http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwF7n8WyOoU&noredirect=1

Here are the sword nerfs/changes:

Rapier of Finality:
This rapier adds one to the critical multiplier when critting on a natural 20.
Wounds dealt with this rapier do not heal naturally. Magical healing dealt to a target injured by the rapier is reduced by 50% until all such wounds are healed. The rapier senses the weakness of its foes, and can deal damage of any of these types necessary to injure or destroy a foe: fire, water/cold, air/electric, earth/sonic/acid, holy, unholy, anarchic, axiomatic, cold iron, adamantite, silver, zheng, prismatic, strong zero, magic, severance. These types are triggered by the sword, and only when striking a relevant target. The body of any creature killed with the sword is removed from reality (but not their gear): in the case of creatures without a soul separate from their body (elementals, most extraplanar creatures), they are forever destroyed.

- - - -
This is a substantial nerf from what I stated earlier. My apologies, but the extra critical multiplier on all numbers had a very good chance to prove disruptive. This means that the base crit of the weapon is:
18-19x2, 20x3

ALSO:

I looked up where I talked about keen. I know I can't allow improved critical and keen to stack exactly, because the three-dot weapons benefit far too much from it. In any event, a rapier stock is 18-20x2 (3 dots). With keen only, it will be 16-20x2 (5 dots). With improved crit only, it will be 15-20x (6 dots). With improved crit AND keen, it will be 14-20x2 (7 dots).

So this weapon, with the current tura gem, will be:

16-20x2, 20x3


Note that you may reevaluate where the tura goes in light of this, but this is still a pretty good spot for it. If Jay wants to chime in with a mechanically interesting idea, I'm up for that too. Sorry about that, but this is still an awesome pokey-weapon!

I actually think it rivals my pokey-weapon from the previous campaign, in terms of awesomeness.

I'm not sure. As written right now it gets an x3 to critting on a 20, which is the only advantage it has during most fights.

Versus fights against enemy characters, is where it shines- the healing penalty should greatly reduce the amount healing you see, if applied correctly, and should really mess up enemy Heal potions. Such powerful enemies will sometimes have access to True Resurrection, however. The most powerful feature is the bodily destruction, and mostly that is "campaign level"- in other words, MOST demons and elementals that you slay won't be right back to bother you. Sure, the sword guarantees it, and it gives you a social advantage if played properly, but it won't change the tone of most fights.

So I'm not sure if it is cooler. The prismatic spray had a pretty low DC save at higher levels, and it couldn't really work against most of the really important enemies, but against situations where we were outnumbered or overpowered, it made some decent differences. It was very much a Rainbow Casino, in that if the right color procced at the right time, it was victory, and often that is more fun than something more predictable like this.

Why not just say that Keen and Improved Critical don't stack? It seems a whole lot easier for everyone involved. The only person with a keen weapon doesn't have improved critical, so it's not like anyone is getting screwed post-decision. I know you want to see a benefit from both of them, but I'm just not seeing the point.

I will say this, though, regarding the crit multiplier. When it's increases the multiplier by 1 for the entire range, the person creating it must have thought "Yeah, it makes perfect sense for me to put this on a rapier or scimitar. I'm a genius!" When it increases the multiplier by 1 for only a natural 20, the person creating it must have been a fucking idiot to put it on a rapier or scimitar.

Actually, your second point is not true. The only benefit you would get putting on, say, a longsword, is that you would get that extra 1 point of damage... but someone invested in a rapier or scimitar is more likely to have crit boosting feats.

I want imp crit and keen to stack. I believe it improves the game and makes it more fun for physical damage dealers if their few options do not also shit on each other.

I don't want them to stack ludicrously of course.

What's your plan for 2 dot weapons with imp crit and keen?

Improved Crit just adds whatever the base crit of the weapon is a second time. Improved Crit is unchanged.
Keen will add two dots if no improved crit, or one dot if improved crit.

So:
Longsword: 19-20x2 (two dots)
Longsword + ImpC: 17-20x2 (four dots)
Longsword + Keen: 17-20x2 (four dots)
Longsword + ImpC+Keen: 16-20x2 (five dots)

Greataxe: 20x3 (two dots)
Greataxe + ImpC: 19-20x3 (four dots)
Greataxe + Keen: 19-20x3 (four dots)
Greataxe + ImpC+Keen: 18x2, 19-20x3 (five dots)

Mercurial Greatsword: 20x4 (three dots)
MGS + ImpC: 19-20x4 (six dots)
MGS + Keen: 19x3, 20x4 (five dots)
MGS + ImpC+Keen: 18x2,19-20x4 (seven dots)

Scimitar: 18-20x2 (three dots)
Scimitar + ImpC: 15-20x24 (six dots)
Scimitar + Keen: 16-20x2 (five dots)
Scimitar + ImpC+Keen: 14-20x2 (seven dots)


These are all the weapon categories of note in the game. Only punches and clubs remain.


Anyway, the idea here (and I'm pretty damned sure that this is well known now, based on player choice) is that a high base crit is too valuable, and then there are tricks whose value scales excessively with that. That's what I wanted to remove. Going from 1d8 to 1d6 in exchange for one extra die number to crit on is a real choice at low levels, but if everything keeps punching you for not doing it, it becomes less of a choice. So improved crit can keep the special (and mostly unbalanced) trick where it adds an extra crit dot if the base weapon had one, but keen will simply add either one or two dots.

So is this the weapon I need to learn aboot?

Yes. Your little rapier got sundered by a blind front giant. I find this only slightly more absurd if it actually happened. "Oh, frost giants are real and sundered the sword hanging on my wall?!?! Holy shit!" 98% ridiculous. "A frost giant in D&D was blinding and then still sundered a sword because someone 60 feet away told him where it was? Holy shit!" 92% ridiculous.

Anyway, then we found another rapier. You will like this one. It also has a very nice tura gem with it that you will like a lot. When it comes to stabbing people effectively, you're our girl.

Well, the whole sunder skill relies on unearthly something- I keep threatening to get rid of it entirely, as it takes the "stop motion" to a far too literal place. I can accept that a frost giant at least might have the ability to sunder something with a small cross section.

The problem with blind (and invisible) is that it should impair you far more than 50% miss. I mean, mirror image is more effective than invisible... What?

But yes, this appears to be an excellent blade, and presumably it will serve you well. The group opted to put their biggest Tura in there as well.