Immunity to Crits and losing vital parts (like head) question

[PrGo]

Howdy!

At the moment, I'm playing a wolverine/sabertooth like character that has fast healing 4 and immunity to critical hits due to the Warshaper PrC.

Now, the question is, what would happen if someone would cut off my character's head? The description of crit immunity says that he has the ability to save the vital organs from damage by using his shapechanging ability. But losing the head goes to DM's choice i guess.

What are your opinions?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Howdy!

At the moment, I'm playing a wolverine/sabertooth like character that has fast healing 4 and immunity to critical hits due to the Warshaper PrC.

Now, the question is, what would happen if someone would cut off my character's head? The description of crit immunity says that he has the ability to save the vital organs from damage by using his shapechanging ability. But losing the head goes to DM's choice i guess.

What are your opinions?

I assume you're talking about losing your head through Vorpal or similar? In that case, I'd say that you shift all vital things, like eyes, to your chest, while Fast Healing rebuilds your head. I'd also say that if your transformation runs out before you get your head back(by healing the damage done in the strike that removed it), you die.

Note that that is in no way RAW, just how I think would be reasonable to interpret it.

[VirOath]

Well, the real question is how is it coming off? With very few exceptions, losing your head kills you. Exceptions is pretty much those lacking a Con stat (Undead, constructs, elementals, oozes, and the like).

But, atleast for a time, Vorpal didn't work on things immune to crits. Including Heavy Fort.

And that's the problem. Crit immunity can be granted through magic items. So something fatal like getting your neck sundered would still kill you.

What Warshaper does is stops crits and stunning because that's trauma. It needs to find vital organs to hit. Warshapers spread out their organs, but they still breathe, they still need a head to live.

If you didn't have a Con Stat, then it would be another story. Immunity to death my decapitation is pretty much limited to not having a Con Stat. In my books, anyways. I'm not sure if this is supported completely by RAW.

[Alleine]

Technically, vorpal won't work on you. Immunity to crits makes you immune to vorpal as well, unless this section is attempting to be very misleading:

This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the heads of those it strikes. Upon a roll of natural 20 (followed by a successful roll to confirm the critical hit), the weapon severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. A vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon.

Emphasis mine. It requires a critical confirmation roll, and you can't be hit with a crit. So you're safe from vorpal. However you DM wants to work that is up to him, whether its just your head isn't cut off or regrowth like Sstoopidtallkid mentioned. Entirely up to him.

[Reaper_Monkey]

has fast healing 4 and immunity to critical hits due to the Warshaper PrC.

A creature with fast healing has the extraordinary ability to regain hit points at an exceptional rate. Except for what is noted here, fast healing is like natural healing.

Unlike regeneration, fast healing does not allow a creature to regrow or reattach lost body parts. Unless otherwise stated, it does not allow lost body parts to be reattached.

AS previously mentioned, as vorpal needs a crit to sever heads, your immune to crits so that wont cut your head off. However, with called shots (if your running with them) or stupid placement of head (guillotine or under a portcullis say) will still remove it, and still cause instant death as your head wont grow back. The same applies to loosing fingers, hands, arms and anything else external as the immunity to crits derives from reshaping your insides but not allowing full shapeshifting.

[olentu]

From the D&D SRD

"Magic Weapons and Critical Hits: Some weapon qualities and some specific weapons have an extra effect on a critical hit. This special effect functions against creatures not subject to critical hits, such as undead, elementals, and constructs. When fighting against such creatures, roll for critical hits as you would against humanoids or any other creature subject to critical hits. On a successful critical roll, apply the special effect, but do not multiply the weapon’s regular damage."

This is also found on the DMG Page 222.

[Talic]

Severed heads are not auto-kills on shapeshifters/regenerators, at least, not in many pop culture references.

Deadpool has survived a woodchipper in comics.

Sylar (Heroes) has ...

Spoiler

Show

moved internal organs so that his vulnerable spots are hidden.

Incidentally, the second example is the closest one I can think of for the above situation.

[Kaiyanwang]

Reading above, as a DM I'd rule in this way: if your head is severed, you fall unonscious until a new one regrows in an amount of round.

Maybe you can calculate the amount of round this way:

Damage inflicted by the vorpal weapon / your fast healing or regeneration rate.

Could this work?

[Killer Angel]

From the D&D SRD

"Magic Weapons and Critical Hits: Some weapon qualities and some specific weapons have an extra effect on a critical hit. This special effect functions against creatures not subject to critical hits, such as undead, elementals, and constructs. When fighting against such creatures, roll for critical hits as you would against humanoids or any other creature subject to critical hits. On a successful critical roll, apply the special effect, but do not multiply the weapon’s regular damage."

This is also found on the DMG Page 222.

This is confirmed by the VOrpal descriprtion:
This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the heads of those it strikes. Upon a roll of natural 20 (followed by a successful roll to confirm the critical hit), the weapon severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. A vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon.

Enphasis mine. Immunity to crit don't give immunity to head cutting.
I would say that a Vorpal (still, a very rare weapon) can kill our Warshaper PrC

[Zeful]

Now, the question is, what would happen if someone would cut off my character's head? The description of crit immunity says that he has the ability to save the vital organs from damage by using his shapechanging ability. But losing the head goes to DM's choice i guess.

What are your opinions?

You'd die. Fast healing isn't regeneration.

[oxybe]

think of it this way:

fast healing is the ability to heal wounds at a supernatural speed.

regeneration is your body making sure it's current shape is identical as the one in it's DNA.

so a body with fast healing that looses a limb will cause the stump to heal up but you'll still lose the limb. a body with regeneration will notice that the limb is missing and reconstruct it.

regeneration is basically "fast healing ++"