players, unless they tried it first.

I'd use it if I had reasonable rules for limb loss. Hmm, now there's a thought.

What he said. I've been looking for ways to reduce instant death effects; why would I add another?

 

[Imruphel]

I haven't used vorpal weapons since my early teen 1E munchkin/Monty Haul days. I don't like instant death effects as several other posters have also commented.

 

[Warren Okuma]

They got nerfed in 3.5 and probably should not be worth a +5 bonus now. In 3.0, when it only took a critical hit and not a confirmed critical on a natural 20, they could really be something.

Ah, yes, back when fighters were fighters, and not merely a wall of nerfed meat.

 

[Crust]

I've handed out a vorpal weapon twice in my 11 years of regular DMing.

The first time was during our DL Classics campaign back in '97. My brother was playing Orson, a human berserker (inspired by Record of the Lodoss Wars, of course), and he claimed the vorpal two-hander in Fistandantilus' Skullcap fortress. He used it to behead Verminaard in Thorbardin and Sleet the white dragon at Icewall. Sadly, the campaign fizzled after Dragons of Dreams.

The second time was during our Githyanki Incursion/Return to the Tomb of Horrors campaign that had just slipped into epic levels. In the City of Moil, Rusk the barbarian destroyed the Moilian executioner construct and claimed its axe, a +3 keen vorpal greataxe later named "Executor." Rusk carried Executor through Moil, into Acererak's Fortress of Conclusion, and on to Tu'nurath, githyanki capital, where he used it to horrific effect. Vlaakith herself took notice of Rusk, cleaving a path of death at the head of a wedge of good-aligned crusaders, and she gated in a balor, tasking it to slay the iron-clad warrior with the axe. Rusk shrugged off the balor's implosions as it descended, the barbarian's allies fleeing in sheer terror. Rusk charged, meeting the balor in single combat, and in one blow swept off the demon's head. The resulting explosion didn't really hurt Rusk, btw, but I did have it knock him back several yards to crash amidst shattered and burnt githyanki bodies, a bit dazed and singed.

Vorpal weapons are awesome.

 

[Jhaelen]

Never used it, even in 1e.

ditto. I'd never even consider using vorpal weapons unless the critical hit zones were a standard part of the combat rules (e.g. as in Runequest).