Off With Their Head!(3.pf pcr, peach)

[Quiddle]

The Vorpal Warrior

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"The Jabberwocky fears my name for he knows it as death." Alice, the Vorpal Warrior
Prerequisites
To qualify to become a Vorpal Warrior, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Skills: Kn(the planes) 5 ranks
BaB: +5
Feats:Weapon focus (any slashing weapon)
Special: Must have killed a creature of an appropriate challenge with a critical hit.


Hit Die: D10
Class Skills: The Vorpal Warrior's class skills are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Knowledge (engineering) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special

1st|+1|+2|+0|+2|Force Wave Slash, Blade of Infinite Edge

2nd|+2|+3|+0|+3|Cleaver of Fragmentation

3rd|+3|+3|+1|+3|Bonus Feat, Cut the Air

4th|+4|+4|+1|+4|Unstoppable Force

5th|+5|+4|+1|+4|Spacetime Rending Strike (Dimension Door)

6th|+6|+5|+2|+5|Unceasing Blood Fountain, Bonus Feat

7th|+7|+5|+2|+5|Spacetime Rending Strike (Plane Shift)

8th|+8|+6|+2|+6|Swordsman of Incredible Luck

9th|+9|+6|+3|+6|The Heads Will Roll, Bonus Feat

10th|+10|+7|+3|+7|Snicker Snack
[/table]

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Vorpal Warrior.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Vorpal Warrior is proficient with all slashing weapons, light and medium armor, and all shields(excluding tower shields).

Blade of Infinite Edge(Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a Vorpal Warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, upon a roll of natural 19 or higher, she can decapitate a foe with it.

Force Wave Slash(Su): A Vorpal Warrior may take a penalty on a attack roll to increase the reach of any slashing melee weapon she wields for that attack. She gains +5ft reach / -1 penalty, but she may not take a penalty greater than -5 for this ability. The damage her weapon normally inflicts becomes force damage instead of slashing damage. A successful Fortitude save (DC is 10 + 1/2 the vorpal warrior's HD + Cha modifier) halves the damage.

Cleaver of Fragmentation(Ex): A Vorpal Warrior can score critical hits against targets who are immune to precision damage. While wielding a weapon with the vorpal quality a Vorpal Warrior deal double damage for the purpose of sundering.

Cut the air(Ex): Instead of making a reflex save a Vorpal Warrior can choose to make an attack roll with a slashing weapon and use the result instead. If a Vorpal Warrior makes a reflex save this way she avoids the effect as if she had evasion.(This would manifest as slashing a fireball away or jamming a sword into a wall before falling through a pit.)

Bonus Feat(Ex): Starting at 3rd level and every 3 levels after a Vorpal Warrior gains one bonus Fighter Feat that she qualifies for. A Vorpal Warrior also gains a bonus to her effective fighter level equal to half her levels in Vorpal Warrior for the purpose of qualifying for fighter feats.

Unstoppable Force(Ex): At 4th level a Vorpal Warrior gains the ability to cut through anything that stands in her way, ignoring all hardness and DR (besides DR/epic) while wielding a slashing weapon.

Space-time Rending Strike (Ex): At 5th level as a standard action while wielding a weapon with the vorpal quality, a Vorpal Warrior can instantly transport herself from her current location to any other spot within a range of 400 feet plus 40 feet per HD. This teleportation leaves behind a tear in the fabric of existence until the Vorpal Warrior's next turn, allowing others to follow her through the rift and appear in the closest unoccupied space. The rift can be as large as one size category than the Vorpal Warrior using this ability. The spaces where the Vorpal Warrior teleported to and from count as being adjacent, having line of sight and effect. In addition, creatures at the other end of the rift may choose to teleport in the opposite direction and end on the closest unoccupied space that was previously vacated by the Vorpal Warrior.

At 7th level, a Vorpal Warrior can use this ability to reach a different plane of existence or alternate dimension. She appears 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from her intended destination unless her destination is one which she has been within the past 24 hours.

Unceasing Blood Fountain: The critical multiplier of and slashing weapon wielded by a Vorpal Warrior is increased by one.

Swordsman of Incredible Luck(Ex): Upon reaching level 8, if a Vorpal Warrior fails to confirm a hit that would cause a decapitation she still scores a critical hit on that attack.

The Heads Will Roll(Ex): At ninth level, upon a roll of natural 18 or higher, a Vorpal Warrior may decapitate a foe when using any vorpal weapon.

Snicker Snack(Su): In the hands of a Vorpal Warrior any slashing weapon gains the vorpal quality. If the weapon would gain or already has the the vorpal quality then this ability grants the weapon the keen and speed enchantments instead.



Well thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. I would appreciate criticism, comments, and just thoughts in general.

[anacalgion]

PEACH time.

Prerequisites
To qualify to become a Vorpal Warrior, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Skills: Kn(the planes) 5 ranks
BaB: +5
Special: Must have killed a creature of an appropriate challenge with a critical hit.

Maybe add weapon focus with any slashing weapon?

Hit Die: D10
Class Skills: The Vorpal Warrior's class skills are Acrobatics(Dex), Climb (Str), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (the planes), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier

You need to add profession and craft, and a few other skills (ride, survival) that are on the fighter list wouldn't hurt either.

Blade of Infinite Edge(Ex): For rounds equal to her base attack bonus per day a Vorpal Warrior can grant any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If a weapon that she wields during this effect has the vorpal quality from another source she can decapitate on the next highest number. These rounds can be started or stopped as a free action but must be used in minimum of one round increments.

Alright. Basically the class's bread and butter, even if its mostly situational.

Force Wave Slash(Su): By imposing a penalty up to -5 on her next attack roll a Vorpal Warrior may increase the range which she can make her next attack by 5ft for every -1 she imposes on herself.

I think what you're trying to say is "A Vorpal Warrior may take a penalty on attack rolls to attack at a range at a rate of -1 to 5 ft of range. The Vorpal Warrior may not take a penalty greater than -5 for this ability." Something like that.

Cleaver of Fragmentation(Ex): A Vorpal Warrior can score critical hits against targets who are immune to precision damage. While wielding a weapon with the vorpal quality a Vorpal Warrior deal double damage for the purpose of sundering.

This is good. You should maybe add something about killing creatures that can survive without a head, or you end up decapitating monsters and accomplishing nothing.

Cut the air(Ex): Instead of making a reflex save a Vorpal Warrior can choose to make an attack roll with a slashing weapon and use the result instead. If a Vorpal Warrior makes a reflex save this way she avoids the effect as if she had evasion.(This would manifest as slashing a fireball away or jamming a sword into a wall before falling through a pit.)

Very cool, though you might want to put some sort of limit on it. Maybe have it burn a round of Vorpal?

Bonus Feat(Ex): Starting at 3rd level and every 3 levels after a Vorpal Warrior gains one bonus Fighter Feat the she qualifies for.

Nice, although you might want to say that you can add 1/2 your Vorpal Warrior levels to your effective fighter level, to let them get to better feats.

Unstoppable Force(Ex): At 4th level a Vorpal Warrior gains the ability to cut through anything that stands in her way, ignoring all hardness and DR while wielding a slashing weapon.

Except DR/Epic? Might be worth adding that.

Spacetime Rending Strike(Ex): By slashing through the very fabric of space a Vorpal Warrior can travel directly to her desired destination, skipping the area in between. Starting at 5th level as a standard action while wielding a weapon with the vorpal quality a Vorpal Warrior can instantly transfer herself from her current location to any other spot within a range of 400ft+40ft/bab. This teleportation leaves behind a tear in the fabric of existence until the Vorpal Warrior's next turn that allows others that are on the space where the Vorpal Warrior used this ability to instantly appear in the closest unoccupied space. The space where the Vorpal Warrior used this abillity and the space where she teleported to are counted as being adjacent, having line of sight, and effect. Similarly creatures that are on the space that the Vorpal Warrior used this ability to get to may choose to teleport back to the closest available space to the starting point.

At 7th level a Vorpal Warrior can now use this ability to cut paths to different planes. A Vorpal Warrior can now reach any other plane, though she appears 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from her intended destination unless her destination is one which she has been within 100ft of within the past 5 hours.

Alright, I see what you're doing, it's just complicated. The plane shifting part is good, and so is the pseudo dimension door. I don't know how useful the "leaving a portal open" bit is, but it's not bad.

Unceasing Blood Fountain: The critical multiplier of and slashing weapon wielded by a Vorpal Warrior is increased by one.

Typo. You put of and. Other than that, strong but not overly so.

Swordsman of Incredible Luck(Ex): Upon reaching level 8, if a Vorpal Warrior fails to confirm a hit that would cause a decapitation she still scores a critical hit on that attack.

Good. This gives them a bit more oomf, and makes missing vorpals more acceptable. You could consider puting this a little earlier.

The Heads Will Roll(Ex): At ninth level the range that a Vorpal Warrior decapitates when using a vorpal weapon increases by one.

Does this stack with the ability granted by blade of infinite edge? I would assume so but it's worth asking.

Snicker Snack(Su): In the hands of a Vorpal Warrior any slashing weapon gains the vorpal quality. If the weapon would gain or already has the the vorpal quality then this ability grants the blade grants the weapon the keen and speed enchantments instead.

It's a pretty good capstone, especially because of all the abilities it lets you use at will. You could probably swap keen and speed for pounce though, as that might be more useful.

Other than that, looks good. Nice work.

[Debihuman]

Space-time should be hyphenated. Don't use BAB for calculations, use HD. I also edited it a bit. So a creature can see through the rift to determine whether or not to follow the vorpal warrior. I like that.

If there are creatures where she ended up, can they travel through the rift as well? It sounds like it should work both ways. What is the size of the rift? If the vw is Medium sized, can a Large creature follow her? Is the rift any particular shape? Round sounds good to me but this is your baby.

Can she open a rift, choose not go through and just let a creature at the other end come through?

Is there any limit to how often this ability can be used?

At 7th level that's a lot of plane shifting. 5 hours isn't very long. I recommend changing it to 24 hours.

This should really be a Supernatural ability rather than an Extraordinary since it is magical in nature (clearly based on spells).

How is this for starters?

Space-time Rending Strike (Su): At 5th level as a standard action while wielding a weapon with the vorpal quality, a vorpal warrior can instantly transport herself from her current location to any other spot within a range of 400 feet plus 40 feet per HD. This teleportation leaves behind a tear in the fabric of existence until the vorpal warrior's next turn, allowing others to follow her through the rift and appear in the closest unoccupied space. Insert shape and size of rift here. The spaces where the vorpal warrior teleported to and from count as being adjacent, having line of sight and effect. In addition, creatures at the other end of the rift may choose to teleport in the opposite direction and end on the closest unoccupied space that was previously vacated by the vorpal warrior.

At 7th level, a vorpal warrior can use this ability to reach a different plane of existence or alternate dimension. She appears 5 to 500 miles (5d%) from her intended destination unless her destination is one which she has been within the past 24 hours.

Debby

[Veklim]

Hrmmmm....nice. A few suggestions (...for now, might think of more later...) regarding the wording for Force Wave Slash, I'd personally word it as follows:

A Vorpal Warrior may take a penalty on attack rolls to increase the reach of any slashing melee weapon she wields. She gains +5ft reach / -1 penalty, but she may not take a penalty greater than -5 for this ability.

I would word it this way to avoid confusion, since melee weapons don't have range on the whole (reach and range are rather different) and it currently fails to state (as I assume it is meant to) that the ability only works on slashing melee weapons, since that's the flavour of the class. As it stands just now, the class could take a -5 penalty to attacks and increase a longbow's range by 25ft (which isn't the intention I believe...)

Also, there's an edit issue here (in bold):

Snicker Snack(Su): In the hands of a Vorpal Warrior any slashing weapon gains the vorpal quality. If the weapon would gain or already has the the vorpal quality then this ability grants the blade grants the weapon the keen and speed enchantments instead.

I'd stick with the Keen and Speed thing on Snicker Snack btw, since it fits the fluff/base material somewhat better than Pounce (even though I agree Pounce would likely be a more useful effect).

Probably a good idea to add class levels (or maybe half, as anacalgion suggests) to effective fighter level for the purpose of attaining fighter bonus feats too, and I'd personally make a note that you may only take feats which apply to melee slashing weapons with the bonus feat choices here, but that's just my opinion and certainly not a necessity.

Feel I should chime in on the 'not using BAB for calculations' argument too, as Debi says, HD is more than sufficient for this purpose and has far less issues.

Otherwise really good piece of work, and FINALLY something which makes Vorpal a little better than a 1 in 30(ish) chance of doing anything significant. Have a cookie

[Debihuman]

I am getting to this slowly. I don't critique prestige classes very often so I'm not speedy.

Blade of Infinite Edge(Ex): For rounds equal to her base attack bonus per day a Vorpal Warrior can grant any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If a weapon that she wields during this effect has the vorpal quality from another source she can decapitate on the next highest number. These rounds can be started or stopped as a free action but must be used in minimum of one round increments.

This could be written more clearly. Again. Don't use BAB for HD. Circumstance bonuses stack and are much better than untyped bonuses.

How is this?

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a vorpal warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, she gains a +1 circumstance bonus to decapitate her opponent. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments.

Debby

[Debihuman]

Force Wave Slash (Su): A Vorpal Warrior may take a penalty on attack rolls to attack at a range at a rate of -1 to 5 ft of range. She may not take a penalty greater than -5 for this ability.

This is not very clear and needs to be spelled out fully.

Force Wave Slash (Su): As a standard action, a vorpal warrior's weapon can be wielded to damage to an opponent beyond her normal range. By taking a penalty to her attack roll (from -1 to -5), she gains the ability to target an opponent at a range of 5 feet per point of penalty to a maximum of 25 feet. The damage her weapon normally inflicts becomes force damage instead of slashing damage. A successful Fortitude save (DC is 10 + 1/2 the vorpal warrior's HD + Cha modifier) halves the damage.

Cut The Air (Ex): Instead of making a Reflex save, a vorpal warrior can choose to make an attack roll with a slashing weapon and use the result instead. If a Vorpal Warrior's attack, succeeds, she avoids the effect as if she had evasion. (This would manifest as slashing a fireball away or jamming a sword into a wall before falling through a pit.)

Cut The Air seems rather pointless. How do you judge the attack against a save? You need a mechanic for this. I recommend removing this and letting the vw save normally or give her a +1 competence bonus to Reflex saves if she is holding a slashing weapon.

Cut The Air (Ex): A vorpal warrior gains a +1 competence bonus to Reflex saves as long as she is holding a slashing weapon.

Unceasing Blood Fountain: The critical multiplier of and slashing weapon wielded by a Vorpal Warrior is increased by one.

I think it needs proofreading.

Unceasing Blood Fountain (Ex): The critical multiplier of a slashing weapon wielded by a Vorpal Warrior is increased by one.


Debby

[Veklim]

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a vorpal warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, she gains a +1 circumstance bonus to decapitate her opponent. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments.

Hrm, I think that's deviating from his intended purpose here. As far as I can tell, the idea is to allow a Vorpal weapon to decapitate on a natural roll of 19-20 instead of just a roll of a 20, and thus should probably say so more clearly. Perhaps like this:

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a vorpal warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, she may decapitate her opponent upon critical confirmation with a natural roll of 19 or 20. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments.

I still think my wording for Force Wave Slash is clearer, but the addition of Force damage (with accompanying save for half) is a nice touch which I approve of. So it would look like this:

Force Wave Slash (Su): A Vorpal Warrior may take a penalty on attack rolls to increase the reach of any slashing melee weapon she wields. She gains +5ft reach / -1 penalty, to a maximum of a -5 penalty for +25ft reach. The damage her weapon normally inflicts becomes force damage instead of slashing damage. A successful Fortitude save (DC is 10 + 1/2 the vorpal warrior's HD + Cha modifier) halves the damage.

[Sardonik]

Cut The Air seems rather pointless. How do you judge the attack against a save? You need a mechanic for this. I recommend removing this and letting the vw save normally or give her a +1 competence bonus to Reflex saves if she is holding a slashing weapon.

Cut The Air (Ex): A vorpal warrior gains a +1 competence bonus to Reflex saves as long as she is holding a slashing weapon.


Debby

It seems rather clear to me. you simply make an attack roll in place of a save and compare it to the dc, a la the mind over body maneuver.

Why do you consider it pointless? It is significanly stronger than your rewrite, and it fits the concept of the vorpal warrior better, IMO.

[Debihuman]

Attacking a save is a weird mechanic and it throws off when actions take place. Making an attack takes a standard round so how does this fit in? I don't like giving a PC an extra action.

The bonus that is gained is pretty hefty. Would you allow a PC to have a +8 bonus to make a Reflex save as part of this Prestige Class? Granted I am VERY conservative when it comes to such thing but granting but this effectively means that a PC is making a save that includes her BAB in addition to her Str modifier which is probably higher than her Dex modifier.

Furthermore, this mechanic resembles the PC who announced, "I attack the darkness." This will no doubt lead to derision in some places when a character makes an attack to avoid the Reflex save to avoid catching fire. Just don't go there.

Mind over Body means you make a Concentration check rather than a Fortitude save. A concentration check uses a similar mechanic to the save so it's not too dissimilar. A concentration check is your skill modifier and your ability modifier. It doesn't also add a BAB bonus.

I am NOT of fan of using BAB in ways it was not intended. If you had wanted this to be a Strength check instead of a Reflex save that would be a lot more fair.

Cut The Air (Ex): Instead of making a Reflex save, a vorpal warrior can choose to make Strength check as long as she is holding a slashing weapon and use the result instead. If the check is successful, the vorpal warrior avoids the effect as if she had evasion.

Debby

[anacalgion]

Attacking a save is a weird mechanic and it throws off when actions take place. Making an attack takes a standard round so how does this fit in? I don't like giving a PC an extra action.

Making an attack takes an action. Using an attack roll in place of a save doesn't.

The bonus that is gained is pretty hefty. Would you allow a PC to have a +8 bonus to make a Reflex save as part of this Prestige Class? Granted I am VERY conservative when it comes to such thing but granting but this effectively means that a PC is making a save that includes her BAB in addition to her Str modifier which is probably higher than her Dex modifier.

Yeah, its a good ability. Strong, but not overly so.

Furthermore, this mechanic resembles the PC who announced, "I attack the darkness." This will no doubt lead to derision in some places when a character makes an attack to avoid the Reflex save to avoid catching fire. Just don't go there.

So like cutting a fireball in half? Seems reasonable and inline with the class's flavor.

Mind over Body means you make a Concentration check rather than a Fortitude save. A concentration check uses a similar mechanic to the save so it's not too dissimilar. A concentration check is your skill modifier and your ability modifier. It doesn't also add a BAB bonus.

Full ranks in a skill and full base attack bonus get you to the same place though. It's not unbalanced from a mechanical standpoint.

I am NOT of fan of using BAB in ways it was not intended. If you had wanted this to be a Strength check instead of a Reflex save that would be a lot more fair.

But a strength check makes it all but useless.

Cut The Air (Ex): Instead of making a Reflex save, a vorpal warrior can choose to make Strength check as long as she is holding a slashing weapon and use the result instead. If the check is successful, the vorpal warrior avoids the effect as if she had evasion.
Debby

But this will never work. Strength checks don't scale. As soon as the DC goes over 20 it's going to be very hard for this to do anything. The ability is better as is.

[Swok]

Making it a strength check also artificially restricts it to being good on strength based characters. Attacks rolls are more flexible.

Also I'm completely bewildered that the maneuver that let's you use a +30 skill competence item in addition to any other modifiers for saves is being implied to be worse than using an attack roll.

[Veklim]

Making it a strength check also artificially restricts it to being good on strength based characters. Attacks rolls are more flexible.

Also I'm completely bewildered that the maneuver that let's you use a +30 skill competence item in addition to any other modifiers for saves is being implied to be worse than using an attack roll.

Indeed, even truestrike attacks pale in comparison...I understand the reticence to use BAB for 'other things' and I agree with using HD instead for certain things, but that's to allow for any character who ISN'T on a full BAB to still get good use out of certain abilities. What this is doing is ACTUALLY ATTACKING , be it a spell or trap (or some other reflex save trigger, I'm sure there are times when it's not appropriate, like when you reflex to catch something perhaps). If it's attacking then it's actually using BAB for it's intended purpose, is it not..? There is more than enough precedence to allow attacks as free or exceptionally minimal actions, many allow you to actually attack another creature, all this does is use a snacky (pun intended) and flavourful mechanic to boost situational reflex saves based on your martial prowess with a weapon...

[Quiddle]

Sorry about taking time to get back to you guys. First off I want to say thanks a ton for all the input.
Ok, I changed the wording of Blade of Infinite Edge and Force Wave Slash to an altered version of what Veklim suggested, I added additional effective fighter level for the fighter feats, I used Debby's wording of Space-time Rending Strike but kept it Ex because it isn't a magical effect, and I fixed my mistake in snicker snack.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how I should word the expanded decapitation chance?

[Debihuman]

Sorry about taking time to get back to you guys. First off I want to say thanks a ton for all the input.

Ok, I changed the wording of Blade of Infinite Edge and Force Wave Slash to an altered version of what Veklim suggested, I added additional effective fighter level for the fighter feats, I used Debby's wording of Space-time
Rending Strike but kept it Ex because it isn't a magical effect, and I fixed my mistake in snicker snack.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I should word the expanded decapitation chance?

Perhaps you should delete the references to dimension door and plane shift in the stat block if the Space-time Rending Strike isn't magical as those are clearly spells :-)

I concede the point on the Cut the Air ability.

Also the word "larger" is missing from Space-time: "The rift can be as large as one size category ^ than the Vorpal Warrior using this ability."

The rift can be one size larger than the vorpal warrior.

The Heads Will Roll ability isn't very clear. Normally, you threaten adjacent squares. Do you mean you now get an attack of opportunity from creatures that are farther away from you? For example would a Medium sized vorpal warrior threaten creatures that are 10 feet away (15 feet on the diagonal) or do you mean something else? Are you also increasing the critical threat range of her weapon?

Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, whenever a Vorpal Warrior wields her vorpal weapon, she gains the ability to threaten creatures that are not adjacent to her. A threatened creature must be no more than 5 feet beyond normal range. In addition, the critical range of her weapon to decapitate a foe is increased by 1; this stacks with any previous increases gained.

Debby

[The Dragon]

Perhaps you should delete the references to dimension door and plane shift in the stat block if the Space-time Rending Strike isn't magical as those are clearly spells :-)

I concede the point on the Cut the Air ability.

Also the word "larger" is missing from Space-time: "The rift can be as large as one size category ^ than the Vorpal Warrior using this ability."

The rift can be one size larger than the vorpal warrior.

The Heads Will Roll ability isn't very clear. Normally, you threaten adjacent squares. Do you mean you now get an attack of opportunity from creatures that are farther away from you? For example would a Medium sized vorpal warrior threaten creatures that are 10 feet away (15 feet on the diagonal) or do you mean something else? Are you also increasing the critical threat range of her weapon?

Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, whenever a Vorpal Warrior wields her vorpal weapon, she gains the ability to threaten creatures that are not adjacent to her. A threatened creature must be no more than 5 feet beyond normal range. In addition, the critical range of her weapon is increased by 1; this stacks with any previous increases gained.

Debby

I believe 'decapacitation' is the operative word here.

To make it clearer, I'd make it say Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, weapons with the Vorpal enhancement that the Vorpal Warrior wields activate their vorpal ability on a 19 as well as on a 20.

[Debihuman]

The only reason I didn't say that increases fro 19 to 20 is that it depends on whether the vorpal warrior can already do that. There are feats and abilities you can have from other classes that may already allow this. Don't want to give the class an ability it can't use because it already has it. Increasing the threat range by 1 is better since it stacks. However I should have specifically said to decapitate a foe.

Debby

[anacalgion]

I think the problem with saying 19 or 20 is that the ability is intended to stack with the secondary effect of blade of infinite edge, giving the VW the ability to decapitate on an 18-20.

[The Dragon]

I think the problem with saying 19 or 20 is that the ability is intended to stack with the secondary effect of blade of infinite edge, giving the VW the ability to decapitate on an 18-20.

Ah. I'd missed that. But still, the wording apparently leads to confusion that it actually increases the range at which the characters threathen (as in: can make AoO.) it doesn't but Debi got the impression.

It should probably be cleared up a little.

[Veklim]

Ok, so maybe a brief explanatory note should be made, introducing a Vorpal Range...? The idea is a simple one, but wording is definitely a bit awkward. That said, I don't recall coming across ANYTHING else which has increased the chance of vorpal beheading so maybe the clarification is unnecessary. I imagine a large part of the issue is the general ignorance amongst many players and even a few DMs as to how the vorpal enchantment works. A simple enough solution might be to create a Greater Vorpal enchantment, purely for the purpose of this class, and detailing that perhaps?

[Debihuman]

Vorpal is a weapon enHancement not enCHantment. It's just one of my pet peeves.

Threatening an opponent: you threaten anyone who is adjacent to you. There is no "range" to this. See here:

Threatened Squares
You threaten all squares into which you can make a melee attack, even when it is not your action. Generally, that means everything in all squares adjacent to your space (including diagonally). An enemy that takes certain actions while in a threatened square provokes an attack of opportunity from you. If you’re unarmed, you don’t normally threaten any squares and thus can’t make attacks of opportunity.

I do not recommend that you mess with this as it will likely end in frustration for other players if the vorpal warrior can undermine an action that they were going to take. Also, it makes it very hard to envision. How do you attack someone 10 feet away when you have a reach of 5 feet? It's not like you suddenly become a stretchy Mr. Fantastic and can extend your arm that far. Now if you want to give the vorpal warrior THAT ability, you could, but it should probably be a separate ability.

Is this better?
Heads Will Roll (Ex): Whenever you threaten an adjacent opponent, you gain a +1 Circumstance bonus to any attack of opportunity you make to sever your opponent's head as long as you are wielding a vorpal weapon.

Remember that Circumstance bonuses stack with all other bonuses (including other circumstance bonuses as long as they aren't from the same source), so this makes the most sense. I am not a fan of untyped bonuses. Most of the time, failure to add a type of bonus is sheer laziness on the part of the creator.

Debby

[Veklim]

*sigh*
Let us start from scratch here....

Vorpal states that on a roll of a natural 20 you decapitate your opponent as long as you confirm the critical threat. This is what Vorpal does....

Blade of Infinite Edge grants an already Vorpal weapon the chance to decapitate on a natural roll of 19 or 20 pending confirmation of the critical (an ability I have NEVER seen in all my years of brews and 3rd party shiz). Heads Will Roll further increases this to any natural roll of 18, 19 or 20 causing decapitation with confirmation of the critical.

Threatening an opponent: you threaten anyone who is adjacent to you. There is no "range" to this....<snip>

It has nothing to do with reach or anything to do with threatened squares. The 'threat range' we are referring to is the critical threat range, more specifically an increase to the 'vorpal threat range'.

It also has nothing to do with, nor does it bare any resemblance to, what you're saying here:

Heads Will Roll (Ex): Whenever you threaten an adjacent opponent, you gain a +1 Circumstance bonus to any attack of opportunity you make to sever your opponent's head as long as you are wielding a vorpal weapon.

Pardon me, but this makes no sense in the first place since Vorpal has nothing specifically to do with attacks of opportunity, it is purely about the number you roll on the die when you attack with any attack.....even if you mean to simply give them a better chance of confirming criticals in very specific circumstances, then that's just a REALLY bad version of 3.5's Power Critical (dunno if it even exists in PF), which is a feat granting +4 to confirm any critical threat with any one weapon you have focus for....

Basically I think you're entirely missing the intention of the OP and therefore not understanding what the ability is meant to be doing.

[Debihuman]

*sigh*
Let us start from scratch here....

Vorpal states that on a roll of a natural 20 you decapitate your opponent as long as you confirm the critical threat. This is what Vorpal does....

Blade of Infinite Edge grants an already Vorpal weapon the chance to decapitate on a natural roll of 19 or 20 pending confirmation of the critical (an ability I have NEVER seen in all my years of brews and 3rd party shiz). Heads Will Roll further increases this to any natural roll of 18, 19 or 20 causing decapitation with confirmation of the critical.

It has nothing to do with reach or anything to do with threatened squares, nor does it bare any resemblance to what you're saying here:


Pardon me, but this makes no sense in the first place since Vorpal has nothing to do with attacks of opportunity, it is purely about the number you roll on the die when you attack with any attack.....even if you mean to simply give them a better chance of confirming criticals in very specific circumstances, then that's just a REALLY bad version of 3.5's Power Critical (dunno if it even exists in PF), which is a feat granting +4 to confirm any critical threat with any one weapon you have focus for....

Basically I think you're entirely missing the intention of the OP and therefore not understanding what the ability is meant to be doing.

This is what the original poster wrote:

The Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level the range that a Vorpal Warrior threatens decapitation when using a vorpal weapon increases by one.

Please note you ONLY threaten decapitation on an AoO. Otherwise you are just making a normal role. This was worded horribly.

It either means the range at which you threaten an opponent is increased, which is distance or it means that that the vorpal weapon gains a +1 when you threaten someone.

Terms have actual meaning in game.

Debby

[Veklim]

I just edited my previous post, should cover this more clearly I think. Please read it.

Just in case, I shall re-re-reiterate.

The OP is talking about making a Vorpal weapon THREATEN A DECAPITATION ON ROLLS OTHER THAN A NATURAL 20. THIS IS A FORM OF CRITICAL THREAT RANGE WITH A SPECIFIC EXTRA EFFECT.

PLEASE READ VORPAL SO YOU
KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT

[Debihuman]

I just edited my previous post, should cover this more clearly I think. Please read it.

Just in case, I shall re-re-reiterate.

The OP is talking about making a Vorpal weapon THREATEN A DECAPITATION ON ROLLS OTHER THAN A NATURAL 20. THIS IS A FORM OF CRITICAL THREAT RANGE WITH A SPECIFIC EXTRA EFFECT.

PLEASE READ VORPAL SO YOU
KNOW WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT

VORPAL WEAPONS DO NOT HAVE A CRITICAL THREAT RANGE to start. So you can stop yelling at me.

What should have been stated with Blade of Infinite Edge is that the vorpal warrior no longer has to roll a natural 20 to succeed at decapitating her opponent.

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a Vorpal Warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality, she no longer has to roll a natural 20 to succeed at decapitating her victim, and the the range at which she threatens decapitation increases by one. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments.

The Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, the range that a Vorpal Warrior threatens decapitation when using any vorpal weapon increases by one. This stacks with Blade of Infinite Edge and with any source that increases her threat range for decapitation but not with sources that just increase her threat range, such as the Improved Critical feat.

This makes it clearer as to what stacks and what does not stack. I may also have been thinking of the 3.0 rules where increasing the critical threat range of a weapon also affected vorpal weapon's decapitation ability,

Debby

[The Dragon]

VORPAL WEAPONS DO NOT HAVE A CRITICAL THREAT RANGE to start. So you can stop yelling at me.

What should have been stated with Blade of Infinite Edge is that the vorpal warrior no longer has to roll a natural 20 to succeed at decapitating her opponent.

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a Vorpal Warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality, she no longer has to roll a natural 20 to succeed at decapitating her victim, and the the range at which she threatens decapitation increases by one. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments.

The Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, the range that a Vorpal Warrior threatens decapitation when using any vorpal weapon increases by one. This stacks with Blade of Infinite Edge and with any source that increases her threat range for decapitation but not with sources that just increase her threat range, such as the Improved Critical feat.

This makes it clearer as to what stacks and what does not stack.

Debby

This is not better. It still allows for people mistaking the intention the same way you did. Also, the ' she no longer has to roll a natural 20 to succeed at decapitating her victim'-line can easily be read to mean that you always cut off the head of any target you hit.

The caps lock may not be pleasant, but it did indeed make something clear to you that we have been trying to tell you for quite a few posts now.

[Veklim]

Sorry if I was a little more blunt than was perhaps needed, but at least we're all on the same page now...

The wording needs to be clarified a lot, kinda crazy that it's so awkward but I'm sure there's a good way of putting it...maybe this:

If the weapon already has the Vorpal quality, the natural roll required to decapitate a target is reduced by one, e.g. if your Vorpal weapon normally threatens decapitation on a natural roll of 20, this allows you to decapitate on a natural roll of 19 or 20.

That's clearer at least...

[Debihuman]

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a Vorpal Warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, upon a roll of natural 19 or higher, she can decapitate a foe with it.

The Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, upon a roll of natural 18 or higher, a vorpal warrior may decapitate a foe when using any vorpal weapon. This can be used with the vorpal strike feat from Epic Level Handbook.

This should be pretty explicit. I moved the sentences around for clarity.

Debby

[Quiddle]

Blade of Infinite Edge (Ex): For a number of rounds equal to her HD, a Vorpal Warrior grants any slashing weapon that she wields the vorpal quality. She can add or remove the vorpal ability as a free action, but the ability itself must be used in minimum of one round increments. If any slashing weapon she wields already has the vorpal quality from another source, upon a roll of natural 19 or higher, she can decapitate a foe with it.

The Heads Will Roll (Ex): At ninth level, upon a roll of natural 18 or higher, a vorpal warrior may decapitate a foe when using any vorpal weapon. This can be used with the vorpal strike feat from Epic Level Handbook.

This should be pretty explicit. I moved the sentences around for clarity.

Debby

Yeah, this seems pretty clear thanks for the wording help. Do you guys think that I should add a recovery mechanic for getting back rounds of infinite edge?

[Veklim]

Yeah, this seems pretty clear thanks for the wording help. Do you guys think that I should add a recovery mechanic for getting back rounds of infinite edge?

It might be an idea, yeah. I'd be tempted to grant a number of rounds back for every enemy you successfully decapitate with a vorpal strike.

Problem with the wording on Heads Will Roll, since it only goes 18-20 if you are also using Blade of Infinite Edge, but it is certainly a lot clearer so it's going in the right direction at least!

[Debihuman]

Swordsman of Incredible Luck (Ex): Upon reaching level 8, a vorpal warrior no longer needs to confirm her critical attacks to decapitate a foe.

I think that makes it a little more concise.

Debby