Vorpal Uber Weapons?!?

[jaelis]

FWIW, when I read it I assumed "die" meant each individual die, and it didn't even cross my mind to wonder if they really meant [W].

 

[Ingolf]

FWIW, when I read it I assumed "die" meant each individual die, and it didn't even cross my mind to wonder if they really meant [W].

There is no D&D rule, no matter how plainly and explicitly stated, that someone will not find a way to misinterpret.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Jabba, die is singular, always and forever, as soon as you roll more than one it becomes dice. It really is that simple, 100% of the time die refers to a singular object, doesn't matter what the breakdown of the weapon damage is.

PHB p219: "For example, a falchion (which has a damage die of 2d4) deals 8d4 damage when used with a power that deals 4[W] on a hit."

What is the damage die of a falchion? 2d4.

-Hyp.

 

[sukael]

And here I thought the big issue with vorpal weapons was that, on a crit, since the damage is automatically maximized (i.e. no rolls involved) you can't (by the RAW) get the vorpal effect to kick in, and thus have high odds of doing sigificantly less damage than a weapon that has a +xDy effect on a crit.

Except that vorpal weapons also deal +(bonus)d12 damage on a crit.

 

[beverson]

PHB p219: "For example, a falchion (which has a damage die of 2d4) deals 8d4 damage when used with a power that deals 4[W] on a hit."

What is the damage die of a falchion? 2d4.

-Hyp.

Hyp, why you gotta go and muddy the water like that?

That statement honestly seems to me to be a case of poor language choice by the writer. Anyone who's ever seen the "exploding die" mechanic in any RPG will tell you that it's clear the intent was for the vorpal to kick in on any single die rolling max.

But after the above quote, the only way we're going to know for sure is for the designers to chime in and let us know what they intended.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Considering that previous vorpal swords were insta-kill on criticals, this one is weaker. I can't see the problem here.

Exactly... a vorpal sword on any D&D game should be a near-artifact due to its sheer usefulness, and the 4E version delivers!

Everybody say it with me: Snicker-Snack!!

 

[Jabba Von Hutt]

PHB p219: "For example, a falchion (which has a damage die of 2d4) deals 8d4 damage when used with a power that deals 4[W] on a hit."

What is the damage die of a falchion? 2d4.

-Hyp.

Thank you Hypersmurf. I know this won't go far with people on the other side of the argument. But, at least I know I'm not completely senile with my reading.

 

[Terwox]

I'm not sure what your upset about these 2 powers? 1 gives you (+2) to hit. The other allows you 2 attacks against either 1 or 2 targets.

Anyway. Custserv already answered and said you can reroll the individual rolls on a 2d4 falchion roll. You can see this on the following link, which was also provided earlier.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1044906

Designer intent was pretty clearly to make it so that greatswords were no longer the "best" weapon, and there would be choices between weapons. Here is a reason to take a falchion. It is hardly the "best weapon in the game." Obviously not everything ends up mechanically equal, but nothing is largely out of line, given the 4W examples provided above. A vorpal falchion with gauntlets of destruction is nice, but it's nothing remotely comparable to a hulking hurler.

 

[Jabba Von Hutt]

Anyway. Custserv already answered and said you can reroll the individual rolls on a 2d4 falchion roll. You can see this on the following link, which was also provided earlier.

http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1044906

Designer intent was pretty clearly to make it so that greatswords were no longer the "best" weapon, and there would be choices between weapons. Here is a reason to take a falchion. It is hardly the "best weapon in the game." Obviously not everything ends up mechanically equal, but nothing is largely out of line, given the 4W examples provided above. A vorpal falchion with gauntlets of destruction is nice, but it's nothing remotely comparable to a hulking hurler.

I've already given my answer concerning the treatment of answers from custserv as gospel.

As too "Obviously not everything ends up mechanically equal, but nothing is largely out of line, given the 4W examples provided above." Well according Sceadeau above whose numbers appear correct, a weapon doing 2d4 somehow out performs a weapon doing 1d12 with the same enchantments whereas under normal circumstances it would be impossible to do so.

 

[DemonLord57]

I've already given my answer concerning the treatment of answers from custserv as gospel.

As too "Obviously not everything ends up mechanically equal, but nothing is largely out of line, given the 4W examples provided above." Well according Sceadeau above whose numbers appear correct, a weapon doing 2d4 somehow out performs a weapon doing 1d12 with the same enchantments whereas under normal circumstances it would be impossible to do so.

And what is wrong with that. Again, wasn't it the intent of the designers to make it so that the clear progression of quality of weapons isn't actually so clear? And besides that, this is rather focused on getting maximum worth out of that 2d4, and requires a 30th level item. I don't see any reason to say, "no, 2d4 weapons should be worse than 1d12 weapons."