@wittmann:
No, Balladeer. A one was always a miss, whatever your to hit bonuses and a 20 was always a hit, whatever your negative factors. I thought a roll of 20 on a Vorpal weapon,
Meant the victim lost his head. Not a limb. But was 20 plus years ago now.
But what if your opponent doesn’t have a “head”?? :-D
But yes, even in the old days it will sever the neck/head of its opponent (provided it has one). “The DM will note that there are many creatures that cannot suffer decapitation due to lack or mutability of form. There are also certain creatures that may have heads but will not necessarily be killed by decapitation (among these are dopplegangers, elementals, and golems).” – Advanced D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (1979)
My best characters were of the Ranger type, so a “good” alignment was required for them – however, I tended toward the “chaotic” side of good. :)
Now that I’m less young and idealistic, I think I would tend toward true neutral and become a Druid. Heck, maybe I can still do that in real life… :lol: