A
style of
blade referred to in
Lewis Carroll's
Jabberwocky. Powers ascribed to it by subsequent sources (read:
AD&D rulebooks) include notably the ability to, on a
natural 20,
lop off the
head of the thing you are attacking with it (assuming that it has a head.) Vorpal swords are often accompanied by a +5
to-hit modifier, and it is extremely uncommon for any non-sword
weapon to have a
vorpal enchantment.
At the moment of decapitation, vorpal blades are known to go snicker-snack!
2003.01.20@20:58 randombit says Re vorpal: Nethack also has vorpal swords, including a vorpal katana artifact named Snickersnee. Another Nethack artifact, the Vorpal Blade, will instantly kill all Jabberwocks (of course).
2005.9.10@3:02 mowph says Re: vorpal - In nethack, the artifact weapon Snickersnee is not a vorpal weapon. Common misassumption because of the shared etymology to the Vorpal Blade's "snicker-snack!" sound. It might also be confused with the Muramasa Tsurugi, which has a similar (but not identical) critical hit effect.