Lich Monster Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Lich Monster Class [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Misterfido
10-07-07, 09:29 PM I wrote this up for one of my players... he wants to become a lich--which is just fine by me, he's the lowest level party member and he's a priest of the Blood of Vol. But making him spend 120,000 gp, 4,800 XP and a feat slot for a +4 level adjustment when there's a werewolf and a vampire in the party (our Expedition to Castle Ravenloft campaign was fuuuuuun) who got their powers for free... seems rather ridiculous.

Anyway, submitting so somebody else can print it off and beg their DM to use it and/or get tips on how to improve the smoothness and coherence of what I've written up. Thanks.

LICHES
The following is a rewrite of liches to be more usable for players who wish to start becoming a lich but the DM is uncomfortable with piling all of those abilities on at the same time, with the player taking Craft Wondrous Item only to become a lich, and with the process being too clean and clear-cut and outrageously expensive for the level it's designed for. In addition, this modification reduces the cost of creating a phylactery: the Monster Manual states the phylactery is part of the CR 13 lich's treasure when it's at level 11, so the phylactery costs 40,000 gp to create (the approximate difference in value between those two levels according to the Magic Item Compendium).

The incantation referenced here is written using Unearthed Arcana as a guide. Further information on this can be found in the SRD.

Racial Traits
Starting Ability Score Adjustments: Con —, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha. Liches increase their mental faculties as their physical bodies wither away. As an undead creature, a lich does not have a Constitution score.
Speed: A lich's base land speed is the same as that of the base creature.
Darkvision: Liches can see in the dark out to 60 feet.
Damage reduction: A lich gains damage reduction as it advances in level, as noted on the accompanying table.
Immunities: Liches are immune to cold, electricity, polymorph (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-affecting attacks.
+2 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. Liches are quiet and sneaky.
+2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Liches are very perceptive.
Automatic Languages: Human.
Favored Class: Lich. The best multiclass choices for a lich are cleric, wizard, or sorcerer.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the lich monster class. All saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 the lich's HD + lich's Cha modifier.
Turn Resistance (Ex) A lich has a bonus to turn resistance equal to its lich level.
Touch Attack (Su) A lich can, once per round, make a touch attack with a free hand or natural weapon. Upon hitting a living creature, the creature touched takes 1d8 + 1 + 1 per class level points of damage, and can make a Will save to halve the damage. The lich can also add this touch attack to a natural weapon, dealing an extra 1d8+5 points of damage if the natural attack hits. This is a negative energy attack, and can heal undead—thus, as a standard action or as part of a full attack, the lich can heal 1d8 + 1 + 1 per class level hit points.
Skill Bonus (Ex) At every class level after 1st, a lich's racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks increases by 2, to a maximum of +8 at 4th-level.
Fear Aura (Su) All creatures within a 60-foot radius of the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by a fear spell. Only creatures with HD equal to or less than 1 + the lich's class level are affected, and creatures that successfully save cannot be affected by the same lich's aura for 24 hours.
Paralyzing Touch (Su) Any creature hit by the lich's touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or be paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim, but the effect cannot be dispelled. Anyone paralyzed by the lich seems dead, though a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check reveals the victim is still alive.
Magical Attack (Su) At 2nd level, a lich's natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
Phylactery (Ex) A lich creates a phylactery in which it stores its soul. After apparent destruction, a lich reappears 1d10 days afterwards, near its phylactery. The only way to be sure to destroy a lich for good is to destroy its phylactery either during the 1d10 day period, or before attacking the lich.

Level 1: Hit Dice minimum d6, Natural armor bonus +2, CR modifier +1, special abilities: turn resistance, phylactery, fear aura, and touch attack
Level 2: Hit Dice Minimum d8, natural armor bonus +3, CR modifier +1, special abilities: DR 5/bludgeoning and magic, magical attack, +4 skill bonus, paralyzing touch (1 round)
Level 3: Hit Dice Minimum d10, natural armor bonus +4, CR modifier +2, special abilities: DR 10/bludgeoning and magic, +6 skill bonus, paralyzing touch (1d4 minutes)
LEvel 4: Hit Dice Minimum d12, natural armor bonus +5, CR modifier +2, special abilities: DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, +8 skill bonus, paralyizing touch (permanent)

Creating a Phylactery
To become a lich, the character must first research a ritual which approximates functioning with his physical and mental form (there are actually several thousand phylactery-creating rituals, but only a few of them will actually work for the character in question), and modify the ritual to better suit him. The character may make a Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) check, DC 9, to know generally what to look for when looking for the reference material—actually finding the black magic research takes a DC 14 check in both Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion).

The character must then collect the materials required to perform the ritual, which usually takes up about 1d4+2 months. This time can halved with a successful DC 24 Gather Information check, but doing so stands a fair chance of alerting magical authorities that you are trying to become a lich.

Lastly, the character initiates the ritual. This is the shortest but most critical part of the process: it takes 1 nonstop hour to perform, but every round of interruption increases the DC of further checks by 1. Every 10 minutes, the player makes one of the three Knowledge (arcana) checks and one of the three Knowledge (religion) checks. If he fails two in a row, the incantation fails; he dies and cannot be raised except by extraordinary means, and his materials are wasted. Just failing one and succeeding on the next one means that he has wasted 10 minutes, extending the casting time of the ritual.

Once the character dies at the end of the ritual, he will rise within 1d10 days as a 1st-level lich. However, during that time, if someone finds and destroys his phylactery, he never returns from the dead.

Rite of Lichdom
Necromancy [Evil]
Effective Level: 6th
Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 24, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 24, 3 successes
Failure: Death
Components: V, S, F, M, B
Casting Time: 60 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: Yourself
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This incantation is the standard rite used to turn a humanoid creature into a lich. The character must be caster level 12 at a minimum, or they simply die in the ritual.

The ceremony is inherently evil, and while the humanoid in question is not required to be evil, nor are they forced to change alignment, the acts and materials required for the rite are beyond rationalizing for most good characters, and any good character who would willingly perform this rite should likely have his alignment reviewed and modified by the DM. Neutral characters are in a similar situation, but not so strictly.

Upon completion of the ceremony, the caster simply dies, his bodies fade to dust and leave his equipment on the ground. Over the course of 1d10 days, a skeletal figure with stretched skin emerges from the dust. At the end of those days, the lich awakens.

The subject loses a class level, and adds his first level in the lich monster class. As with normal undead monster classes, once the first level is attained, at each level up, the next class level accepted must be in the monster class. Characters undergoing the rite may willingly lose up to 4 levels, and gain that many lich levels, but their caster level may never drop below 11 by using this method.

Failure: The caster dies, and both his body and soul cease to exist. He cannot be raised without the aid of a true resurrection, miracle or wish spell.

Material Component: In addition to less glamorous components, such as the tongue of a dragon or the eye of a child, the rite requires access to alchemical components, gemstones, tomes and even personalized research material. All of the above items value at 15,000 gp total.

Focus: An item to be the phylactery, worth 25,000 gp in materials, research and alchemical testing.

Backlash: The caster dies and loses a level, as if he had died and been brought back to life with a raise dead spell. After leveling down, the caster is brought back to life in 1d10 days, during which he cannot protect his phylactery himself. At the end of the duration, he rises as a lich, gaining his first level in the monster class.

Lich's Phylactery
Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (17th)
Body Slot: —
Caster Level: 11th
Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) necromancy
Activation: —
Weight: 7 lbs.

This simple adamantine box is covered with carefully etched sigils and runes. It is definitely hollow, but has no openings or even visible seams. It feels warm to the touch.

A lich's phylactery comes in many forms, though most often as a box of inch-thick adamantine containing strips of magically scribed parchment. Such a box has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. Though the general form changes from phylactery to phylactery, the sigils and their meanings are always the same, making identifying a phylactery simply a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check.

The function of a phylactery is simple: hold the lich's soul away from his body so that when the lich dies, it merely has to reform a new body over 1d10 days. If the phylactery is taken into an antimagic field or is otherwise destroyed, the next time the lich is slain, it simply ceases to exist (though if ever removed from the antimagic field, the phylactery would then resume functioning and the lich would exist once more).

Sample alternate phylacteries are provided below:

1 A hollow silver sphere hanging from a silver chain and containing strips of inscribed parchment.
2 A gold ring bearing arcane inscriptions on the inside of the band.
3 A hollow gold sphere containing strips of inscribed parchment, set atop a darkwood staff.
4 An ivory box bearing arcane sigils across all six sides.
5 A sealed clay jar containing strips of inscribed parchment.
6 A crystal cube with magical phrases carved on all six sides.
7 A hollow platinum circlet containing tiny strips of inscribed parchment rolled tightly inside.
8 A gold-plated skull with magical phrases engraved upon the teeth.
9 An iron flask containing strips of inscribed parchment.
10 A flawless diamond bearing tiny magical inscriptions, set into a golden crown.

Regardless of the form, rarely do liches carry their phylacteries with them, as it makes it far too easy for somebody to completely destroy the lich. All of the above phylacteries cost the same.

Prerequisites: Unique.
Cost to Create: Unique.
Thomar_of_Uointer
10-08-07, 10:16 PM I hate to tell you this, but it's already been done.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031212a
Misterfido
10-09-07, 09:01 PM Meh, I didn't like that one, thematically, in progression of power, or in price. So I wrote my own. Maybe that's a difficult concept for you to understand, that someone might not thoughtlessly follow other people's written works instead of being creative and coming up with their own variants.

This is a house rules forum, idiot. What makes you think "Someone else already came up with that house rule, a-dur!" has ANY significance to me?

So basically, I don't care that you say "already been done," since that's actually (you may not have noticed this) not what I asked.

I asked, how was my power progression. How was my cost for becoming a lich. Do you think it's a good idea for my lich to have an incantation instead of a Craft Wondrous Item act. And lastly, do you see a problem with my written work.

Now, I know you're all tempted to jump up and start snapping at me for daring to threaten your authority. But remember, not stopping to think about things for a second was what got you into this situation in the first place!

So, anyone besides mister empty-thoughts here, have any comments on my works?
Runningyellowstream
10-16-07, 07:37 PM I like it this actually you mind if a PC in one of my groups uses it?
Please don't snap at me!!! :rofl:
Misterfido
10-22-07, 01:30 PM Heh, I don't mind if someone uses it. Message me any changes you recommend to it when you do--i really wonder if the 1st level is balanced, most of all...
Erk_
10-22-07, 05:22 PM Wow, I was going to read and comment, but I don't trust you to take criticism positively after your explosion at that other dude. You're right in your pertinent points, but there's no call to freak out about it. Cheers, enjoy your gaming.
ORC_Tao
10-23-07, 07:22 AM Alright everyone. Let's try to give and accept criticism with a little more grace and civility. No need to get snippy.
Magocrat
10-23-07, 09:15 AM Wow, this looks awesome! It's an excellent way of handling lichdom without resorting to the Craft Wondrous Item schtick. (That, and incantations are really my kind of jive.) A little remark, though: Could you put the text in normal size? I don't know about anyone else, but I kind of have trouble reading it. But here's to what I think could use some improvements.

The starting ability score adjustments are maybe a bit too much. Considering the lich's whole body is withering away, I'd say a Strength and/or Dexterity penalty could be in place here. Also, you might want to state the traits of the undead type as well, for clarity's sake. By the way, there's no such language as Human; there is Common.

Finally, why Knowledge (religion) and (arcana)? The way you wrote it, there are thousands of rituals, so why can't some be arcane and some be divine? (Or profane, depending on how you like to call evil divinity.) But that's just a minor nitpick. Very well done!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Misterfido 10-07-07, 09:29 PM	I wrote this up for one of my players... he wants to become a lich--which is just fine by me, he's the lowest level party member and he's a priest of the Blood of Vol. But making him spend 120,000 gp, 4,800 XP and a feat slot for a +4 level adjustment when there's a werewolf and a vampire in the party (our Expedition to Castle Ravenloft campaign was fuuuuuun) who got their powers for free... seems rather ridiculous. Anyway, submitting so somebody else can print it off and beg their DM to use it and/or get tips on how to improve the smoothness and coherence of what I've written up. Thanks. LICHES The following is a rewrite of liches to be more usable for players who wish to start becoming a lich but the DM is uncomfortable with piling all of those abilities on at the same time, with the player taking Craft Wondrous Item only to become a lich, and with the process being too clean and clear-cut and outrageously expensive for the level it's designed for. In addition, this modification reduces the cost of creating a phylactery: the Monster Manual states the phylactery is part of the CR 13 lich's treasure when it's at level 11, so the phylactery costs 40,000 gp to create (the approximate difference in value between those two levels according to the Magic Item Compendium). The incantation referenced here is written using Unearthed Arcana as a guide. Further information on this can be found in the SRD. Racial Traits Starting Ability Score Adjustments: Con —, +2 Int, +2 Wis, +2 Cha. Liches increase their mental faculties as their physical bodies wither away. As an undead creature, a lich does not have a Constitution score. Speed: A lich's base land speed is the same as that of the base creature. Darkvision: Liches can see in the dark out to 60 feet. Damage reduction: A lich gains damage reduction as it advances in level, as noted on the accompanying table. Immunities: Liches are immune to cold, electricity, polymorph (though they can use polymorph effects on themselves), and mind-affecting attacks. +2 racial bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks. Liches are quiet and sneaky. +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Liches are very perceptive. Automatic Languages: Human. Favored Class: Lich. The best multiclass choices for a lich are cleric, wizard, or sorcerer. Class Features All of the following are class features of the lich monster class. All saves have a DC of 10 + 1/2 the lich's HD + lich's Cha modifier. Turn Resistance (Ex) A lich has a bonus to turn resistance equal to its lich level. Touch Attack (Su) A lich can, once per round, make a touch attack with a free hand or natural weapon. Upon hitting a living creature, the creature touched takes 1d8 + 1 + 1 per class level points of damage, and can make a Will save to halve the damage. The lich can also add this touch attack to a natural weapon, dealing an extra 1d8+5 points of damage if the natural attack hits. This is a negative energy attack, and can heal undead—thus, as a standard action or as part of a full attack, the lich can heal 1d8 + 1 + 1 per class level hit points. Skill Bonus (Ex) At every class level after 1st, a lich's racial bonus on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks increases by 2, to a maximum of +8 at 4th-level. Fear Aura (Su) All creatures within a 60-foot radius of the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by a fear spell. Only creatures with HD equal to or less than 1 + the lich's class level are affected, and creatures that successfully save cannot be affected by the same lich's aura for 24 hours. Paralyzing Touch (Su) Any creature hit by the lich's touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or be paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim, but the effect cannot be dispelled. Anyone paralyzed by the lich seems dead, though a DC 20 Spot check or a DC 15 Heal check reveals the victim is still alive. Magical Attack (Su) At 2nd level, a lich's natural weapons are treated as magic weapons for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. Phylactery (Ex) A lich creates a phylactery in which it stores its soul. After apparent destruction, a lich reappears 1d10 days afterwards, near its phylactery. The only way to be sure to destroy a lich for good is to destroy its phylactery either during the 1d10 day period, or before attacking the lich. Level 1: Hit Dice minimum d6, Natural armor bonus +2, CR modifier +1, special abilities: turn resistance, phylactery, fear aura, and touch attack Level 2: Hit Dice Minimum d8, natural armor bonus +3, CR modifier +1, special abilities: DR 5/bludgeoning and magic, magical attack, +4 skill bonus, paralyzing touch (1 round) Level 3: Hit Dice Minimum d10, natural armor bonus +4, CR modifier +2, special abilities: DR 10/bludgeoning and magic, +6 skill bonus, paralyzing touch (1d4 minutes) LEvel 4: Hit Dice Minimum d12, natural armor bonus +5, CR modifier +2, special abilities: DR 15/bludgeoning and magic, +8 skill bonus, paralyizing touch (permanent) Creating a Phylactery To become a lich, the character must first research a ritual which approximates functioning with his physical and mental form (there are actually several thousand phylactery-creating rituals, but only a few of them will actually work for the character in question), and modify the ritual to better suit him. The character may make a Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (religion) check, DC 9, to know generally what to look for when looking for the reference material—actually finding the black magic research takes a DC 14 check in both Knowledge (arcana) and Knowledge (religion). The character must then collect the materials required to perform the ritual, which usually takes up about 1d4+2 months. This time can halved with a successful DC 24 Gather Information check, but doing so stands a fair chance of alerting magical authorities that you are trying to become a lich. Lastly, the character initiates the ritual. This is the shortest but most critical part of the process: it takes 1 nonstop hour to perform, but every round of interruption increases the DC of further checks by 1. Every 10 minutes, the player makes one of the three Knowledge (arcana) checks and one of the three Knowledge (religion) checks. If he fails two in a row, the incantation fails; he dies and cannot be raised except by extraordinary means, and his materials are wasted. Just failing one and succeeding on the next one means that he has wasted 10 minutes, extending the casting time of the ritual. Once the character dies at the end of the ritual, he will rise within 1d10 days as a 1st-level lich. However, during that time, if someone finds and destroys his phylactery, he never returns from the dead. Rite of Lichdom Necromancy [Evil] Effective Level: 6th Skill Check: Knowledge (arcana) DC 24, 3 successes; Knowledge (religion) DC 24, 3 successes Failure: Death Components: V, S, F, M, B Casting Time: 60 minutes Range: Personal Target: Yourself Duration: Instantaneous Saving Throw: None Spell Resistance: No This incantation is the standard rite used to turn a humanoid creature into a lich. The character must be caster level 12 at a minimum, or they simply die in the ritual. The ceremony is inherently evil, and while the humanoid in question is not required to be evil, nor are they forced to change alignment, the acts and materials required for the rite are beyond rationalizing for most good characters, and any good character who would willingly perform this rite should likely have his alignment reviewed and modified by the DM. Neutral characters are in a similar situation, but not so strictly. Upon completion of the ceremony, the caster simply dies, his bodies fade to dust and leave his equipment on the ground. Over the course of 1d10 days, a skeletal figure with stretched skin emerges from the dust. At the end of those days, the lich awakens. The subject loses a class level, and adds his first level in the lich monster class. As with normal undead monster classes, once the first level is attained, at each level up, the next class level accepted must be in the monster class. Characters undergoing the rite may willingly lose up to 4 levels, and gain that many lich levels, but their caster level may never drop below 11 by using this method. Failure: The caster dies, and both his body and soul cease to exist. He cannot be raised without the aid of a true resurrection, miracle or wish spell. Material Component: In addition to less glamorous components, such as the tongue of a dragon or the eye of a child, the rite requires access to alchemical components, gemstones, tomes and even personalized research material. All of the above items value at 15,000 gp total. Focus: An item to be the phylactery, worth 25,000 gp in materials, research and alchemical testing. Backlash: The caster dies and loses a level, as if he had died and been brought back to life with a raise dead spell. After leveling down, the caster is brought back to life in 1d10 days, during which he cannot protect his phylactery himself. At the end of the duration, he rises as a lich, gaining his first level in the monster class. Lich's Phylactery Price (Item Level): 40,000 gp (17th) Body Slot: — Caster Level: 11th Aura: Moderate; (DC 20) necromancy Activation: — Weight: 7 lbs. This simple adamantine box is covered with carefully etched sigils and runes. It is definitely hollow, but has no openings or even visible seams. It feels warm to the touch. A lich's phylactery comes in many forms, though most often as a box of inch-thick adamantine containing strips of magically scribed parchment. Such a box has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. Though the general form changes from phylactery to phylactery, the sigils and their meanings are always the same, making identifying a phylactery simply a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check. The function of a phylactery is simple: hold the lich's soul away from his body so that when the lich dies, it merely has to reform a new body over 1d10 days. If the phylactery is taken into an antimagic field or is otherwise destroyed, the next time the lich is slain, it simply ceases to exist (though if ever removed from the antimagic field, the phylactery would then resume functioning and the lich would exist once more). Sample alternate phylacteries are provided below: 1 A hollow silver sphere hanging from a silver chain and containing strips of inscribed parchment. 2 A gold ring bearing arcane inscriptions on the inside of the band. 3 A hollow gold sphere containing strips of inscribed parchment, set atop a darkwood staff. 4 An ivory box bearing arcane sigils across all six sides. 5 A sealed clay jar containing strips of inscribed parchment. 6 A crystal cube with magical phrases carved on all six sides. 7 A hollow platinum circlet containing tiny strips of inscribed parchment rolled tightly inside. 8 A gold-plated skull with magical phrases engraved upon the teeth. 9 An iron flask containing strips of inscribed parchment. 10 A flawless diamond bearing tiny magical inscriptions, set into a golden crown. Regardless of the form, rarely do liches carry their phylacteries with them, as it makes it far too easy for somebody to completely destroy the lich. All of the above phylacteries cost the same. Prerequisites: Unique. Cost to Create: Unique.
Thomar_of_Uointer 10-08-07, 10:16 PM	I hate to tell you this, but it's already been done. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031212a
Misterfido 10-09-07, 09:01 PM	Meh, I didn't like that one, thematically, in progression of power, or in price. So I wrote my own. Maybe that's a difficult concept for you to understand, that someone might not thoughtlessly follow other people's written works instead of being creative and coming up with their own variants. This is a house rules forum, idiot. What makes you think "Someone else already came up with that house rule, a-dur!" has ANY significance to me? So basically, I don't care that you say "already been done," since that's actually (you may not have noticed this) not what I asked. I asked, how was my power progression. How was my cost for becoming a lich. Do you think it's a good idea for my lich to have an incantation instead of a Craft Wondrous Item act. And lastly, do you see a problem with my written work. Now, I know you're all tempted to jump up and start snapping at me for daring to threaten your authority. But remember, not stopping to think about things for a second was what got you into this situation in the first place! So, anyone besides mister empty-thoughts here, have any comments on my works?
Runningyellowstream 10-16-07, 07:37 PM	I like it this actually you mind if a PC in one of my groups uses it? Please don't snap at me!!! :rofl:
Misterfido 10-22-07, 01:30 PM	Heh, I don't mind if someone uses it. Message me any changes you recommend to it when you do--i really wonder if the 1st level is balanced, most of all...
Erk_ 10-22-07, 05:22 PM	Wow, I was going to read and comment, but I don't trust you to take criticism positively after your explosion at that other dude. You're right in your pertinent points, but there's no call to freak out about it. Cheers, enjoy your gaming.
ORC_Tao 10-23-07, 07:22 AM	Alright everyone. Let's try to give and accept criticism with a little more grace and civility. No need to get snippy.
Magocrat 10-23-07, 09:15 AM	Wow, this looks awesome! It's an excellent way of handling lichdom without resorting to the Craft Wondrous Item schtick. (That, and incantations are really my kind of jive.) A little remark, though: Could you put the text in normal size? I don't know about anyone else, but I kind of have trouble reading it. But here's to what I think could use some improvements. The starting ability score adjustments are maybe a bit too much. Considering the lich's whole body is withering away, I'd say a Strength and/or Dexterity penalty could be in place here. Also, you might want to state the traits of the undead type as well, for clarity's sake. By the way, there's no such language as Human; there is Common. Finally, why Knowledge (religion) and (arcana)? The way you wrote it, there are thousands of rituals, so why can't some be arcane and some be divine? (Or profane, depending on how you like to call evil divinity.) But that's just a minor nitpick. Very well done!