Vorpal Sword. Weapon (any sword that deals slashing damage), legendary (requires attunement) You gain a +3 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. In addition, the weapon ignores resistance to slashing damage. An adjective originating in Lewis Carroll's 'Jabberwocky' poem in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Saw There. Due to his description of it, most generally would agree that it deals with slashing damage severing a limb or head; however, it can be stretched to mean any form of weapon that can possibly kill in one blow, considering the word itself is a 'nonsense word' created by Carroll.

A vorpal weapon is a magicslashing weapon imbued with the power to cleave a target's head from its shoulders when the wielder scores a particularly accurate hit, causing instant death. Creatures with no discernible heads and most mindless undead are unaffected by this, however.^[1]

It is said that vorpal weapons were originally created as a means of killing jabberwocks; in any event, the beasts have a healthy fear of such weapons.^[2]

The vorpal quality is arguably the most powerful ability a weapon can have. It is certainly the most difficult and time-consuming to create of all the weapon enhancements. As a result, such items are extremely rare, and anyone who owns one should be treated with caution.^[3]

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On Golarion

Attitudes toward vorpal weapons vary. Elves claim to find them inelegant, while the random nature of the beheadings is often of interest to gnomes. There have never been any reports of goblins wielding vorpal dogslicers, but that is presumably due to a lack of magical talent rather than any moral scruples on the part of the goblins.

The Aldori swordlords do not allow their use in duels, and the Eagle Knights of Andoran use them only as a last resort. However, worshippers of Sarenrae praise them as the most merciful of weapons; indeed the most legendary of the Qadiran dervishes are said to use fiery, razor-sharp scimitars with the vorpal quality.

In the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, those who slay a linnorm demonstrate their worthiness to rule. Sometimes, this feat is achieved with the aid of a vorpal weapon. A few of the Ulfen are starting to regard this use of vorpal weapons as cheating.

Priests of Urgathoa use vorpal scythes in a ritual known as the Reaping. Followers of Gorum view vorpal greatswords as holy relics, and often seek to recover those in the possession of heretics.^[4]

Known vorpal weapons

References

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1. ↑Jason Bulmahnet al. (2009). Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook (1E), p. 472. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-150-3
2. ↑Wolfgang Bauret al. (2010). Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 (First Edition), p. 168-9. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-268-5
3. ↑Brian Cortijo. (2010). Vorpal Sword. Classic Treasures Revisited, p. 53. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-220-3
4. ↑Brian Cortijo. (2010). Vorpal Sword. Classic Treasures Revisited, p. 56. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-220-3

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