Sample file Sample file Introduction The banging on the gates grew louder and louder. Dharion Khryll, master of Castle Khryll and all its surrounding lands, ignored the noise. No doubt his ignorant serfs were trying to break into his ancestral home to destroy him – “monster,” they called him, since he had cheated death. “Lich lord,” they whispered. And deep in the remnants of his heart, he knew that their whispers were right. But Dharion Khryll knew that becoming a lich had not made him an evil monster – magic could not make a man evil, surely they would understand that. But he could not worry about the blood-crazed peasants. Not now, at any rate. The undead Lord of Castle Khryll turned his head toward his bedchamber. On the bed lay his dying wife Elisha, her liv- ing flesh nearly as withered away as his own undead skin. Her love for him was strong – so strong, in fact, that she had remained devoted to him even in his new state of undeath – and Dharion Khryll still loved her. He had managed to defy death to remain at her side. He had no intentions of losing his love to death now. With a desiccated finger, the lich turned the pages of the spell book next to the bed, even as his dying wife struggled to breathe. The lich smiled a hideous smile as he reached a page labeled “The Philolich.” “Death shall not separate us. Instead, it will join us forever, my love,” murmured Dharion Khryll. Liches are powerful undead creatures – mortal wizards, warriors, and other beings of might who use the dark necroman- tic arts to make their spirits immortal. While their flesh and blood withers away, their magically altered life-force allows them to exist, though at a terrible cost. This book offers a complete guide to liches. It contains everything you need to role-play them in your campaign: social habits, personality traits, combat strategies, and guidelines for creating liches and lich variants. While it is strongly recom- mended that player characters not be permitted to become liches, this book still contains information and gaming materials that can be used by both players and game masters. This book is not designed for any specific setting, and the information found within can be used in any campaign. Sample file

2 Chapter 1 Origins and Physiology of the Lich No one knows for certain how the first liches came to be. rotting form is so terrible that creatures within 10 feet of the Sages say that the necromantic arts of lichdom came from lich must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 16) or become nau- failed sorcerous attempts to find immortality, or even god- seated for as long as they remain in the area of the stench. hood. To an extent, these dark spells provide the desired This stench disappears after the first year of the lich’s undead results – immense power and a nearly endless lifespan – but existence, possibly along with the creature’s eyes, hair, and with the dark gift of lichdom came horrific consequences: a notable physical features. The magic of lichdom is uniquely downward spiral into madness, the decay of the lich’s physi- personal, however, and liches tend to keep a few physical fea- cal body, and a slow and steady conversion toward pure evil tures that unnaturally resist decay enough that the creature that cannot be stopped. Most sane academies of magic quick- remains recognizable. ly abandoned the magical experimentation that created lich- If the eyes rot away, they are replaced with a reddish es; even most necromancers stopped their studies involving glow in dark eye sockets. The flesh of the lich clings to its such matters. In fact, most have destroyed all records regard- bones, most of the muscles having rotted away. Even if the ing the secrets of lichdom, and to this day the secrets of lich’s lips decay, the undead creature is still capable of speech becoming a lich are forbidden to most students of the arcane with an innate power that resists even antimagic. Indeed, a arts. lich need not even use its jaw to speak – the voice magically But not all. For those who truly seek immortality, becom- emanates from inside its mouth, and it remains able to keep ing a lich represents an opportunity to live forever – and the talking even if the throat, lungs, and jaw are destroyed. More secrets of lichdom, while difficult to find, are not impossible sneaky liches can be masters of ventriloquism. to learn, provided one is willing to pay the price. In the short term, liches deal with their physical decay in Physically, liches vaguely resemble the forms they had one of two ways – denial or indifference. Indifferent liches when they were still living and breathing beings with untaint- simply desire immortality to continue their studies beyond ed souls. In fact, in the early stages of their undead exis- their mortal lifespan, or to seek vengeance on an enemy who tences, it may not be possible to tell that a lich is undead. The could not be defeated in life. To these liches, immortality is a creation of a lich requires a willing, living subject,Sample and when means file to an end, rather than the end itself. They have grand that living subject becomes a lich, the process does not purposes beyond an immortal existence, and luxuries such as instantly turn the subject’s physical body into a rotting, physical appearance are trivial indeed. corpse-like shell. Although the lich’s body dies a natural To many liches, however – particularly those that were death, the ritual of lichdom involves mild preservative vain or selfish in life – the rotting of their physical form is effects. The lich’s physical form will decay just like any dead unbearable. Most tomes that record the secrets of lichdom body, but the flesh rots more slowly than it ordinarily would. neglect to mention this simple detail, as the authors of such A lich may be able to walk around for weeks, even months, texts – liches themselves – are ineffably evil and perhaps bit- before any living creatures – even close friends and associ- ter in their own right, and take mild pleasure in the potential ates – begin to suspect the mage is undead. By that time, it anguish of future liches who were not prepared for the decay may be more the diabolical behavior of the newly created lich of their flesh. The dark arts of magic involved in maintaining that betrays its true nature than the slowly rotting shell it the lich’s undead existence slowly but surely cause the lich to inhabits as a body. go insane, and the shock and realization that their bodies are Once decay sets in, the appearance of all liches invari- rotting away often speeds up the journey to insanity. ably becomes the same. The physical form of the lich’s mor- Liches with some sense of vanity will wear the same tal body rots and putrefies within a month or two, generating clothing they wore in life – if not finer and more expensive an intensely foul odor that becomes unbearable to all living clothing –to help them feel “alive,” but the self-delusion does creatures that come near the lich. Unless preventative meas- not necessarily end there. Wigs, glass eyes, heavy make-up, ures are taken, the stench coming from a newly created lich’s illusory spells, exotic perfumes – all of these things may be

3 employed to maintain the fantasy that the lich’s physical form and talking to inanimate skeletons as though they were living is still fine and unchanged. These efforts are done just as servants. much for the lich as for the few living creatures that the lich Eventually, the necromantic forces animating a lich may still be interacting with. Liches obsessed with appear- wane. Even though a lich can survive for thousands of years ance may spend weeks on end convincing themselves that the in an undead state, lichdom never lives up to its false promis- immortality they sought by becoming a lich was perfect. es of true immortality. After centuries of festering within a These evil undead monsters want to believe that they are single host form, the evil magic maintaining the lich’s form exactly as they were in life, and that they aren’t “really” an starts to break down the remnants of the lich’s body. These undead creature, little more than an intelligent zombie. are the final moments of the lich, whose existence can be con- As the many centuries of an undead existence pass slow- cluded in one of three ways. ly along, though, almost all liches become unconcerned with The first is that its mind finally fades into nothingness, their hideous, deathly appearance. Those liches that never along with the life force animating its body. These liches sim- cared about appearance anyway tend to survive these cen- ply become dead, inanimate skeletons, indistinguishable from turies with mental resilience, since their undeath is less trau- any other humanoid skeleton. matizing. But for those liches that were obsessed with appear- The second possibility is that the lich’s body breaks apart ance, the obsession never vanishes; it is merely replaced with and shatters, turning it into little more than fine powder and a increasingly bizarre charades. The lich might lose the ability skull. In this state, the skull still houses the remaining frag- to differentiate what makes dead creatures repugnant to the ments of the lich’s still-living mind. With only its demented living; while the lich still wants to act like it did in life, it can mind left intact, the lich finally reaches its ultimate state of no longer comprehend that having cockroaches in its torso purest evil – the demi-lich. would be revolting. Some see all their surroundings as they The third, and most rare, possibility is when a piece of were in life, regardless of what those surroundings have actu- the lich becomes separated from its body as it degenerates ally become. It’s not uncommon to find a lich wandering into nothing. Such detached pieces retain certain evil, magi- through a ruined castle as though it were new, gazing fondly cal properties – a hand, perhaps, or maybe a withered eye. for hours at burned or destroyed paintings, drinking nothing Such artifacts are further detailed in the Lich Artifacts section from rusted goblets as though they contained the finest wine, on page 10.

SampleVariant Liches file At its most basic, the lich is an undead creature that cheats death by securing its soul somewhere other than its body. If its body is destroyed, it will reform, as long as its soul is intact. Appendix 1: Lich Variants and Monsters includes sever- al variants on the standard lich, keeping this core concept but providing new abilities and tricks. •Dracolich. This template allows dragons to become liches, harnessing their undying souls into a soul-wrenching breath weapon. •Drowlich. Its soul bound with shadowy magic, this dark elf lich has great powers over darkness. •Novalich. Destined to die within a year of becoming a lich, this creature’s flaring powers drive it to fulfill one last goal before its soul gutters into oblivion. • Philolich. When a lich desires to keep cherished family or servants with him through eternity, he creates a philolich, a lesser lich whose spirit is bound to his own. •Semi-lich. The result of a failed attempt to become a lich, this creature is a mindless shell of what could have been a true lich. •Warlich. Possessed of the same immortality of other liches, warliches bend their powers to martial combat, not magic. • Lichling. Imbued with the essence of a lich, these shambling piles of bones are often found guarding liches. • Lichwarg. Undead hounds that hunt by the scent of souls, these beasts are the eyes of some lich overlords.

4 Liches are extremely rare creatures. Finding someone but this is not always so, particularly with certain variant with the magical knowledge, skills, and willingness to types of liches. The spellcaster can be any high-level spell- attempt the hazardous process of becoming a lich is an caster, including epic-level paladins and rangers. His skills extraordinary occurrence. Even rarer than liches, however, need only meet the following criteria. are lich variants – specialized offshoots of the undead lich creature. These offshoots include the semi-lich, the philolich, Requirements for Creating the novalich, the warlich, the dracolich, and the drowlich. Details of all these specific lich variants can be found in a Lich or Lich Variant Appendix 1 and throughout this guide. Spellcasting: Caster level 11 Lich Creation Feats: Craft Wondrous Item The subject must be a willing subject. Should the subject Dharion Khryll descended slowly down the steps of the not truly desire to become a lich, or understand and object to main tower, cradling his beloved Elisha in his skeletal arms. the fact that becoming a lich involves actually dying and The gates had held – for now – and the lich felt sure that he being reborn as an undead creature, the subject will never could make the necessary preparations for his wife in peace become a lich or lich variant. Suggestion, charm, or any other in his laboratories below the castle. There would be no mis- sorts of magic spells and psionics used to convince a subject takes, of that he was quite sure. After all, his own transfor- that becoming a lich is a good idea are not enough, nor is mis- mation had been a complete success, had it not? leading the subject about what the lich creation process “Dharion, my love?” Elisha asked weakly. She looked up entails. Only a subject that chooses to be a lich of his own into his empty eye sockets. “Promise we’ll never be apart.” free will can ever successfully become a lich. A subject “I promise,” said the lich. “Do not worry. This is not the tricked into the process in one form or another is invariably end – it is a beginning!” killed by the spells and ritual involved, and because the process taints the soul, the subject cannot be brought back The process of becoming a lich is a dark and arduous from the dead with anything short of a wish or miracle. one. The secrets and spells that must be learned in order to Once both the spellcaster and the subject are ready and create a lich are numerous and difficult – it can take a lifetime willing, a phylactery must be created to begin the process of alone just to learn all that is required. Furthermore, the lore of lichdom. This phylactery serves as a vessel for the lich’s soul lichdom tends to be forbidden knowledge, not commonly Sampleor life file force. The phylactery separates the life force from the available from libraries and sages. Possessing such informa- lich’s mortal flesh-and-blood body, and contains it within its tion is a crime in many kingdoms, punishable by death. But own virtually indestructible self. So long as the phylactery for those deluded souls who think that lichdom will bring exists, the lich is essentially immortal. Destroying the body of them immortality, no price is too high. a lich without destroying that lich’s phylactery means that the In order to create a lich or a lich variant, two simple ele- lich’s essence survives, and that 1d10 days after being ments are essential above all others: a skilled spellcaster to destroyed, the lich will return at full strength. A lich’s phy- create the lich, and a willing subject to become the lich. In lactery must be destroyed if the lich is to be annihilated once many cases, the spellcaster and subject are one and the same, and for all.

Phylactery Enhancement

Hardness Hit Points Break DC Gold Cost XP Cost +2 hardness +10 hit points +2 Break DC 1,000 gp 40 XP +4 hardness +20 hit points +4 Break DC 4,000 gp 160 XP +6 hardness +30 hit points +6 Break DC 9,000 gp 360 XP +8 hardness +40 hit points +8 Break DC 16,000 gp 640 XP +10 hardness +50 hit points +10 Break DC 25,000 gp 1,000 XP

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