Vorpal Weapons and Coup De Grace

[Draxus the Tainted]

If a weapon is vorpal, and you coup de grace someone with them, is it an instant kill? Since a coup de grace counts as an automatic critical and with vorpal wouldn't it cut their head off?

 

[gfunk]

Well, assuming it can't survive the loss of its head, it's dead.

 

[Crothian]

Sounds fair enough to me.

 

[kreynolds]

I have to disagree... What am I saying!?! He's dead, Jim!!!

 

[Gromm]

Dead as a doornail.

 

[Mark]

Can't get much deader than that, I'd say!

 

[Joker]

I say he gets a save .

 

[Vaxalon]

Either a fortitude save, DC 50, or a will save, DC 55.

 

[kreynolds]

Either a fortitude save, DC 50, or a will save, DC 55.

I'll make a deal with you. Since a vorpal weapon kills you on a critical hit, then it technically deals an infinite amount of damage to kill anything it hits. So, if someone coup de graces you with a vorpal weapon, you can make a save. If you roll a nat20, which is an automatic success, I'll let you keep your head, but you're still dead.

 

[Mal Malenkirk]

Not that it matters a lot in most case.

Even a great wyrm, should it become helpless by a fluke of fate, would most likely be unable to make his save against a coup de grâce inflicted by a PC of appropriate level to afford a 200,000 GP weapon.