10-03-2003, 07:42 PM | #1 |
Hathor
Join Date: February 18, 2002
Location: Vienna
Age: 42
Posts: 2,248
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Being a German native-speaker and not overly familiar with untranslated English literature I just recently came across the "Jabberwocky" from Lewis Carrol and it answered many questions (for one "What IS the Jabberwocky?") but made me ask a few more. E.g. I discovered the "vorpal sword" which I know well from BG2 and other D&D sources among the fictious words of the poem.
So: "When was the word vorpal first used in a fantasy* setting (book or RPG), is it taken from this poem (probably) and did it always (in Fantasy stories) describe a one-hit-kill weapon?" Any thoughts on that? ------------------------- * of course I refer to "the arts commonly known as fantasy" (i.e. contains Elves, Dwarves and Orcs and happens in a kinda medieval setting). So the "Jabberwocky" itself (while funny) would not be a satisfying answer for me.
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10-03-2003, 07:49 PM | #2 |
Gold Dragon
Join Date: June 18, 2002
Location: Wolfville, NS / Calgary, AB
Age: 36
Posts: 2,563
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I don't know about the origins, but the basic idea of a vorpal sword was incredible, sometimes magical, sharpness. The idea being that you could behead someone for a one-hit kill. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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10-03-2003, 10:04 PM | #3 |
Red Wizard of Thay
Join Date: October 26, 2002
Location: USA
Age: 34
Posts: 858
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Yet, the vorpal sword is horrible in BG2!
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10-04-2003, 06:47 AM | #4 |
Elminster
Join Date: July 24, 2002
Location: New Zealand
Age: 36
Posts: 407
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Nah, I wouldnt say taht the Vorpal Sword dis horrible.. It saved my ass lotsa times due to the 1 hit kill... real useful when fighting Irenicuss in hell.... his lil minions died in a few secs [img]smile.gif[/img]
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10-04-2003, 12:47 PM | #5 |
Gold Dragon
Join Date: May 19, 2002
Location: Blessed are those who are not....
Age: 42
Posts: 2,556
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I don't get it: a normal sword can also behead a person, so why is a vorpal so much more efficient? My neck really doesn't want to come into close contact with a Katana .....
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10-05-2003, 12:46 AM | #6 | |
Lord Ao
Join Date: May 17, 2001
Location: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Age: 53
Posts: 2,069
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Quote:
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10-05-2003, 12:51 AM | #7 |
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice
Join Date: June 3, 2003
Location: New York
Age: 39
Posts: 3,302
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Generally speaking, vorpal swords (I believe it is correctly called Vorpal Blade) are not supposed to be powerful damagewise (meaning it isn't made to inflict much damage in a successful hit). It's true beauty is it's ability to behead, so, seeing how it does not happen often in BG2, I don't think it's such a great weapon. There are many many more weapons that I'd take over the vorpal sword with out even hesitating
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10-05-2003, 10:12 PM | #8 |
Manshoon
Join Date: December 11, 2001
Location: calgary
Age: 40
Posts: 155
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Try casting greater malision befor attacking with the vorpal sword in BG2. It makes a world of difference
I personaly think the vorpal weapons should not allow a saving throw, but should deal much less (ie. half) as much damage as there normal counterparts. And only have vorpal hits on 10 - 20 percent of the succesful hits. If the silver sword had vorpal hits 15 percent of the time, no save, but only dealt 1d4+1 damage on normal strikes, it would be a very formidable weapond indeed.
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10-05-2003, 11:00 PM | #9 | |
Ma'at - Goddess of Truth & Justice
Join Date: June 3, 2003
Location: New York
Age: 39
Posts: 3,302
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Quote:
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10-06-2003, 12:18 AM | #10 |
Ironworks Moderator
Join Date: June 10, 2001
Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore
Age: 41
Posts: 11,063
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1d7 is kinda hard to exist... when you consider AD&D is based on a dice PnP game.
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