comrade raoul
Explorer
This is a new fix for vorpal weapons, which lots of people seem to have problems with (and for good reasons): anything vulnerable to critical hits will die instantly upon being struck by a vorpal weapon, with no real means of protection. Keen vorpal scimitars and the like can reliably destroy game balance.
My solution is to allow vorpal weapons to deliver critical hits that cause greatly increased -- potentially unlimited -- damage. A critical hit with a vorpal weapon will really hurt, but might not kill you, especially if you've got a lot of hit points.
The details: Vorpal weapons don't instantly kill an opponent, but cause "exploding" damage on critical hits. That is, when a vorpal weapon threatens a critical hit, roll two dice to confirm. If either die succeeds, it allows the attacker to roll the additional dice of damage he normally would upon scoring a critical hit (it allows the attacker to roll damage one, two, or three additional times, depending on his weapon's critical hit multiplier). If either die threatens a critical, it allows the attacker to roll two more dice to confirm, each which can explode as normal.
For example, the dwarf fighter Tordek is wielding a vorpal +3 battleaxe, and has Improved Critical (battleaxe). He rolls a natural 20, threatening a critical, and rolls two dice, getting a 14 (which confirms) and a 19 (which also confirms, and threatens another critical). Thanks to the 19, he then rolls twice, more getting a 12 (which also confirms) and a 4 (which doesn't). He's confirmed three threats, each of which allows him to roll two additional dice of damage (his axe has an x3 multiplier), so he rolls damage a total of seven times, and adds the results.
On the other hand, the drow fighter/ranger Drysd is wielding a keen vorpal +4 scimitar (he's got another scimitar in his off-hand, but that's neither here nor there). He rolls a 13, threatening a critical, and also rolls two dice, getting a 15 and a 19. Both threaten, so he rolls four dice (two for each threat), getting an 11, 6, 17, and 9. All results except for the 6 confirm, and the 17 is another threat, so Drysd, thanking his goddess My'licky for his good fortune, rolls twice more, getting a 3 and a 10 (the latter of which confirms). He's confirmed seven threats, each of which allows him to roll one additional die of damage (his sword has an x2 multiplier), so he rolls damage a total of eight times, and adds the results.
My solution is to allow vorpal weapons to deliver critical hits that cause greatly increased -- potentially unlimited -- damage. A critical hit with a vorpal weapon will really hurt, but might not kill you, especially if you've got a lot of hit points.
The details: Vorpal weapons don't instantly kill an opponent, but cause "exploding" damage on critical hits. That is, when a vorpal weapon threatens a critical hit, roll two dice to confirm. If either die succeeds, it allows the attacker to roll the additional dice of damage he normally would upon scoring a critical hit (it allows the attacker to roll damage one, two, or three additional times, depending on his weapon's critical hit multiplier). If either die threatens a critical, it allows the attacker to roll two more dice to confirm, each which can explode as normal.
For example, the dwarf fighter Tordek is wielding a vorpal +3 battleaxe, and has Improved Critical (battleaxe). He rolls a natural 20, threatening a critical, and rolls two dice, getting a 14 (which confirms) and a 19 (which also confirms, and threatens another critical). Thanks to the 19, he then rolls twice, more getting a 12 (which also confirms) and a 4 (which doesn't). He's confirmed three threats, each of which allows him to roll two additional dice of damage (his axe has an x3 multiplier), so he rolls damage a total of seven times, and adds the results.
On the other hand, the drow fighter/ranger Drysd is wielding a keen vorpal +4 scimitar (he's got another scimitar in his off-hand, but that's neither here nor there). He rolls a 13, threatening a critical, and also rolls two dice, getting a 15 and a 19. Both threaten, so he rolls four dice (two for each threat), getting an 11, 6, 17, and 9. All results except for the 6 confirm, and the 17 is another threat, so Drysd, thanking his goddess My'licky for his good fortune, rolls twice more, getting a 3 and a 10 (the latter of which confirms). He's confirmed seven threats, each of which allows him to roll one additional die of damage (his sword has an x2 multiplier), so he rolls damage a total of eight times, and adds the results.
