The_Matthew at [unixtime wrote:1153755977[/unixtime]]Actually, he can't. Critical hits are defined as effectively hitting a target in a vulnerable spot, and if a vampire cannot be critically hit then he doesn't have any vulnerable spots, thus his heart is meaningless.
A vampire does have a 'weak spot', but it's so overly specific that it would never come in to play in combat. Seriously, a weakness to conical wooden spikes does not warrent making them vulnerable to crits, especialy seeing as a stake would *never* puncture a rib cage if used as a conventional weapon. You would need to hit it with a hammer, or jump on it or something.
EDIT: Yes, this is an exageration. I'm sure there are situations where you could break through a sternum with a stake using only your bare hands, but I doubt it would come to in to play often enough to make an exception to the rule. Its far safer to assume that a character is more comperable to Van Helsing than to Buffy.
Hey_I_Can_Chan at [unixtime wrote:1153756237[/unixtime]]Because it would reduce fights with anyone who actually wanted to play a vermin lord. Your buddy brings his vermin lord to your Planescape game and there are a bunch of phase spiders running a toll booth to a portal to the plane you want to get to.
Can your vermin lord buddy talk to them? The rules don't say. He says yes, 'cause they're big bugs. You say no, they're outsiders. Fist fight ensues. You crack his skull with a chair. You get arrested and spend the rest of your life in jail.
…all because the fvckers who write D&D won't make the type system make sense.
I just rule that if it looks like a bug, than a Vermin Lord can talk to it, regardless of creature type. Hell, let them talk to giant lobsters and umber hulks too.
RandomCasualty at [unixtime wrote:1153763274[/unixtime]]Corporeal undead certainly have vital spots. You can strike a skeleton in the neck and take off his head, easier than you can a human in fact. Personally I think undead should be immune to sneak attack (since that's specifically about striking vital organs) and that's it unless they're incorporeal. Incorps should be totally immune. In the case of the vampire, you could actually have sneak attack work too, but only if you're figthing with a stake.
Critical hit immunity should generally be reserved for stuff like non-jointed constructs (clay golem), oozes, swarms, incorporeals and probably elementals.
In my campaign, at least, it doesn't matter if you chop right through a skeleton's neck, it doesn't 'damage' it any more than any other attack. I figure that the negative energy that animates the undead is what holds a skeleton together, and that 'hurting' them just puts strain on that animating force. 'Killing' an undead is simply putting so much strain on the animating force that it recoils back to the Negative Energy Plane, turning the undead in to a pile of dust.
