Vorpal weapons?

[Deadguy]

There's something about the instakill nature of the Vorpal blade that just doesn't sit right with me. I wondered if others have felt similarly, and if so how did you change the enhancement?

 

[Dark Dragon]

Hmm, I used our AD&D house rules (more out of forgetting the D&D rules for vorpal blades... But it saved our cleric when he dared to stand alone against a balor and lost his shield arm (including his +3 shield...) as he got hit with a 20 ). We have a table for hits with a 20, which I'm using also for vorpal weapons.

Roll d10: 1, 2: arms (1: right, 2: left); 3, 4: legs (3: right, 4: left); 5, 6: abdomen; 7, 8: thorax; 9, 0: head.

*scratch* Not sure if that's 100% right, anyway...

A hit with a vorpal blade at abdomen, thorax or head is deadly in most cases but for the other cases it's nort necessarily an instakill.

 

[VirtualWizard]

Vorpal weapons are a bit too nasty for any one to use. I don't favor instant kill weapons or spells for that matter. Where's the save? So, you might try one of these suggestions.

1) When critically hit with a vorpal weapon, the victim gets a Fort. save vs. 20 + the weapon enhancement bonus. A failed save results in beheading; a successful save is a normal critical hit. This option gives a chance of avoiding death.

2) A vorpal weapon inflicts more damage. Add one extra die of the same type the weapon uses for damage. This extra die will be multiplied in the case of a critical hit. This option focuses on the extra sharp nature of a vorpal weapon.

3) A vorpal weapon has a increased critical multiplier. Increase the multiplier by 1 or 2. Very devastating critical hits! This option focuses on the devasting nature of a head hit without neccessarily being instant death.

Just some suggestions

 

[kreynolds]

There's something about the instakill nature of the Vorpal blade that just doesn't sit right with me. I wondered if others have felt similarly, and if so how did you change the enhancement?

You can find my version of Vorpal here. Also, it's little brother Sharpness is there as well. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Deadguy]

Re: Re: Vorpal weapons?

You can find my version of Vorpal here. Also, it's little brother Sharpness is there as well. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for digging that out for me. I will talk some of these ideas over with my players and see what they feel too.

 

[Kinomen Dragoon]

In my opion vorpral is a key element. Say you were fighting a hell wyrum. Would you use a regular magic sword and beat the out of him? Or would you go up to him witha a keen vorpalr scimatar and kill it first round. Thats why vorpal weapons kick ass.

 

[Deadguy]

In my opion vorpral is a key element. Say you were fighting a hell wyrum. Would you use a regular magic sword and beat the out of him? Or would you go up to him witha a keen vorpalr scimatar and kill it first round. Thats why vorpal weapons kick ass.

I know what you mean, KD - the chance kill like that is very impressive .

The unpleasant part is the reverse situation - when the Death Knight with the keen vorpal greatsword tops the party Fighter 16 in a single blow! My players and I invest a lot into our characters, and a sudden death against which there's no defence can really spoil things. And I have a hard time denying smart, well-equipped NPCs the use of an item that is, as you say, an extremely good tool against powerful foes (the PCs).

 

[Alariel]

Heh, we have an unwritten understanding amongst my gaming group: the DMs won't pull out the vorpal weapons as long as the PCs don't use them either. This comes into play mostly when we're creating higher level characters with starting monies.

Another thing we used to use was the Player's Option critical charts from 2nd edition. In the case of a vorpal weapon, it wasn't an automatic beheading. Any critical hit would automatically be considered to the head, but the severity of the critical would be modified by the enhancement bonus of the vorpal weapon, so it wasn't necessarily a beheading every time.

 

[Trocar]

a sudden death against which there's no defence can really spoil things. And I have a hard time denying smart, well-equipped NPCs the use of an item that is, as you say, an extremely good tool against powerful foes (the PCs).

I agree with both of you. Vorpality. Cool and deadly. In the upcoming Doorway Games release, entitled, "The Executioner's Blade," (due out soon for release in PDF, via RPGnow) we deal with that issue in the following manner:

Versus monsters of any size without melee weaponry, or large creatures and above, the successful vorpal attack slices the head right off. For creatures of such size the length of the sword would never be able to sever it, there is a sudden burst of energy which extends the blade's cutting edge to needed length (just like magical armor resizes).

For creatures which engage in humanoid-like combat, using melee weapons, or the equiv, such as monk attacks and defenses, the vorpal blade must have two successful attacks in a row to result in a successful vorpal attack. Prior to this, the DM is encouraged to either instruct the players that the blade appears very sharp, or else have them roll spot checks under less than well lit, or chaotic conditions.

This adds drama and adds purpose to the DMs placement of NPCs with Vorpal blades. The NPC engaging the party with a threateningly sharp blade is more likely tp be protecting something, or blocking progress towards a goal, which adds a sense of dilemma and causes the players to engage with care - adding texture to the ensuing fight. Hit once, they may want to back away lest the next blow nail them. Add multiple attacks in a round to this and the Vorpal blade can still be a very mean attack!

 

[Plane Sailing]

There's something about the instakill nature of the Vorpal blade that just doesn't sit right with me. I wondered if others have felt similarly, and if so how did you change the enhancement?

My change: Vorpal gives the weapon a flat x6 crit multiplier.

(yep, vorpal swords get more benefit than vorpal axes. I don't care!)

Cheers