Balthazar

Balthazar
Balthazar
Level 8
Voiced by	Roger Ringrose
Information
Title	Commander of the Reborn Dead
Race	Undead
Class	Necromancy School Wizard
Stats
Size	Medium
Type	Undead
Hit points	91 (Balanced); 118 (Tactician);
Weight	100 kg ( lb)
Initiative	+7
Ability scores
STR
STR	STR
Proficiency bonus	+3
Saving throws	Str 0; Dex +2; Con +6; Int +5; Wis +5; Cha 0;
Resistances
Resistant	Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing, Poison
Conditions
Mage Armour;	Base Armour Class is 13.
Legendary Resistance; Tactician	+10 to your next 3 saving throws.
Undead Ward Aura;	Nearby allied undead are resistant to physical damage.
Undead Ward;	Resistant to physical damage.
Features
Alert;	+5 to initiative and cannot be Surprised.
Grave Magic;	Spells deal 1d8 Necrotic damage.
Grim Harvest;	Once per turn, regain HP equal to twice the spell level of a spells that kills a creature.
Immune to Control Undead;	Cannot be magically controlled by others.
Legendary Action: Spectral Aspect; Honour	Spend a legendary action to adopt a Spectral Aspect after being struck.
Legendary Action: The Dead Wastes; Honour	Spend a legendary action to create a Dead Wastes area, healing undead and harming the living.
Opportunity Attack;	Automatically attack an enemy moving out of your reach.
Turn Resistance;	Advantage on saving throws against being turned.
Undead Ward;	Nearby undead are resistant to physical damage.
Magic Resistance; Tactician	Advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Balthazar is an Undead necromancer in service to Ketheric Thorm, who can first be encountered in the Gauntlet of Shar during Act Two.

Overview

Background

Balthazar is a necromancer in service to General Ketheric Thorm, sent to the Gauntlet of Shar to retrieve the Nightsong; the source of Ketheric's immortality.

Quests

Involvement

Balthazar can first be encountered in the Gauntlet of Shar, behind a locked door guarded by his undead servants.

Approaching the door and/or his servants, wherever they are found, will generally trigger a conversation. A combat encounter will always trigger on conclusion of this conversation, where Dark Justiciar Avengers attack both the undead servants and the player's party. Once this combat resolves, the player may have the opportunity to speak to Balthazar further and learn more about the relic he is searching for. The player also has the option to simply attack and kill Balthazar at any time after this encounter.

The player also has the option to fully avoid contact with Balthazar and his servants until they delve deeper into the Gauntlet. It is impossible to avoid meeting Balthazar if the player reaches this point.

The second place he can be encountered, assuming the player has not killed him, is when the player crosses the threshold into the Shadowfell from within the Gauntlet. If the player has not yet met Balthazar at this point, he will simply introduce himself and give the player the opportunity to help him finish his mission.

Once the player finally meets Balthazar, they are generally allowed to choose at several points if they want to kill him or help him finish his mission.

If the player helps Balthazar obtain the Nightsong and later meets with Ketheric, Ketheric will take the player prisoner. They will wake up in Balthazar's lab at the Mind Flayer Colony, where Balthazaar prepares to find a way to remove the artefact from the player's possession; ultimately, a fight between the player and Balthazar will break out.

Combat

Balthazar will use a Potion of Speed at the start of his turn to gain Hasted unless you buy it off him during dialogue first (use the Trade button).

Spells and abilities

Animate Dead - Cast as a unique Level 6 variant, only when confronted in the Nightsong's Prison, to reanimate an army of skeletons from the surrounding bones.
Bone Chill
Cloudkill
No Rest for the Wicked
Ray of Sickness
Misty Step

Honour mode

Loot

Gallery

Digital Artbook concept art.
Digital Artbook concept art.

Related literature

Notes

Balthazar's name (and ribs) were taken from the monk Balthazar, a character from Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

External links

Balthazar (necromancer) on the Forgotten Realms Wiki

Spotted an issue with this page? Leave a comment! Note that your IP address will be publicly logged unless you create an account. You can also edit the page to fix the issue. See How to Contribute to get started, and maybe join our Discord so we can coordinate our efforts.