Vorpal: DMs, Players, Games, and Snicker-Snack

[Solarious]

I've always wondered, how much milage the Vorpal enchantment actually gets, in games and otherwise. It's an unreliable enchantment, which few people seriously consider using, compared to the cost of actually getting it. On one hand, you instantly kill most of the opposition on a natural 20, strings attached only if your opponent doesn't need a head. On the other hand, how many times do people roll a 20 in the course of a game when you really needed it? And it has a +5 modifier, which is pricey even when you hit Epic levels.

Have DMs ever used it before outside of Balors and Solars? Does anyone have funny stories about the multitude of 20s one has rolled with a Vorpal weapon, or lack thereof? Does it have practical purpose in DnD, or is it an untouchable sacred cow? Should it stay a sacred cow? How many evil PCs have fallen before the +5 Dancing Vorpal Greatswords of the Solars, or more likely, how many PCs have suddenly been seeking Lewis Carroll's last famous work at the end of a Balor's +1 large Vorpal Longsword? What would you change about the great Decapitiator of weapons?

Go!

 

[Bryon_Soulweaver]

A +1 Vorpal Bladed Gauntlet is pretty handy, with a 17-20/x2 crit. Sure, it only does 1d6 damage, but if you add the Keen enchantment or Improved Critical feat, 13-20/x2 isn't all that bad.


EDIT:

 

[Frostmarrow]

I have actually handed out vorpal longswords to two of my players in my Eberron-game. The idea is that the Lord of Blades will come looking for his swords later on. (I have no idea if LoB indeed owns such weapons but in my campaign he does.)

The swords have been of no extra use whatsoever despite having chopped off a fair amount of heads. The only point it could have made a difference was when they were up against a mummy. The mummy's head got chopped off but I ruled he picked it up with his hand and bashed the culprit with it.

I don't even think the players have caught on that they actually have vorpal swords (if they did my guess is they would pawn them.)

To sum up: vorpal swords are cool; but not very good (worth about +1).

 

[Particle_Man]

They got nerfed in 3.5 and probably should not be worth a +5 bonus now. In 3.0, when it only took a critical hit and not a confirmed critical on a natural 20, they could really be something.

 

[humble minion]

A vorpal sword was VERY worth it in our 3.0 campaigns.

There was a scripted encounter, in which the 10th-level party would be ambushed by a 20th-level assassin and only saved by deific intervention, at which time he could infodump about the central eeevil plot. The best-laid plans of mice and overworked GMs though - with an amazing sequence of rolls, the monk disarmed the assassin using his Cloak of Battle, picked up the dropped vorpal sword, and then promptly rolled 20 on his next attack, then another 20 to confirm the critical. Assassin's head bounces away, wearing a surprised expression.

We were the richest 10th-level party in the history of anything. My shadowdancer wore that assassin's armour all the way though to 20th level. His OFF-HAND weapon was a +5 speed wounding shortsword, if i remember right. The GM had to bring in the assassin's boss so the bemused deity had someone to save us from...

 

[robberbaron]

Never used it, even in 1e.
Crit = dead is not something I'd inflict on my players, unless they tried it first.

I'd use it if I had reasonable rules for limb loss. Hmm, now there's a thought.

Oh, and scripted encounters never go as intended, specifically because they are scripted and you can trust the players to learn their lines.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I haven't used one since 2Ed, and in that era, you needed a Nat 20.

However, I had a PC- a human female Ftr/Cleric devoted to Tyr- who was statistically off the charts in the number of those she rolled. Her 2 weapons were a Vorpal Longsword and a Mace of Disruption.

She "ruined" encounter after encounter with her quick kills, including the second most unlikely series of rolls I've ever personally done: on a demiplane devoted to Evil, she used the Mace of Disruption on a Lich. Due to the nature of the plane, a Nat 20 was required to even activate the enchantment, but that's what I rolled. Due to the nature of the plane, a Nat 20 was required to even affect the Lich, but that's what I rolled. Due to the nature of the plane, a Nat 20 was required to confirm the activation, but that's what I rolled. A Nat 20 was required to destroy the Lich- otherwise it would shrug off the effect- but that's what I rolled.

I told the DM that it was so unlikely a series of events that her god Tyr should take personal notice of the event. He said I'd need to roll a 100 on the percentile dice, and that's what I rolled.

Tyr popped up, granted her a Fighter level, then dissapeared.

It was extra cool because that pushed her into the realm of gaining an extra attack...which just gave her more opportunity to roll more Nat 20s.

However, like I said, that PC was a statistical anomaly to start off with.

Still, if I converted her to 3.5Ed, I wouldn't change her weaponry to anything else...at least, not enchantment-wise. I might change the weapons themselves...perhaps a Bastard Sword & Maul instead of a Longsword & Mace.

Just for the record, I've been on the flip side of this too: a player in my last 3.5 campaign ran a Paladin who was her spiritual twin. While she didn't get any of her weaponry enchanted, she routinely rolled critical threats and confirmed most of them. Good thing, too, since attack rolls below 7 were not uncommon from her compatriots...

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

In the early campaigns I was in, vorpal swords were more terrifying, and I adapted the terror to my home setting.

It required a 20 to sever, but that counted only the sword's bonus of +3.
Gauntlets of Ogre Power would have reduced the needed number to 17.
A Bless and a Prayer together would have further reduced the needed number to 15.

A 7th level fighter gained 3 attacks per 2 rounds. A Haste made that 3 attacks per round (per hand.)

Thus, a 7th level fighter with the items above and a +3 Vorpal Sword (a +5 Vorpal Sword would mean only a 13 was needed) would have 3 chances in the round to behead you, along with striking at you with his off hand weapon three times more.



-

I would still put my bets on a 7th level Lidda. Said fighter wouldn't have a chance.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

For me the Vorpal weapons stay off the plate. Simply because I don't want to deal with the player who has issues with the one-shot loss of a character.


However, I have allowed it in play back in 2e days...for pure sillyness. I was running my 'So you want to slay a dragon' adventure for the 3rd time or so... a game whose intent it is to show why dragons don't get slain by adventuring parties*.. and my buddy joined up for the fun of it. He played a Half-Ogre Barbarian carrying a Vorpal Club.

That was the first group to actually make it into melee combat with the dragon, and the Barbarian lasted 5 rounds going toe to toe. Each attack made me cringe!

But it was not to be, the Half-Ogre was felled by the dragon..and my buddy decided to roll the dice just to see what he would get.... Nat 20
One round too late.... The rest of the group didn't last much longer



{* before any derailment occurs, the premise of the game is that any non-epic, legal group of characters can only slay a properly run mature dragon through pure luck. I have run the game 6 times so far, each time starting with some player who thinks otherwize. All dice rolls are open table and my notes are avaliable after the fact to show I didn't change the story on them. The sad part is that many of the characters don't even make it through the first part of the dragon's lair. Its all about using the players expectations against them.
I do have to rewrite for 3.5 sometime... }

 

[Holy Bovine]

No one in my groups think it is worth the +5 cost. i don't either for that matter. Never used one and probably never will.