Why was the Sword of Sharpenss removed in the 3.x rule set?

[Christian]

1-4: left leg (1d4 Dexterity drain, movement halved)
5-8: right leg (1d4 Dexterity drain, movement halved)
9-14: left arm (1d6 Dexterity drain, -2 circumstance penalty on any rolls involving hand use)
15-20: right arm (1d6 Dexterity drain, -2 circumstance penalty on any rolls involving hand use)

Obviously, the Black Knight in MPatHG had a very high Dexterity ...

 

[Drowbane]

Sword of Sharpness = Keen.

Sure Keen isn't nearly as powerful as the old Sharpness ability... but it is much easier to deal with as a DM.

 

[XO]

Broken?

The sword of sharpness (and its kindred the vorpal sword) has since 1st edition been a problematic object. No 1st edition DM I ever met of put one in the hands of a player. It's just too broken.

You now know one... And the game was fun... And this DM doesn't "break" so easy...

(Mumbling to himself "Sheesh... Young uns nowadays....")

Tiny afterthought: there really was nothing broken in 1e... Now, where 3e/3.5 is concerned, well, let's just say....

 

[Beckett]

And this is worse than a Vorpal weapon in what way?

Vorpal weapon is a death effect. Save or die. Sword of Sharpness doesn't kill you right off, it just cuts a limb off. What effect does that have? How much damage? It is no where near as neat and simple as a vorpal weapon.

 

[KarinsDad]

Maybe a better question is: Why were Vorpal (insta-kill) weapons left in the game?

 

[dagger]

You now know one... And the game was fun... And this DM doesn't "break" so easy...

(Mumbling to himself "Sheesh... Young uns nowadays....")

Tiny afterthought: there really was nothing broken in 1e... Now, where 3e/3.5 is concerned, well, let's just say....

I played in many different games in several states and those DM's never shied away from Vorpal or Sharpness weapons either. We had no balance problems either.

Losing a limb now and then can be fun.


Oh, we still use a Sword of Sharpness in 3.5.....

 

[monboesen]

I think you are looking for a level of realism that is not present in this particular game. As mentioned above, and mentioned elsewhere, there is very little realism as far as wounds go with this game.

Err....no. It is exactly what I do not look for. I am quite content with HP and abstractness.

IMO Swords of Sharpness (and Vorpal weapons) enforce a strange kind of pseudo realism back in the game where you have damage that bypass the HP system. That leaves anyone equally vulnerable to them, Lord Buff the 20th level fighter (HP 200+) and McCrappy the elderly 1st level commoner (HP 1) are both going to loose a limb to a critical hit. That is why I do not want those weapons back.

Loss of limbs (and heads) should, again IMO, be associated with negative HP.

 

[Darklone]

Maybe a better question is: Why were Vorpal (insta-kill) weapons left in the game?

Guess cause Raise dead mechanics are included in the game and pretty common in gameplay.

 

[Thurbane]

Even if they should somehow survive the terrible wound they sure as hell wont be able to fight on.

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