Draft:Vorpal sword
| ) | |
| Base damage rating | 12 |
|---|---|
| Base hit bonus | +9 |
| Normal attack type | Cutting |
| Hands | 1 |
| Weight | 40 |
A vorpal sword is a one-handed weapon that can instantly kill physically vulnerable opponents. It appears as a broad sword and starts at +5 enchantment. A cursed copy is named sword of self-mutilation, but that name does not reverse its special attack into self-damage in Omega 0.90.4.[1]
Generation
Vorpal swords occur in random treasure, pawn-shop stock and acquirement, with item level 7 and base value 3,000 Au. Construction rolls blessing while retaining the fixed +5 enchantment, even for a cursed copy. Julie's does not sell the special sword.[2]
Ambrosias' transforms a jabberwock's head into a blessed +5 vorpal sword for 2,000 Au. The +5 is preserved from the weapon definition rather than replaced with the monster's level. This is a known product from a specific ingredient, but the transformation does not fully identify it.[3]
Vorpal attacks
Each landed attack has a 30% chance to kill a target that lacks physical immunity, without the normal damage roll. That success fully identifies the sword. Otherwise the attack falls back to ordinary physical damage. Physical immunity blocks the instant-kill branch as well as the ordinary damage; there is no separate size or head-location check in this attack.[4]
The attack does not test blessing. A cursed sword still has the same vorpal chance, although it cannot normally be removed while in use. A self-dispel can lift a curse with sufficient effective strength; use identification to establish the actual curse before choosing a remedy.[5]
Throwing a spare sword retains the vorpal attack after a hit, then normally drops the sword for recovery. Tunneling is a separate cutting-weapon use: it contributes base damage 12, not the enhanced combat rating, and can damage the sword on a mishap.[6]
Strategy
The vorpal chance can end a fight against a durable but physically vulnerable enemy, while its light weight and initial +5 make failed special rolls less punishing than an unenchanted broad sword. It is still probabilistic and hit-dependent: plan to survive ordinary exchanges rather than assuming the next blow will kill.
The alchemical route gives a blessed copy without accepting a random curse. Once a jabberwock's head is available, compare the 2,000 Au transformation with selling the ingredient; a Coliseum jabberwock encounter can make the remains relevant to both arena progress and equipment.[7]
Use a mace of disruption or another suitable damage type for physical immunity. Neither the special name nor further enchantment removes that limitation.
Older advice
The old spoiler collection attributes theft protection to a vorpal sword. Its current equipment effect is the ordinary weapon effect, which supplies no such immunity. The misleading cursed name is likewise not evidence of a current self-mutilation attack; the actual attack retains its vorpal and normal-damage branches.[8][9]
References
- ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 236; itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 415–428.
- ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 236; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 7–41; item.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 188–204; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1022–1053; effect1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 713–728; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 164–187.
- ↑ minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255; site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 845–869; iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 236.
- ↑ itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 415–428; itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 359–365; mon.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 112–130.
- ↑ itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 415–428; inv.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 1354–1358; effect3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 827–857.
- ↑ command3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 223–311; command3.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 865–933.
- ↑ site1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 805–869; guild1.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 350–490; minit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 255.
- ↑ A. Light (editor), Omega Spoilers, document version 1.10, updated 3 May 1994 and reposted 19 April 1995, line 823 of local
omega-0.75-spoilers.txt; executable version not established. - ↑ iinit.h in Omega 0.90.4, line 236; itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 394–398; itemf2.c in Omega 0.90.4, lines 415–428.