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Vorpal - A +5 bonus for an effect that occurs only on a natural roll of 20. An effect that insta-kills the target, no saving throw allowed.
I have never seen anybody play with this and if I ever got it, I would trade for something else, even if the something else was much weaker.
It can make an encounter end anti-climatically with a single lucky roll, especially if it was the first attack made (leaving a taste of disappointment in the other players' mouths).
It's a huge amount of investment for an effect that occurs infrequently.
There are many types of opponents that aren't killed by this.
I think it needs a make over.
Here are some possible changes;
1. Make keen property a prerequisite for Vorpal, making Vorpal act as a keen weapon.
2. Make Vorpal a +3 property that includes keen. Or maybe higher if a change includes any or all of the following. Intermediate properties could be created between keen and vorpal as well.
3. Vorpal automatically confirms a threat.
4. Vorpal deals maximum damage on a critical hit.
5. Vorpal ignores damage reduction and item hardness.
6. Vorpal includes piercing weapons (if current effect is changed to any of #1 - 5)Let the head rolling be when the enemy's hit points is dropped to automatic death amount. Let the DM describe the enemy's death in a cinematic fashion instead of a game mechanic doing so.
What do you guys think about this? Do you prefer Vorpal as is or do you want some changes that make sense?
Vorpal is one of those "Sacred Cows" that has yet to find it's way to it's final reward. Items that do hit location based damage in an abstract hit point based system do not work.
If it remains, I really like:
3. Vorpal automatically confirms a threat.
4. Vorpal deals maximum damage on a critical hi
Just my 2 cents
The orginal vorpal blade was a holy sword only a paladin could wield and decapitated whenever you rolled 2 over what was needed to hit. In pre-1e a paladin was justly feared. The current version is too weak for the price. Rather than keep the location based damage I would go with maximum critical damage on a confirm and as a nod to the past it auto confirms in the hand of a paladin.
Doug
all of these are great weapon features, but they are not vorpal. vorpal is you get your head cut off. turn it into a artifact ie only one in the world and call this other ability something else.
it's like you all are saying, "i don't like cats, i know, lets change them to another creature but continue to call them cats!"
that's my 4 cents, cuz there worth more than yours. ;)
Ideally I would like to see the vorpal ability go back to the full threat range of the weapon but I don't expect Jason to go that route. A paladin with Bless Weapon up having the feat Improved Critical (scimitar) would automatically decapitate on a roll of 15+ against evil opponents. Paladin players would love it. The downside is scimitars and falchions would be the vorpal weapon of choice.
Doug
Eric brings up a good idea, and moving this to a minor artifact makes some sense. That said, this is a pretty large sacred cow... I am just not sure if it is untouchable.
Thoughts.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
I like it as an artifact too, but I also don't see it as "One of a kind".
I would suggest moving it to the "Special Weapons" category.
Heck, at a +5 modifier, this already has to be a +6 weapon. That's epic, by the way, so not many people under level 20 are going to be carrying this around.
And +1 to hit and damage with a (less than) 5% chance to be really cool is awfully weak - until you roll that natural 20 and then confirm the critical hit.
The rest of the time, you're just fighting with a weak +1 weapon that is, really, so powerful it can only be rightfully wielded by an epic character.
No, I would probably make it something like a +3 weapon with the natural 20 rule, but then give the enemy a saving throw (REF DC 20) to avoid decapitation, and then file it under "Special Weapons" with a really high GP price.
I researched what "vorpal" actually means and the best I could find is that it was a word invented by Lewis Caroll for his poem "Jabberwocky" to describe a sword. It appears to simply mean "deadly" or "sharp".
I like the sword as it is, but if people think it needs to be changed, I don't want to see the decapitation part totally disappear. I remember as a kid that I thought getting a Vorpal Sword or a Sword of Sharpness was one of the coolest things in D&D.
For consideration:
1. It grants auto-confirmation of crits or it grants a bonus to confirmation rolls = to the weapon's enhancement bonus.
2. On a natural 20, in addition to confirmed damage from a crit, the victim must make a fort save at DC 20 + the weapon's enhancement bonus or lose it's head.
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I researched what "vorpal" actually means and the best I could find is that it was a word invented by Lewis Caroll for his poem "Jabberwocky" to describe a sword. It appears to simply mean "deadly" or "sharp".
I like the sword as it is, but if people think it needs to be changed, I don't want to see the decapitation part totally disappear. I remember as a kid that I thought getting a Vorpal Sword or a Sword of Sharpness was one of the coolest things in D&D.
For consideration:
1. It grants auto-confirmation of crits or it grants a bonus to confirmation rolls = to the weapon's enhancement bonus.
2. On a natural 20, in addition to confirmed damage from a crit, the victim must make a fort save at DC 20 + the weapon's enhancement bonus or lose it's head.
Vorpal weapons should also make a "snicker-snack" sound when they lop someone's head off.
...at least they do in my campaign.
"snicker-snack"... I'll have to remember that one.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Heck, at a +5 modifier, this already has to be a +6 weapon. That's epic, by the way, so not many people under level 20 are going to be carrying this around.
Correction:
A +6 enhancement bonus is epic.
A +6 *equivalent* is not.
Weapons up to +10 equivalent bonus are not epic, as long as the actual enhancement bonus is +5 or less.
I researched what "vorpal" actually means and the best I could find is that it was a word invented by Lewis Caroll for his poem "Jabberwocky" to describe a sword. It appears to simply mean "deadly" or "sharp".
this is true but the best story of "the vorpal sword" is in the great "Fables" in which the sword just cuts off heads. Everyone should read Fables, it's a great.
For consideration:
1. It grants auto-confirmation of crits or it grants a bonus to confirmation rolls = to the weapon's enhancement bonus.
2. On a natural 20, in addition to confirmed damage from a crit, the victim must make a fort save at DC 20 + the weapon's enhancement bonus or lose it's head.
not bad, or it could just be a artifact that if it hits the victim dies, with his head rolling on the floor, there are spells that sorta do the same thing, "save or die".
add a note that the weapon doesn't work on things without a head, or that continue functioning without a head. (though the head still comes off if the player hits)
have the weapon do no damage otherwise.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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Ideally I would like to see the vorpal ability go back to the full threat range of the weapon but I don't expect Jason to go that route. A paladin with Bless Weapon up having the feat Improved Critical (scimitar) would automatically decapitate on a roll of 15+ against evil opponents. Paladin players would love it. The downside is scimitars and falchions would be the vorpal weapon of choice.
Remember, bless weapon's auto-crit feature does not function on weapons with a power that affects their critical hits.
"This last effect does not apply to any weapon that already has a magical effect related to critical hits, such as a keen weapon or a vorpal sword."
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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I researched what "vorpal" actually means and the best I could find is that it was a word invented by Lewis Caroll for his poem "Jabberwocky" to describe a sword. It appears to simply mean "deadly" or "sharp".
It's absolutely from Jabberwocky. No one really knows what "vorpal" meant to Carroll (Jabberwocky is filled with such nonense words), the D&D power comes from the implication that the blade decapitated the beast: "One two! One two! And through and through the vorpal blade went snicker-snack / He left it dead, and with its head he went galumphing back".
Still have that poem memorized, 25 years after it was assigned...
I for one have only used a vorpal sword once in my 20+ years of gaming, and that was in a premade adventure featuring the Jabberwocky.
To me, as written, I think the weapon is largely unbalanced and even my players won't have anything to do with it. I think making it a minor artifact and allowing a Fortitude save to negate the decapitation is a good idea.
I've had a few vorpals in previous editions, none in 3rd. If your dice roll well, they can take out opponents just as well as most death effects. If not, then you've got a magic sword. Given a uniform distribution, you're a lot closer to the latter than the former. This brings to mind something. Since there have been so many 'fighters are weak' threads, a weapon like a vorpal blade could potentially help fix that problem, as it represents a one-shot means of negating a foe. Maybe the idea isn't to keep the vorpal blade, but let warriors actually do this themselves a little more often than 1 out of 20 rolls?
I like vorpal weapons. While my players will not get this ability added to their weapons (at a +5 modifier, it is too expensive and keen is more useful), none of them will part with one if the find it as treasure.
As an alternative to an auto kill, given that more creatures will be affected by criticals, why not change vorpal to sharpness (+5 mod.) and have it increase a weapon crit modifier by +1 (not crit range). A vorpal sword would be a specific weapon with both the keen and sharpness abilities (i.e., crit range of 17-20 with a x3 modifier)
Another option would be to use rules similar to the critical hit deck for the decapitation critical (auto critical and Fort save DC = damage or dead)
As a side note, I had a funny incident with a vorpal weapon once. A npc managed to behead a warforged PC in a game I ran. As constructs are unaffected, I ruled that the PC was blind, mute, and deaf until the cleric could reattach his head with a regenerate spell.
It was the only time in 3.5 that I saw a regenerate spell used to reattach anything.
I always thought it strange that they kept the Vorpal weapon but dropped its lesser version: the Sword of Sharpness - the one that had a chance to cut off a limb.
Not saying it needs to change, although it could.. just saying it's strange.
How about:
Sharpness:
-if you threaten you roll to confirm, if you hit roll normal crit damage with 1 increased multiplier (ie swords are x3, axes x4, scythes x5) If you roll in the threat range add 2 increases to modifier (ie swords x4, axes x5, etc)
Vorpal as sharpness but in addition
-if when you roll to confirm a threat you roll a further critical threat you may add 1 to the muliplier above as the sharpness bonus AND roll again to confirm; you may roll as many times as you keep getting a threat until you fail to threaten, each time adding 1 to the multiplier.
(ie vorpal scimitar threats (so will get x3 crit anyway) gets a threat (so goes to x4 and rolls again), gets a threat (so goes to x5 rolls again) misses, or hits but not threat so stops at x5)
-if you want to nod to the paladin affinity from 1st ed say that if the weapon is blessed it adds another multiplier automatically (i dont remeber this affinity- was it pre 1st ed?)
EDIT: sorry Quest-master I think this was your idea number 7- didnt read that far.
How about:
Sharpness:
-if you threaten you roll to confirm, if you hit roll normal crit damage with 1 increased multiplier (ie swords are x3, axes x4, scythes x5) If you roll in the threat range add 2 increases to modifier (ie swords x4, axes x5, etc)Vorpal as sharpness but in addition
-if when you roll to confirm a threat you roll a further critical threat you may add 1 to the muliplier above as the sharpness bonus AND roll again to confirm; you may roll as many times as you keep getting a threat until you fail to threaten, each time adding 1 to the multiplier.(ie vorpal scimitar threats (so will get x3 crit anyway) gets a threat (so goes to x4 and rolls again), gets a threat (so goes to x5 rolls again) misses, or hits but not threat so stops at x5)
-if you want to nod to the paladin affinity from 1st ed say that if the weapon is blessed it adds another multiplier automatically (i dont remeber this affinity- was it pre 1st ed?)
EDIT: sorry Quest-master I think this was your idea number 7- didnt read that far.
The problem with this solution is that it greatly favors weapons with a high threat range like scimitars and falchions. I say leave it as is, but give the victim a saving throw to avoid decapitation, just like an arrow of slaying.
I think Vorpal weapons are flavorful but two swingy and hitting only necks on critical hurts the verisimilitude. Every time a vorpal effect enters our game my players have cried blue murder. (Razor Boars cause fist fights IRL)
I would like to see Vorpal reflect an ability to slice arms and legs as well as heads (a randomly targeted extremity). This should balance it somewhat and distinguishing it from "Just another death effect"
Seems about time for me to shamelessly plug my own house rules on the subject:
Massive Damage and Vorpal Weapons.
The problem with this solution is that it greatly favors weapons with a high threat range like scimitars and falchions. I say leave it as is, but give the victim a saving throw to avoid decapitation, just like an arrow of slaying.How about:
Sharpness:
-if you threaten you roll to confirm, if you hit roll normal crit damage with 1 increased multiplier (ie swords are x3, axes x4, scythes x5) If you roll in the threat range add 2 increases to modifier (ie swords x4, axes x5, etc)Vorpal as sharpness but in addition
-if when you roll to confirm a threat you roll a further critical threat you may add 1 to the muliplier above as the sharpness bonus AND roll again to confirm; you may roll as many times as you keep getting a threat until you fail to threaten, each time adding 1 to the multiplier.(ie vorpal scimitar threats (so will get x3 crit anyway) gets a threat (so goes to x4 and rolls again), gets a threat (so goes to x5 rolls again) misses, or hits but not threat so stops at x5)
-if you want to nod to the paladin affinity from 1st ed say that if the weapon is blessed it adds another multiplier automatically (i dont remeber this affinity- was it pre 1st ed?)
EDIT: sorry Quest-master I think this was your idea number 7- didnt read that far.
yep, but I see those weapons as being more "razor sharp" which is how I see vorpal.
Funnily enough a corollary of the end of swords of sharpness (and rods of withering no longer making limbs useless) is that the regenerate spell is all but useless. I mean there are virtually no game effects that make you lose limbs. there are a couple of eye stealing beasties but thats about it.
It felt like in 1st edition every now and then someone would get their hand cut off by a trap or something and we would have to quest to find someone powerful enough to cast regenerate- now we just lose dex points, not the same.
On second thoughts I move away from just doing more hp's and back to- your head get cuts off- no save, bad luck (you should be high level anyway so you can come back)should have worn fortified armor... oh yeah and bring back swords of sharpness (we used to play you took damage equal to 25% of your max hp's if you lost a limb). Where are those 1 armed pirates?
The problem with this solution is that it greatly favors weapons with a high threat range like scimitars and falchions. I say leave it as is, but give the victim a saving throw to avoid decapitation, just like an arrow of slaying.How about:
Sharpness:
-if you threaten you roll to confirm, if you hit roll normal crit damage with 1 increased multiplier (ie swords are x3, axes x4, scythes x5) If you roll in the threat range add 2 increases to modifier (ie swords x4, axes x5, etc)Vorpal as sharpness but in addition
-if when you roll to confirm a threat you roll a further critical threat you may add 1 to the muliplier above as the sharpness bonus AND roll again to confirm; you may roll as many times as you keep getting a threat until you fail to threaten, each time adding 1 to the multiplier.(ie vorpal scimitar threats (so will get x3 crit anyway) gets a threat (so goes to x4 and rolls again), gets a threat (so goes to x5 rolls again) misses, or hits but not threat so stops at x5)
-if you want to nod to the paladin affinity from 1st ed say that if the weapon is blessed it adds another multiplier automatically (i dont remeber this affinity- was it pre 1st ed?)
EDIT: sorry Quest-master I think this was your idea number 7- didnt read that far.
yep, but I see those weapons as being more "razor sharp" which is how I see vorpal.
Funnily enough a corollary of the end of swords of sharpness (and rods of withering no longer making limbs useless) is that the regenerate spell is all but useless. I mean there are virtually no game effects that make you lose limbs. there are a couple of eye stealing beasties but thats about it.
It felt like in 1st edition every now and then someone would get their hand cut off by a trap or something and we would have to quest to find someone powerful enough to cast regenerate- now we just lose dex points, not the same.
On second thoughts I move away from just doing more hp's and back to- your head get...
The problem with limb loss is that there really isn't any system for it in D&D, and thus a whole set of new rules had to be written. Surely there would be skill penalties, bleeding effects or movement reduction as a result from a the loss of limbs. If the designers could come up with a quick and easy system for this it could be done, but may take up a to big a word count for a single magical item.
On a side note I use the excellent critical hit deck in my games,and some of the cards features limb loss.
I still think there should be a save against the vorpal effect even if it happens only 5% of the time. (You would be amazed at how often my players roll a natural 20.) I think no effect should be 100%, which is why I dislike heavy fortification armors and spells like mind blank and true seeing as well. Such effects turn the game into to much of a Rock, paper scissor type of game IMO.
funny enough i used a limb loosing chart to counter balance pc death rather that giving more hit points
if the pc where to die, i'd cut off a limb instead and leave them at -10. it made the pc's last longer, and added some elements in.
I've had a few vorpals in previous editions, none in 3rd. If your dice roll well, they can take out opponents just as well as most death effects. If not, then you've got a magic sword. Given a uniform distribution, you're a lot closer to the latter than the former. This brings to mind something. Since there have been so many 'fighters are weak' threads, a weapon like a vorpal blade could potentially help fix that problem, as it represents a one-shot means of negating a foe. Maybe the idea isn't to keep the vorpal blade, but let warriors actually do this themselves a little more often than 1 out of 20 rolls?
** spoiler omitted **
Not to rehash the old fighters are weak/not weak argument, I will stay neutral on that subject.
But if you do believe fighters are weak, I don't suggest that fixing the problem with a single magic item that is rare and hard to find and excruciatingly expensive and exluded from campaigns by many DMs because they are too cliche.
If fighters need fixing, then fix fighters. Or fix combat (so other melee types, like monks, can benefit too).
But don't slap a vorpal bandaid on the problem (if it exists).
(Was that adequately neutral?)
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funny enough i used a limb loosing chart to counter balance pc death rather that giving more hit points
if the pc where to die, i'd cut off a limb instead and leave them at -10. it made the pc's last longer, and added some elements in.
Like carrots and onions? Maybe some red wine if the ogres had it?
Sorry. The way you phrased it made me think of a big stew-pot. :)
I do not now, nor I have I ever, allowed Vorpal at my table. Beyond that fact that the mechanic makes alot of assumptions about what Lewis Carrol was saying, it is an expensive, swingy mechanic, the reintroduces all kinds of arguments over what dies when decapitated and what doesn't.
I say either nix it or move it to minor artifact (albiet one that can be harvested from Balors). But DON'T make it cheaper. The high cost helps keep it rare.
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I think vorpal should stay vorpal. If you want "vorpal lite" weapons, make them up and call them something else.
Agreed.
It tastes and moos like a sacred cow to me.
I do like the idea of bumping it upwards in rareness and giving it the ability to cut through anything though. A warrior with one of these in hand should be able to cross the throne room in a straight line through the palace guard, leaving a red mist of tumbling body-parts behind him.
Like carrots and onions? Maybe some red wine if the ogres had it? Sorry. The way you phrased it made me think of a big stew-pot. :)
yes, just like carrots and onions, though i like mead over red wine.
you should not be sorry for jokes.
Eric brings up a good idea, and moving this to a minor artifact makes some sense. That said, this is a pretty large sacred cow... I am just not sure if it is untouchable.
Thoughts.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing
I dont remember a pre 1e paladin with a holy only vorpal sword.
Seemed like in 1e everyone over 10th level had a vorpal sword.
Seems to me Adamantite sword is the new vorpal.
My figther found a +1 adamantite keen longsword in one of the Paizo adventures (cant remember which one it was, but seems to be it was hungry are the dead, D4)
IT IS AWESOME
A side from chopping heads off, its the old vorpal sword.
AS for what the new vorpal should do:
It should be automatically KEEN and Adamantite.
IT should NOT do AUTO KILLS
It should AUTO confirm criticals (example a keen vorpal scimitar would cause crits on a 15-20, thats HUGE)
Improved crit SHOULD stack with the vorpal keenness (letting you get auto crits on a 12-20)
It should have a mechanic for ciritcal sunders (if you wanted to say chop off a hydra head, and you had improved sunder, a vorpal should make this manuver even ebtter)
Vorpal weapons shuld be minor artifacts.
thats enough for me, but do drop the auto head chop/kill on a 20.
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It can make an encounter end anti-climatically with a single lucky roll, especially if it was the first attack made (leaving a taste of disappointment in the other players' mouths)....
Let the head rolling be when the enemy's hit points is dropped to automatic death amount. Let the DM describe the enemy's death in a cinematic fashion instead of a game mechanic doing so.
What do you guys think about this? Do you prefer Vorpal as is or do you want some changes that make sense?
A couple of thoughts occur:
When a particularly dangerous monster lost its head as the result of one of these swords, the reaction of my party was normally relief followed shortly by joy rather than disappointment.
Death is always the result of a game mechanic. The DM can make a one shot kill just as cinematic as any other.
Distilled down, this question keeps coming up in many contexts in many threads - should the game have one shot kills in it? Personally, I prefer my disintegrate to do just that, rather than it having a "Stop that it tickles, I've got a bucket of HPs" result. Likewise Vorpal should be suitably distinctive.
Ok, my request to Jason: pick up that sacred cow and run with it. Make the Vorpal sword something that will spell financial security for the adventuring bands dry-cleaner when seen in the hand of an enemy. Give the players a geek-gazm when they find one hidden under a dragons hoard. It should cut through anything and it should make body-parts fall off when used with skill and luck. There are some good ideas of how to do that here - I want to see something that does the magic swords of page and screen legend justice.
Oh, and sorry about the mixed cow-lugging metaphor.
Edit: Ninja'd by Pendagast who puts in a considered request for the other side of the coin.
Eric brings up a good idea, and moving this to a minor artifact makes some sense. That said, this is a pretty large sacred cow... I am just not sure if it is untouchable.
Thoughts.
Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo PublishingI dont remember a pre 1e paladin with a holy only vorpal sword.
Seemed like in 1e everyone over 10th level had a vorpal sword.
Seems to me Adamantite sword is the new vorpal.
My figther found a +1 adamantite keen longsword in one of the Paizo adventures (cant remember which one it was, but seems to be it was hungry are the dead, D4)
IT IS AWESOMEA side from chopping heads off, its the old vorpal sword.
AS for what the new vorpal should do:
It should be automatically KEEN and Adamantite.
IT should NOT do AUTO KILLS
It should AUTO confirm criticals (example a keen vorpal scimitar would cause crits on a 15-20, thats HUGE)
Improved crit SHOULD stack with the vorpal keenness (letting you get auto crits on a 12-20)
It should have a mechanic for ciritcal sunders (if you wanted to say chop off a hydra head, and you had improved sunder, a vorpal should make this manuver even ebtter)
Vorpal weapons shuld be minor artifacts.thats enough for me, but do drop the auto head chop/kill on a 20.
no
as a tip of the hat to the Greek myths
What Greek Myths are these? The Vorpal Sword is from Lewis Carrol's Jabberwocky.
I think vorpal should stay vorpal. If you want "vorpal lite" weapons, make them up and call them something else.
While I offered alternative rules, I admit that my preference is to keep the property as it is. I also would not mind seeing the 1e version of the sword of sharpness return. I want the regenerate spell to do more than heal a few hit points.
I want the regenerate spell to do more than heal a few hit points.
I can agree with your sentiment, but rules for severing body parts and called shots are not worth the effort. Especially when you add in the radically variable anatomies of various monsters.
** spoiler omitted **
Not to rehash the old fighters are weak/not weak argument, I will stay neutral on that subject.
But if you do believe fighters are weak, I don't suggest that fixing the problem with a single magic item that is rare and hard to find and excruciatingly expensive and exluded from campaigns by many DMs because they are too cliche.
If fighters need fixing, then fix fighters. Or fix combat (so other melee types, like monks, can benefit too).
But don't slap a vorpal bandaid on the problem (if it exists).
(Was that adequately neutral?)
I found it neutral. You're right about the fighter problem, it's been on my mind lately and I was giving a possible solution to the vorpal debate that coincided with it. Personally, I love the things but never see them; my DMs just haven't handed any out and we usually are on a timeclock to save the world so we can't enchant them.
Oh, and my vorpals always went "shing" on a C above high C.
Oh, and my vorpals always went "shing" on a C above high C.
Vorpal blades do not 'shing'. They go 'snicker snack'.
Leave it alone.
Just because YOU dislike the mechanic and concept does not invalidate the weapon. It's a +6 equivalent weapon at the minimum, and given the cash value of such a weapon, I can safely say there are many combinations of enchantment that are far more deadly statistically speaking than a vorpal blade. Most players will never voluntarily enchant the vorpal quality to a crafted weapon, and as such a DM would have to seed this item for it to really see any actual use.
Given the cash value of the weapon (72k) and the wealth guidelines (no more than 1/2 total value in a single item), we're looking at a minimum of 14th level (185k) for a character to reasonably expect to possess such a sword. At this level an average 1% chance of a confirmed critical hit (longsword 19-20 critical range, 2 in 20 squared equals 4 in 400) for a limited creature type death effect is not game breaking. Even if one assumes an improved critical or keen scimitar/kukri/falchion, our chance of a confirmed critical increase to only a 9% probability. Assuming a hasted full BAB character attacking, this means that with 9 times out of 100 swings, that it takes an average of 25 rounds worth of encounters before a character achieves a "kill" result with the weapon.
Whah.
A comparable value weapon crafted for a PC to their specs will always be a bigger threat. There's no need to push for this trait to be changed.
At this level an average 1% chance of a confirmed critical hit (longsword 19-20 critical range, 2 in 20 squared equals 4 in 400) for a limited creature type death effect is not game breaking.
You don't have to roll the 19 or 20 again to crit. You have to hit the target's AC. Assuming your fighter hits only half the time, that's a 10% chance for a crit with a vorpal longsword.
To Add...
1) It's fun to strive for certain magical items when playing this game. It's what the kid in us (or at least in me and my group) always talked about when playing in our younger days. The sword that every player who played a Paladin wished for (in my experience) was the Holy Avenger. Likewise Fighters and Barbarians should have a sword to strive for... the Vorpal Sword. It's fun to get cool things along the way when advancing in level that aren't part of your class abilities.
2) The Vorpal Sword, whatever it's final rendition is to be, (there are many good ideas here) should be powerful. I have no problem with a natural 20 lopping off the head of a foe, (with the victim getting a Fort save to resist ). I don't think it diminishes the fun of the game at all, If anything, it enhances it. The PCs will be using such a sword far more often than facing it, if it is in play, and I can picture them eagerly hoping to roll a 20 each time they get to swing it and hoping to confirm a crit. Rolling a 20 is ALWAYS a great experience for players, and this item reinforces those moments. It would only diminish the game if it was common (and here's hoping to what Jason hinted to in another thread about having commentary on the availability of magic in a campaign).
3) We still have the Mace of Disruption. Vorpal seems to be its equivalent for living creatures.
4) I don't think it should be an artifact, but I like the idea of it being on the specific items list along with the holy avenger, flametongue, and sun blade.
5) I don't want it to be strictly adamantine, but I can definitely see it having similar properties. (again, lots of good ideas here)
6) The decapitation quality helps speed up high level play! Ha.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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The problem with limb loss is that there really isn't any system for it in D&D, and thus a whole set of new rules had to be written. Surely there would be skill penalties, bleeding effects or movement reduction as a result from a the loss of limbs. If the designers could come up with a quick and easy system for this it could be done, but may take up a to big a word count for a single magical item.
On a side note I use the excellent critical hit deck in my games,and some of the cards features limb loss.
Actually several creatures could lose limbs in past editions, such as Trolls (on a nat 20).
This is a little off topic but the Regeneration rules still mention the loss of limbs and how creatures with Regen can reattach them. Maybe a few rules on limb loss should be in a sidebar somewhere for Keen and Vorpal weapons.
--JabberVrocky!
At this level an average 1% chance of a confirmed critical hit (longsword 19-20 critical range, 2 in 20 squared equals 4 in 400) for a limited creature type death effect is not game breaking.You don't have to roll the 19 or 20 again to crit. You have to hit the target's AC. Assuming your fighter hits only half the time, that's a 10% chance for a crit with a vorpal longsword.
True enough, I was assuming a high AC worst case scenario. If you assume a 19-20 for the crit and a 11+ (hitting half the time) for the confirmation, your actual probability increases to about 20 in 400, which is 1 in 20 or a 5% chance. With the keen falchion/kukri/scimitar we are looking at 60 in 400, which is a 15% probability.
This is not bad, but still requires an average of about 20 attacks to reliably get off; which at 14th level is going to be about 5 rounds worth of full attack to get off for the longsword and about 2-3 rounds worth of full attacks for the falchion/kukri/scimitar...
I still say at this level that save or die effects are not broken, particularly with the limitations of creature type and the ratio of actions needed for the average probable "kill" result. If you compare it to what a 14th level rogue, spell caster, or tailored-gear fighter is doing over these rounds, there's little outstanding with the expense and effort put into such an item.
*Edited with thanks to Ross for pointing out my brain fart on the math*