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)   Grayswandir   Silver saber
Base item silver saber
Damage vs. small 1d8 x2 +(1d20)
Damage vs. large 1d8 x2 +(1d20)
To-hit bonus +1d5
Bonus versus (any)
Weapon skill saber
Size one-handed
Affiliation
When carried

(none)

When wielded
When invoked

(none)

Cost 8000 zm
Weight 40
Material silver

One of the most coveted weapons in the game, Grayswandir is a lawful silver saber that can do both double damage (to all targets, without exception) and silver damage, and prevents hallucination. Because, like Fire and Frost Brand, it is non-intelligent, it may be wished for and used even by non-lawfuls who can survive its possible blasting damage (25% chance of 4d4) when it is transferred to or appears in their inventory or is wielded.

Damage[]

Grayswandir's double damage applies to its base d8 damage and its damage due to enchantment, but not to its silver damage or other bonuses. The following calculates the damage done by the blessed +7 Grayswandir in the best case scenario: being expert in saber and attacking an undead silver-hating monster:

(
+d8 base damage
+7 enchantment damage
)
*2 double damage bonus
+d20 silver damage (against silver-haters)
+d4 blessed damage (against undead or demons)
+2 expert skill bonus
= 20 to 56 total damage (average 38)

Worst case scenario for a blessed +7 Grayswandir (with expert level in saber skill) against a non-undead, non-demon, non-silver-hating monster:

(
+d8 base damage
+7 enchantment damage
)
*2 double damage bonus
+2 expert skill bonus
= 18 to 32 total damage (average 25)

Generation[]

Grayswandir can be randomly generated wherever a silver saber can be generated, but this is exceptionally rare (only 1/20 of all randomly generated silver sabers will be Grayswandir[1], and there aren't many randomly generated silver sabers). A more reliable way to get it, if lawful, is to #offer sacrifices to your god, or to wish for it. It can also be found in bones files.

Origin[]

Grayswandir is a reference to the Chronicles of Amber book series. Corwin, the protagonist, has a silver sword called Grayswandir. From Wikipedia:

Grayswandir is Corwin's sword, also known as the Night Blade; its twin is Brand's Werewindle, the Day Sword. Both Grayswandir and Werewindle are inscribed with portions of the Pattern of Amber; this makes them particularly effective against creatures of Chaos.

Encyclopedia entry[]

Why had I been wearing Grayswandir? Would another weapon have
affected a Logrus-ghost as strongly? Had it really been my
father, then, who had brought me here? And had he felt I might
need the extra edge his weapon could provide? I wanted to
think so, to believe that he had been more than a Pattern-ghost.

[ Knight of Shadows, by Roger Zelazny ]

Strategy[]

Grayswandir is better than Fire Brand, Frost Brand and Mjollnir in that it will not destroy items in the inventory of the monster or player being hit. It is also a single-handed weapon, allowing you to wear a shield, or #twoweapon with a plain silver saber for even more silver damage. Because of this, most players consider Grayswandir the best weapon in the game. It cuts through the undead and demons in Gehennom, but it should be noted that most of the monsters on the Elemental Planes are not silver haters.

Source code references[]


This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

  1. The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited.
  2. Any modifications to the spoiler must be acknowledged and credited.
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