Vorpal Sword 5e: Beheading on a 20, Who's Immune and 2024 Changes

A vorpal sword is a legendary magic weapon that requires attunement, gives +3 to attack and damage rolls, ignores Resistance to slashing damage, and cuts off a creature's head when you roll a 20 on the d20. A creature that can't survive without that head dies outright. Headless creatures, slashing-immune creatures and anything the DM rules too big lose nothing and take extra damage instead: 6d8 in the 2014 rules, a flat 30 in 2024. The biggest change is legendary monsters: in 2014 they are simply immune, while in 2024 they can only escape by burning a use of Legendary Resistance. The verdict: a strong +3 weapon with a 5 percent chance per swing of ending the fight, and an item the DM needs to plan around before handing it out.

Table of Contents

• •Vorpal Sword Rules Text
• •How the Vorpal Sword Works
• •Vorpal Sword: 2014 vs 2024
• •Is the Vorpal Sword Worth It?
• •Vorpal Sword for DMs
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Vorpal Sword Rules Text

The 2014 card (SRD 5.1) comes first, then the 2024 card (SRD 5.2.1).

The two versions share the +3, the resistance clause and the beheading trigger. They differ on which weapons qualify, how much damage an immune creature takes, and what happens against legendary monsters.

How the Vorpal Sword Works

Which weapons can be vorpal

The 2014 text allows any sword that deals slashing damage. In the 2014 SRD weapon table that means a greatsword, longsword or scimitar; the shortsword and rapier deal piercing damage, so they can't be vorpal. The 2024 text names four weapons: Glaive, Greatsword, Longsword or Scimitar. The glaive is the newcomer, and it gives a reach option to a character who wants to hit from 10 feet away.

+3, and slashing resistance stops mattering

The +3 applies to every attack and damage roll. On top of that, the blade ignores Resistance to slashing damage. In the 2014 SRD most creatures that resist slashing only resist it from nonmagical attacks, which any +1 weapon already gets past, so the clause mostly matters against swarms (swarms of rats, bats and insects resist all slashing). In the 2024 SRD the "nonmagical" qualifier is gone from monster stat blocks. The Tarrasque, the Clay Golem, the Ghost, the Wraith, the Specter, the Air and Fire Elementals and the Invisible Stalker all resist slashing damage from any source, and a vorpal sword deals them full damage while a plain +3 greatsword deals half.

The trigger: a 20 on the d20

The head comes off only when the d20 shows a 20. Both editions word it as rolling a 20, not scoring a critical hit, so a feature that widens your critical range doesn't widen the vorpal range. A 2024 Champion who scores a Critical Hit on a 19 gets the extra damage dice but not the beheading.

A natural 20 is also a critical hit in both editions, and a critical hit always hits. The sword's effect therefore can't miss once the die lands on 20.

Who loses a head and who doesn't

Both versions protect a creature that:

• •is immune to slashing damage,
• •doesn't have a head or doesn't need one, or
• •is too big for the blade, in the DM's judgment.

The 2014 text adds a fourth category: any creature with legendary actions. Every protected creature takes the extra damage from the hit instead.

One quirk: a creature with Immunity to slashing damage also ignores the extra damage, because it is slashing damage. A Black Pudding or Ochre Jelly takes nothing from the effect in either edition.

A creature that loses a head dies only if it can't survive without it. A creature with one head dies. Whether a two-headed Ettin can live on one head is the DM's call: its stat block doesn't say, so decide before the fight.

Legendary monsters: immunity in 2014, Legendary Resistance in 2024

Under 2014 rules, an adult dragon, a lich, a vampire or the Tarrasque is simply immune, because each has legendary actions. Your 20 deals the extra 6d8 and nothing else.

Under 2024 rules those creatures aren't immune. When the head would come off, a creature with Legendary Resistance can spend one daily use to keep it and take the extra 30 damage instead. A 2024 Adult Red Dragon has 3 uses a day (4 in its lair); the Tarrasque has 6. Each vorpal 20 against a dragon either kills it or strips one Legendary Resistance that the party's spellcasters would otherwise have to burn through with failed-save spells. When the uses run out, the next 20 kills it, unless the DM rules it too big.

The extra damage and critical hits

In the 2014 rules the extra damage is 6d8 slashing (27 on average). Because it is damage dice from the attack and the 20 is a critical hit, you roll those dice twice like any other attack dice: 12d8, averaging 54, on top of the doubled weapon dice. In the 2024 rules the extra damage is a flat 30. The critical hit rule doubles dice, not flat numbers, so it stays 30.

Beheading odds per turn

Every attack roll with the sword is a separate 5 percent chance. With Advantage the chance of a 20 on either die is 9.75 percent.

Over a three-round fight, a character making two attacks a turn gets six rolls, a 26.5 percent chance (1 − 0.95⁶) that at least one is a 20. Sources of Advantage, like an ally's help or a target with the Paralyzed condition, nearly double the odds.

Hydras

A Hydra has five heads and dies only when all of them are dead, so a vorpal 20 removes one head without killing it, unless it was the last one. The hydra's own trait regrows two heads for each head that died since its last turn unless it took fire damage. Neither text says whether a head cut off by the sword counts as one that "died." DM ruling, not rules text: treat it as a dead head; it regrows as two unless someone hits the hydra with fire, which keeps the fire-and-blade teamwork the hydra is built around.

Vorpal Sword: 2014 vs 2024

What the changes mean at the table:

• •Boss fights get scarier for the boss. In 2014 the sword does nothing special against a dragon. In 2024 every 20 forces the dragon to spend a resource it needs against Banishment and Hold Monster.
• •Damage when the head stays on is steadier. 30 flat in 2024 versus an average of 54 on the doubled 2014 dice, so the 2014 version actually deals more extra damage to immune creatures.
• •Resistance matters more. Ghosts, wraiths and elementals took half damage from a 2024 magic weapon but not from this one.

Is the Vorpal Sword Worth It?

Yes, for any martial character who makes several attacks a turn. Fighters gain the most: they make the most attacks, so they roll the most d20s. A paladin, ranger or barbarian with Extra Attack still sees a 20 on roughly one turn in ten.

Compare it with the other SRD swords at the top of the rarity scale:

A paladin should still take the Holy Avenger: its aura gives the whole party Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects, while the vorpal effect fires on one roll in twenty. For everyone else it out-damages the other swords in the table, and it costs the same single attunement slot.

When it's a trap: for a character who mostly fights constructs, oozes and elementals, the beheading clause rarely matters, and a 2014 campaign built around legendary villains turns it into a +3 sword with a damage bonus.

Vorpal Sword for DMs

Where it turns up. As a legendary item, it belongs in a high-level hoard or at the end of a quest, not a shop. The 2024 SRD says items above rare might only be sold in wondrous places such as a city on another plane. If you allow it, its value is 200,000 GP plus the base weapon (200,015 GP for a longsword, 200,050 GP for a greatsword). The 2014 SRD has no prices. The magic item rarity calculator helps you judge what else belongs in the same hoard.

Decide "too big" before the fight. The text hands you the call, and players will ask about it mid-swing. Pick a rule and announce it when the sword appears, for example "Gargantuan creatures keep their heads." Then the beheading is the dice's decision, not yours.

What it changes. Any single big monster can die on one roll. Plan solo bosses with that in mind: in 2014, give them legendary actions; in 2024, remember that each Legendary Resistance spent on a head is one not spent on a spell. Groups of minions don't care; the sword kills them one at a time anyway.

Narrate it. A vorpal kill is a moment the table remembers. Describe it, then record it; Loreify turns your session audio into notes so the night the fighter beheaded the dragon ends up in the campaign record.

Hooks.

• •A knight's tomb holds a vorpal longsword, and the knight's body inside has no head. Whoever beheaded her with her own sword is still out there.
• •A town pays bounties on hydra heads. The party's vorpal fighter brings in nine of them, and the hydra keeps coming back.
• •A dragon has heard about the sword and wants it destroyed before it fights the party. It hires mercenaries to steal it rather than face it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a vorpal sword do in 5e?

It gives +3 to attack and damage rolls, ignores Resistance to slashing damage, and cuts off a creature's head when you roll a 20 on the d20. A creature that can't live without that head dies. Creatures protected from the effect take extra slashing damage instead: 6d8 in 2014, 30 in 2024.

Can a vorpal sword behead a dragon?

In the 2014 rules, no: any creature with legendary actions is immune. In the 2024 rules, yes, unless the dragon spends a daily use of Legendary Resistance to keep its head and take 30 extra damage, or the DM rules it too big.

Does a Champion's improved critical range trigger the vorpal sword?

No. Both editions require you to roll a 20 on the d20. A 19 can still be a critical hit for a Champion, but it doesn't cut off a head.

What weapons can be a vorpal sword?

In 2014, any sword that deals slashing damage: greatsword, longsword or scimitar. In 2024, a Glaive, Greatsword, Longsword or Scimitar.

How much is a vorpal sword worth?

The 2024 SRD values legendary items at 200,000 GP, plus the cost of the base weapon. The 2014 SRD gives no prices for magic items.

Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.