Is the Executioner's Hand badly written? Or have I read this wrong?
English isn't my native language (Italian here), so apologies in advance.
I was reading the list of the official unique magic weapons when I found this one. At first glance it seems a cool concept, but then I read this paragraph:
> When wielded in a coup de grace attempt against a helpless target, the executioner’s hand is treated as a vorpal weapon, and if the attack is a critical threat, it is automatically confirmed as a critical hit.
The problem is, the Core Rulebook tells you that when you use a coup de grace "You automatically hit and score a critical hit." This means that you don't have to make an attack roll to perform a coup de grace; therefore, the vorpal effect in such situational condition is totally useless (because you have to roll a natural 20 to trigger the vorpal special ability). Unless the weapon allows you to consider the coup de grace as if you rolled a natural 20 (therefore, beheading the helpless target), but this detail isn't clearly specified.