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The Story of Grynne, Executioner of Wizards (New Attempt)

BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
edited December 2014 in Challenges and Playthroughs
Dear reader, meet Grynne, half-orc Wizard Slayer of Candlekeep.

Grynne is of lawful neutral alignment. Her neutrality manifests itself in her conviction that one is under the moral obligation to refrain from perpetrating any "evil" deeds, while at the same there is no such thing as an obligation to do "good". However she doesn't have to ponder often over moral dilemmas, as the answers are normally provided to her by her distinct lawfulness. Grynne distinguishes between just and unjust rather than between good and evil. Her concept of justice means that she shall always honour a given word, unless the recipient of her word acts in a dishonourable way. Dishonorouble would be for example to trick her into an agreement using false or incomplete information, or to act against the terms of an already concluded agreement.
Interestingly Grynne has little respect for the laws of the land, since those laws lack an in her eyes essential element for validity: the express assent by those subject to them. The laws of the land are not agreed upon by all, but imposed by a governing elite. Therefore any laws that go beyond the most fundamental principles of co-existence (such as to abstain from murder, rape, etc.), are subject to Grynne's careful scrutiny. She'll only respect any laws that she considers to be just and necessary. To give an example she won't act against the adherents of a banished belief system solely because there is a law banishing the religion; obviously the adherents won't have consented to that particular law.

As a Wizard Slayer Grynne holds a deep-rooted distrust of arcane magic. From Gorion's tales and from her studies in Candlekeep she's gathered that the most powerful beings to walk the realms are almost without exception Mages and Sorcerers. And well, power corrupts, according to Grynne. How else can it be possible that the powerful few impose laws on, and feed off the good common folk? Mages appear to be the worst in this respect, as is witnessed in recent times by the atrocity that is evil Thay. And even good-intentioned magic users are inclined to use their power to interfere in the lives of others without asking, without permission, without need. It is for these reasons that Grynne, well aware of her physical prowess, decided at a young age to train with the Candlekeep guards as a fighter, and to specialize herself in combating magic.

Grynne's aversion against arcane magic, combined with her lawful neutral alignment make her quite picky when it comes to entering into alliances with other NPCs. In practice, she'll not accept any arcane magic users (bards, mages, sorcerers) into her party, nor will she ally herself with chaotic characters since these lack focus and reliability according to Grynne. Only a very compelling reason might inspire her to make an exception, and then probably only for limited amounts of time.


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I'll be playing Grynne with the Wizard Slayer Rebalancing mod, available both for BGT/Tutu and for BG:EE.

KIT DESCRIPTION:

This warrior specializes in hunting down wielders of arcane magic. To that end, he conditions his body to resist magic and learns attack techniques that can disrupt arcane spellcasting. This rigorous training regimen requires the Wizard Slayer to forego the use of any magic items besides weapons, armor and healing potions. In addition, he must remain fully devoted to his cause and cannot pursue additional professions.

Advantages:
- Starts with 10% base magic resistance
- Gains an additional +2% bonus to magic resistance for every level of experience
- Gains the Disrupt Magic passive ability at first level
- Gains the Shatter Magic ability at first level and every 8 levels thereafter

Disadvantages:
- Cannot use any magic items except for weapons, armor and healing potions (and items that specifically protect against magic)
- Cannot dual-class

Disrupt Magic:
Whenever a Wizard Slayer lands a successful hit on an arcane spellcaster the target is afflicted with a cumulative spell failure penalty. During the next 3 rounds, the victim has a 10% base chance to miscast any arcane spell plus 1% for every experience level the Wizard Slayer attains. This passive ability is always in effect.

Shatter Magic:
A Wizard Slayer can channel his innate magic resistance into his weapons in order to break through the magical defenses of arcane spellcasters. During the round when this ability is activated, each successful hit removes one combat and one specific protection from his target. However, this temporarily nullifies the Wizard Slayer's innate magic resistance making him vulnerable to magic during the next 2 rounds. Until his magic resistance recovers, the Wizard Slayer cannot use any special abilities that rely on it.

The mod also introduces two new HLAs: Reflect Magic (replaces Resist Magic), which does as the name implies during 3 rounds, and Arcane Bane (replaces War Cry), which gives a damage bonus against wielders of arcane magic. Of course it remains to be seen whether Grynne will ever acquire those abilities.

Besides I've installed a component that makes moderate changes to item restrictions. It allows the Wizard Slayer to use items that provide protection from magic in some form, such as the Cloak of Balduran, Cloak of Mirroring, Belt of Inertial Barrier, Amulet of Spell Warding, Ring of Spell Turning, Potion of Magic Protection, Potion of Magic Shielding and Potion of Magic Blocking.

***

I'll be playing on core rules, and as always: no-reload. I've never played a straight fighter. Am most experienced with thieves (including multiclassed), and to a lesser extent (arcane and divine) magic users. To increase her survivability I'll probably have her operate in a small group, with a decent thief (preferably a Fighter/Thief), and a cleric.
Post edited by Blackraven on
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Comments

  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Well thanks @elminster! That's really kind, especially coming from a mage ;)
    I sure hope to have a lot of fun with her.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    She looks cool. And the roleplaying concept is nice, too bad you don't play EE, I think Grynne would really get along well with Neera :-D

    If she survives up to bg2, no-arcane spellcaster in the party thing may become a challenge. Oh you should take Keldorn (true sight, uber dispel magic, Carsomyr) and Jaheira too (Insect Plague wins most of the SoA) to become the bane of magic users everywhere. This trio will demolish Irenicus so fast.
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Thanks @lunar, you're right the interaction with Neera would be very interesting. I wonder what I would in Beregost when I'd meet her: not pick sides, slay them all, keep a distance?

    Your advice is most welcome. The more the game advances the more careful I'll have to be with whom I accept into my party. In BG2, I think Jaheira and Keldorn will be the most useful (unnerfed Cernd could be an option). Mazzy and Valygar make sense from a roleplaying perspective, but add little in terms of fighting arcane magic. Also, no thief... I've a couple of NPC mods installed though.
    Anyway let's see first if Grynne survives BG1.
  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    Aw yeah. Wizard Slayer Rebalancing + Moderate Item Changes is awesome. You'll eventually become immune to magic and just slap wizards with your mighty backhand. You should keep a mundane weapon to break through PfMW using Shatter Magic, as a side note. Of course, that won't be a problem in BG1.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited March 2014
    Valygar actually has a few tricks up his sleeves against enemy mages. His personal armor offers elemental damage resistances and charm immunity IIRC, his katana does bleeding damage to disrupt spellcasting, and when high enough level, he can cast minor spell deflection to protect himself from magic somewhat. Plus he has already slain two nasty cowled wizards himself by the time you reach him. He is worthy to join your mage slayer party.

    No-thief in bg2 would be bad. Like, very bad. Though then again if you play in bg2:ee Hexxat is capable of all of the needed thievery in the game and then some. But I wonder how would you agree to take her into your party, she is no spell caster but is...err, 'special' enough.

    Ooh all this talk about bg2 is not needed now, you have a long way to finish bg1 first. Though in the future, if you want to tackle bg2 no-reload with a new character, you can roleplay him/her as an amnesiac due to Irenicus's tortures at the start of the game, so not playing bg1 could have been justifiable.

    I look forward to your fight against Davaeorn :-)
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    I'm looking forward for your progress, @Blackraven‌! Are you going to write a journal as long as you're going through your run?

    By the way, I don't know why but I imagine a LN female Half-Orc as Dredda, yelling "I AM THE LAW" every now and then... :|
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    edited March 2014
    Thanks everyone for your replies.
    lunar, you're right about both Valygar and Hexxat (haven't tried her out yet, I think she'd be too evil for my character though)
    Flashburn, thanks for the tip :)
    Metalloman, yes, I'll be posting Grynnes journal. "I AM THE LAW!" would make a cool subtitle, though I woldn't want people to associate her with the Fist.

    @elminster @Flashburn @lunar @Metalloman & others:
    A quick question: any advice on weapon proficiencies?
    1) I opted for dualwielding because I took into account the need to get in as many hits as possible as fast as possible in order to neutralize enemy mages's spellcasting. I suppose that this is a very offensive way of thinking however. Defensively 2h sword might be the way to go, no? With Spiders' Bane, and in BG2 Lilarcor (which in my setup can be upgraded to a +5 enchantment with protection against charm, confusion and intelligence drain). I think I won't be able to rely on magic resistance against status effects until deeper into the game...
    2) My weapon of choice is the battleaxe, simply because I almost never use them (it was a toss up between bastard sword & axe really). It looks pretty brutal, and it seems more natural to dualwield those rather than longswords for example. I also think that the more exotic curved blades (katanas, scimitars etc) don't really fit the character I have in mind. I would consider the trusty flail as another option.

    Post edited by Blackraven on
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    Yeah, that's true: Flaming Fist mercenaries say that phrase too!

    About proficiences: in your case I would use the Axe proficiency mostly for throwing axes; then I would go for Halberds, I think these kind of weapons could fit your CHARNAME, also I don't see many players using halberd often for their PCs.
    (or spears just for the Impaler, but there are not +4 or better spears, IIRC...)
  • CrevsDaakCrevsDaak Member Posts: 7,155


    (or spears just for the Impaler, but there are not +4 or better spears, IIRC...)

    Just Nixil's Spike in ToB, it's a good one since target has to save vs death or fall asleep... It's very funny since Dorn makes Fire Giants fall asleep... I think that you get it as +4 or +5 in the Stamina Test in the Last Seal of Watcher's Keep (it's in the pool at the north, you can't miss it), and Cespenar can upgrade it to +6 with the Dagger+2 the Chromatic Demon from the 2nd floor of Watcher's Keep.
    The Impaler is good, I used spears with a PC a while ago: Jester (bard kit) solo :P and spear were something meh, but I had so many proficiencies o.0 (even had club proficiency, something I never do :P).
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    edited March 2014
    Thanks, yes the axes make her look like a butcher; a halberd would make her look like a grim reaper. Both pretty impressive I think. I'll take this into consideration!
    Post edited by Blackraven on
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Thanks to you too @CrevsDaak
    I would associate spears more with rangers and barbarians, but it can be good fun to use an unusual weapon on an unusual character. Your spear-wielding jester is an example.

    For now I think I'll stick to axes, will see how she does.

  • FlashburnFlashburn Member Posts: 1,847
    @Blackraven‌
    You're using Weimer's Item Upgrade too? You're someone after my own heart. Next you'll be telling me you've got Coran for BG2EE.

    You've got a wide choice in weapon proficiencies. I went with Longsword on my WSR run because there's probably more notable longswords than any other weapon type, and you can dual-wield them. Namarra +2 is a favorite for flavor due to its Silence ability.

    If we're talking Item Upgrade weapons, taking proficiency in Clubs may be something to consider. Pitchwife +5 deals incredible damage, plus some damage over time which stacks if you get in multiple hits. Fulcrum +4 offers Grandmastery in clubs but you'll have to wait until you leave the Underdark to forge it. It might add some flavor to your character due to its extra damage vs. non-True Neutral enemies. Too bad you can't use both of them - they require a component of which there is only one: Gnasher +2.
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    @Flashburn: yep using Weimer's Itemupgrades, just as the Coran mod :D
    How did you know? I hadn't posted my weidu log.

    Anyway clubs are indeed an option, but also a risk. I play with item randomiser, which means that even during sort of thorough playthrough, one might well miss certain items. Last time around I hoped to forge the scimitar for my swashmage, but it never happened, simply because I couldn't find all the "ingredients" (i.e. requiered scimitars) :p

    Longswords are my safest bet I think, followed by flails (because of two really good ones). For now I'll focus on axes though.
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    Great stuff! I like the backstory a lot. She's kind of pretty, in a fierce half-orc way. I like that you chose a human skin tone half-orc portrait. Also, if you can role-play it, (though I can't see how) there's a man in Baldur's gate who will buy ankheg shells for 250 gp. But what's really interesting about him is that he's carrying the golden axe. A +1 axe that has a 10% chance of casting dispel magic on hit effect. And it's gold. Only way to get it (to my knowledge) is to, ahem... pun intended, axe him. =p
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Hey thanks @Elrandir for your words. I also sort of appreciate her looks (and skin tone!), though obviously she's no @Viconia_DeVir.
    I find it really interesting to invest some time in a character's backstory, makes it easier to roleplay, and makes each game completely different.
    The Golden Axe would be perfect for Grynne, but it's a EE-only item, whereas I'm again playing a heavily modded BGT. Besides, as you said, it would be difficult to roleplay stealing it from an honest man.
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    I totally agree about inventing the backstory. And it is? Huh. The guide I used when I learned about it was an EE guide, but it didn't mention that it was an EE item. (it did with most things.) Oh well. You seem to have plenty of options anyway.
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    Yep, I'm afraid it is... Just checked. There aren't that many options for axes in BG1 really. Bala's axe would of course be very fitting: one or two hits would result in 100% spell failure. But I'd have to venture deep down in Durlag's Tower. Risky business on a no-reload run.
  • MacHurtoMacHurto Member Posts: 731
    Do dead party members share the experience won while they are dead?
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    Maybe wait a bit before going for Bassilus, at which lvl your Grynne is? If she is too low there's plenty of basilisks + potion of mirrored eyes combo. ;D
  • ElrandirElrandir Member Posts: 1,664
    edited March 2014
    @Metalloman‌ But she's a wizard slayer. No mirrored eyes potions for him. Maybe her companion?
    Post edited by Elrandir on
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    Exactly, they're two: one the bait, one the hook! ;P
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    edited March 2014
    @MacHurto: as I understand it, dead party members do not gain any XP untill they're alive again.

    @Metalloman & @‌Elrandir
    Grynne is almost level 5 at the moment (but improved Bassilus is no pushover). I think cleaning the basilisk area is another task (the 2nd or 3rd) we're supposed to do for Keldath, so I'd rather wait with that for roleplaying purposes. I think my best bet would be to either go for the coastal areas (Shoal, sirines, Brage), or buy some healing potions and go Ankheg hunting. Unless any of you have other suggestions.
    As to the way to tackle the basilisks, I think Grynne's input will be very limited there. I've got the smarter basilisks component installed, which makes them change their target if their first target isn't susceptible to their petrification gaze.
  • MacHurtoMacHurto Member Posts: 731
    There is no quests related to the basilisks that I know of (unless it is a mod)
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    @MachHurto: yes it's a mod: Gavin NPC (which I think hasn't been implemented yet for BG:EE)
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    Moved in the right area. :)
  • BlackravenBlackraven Member Posts: 3,486
    @Metalloman, Lemernis recommended me to post this in "General Discussion", so that more people would actually see and comment on this thread, answer any questions etc.
    So if it's no problem I think I'd like to keep this thread where it was. Please let me know.
  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    Yeah, no problem for me, I didn't know you had a talk with Lemernis, I was doing some cleaning. ;D

    Now I'll move it again in the General Discussion Area. ;D
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