HAHAHHAHA HOLY SHIT! THATS MY ARTWORK AT 23:14! Thank you so much, I'm not worthy of being among all these other awesome artists but holy fuck! You go Ephira, my tragic Lich Queen lass!
If you have a website and sell custom art, now would be a great time to throw some links up here David :) Also, that art is absolutely worthy of being up there with the rest of them, it is fantastic.. I really like how it conveys that a Lich is dried up and thin, plus generally kind of dirty, and they are surrounded by undead minions most of the time. Great work.
Thanks mate, i really appreciate it, although I've transitioned into game dev for a long while now so i mostly just do character design etc, while heading the studio, rather than working as a freelance artist. You might actually enjoy what we're making (kindof up your alley), you can see that here lordsofnether.com/ and here ua-cam.com/channels/ml0sU3ZlhL0ak4fWj285sQ.html if you're at all curious. Our own site isnt supposed to be live yet tho so shhhh :P As for Ephira here, im glad that you find her so well representative of a lich! I had a major problem with overdetailing characters back then though, along iwth a number of other things, but live and learn. That image is probably like, 6 years old by now haha. She has a bit of a tragic story in the world ive made, that she resides in tho, where those undead are actually fully sentient humans she saved from death and they actually follow her out of devotion. She is not evil but she is a stern and strong matriarchal figure, but necromancy is largely misunderstood in her world (as is often the case) and this picture is set at the time where the Clergy is hunting her down as part of a larger crusade that is mercilessly killing her kind, which ends with her backed into this dark hall of antiquity, with her people swarming around her to defend her, but they lose, she is captured and burnt at the stake. Well anyway, apologies for the rant, i tend to get a bit swept up in this stuff, but again, im really glad you like it and that i got to evoke the right feelings with the work!
You're a hero for sure. I never get the chance to thank the nameless artists who create awesome pictures of shit I love. So thank you for compensating for my lack of imagination.
The best liches always maintain a flair for the dramatics JUST so they can engage in their favorite immortal past-time: punishing whole villages & cities of innocents for the transgressions of heros. 😂❤
"NEVER nerf the Lich." This is undeniably a profoundly important statement that DMs must absorb before considering the use of a Lich in a campaign. Nerf the Lich and you have done nothing but spare the PCs from mistakes that should justifiably lead to their deaths. If you must do a thing to save your PCs, neither your nor they are ready for such a archvillain.
Thank you, neither you nor they are ready... Lichdom is about power, if a villian achieves it, they should only become more dangerous, powerfull, maniacle or cunning...
You have my respect, making a noble effort to properly pronounce all of those names. I also appreciate the fact that you outlined alternate forms of Liches, proving that they're not just cookie-cutter.
Someone actually told a story that included a GOOD Lich as a the final "Boss" as the players were simply being Chaotic Neutral (because the DM had banned Evil aligned characters,) Murder Hobos. If you look up "Narrated D&D Story: How My Players Learned What Chaotic Neutral Means," for the full story. The TLDR of it is the elder Wizard of the realm used tamed zombies as farm workers as a desperate last effort to save the area after a devastating plague ravaged the land, without the manpower of which the remaining the living would starve. He spent decades researching how to bring the zombified plague victims ALL the way back meanwhile their loved ones still treated them as alive. He also trained other village elders to create zombies as manpower over the sheer devastation of the plague was too much for him to do alone The characters never listen to any of this & simply kill the monsters and "evil cultists" in every town they come to. It's only at the end that they find out "Are we the baddies?" because they never listened to any of the HUGE clues the DM dropped. There are juicer details if you look it up.
When I was about 8 and playing 1st edition with my dad and sister, our main villain was a lich and my dad described it as a "atheist mummy" which I feel still holds fairly true lmoa
I've often looked at the Arch-Lich as just doing the job properly and not taking the shortcut of bartering with malevolent powers. A true mastery of the Nercomancer's craft that makes the Lich into a conduit between creation (positive energy) & entropy (Negative energy) No need for the meddling forces of the divine or fiendish pantheons.
"There is only darkness for you and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light is extinguished. You are strong child, but I am beyond strength. I am 'The End.'"
Made a lich for a campaign I'm running. Using the spell "Alter Self", he contacted the party directly and asked them to help him investigate the old and powerful mages of waterdeep under the guise of a travelling scholar. My players never fail to surprise me, as they invited it to their home. They now live with a lich in the guestroom without knowing it.
I've been binge watching this channel for the last 2 weeks now and let me tell you, I've never seen so many different intros for the same channel in my life lmao.
If you really look, the actual earliest Lich is much older than the Victorian era. I am of course speaking of Koschei the Deathless from Russian folklore. Koschei was a lecherous pervert known for kidnapping beautiful women, and rode around on horseback. He’s a Lich though because true to his name he achieved immortality by removing his soul and imbuing it into some object (the exact object depends on the story) but most famously a needle which he then put inside an egg, which he put inside a duck, which was then somehow further magically placed in a hare, locked inside an iron chest which is then bound in chains and finally buried on a remote island. A classic Lich setup if I’ve heard one, and yet easily the oldest Lich story.
“In life, he sought a means by magic and medicine to extend his life. Far outliving his piers, he soon became the subject of the paranoia of the villagers. Whispers wafted through the the little town, of the strange mage who’d lived a hundred, a thousand years. In truth, the odd little man had lived no more than one hundred and eleven years, but such details were lost in the frantic gossip of the crones and the terror they inspired was truly frightening. Finally, after baring the scorn of the villagers for half a century, the queer little mage gave the denizens of the town a true reason for their estrangement. In the dead of night, the village was razed from the ground. Little is know of their fates, but rumors are heard of a terrible evil that dwells in the hills around the spot where the bloody raid was carried out. There are also some who’ve claimed to smell death itself when crossing that countryside. But who can say for sure?”
Great stuff as always. Brings back memories from the old 2nd edition Van Richten's guide to the Lich. For those interested, they released the single guides as compendiums in three volumes, covering various creatures from were-beasts and vampires, to ghosts and fiends.
What I love about those guides is the story element to them, like, we are reading real journals, very in depth in some aspects, but vague in others, such as Van Richten saying he knows a potion is involved, and the female spellcaster refers to the evil brew, but he has no idea what it is made from, just that it is consumed under the light of a full moon. His writings on golems, mummies and witches is superb.
Wow, i listen to so many of these monstercology videos on various channels and this is one of my very favorites! Its so informative, entertaining, the pics were awesome... I have read and listened to a lot about liches specifically, too, and i still learned a lot from this. Bravo!!
No one else that does dungeons and dragons Lore covered the Lich I think it’s a cool idea and makes a fun character to play as. Also this video does amazing job covering the lore definitely going to watch more videos 👍🏻
My longstanding Lich NPC, Memnoc, laughs. He is a fun loving guy, with a habit of using created bodies like most people use outfits, different ones for different uses. He also enjoys hanging out in planar bars and gaining interesting/unique ideas for magic items. Like the Iron Golem stove/chef he created for his favorite bar.
For me, the worst Lich on Toril was always Szass Tam. I bet I COULD find a worse Lich, shit maybe you AJ could? However! For my first campaign that I ever ran, I created a character that was an instant hit with all of the players. They were at level one, and were sent to a graveyard inside the city of Waterdeep to retrieve a lost family heirloom from a mausoleum dungeon, and to find out why ghouls were coming from said graveyard as well. Once they entered the bottom room of the main crypt, a dark violet robed figure holding a black obsidian staff a head taller than itself, topped with the skull of a goat, turned to face them. Green flames flashed from the eyes of the semi-rotted face of what seemed to be an elf, a brass crown ringed with rubys sitting at an angle on his head. It looked more like staring into the emotionlessness of a skull who's eyes were alight with only the magic that drove him. 11:32 And it slowly grinned, it's lips long rotted away so he seemed to instead just smile broadly, opened his arms wide at the party and replied in a raspy hollow echoing voice that seemed to be coming from every direction: "Adventurers!!! Juuust the kind of talent I needed! I! Am Typhis Ausarmeneskek!!! High Mage of Myth Phelgodin, servant Arch-Lich of Kelemvor and incinerator of all things that go.. BOOOM!!!" On the last word, Typhis swung around and blasted apart the tomb he was in front of him apart with a surge of black and green fire from his staff. The tomb was instantly fragments across the room, the party shielding themselves from the pelting gravel. As the party regained their senses, Typhis glided to the broken tomb, bent down slowly and grabbed something from the rubble. The turned back to the party and held out an an exquisitely beautifully made sword sheathed in dragon leather and inlaid with electrum. The family heirloom the party had been sent to find. As the party stood there unsure what to do, Typhis boomed: "Well?! This IS what you were looking for it isn't? What?! Is my cheek hanging of me again?" Typhis Ausarmeneskek is a Grey Elf Baelnorn Arch-Lich. In 3.5e, when I made him, he was level 34. If I made him 5e he'd be CR 25, maybe 26. He is a seeker of other liches, so as to kill them on behalf of the Lord of the Dead, with whom he made a deal for his own lichdom to carry out that duty. He created the mythal over Phelgodin and didn't die because, lich. He bound a soul to the vampire Aloysius Aurelius. And along with insight from Mystra and Kelemvor, was gifted knowledge on how to create phylcateries using only ones own soul, not an innocent one sacrificed to power them. And yeah, he has more than one phylactery. Each one of the high council of Phelgodin is in possession of one of them. In case his insanity goes too far or his alignment shifts. The point of this character was just to get the party off and going down the rabbit hole. Little did I know, the whole time anything went sideways or bad the party would they start asking, "where the fuck is Typhis?!" The problem when you make a good lich that's allied to the party is, everyone expects him to do all the heavy fighting. He is a famous and beloved character in my games though. If, a tad reckless and a bit schizophrenic... Having your soul split into 20 different places leaves you feeling all over the place, ironically.
Rhangaun is a 33rd level lich wizard that heads the Faerunian equivalent of the Illuminati, the Twisted Rune. Kartak Spellseer is one of those members, a 31st level lich necromancer. Aumvor is a 32nd level Netherese lich necromancer. Larloch is indisputably one of the most powerful wizards in the realms, and is a Netherese lich.
Me and my friends, we released a lich a few weeks ago. It was trapped in a magical chain and as a warlock hexblade, I was like, yeah sure. And after it was released, she thanks us and gave us a shit ton of gold and disappears. It was a good day as a warlock. Hahaha
Here's a question: If a clone spell is made before a Wizard becomes a lich, can he transport to the clone as a final fail-safe if his phylactery is destroyed & "freed"? Clone states that if the soul is free AND willing it goes to the clone. If he dies in the Lich process he's wanting to be a Lich but ergo not "willing" to go to the clone. If his pylactery is eventually destroyed and his soul no longer inside it, he would THEN be free AND willing to go to the clone.
Oh Mr Pickett! I haven't had a game in quite a while. Missing my D&D, and my Liches. I could think of no better comfort to sleep to tonight than the sound of you relaying some lore of the life that we love! ;)
I had a high level PC that turned Lich hunter. He didn’t destroy them though. He collected phylacteries and through them the lich’s that they were bound to. The more he collected the better he got at finding them. Nothing like forcing a cosmically evil monster to do good.
So... I have a couple anecdotes about liches. I just absolutely love the whole concept of a lich... so much that I've actually played pseudo-liches as PCs twice. The first one was a level 5 Necromancer (backstory being that he was previously a full-fledged lich before being destroyed by a team of heroes... only to be brought back in a weakened and amnesiac state by his cultists; using the Reborn lineage from Ravenloft to get as close as I could to an undead character RAW). The second one I'm actually playing right now in a level 20 campaign; as with the first character, a Reborn Necromancer, though this time with the added boost of the Hollow One supernatural gift from Wildemount to get even more undead while technically staying RAW. Between the insane power of a level 20 Wizard and his undead nature, this guy is basically just a lich straight-up, though he is a lot more reasonable and less murder-happy than a typical lich (his official alignment is Lawful Neutral, made possible by the fact that in-universe he managed to ascend to undeath without a phylactery... maybe not technically a 'true' lich, but when you're talking about an insanely powerful skeletal necromancer the distinction is pretty much purely semantic unless you consider the phylactery the defining trait of lichdom... which it apparently is not, judging by the Eldritch Lich and the Devkarin Lich). The thing I really like about a lich is just how tragic a figure he or she really is... a brilliant mind of a powerful mage trapped in a withered corpse, doomed rot inside that shell for all of eternity. Whenever I think of a lich, my immediate question is "why would someone feel the need to do that to himself/herself?" In the case of my first pseudo-lich character, it was part of a deal he struck with Orcus to save his home from invaders. In the second character's case, his daughter was murdered by Drow, and he vowed to avenge her death, even if it took him all of eternity to do it. Unfortunately for him, it's been several centuries since he found the last of his daughter's killers and delivered 'justice,' now all he has left are the memories of what he lost and an eternity of loneliness to look forward to. Even when he does find temporary solace in companionship, he knows all too well that any mortal companion will eventually age and die while he endures...
I often pull out my elven Bard 1 / Wizard X character, Ashleaf, just to fuck with people. He is a knowledge and crafting specialist, with a particular focus on alchemical research. He is actually alive, but uses a hat of disguise and ring of sustenance to FAKE being a Lich. Then he opens an alchemy shop in a city, pays taxes, obeys local laws, and does everything he needs to in order to be a pillar of the community...thanks to the skill ranks he took in Diplomacy and Kn (aristocracy & nobility) he took with his Bard level. Once in place, he starts selling the alchemical equivalent of crystal meth, a "night watchman's helper"...ingratiating himself with his *customers* in the guard. Then, when this inevitably draws Clerics and Paladins to slay him, he points out three things: --> Failure to affect him with Turn Undead and anti-undead spells OBVIOUSLY means their diety has no faith in the Cleric....causing him to have a crisis of faith, usually resulting in loss of their powers. --> He is a LAWFUL member IN GOOD STANDING with the local authorities, pays taxes, and has violated no laws...so assaulting him will violate the Paladin's restriction on attacking law-abiding members of lawful society in good standing. --> NOT attacking him will result in violating the Paladin's restriction on knowingly letting evil survive, when given the chance to put it down. Thus no matter what he does, just *meeting* Ashleaf turns Paladins into NPC Warriors, lol. But that is ok, Ashleaf runs a charity for this, a home for fallen Paladins. He will even help you get a job with the city guard, so you can still do some good. Since, as a newbie, you will get put on the night watch he will even give you some...help...to stay alert. First taste is free heh heh heh
@@Death_Shambles thanks. Just keep in mind that it only works in city-based areas. Also get an *amulet of proof against detection and location* and a *ring of mind shielding* soon as you can. Another idea is to use your ranks in Use Magic Device to make bracers which allow you to cast a combined *bestow curse* and *inflict serious wounds* to mimic a Lich's touch, and a robe that allows the wearer to heal from negative energy effects. But those are long-term goals, to finish the masquerade.
I'm a cook in a restaurant and there is a tiny plastic skeleton next to the heated window where prepared food goes and i insist he stays there. Because, like undead, line-cooks don't require air, food, sleep or drink.
I just remembered a good aligned Bardic Lich from, of all places, Ravenloft. I don't recall the specifics but I believe he was an elf and since Bards do use arcane magic it stands to reason they could theoretically become some form of lich. Great video as always AJ!
A high level mage has a plethora of options to use before resorting to lichdom,for instance a powerful mage or better yet a specialist in alterations could polymorph into a body more suitable for a longer existance such as an elf....some species of elf live for 2000 years or more and then you could do what my Warlock/Philosopher did and take an existing spell, in this case it's "Life Force Exchange" a level 9 Necromantic spell from the complete Necromancers Guide and developed it into a new more powerful spell I call "Titanic Life Force Exchange" my character spent a VERY longtime researching it and by sharing this knowledge with a well established college of wizardry my Necromancer used his new found power and attained not only godhood but created a new race of titans in the process! God i love this game!
Working up a lich that has no idea he is undead, but being kept alive by a necromancer God surreptitiously. And growing more agitated each century unable find sweet solace in death.
The Lich has been such a good creation they are often found as the end boss in D&D games or fantasy books. It's a powerful evocative image, the one who sought to defy death, pervert natural order etc. They vie with the dragon for the role of popular ultimate evil in fantasy settings.
Look no further than Tomb of Annihilation (i will never spell that word right) in the current 5e, or the old classic: Tomb of Horrors in the old AD&D. We all love the Lich! ;)
In 5e the lich is nutritiously a terrible stat block let’s fix that. First thing we notice is the health. The con is higher than an arch mage but not by much just +1, and they have no additional hit dice when compared to their level as a caster. Lichdom provides no additional heartiness compared to being an arch mage? Preposterous, no organ is essential anymore and the body has to be completely destroyed for death. If that doesn’t at least warrant a con of 18 or higher, it sure warrants actually having at least 25 hit dice, and having a Cr appropriate amount of health. Next thing needs fixing. Necrotic damage resistance? A necromancer gets that at level 6? Does Lichdom not improve this feature? Necrotic damage IMMUNITY for the masters of undeath. While we’re at it add the rest of the necromancer wizard features. The second level feature will allow them to combine their fireballs with hoards of zombies to heal. Control undead and improved animate dead can be presumed and don’t need to be listed, combined with the fact that the undead it looses control of still don’t attack it and a liches army can be as big as the plot demands it be. Now let’s change their spell list. Power word kill is a cute 9th level, just cause it’s the only necromancy 9th level for wizards but isn’t imprisonment like a spell you have to learn in order to become a lich and sustain your existence? Let’s have that. Too bad about the casting time right? Easy fix, molydeus style cast a spell as a legendary action, for all 3 they cast any spell imprisonment included or for something closer to home a lair action. Instantly a Cr 21 threat now isn’t it when a single wisdom save takes someone out of the fight instantly until they 9th level dispel magic the phylactery or wish their friend back? How about their 8th level? The lich has dominate monster and power word stun. Good options but the lich is immune to non magic damage and have a powerful paralytic touch so why would they have an 8th level be anything other than anti magic field? Well, as an undead perhaps their 8th level can also be demiplane. A Demi plane can be filled with things harmful to the living but harmless to it. Poisonous gas, necrotic energy, thousands of undead that need not eat or drink. Or, if you want to be actually immortal. A phylactery and a tuning for to the prime material. If they work across different planes of existence why would you keep your phylactery anywhere else? Combine these strategies, and you can make a credible Cr 20 threat for an intelligent party. Yes it’s still a squish all easily counter spelled caster with few defensive abilities and a moderate ac that shouldn’t be anywhere near Cr 21. But that’s just logical changes and spell choice across the two highest level slots? What if we kept going? Give them other class features like a first and second level spell at will? Make them a 20th level caster with a 22 int for a 21 dc and a second 6th level, take off magic missile they hit enough, take out acid arrow, and add some better spells, force cage, negative energy flood to hurt enemies and heal undead allies. Lose blight get wall of fire. Combine it with force cage better yet, sickening radiance, lose acid arrow get mind sliver. Pick up the spells best suited to the encounter, if that’s fly, investiture of fire, or enemies abound or control water. And hey those are just the spells a lich has prepared when you fight it. Why wouldn’t their tower be loaded with guards and wards and glyphs of warding loaded with slow dot the entrances to it’s lair. Or load glyphs of warding with dispel magic that prevent the liches enemies from effectively using magic. Elementals and demons planar bound to it, great targets for dispel magic btw, multiple souls caged by soul cage to heal every turn or give itself advantage on that attack roll with contagion against the rogue, also a good option for a spell to have if the lich fears a clerics revivify. And this isn’t even getting started on magic items, but they could easily have enough caged souls to either heal or give themselves advantage every turn as a bonus action. 6 per soul times how many innocents they’ve killed bought or witnessed die? I probably wouldn’t give a particularly old lich wish though. I find the prospect that they have lost the ability to cast wish by the time they turned 700 comically likely. But you will likely find it in their spell book. One more thing: advantage vs turned? A lich more intelligent than humans that got its powers from the GOD vecna is repelled by a cleric? No. Turn IMMUNITY. An aura of turn immunity even to share with its undead allies. The lich stat block is a baseline to turn into the most terrifying monster to exist. The lich as is, is one of the weakest creatures for it’s CR of any CR. Don’t let the flaws of 5e stop you from being reasonably malicious to your players. And making fun unique encounters of course Oh also add magic items. If you’re going to give them as loot put them in the hands of intelligent enemies not their night stands
26:00 Aww! He wuvs teh kitty cats! 😻 Seeing this would legitimately make me question whether I'm doing the right thing. I mean... How many unspeakably evil undead abominations do you know that are beloved by small, furry critters, especially cats?
I just thought the kittens were there just in case the Lich is feeling peckish and was in the mood for simple-minded horror and fear followed by a sense of regret and loss. Remember, most fiends can agree that a few drops of innocent blood does improve the taste of Demon Grog, but adding to much makes the whole thing much to sweet...
I’ve heard of Archliches being good but in 5e I’ve also heard of some very powerful evil liches also being referred to as archliches. (Maybe due to being more powerful like arch-Wizard?) It’s interesting to see how they change between editions such as the demilich no longer being as powerful as it once was nowadays. Great to see this newer version of the Lich video and all the little ideas that people can use or think about. Thanks for making these!
3:50 this sounds like a good plot twist villian. You collect parts from these beasts just thinking they are a normal spellcaster then boom you've unleashed a lich unknowingly. Might run a campaign with it
I've got a game (Pathfinder) where the Lich set himself up as a priest in a town, so that the dead are brought to him, and in secret he animates Phantom Armor from them which the townsfolk think are just defensive constructs made in memory of their loved ones. He has the Phantom Armors guard the town, because he's protecting his infinite source of new souls, and once he has built up a sufficiently large army, he'll use it to take back the throne that he lost centuries before when he was ousted by his brother who'd found out he'd been studying necromancy..
@@Bill-ns4sp That's pretty good, assuming the Lich is taking measures such as disguising himself and protecting his phylactery from divination, etc. Although, if a competent wizard or other intelligent character were to see the phantom armors, they would probably suspect something is up and confront the priest. But I'm guessing that's the way the characters will trigger the quest.
I like it, it is a nice blend of might and mind. They can’t just attack the Lich without enough evidence or the townspeople would likely support him and try to run the adventurers out of town.
Recently read Van Richten’s Guide to Liches and it’s honestly a great little book for getting a deeper understanding of liches both in how people react to them and their own psychology
A person of culture I see. In short I just find liches to be over glorified ghosts with fetters/ phylacteries. High ranking ghost can also animate corpses and cast magic.
I once used a Ring of Wish to ensure my PC would never rot away, effectively preserving my 20th level wizard in a youthful(ish) body whilst keeping my lichdom.
Green Ronin had a GREAT 3.5 splat book called The Secret College of Necromancy. In that book the 9th level spell Lich allows the user to become a Lich if they have a phylactery, and the potion is described as a distilled mix of rare herbs, poisons, and raw negative energy. The spell's casting time is a week and its a fort save or die, if you succeed you become a Lich.
In one D&D game we had a lich that we had tried to kill several times, only for him to hand us our butts each time. After a while, when we went to the dungeon, the wizard started leaving flowers and candy at the door of the lich's tomb, with notes from the party ending in "xoxo". We figured if we couldn't kill it we could at least annoy it.
Although he didn't use the term "lich" in his story "The Festival", Lovecraft wrote a passage from the Necronomicon that I think sums liches up pretty well. -The nethermost caves are not for the fathoming of eyes that see, for their wonders are strange and terrific. Cursed is the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied. And evil is the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Sabbacchio say that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night who's wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumor that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from its carnal clay but, fattens and instructs *the very worm that gnaws* until out of corruption horrid life springs. And the dull scavengers of the earth wax crafty to vex it [the earth] and swell monstrous to plaque it. Great holes are secretly digged where the earth's pores ought to suffice. And things hath learnt to walk which ought to crawl.
@@dreadlordaxtonus6673 probably up to the dm's discretion. That is why you must choose your dm wisely. My twin brother was a cruel dm and always preferred ravenloft for his campaign setting. He wasn't happy unless one character died in every campaign and if you died he would take your character sheet. He never got mine but when your party numbers get too low the campaign becomes unwinnable. You can't even butt out and call it even.
Story time! So I had an old DM who was skull fuckingly insane. Lvl 20, my 3 companions and I are duking it out with a Lich we've been trying to hunt down for like 12 sessions. We've already destroyed all of his 6 life preserving items so all that's left is to wreck his shit. Finally got him cornered in his lair and the fight is nuts. Our Barbarian rages and goes full banana sandwich. I'm talking swinging for the fences. Now in the midst of this the Lich activates a teleportation circle that we've all been unwittingly standing in, presumably to port us to the bottom of the ocean or something. Right in the middle of the spell the Barbarian misses the Lich and hits part of the circle. Or DM then rolls on a random table to see where we go, "Huh" he goes, and we're ported a huge field with rolling hills like the Irish Moors. Fight continues. Several explosions later our DM raises an eyebrow and rolls on a random table again....he grins. He looks up at us and says, "You feel the ground rumble violently beneath you, you all notice the Lich's face go from confused to horrified. 'It can't be!!' he whimpers". Not a good sign. Then a split second later the ground erupts open then low and behold....the motherfucking Terrasque! "Roll to dodge!!!!" our DM yells! Four of us make our saves. But Guess who fucking crit fails....the Lich, who is unceremoniously crushed by the Kaiju's foot. The aforementioned giant lizard then proceeded to slaughter the Lich while we ran away due to being low on health and spell slots. And that's the story of how the big bad of the last 12 sessions was ragdolled by one of the baddest monsters in the book. F.Y.I. it took us 5 more sessions to deal with the Terrasque.
Do not forget the lich can restore spell slots with lair actions. Not their 9th and the level restored is on a d8 so it takes some time, but not more than 2 minutes average even for the 8th level. So, a lich really can have as many spell slots of each non 9th level over the course of a day as he wants. And the amount of 10 min and 1 hour buff spells that he can have on himself when you walk in after having been informed of your exact arrival? In addition to the walls being lined with glyphs of warding and symbols and guards and wards that cast suggestion, wall of force people with a sickening radiance and more antipathy sympathy than any one caster could ever put in a place, seeing as that only cost slots and not money, lich can be found in its lair with the following spells on it basically all the time mind blank, mage armor, disguise self, tongues, long stride, see invisibility, true sight, crown of stars, fire shield, false life at 6th level and it’s preferred concentration option, such as Tasha’s otherworldly guide for the ever valuable ac increase, radiant damage immunity, and perhaps use alongside a magic weapon of legendary power like a vorpal sword. But these are just the longer than a minute wizards spells that he can keep up perpetually until the party shows up. He can also fit a blink and mirror image in there with the right timing. When you encounter him in his lair he will have on him ALL of these spells, and all his spell slots. Plus a contingency. perhaps a resilient sphere to eat up the first attempt to dispel the 10 buff spells the lich has on him at all times. If you ever manage to dispel them not to worry, for all the liches lair actions legendary actions and their paralytic touch work in the anti magic field he can cast but you know what doesn’t? Anything anyone can do to a lich. Besides throwing oil at it and setting the oil of fire, or splashing it with acid or holy water, truely only the weakest available attacks can even tickle the lich in an anti magic field. And the lich can have all of this. And every single spell slot. Because he can get his spell slots back as a lair action The one thing I never give my lich is wish. The idea that you can live 1000 years with wish as a spell and not lose the ability to cast it is absurd to me. But the lich will have a pet simulacrum of the strongest non caster humanoid they can find. Since they can’t make one of undead. They may have a simulacrum of their prior to undead self but it will have long exhausted it’s spell slots. A well prepared lich will likely have either a warlord simulacrum commanding their undead army, since the warlord can itself regenerate making repair easier. The lich will deck them out in magical arms and armor of their own design, +3 plate +3 shield cloak of protection and luckstone. And the warlord simulacrum will use it's legendary actions to command ghouls and ghast to make paralytic claw attacks at advantage, to a very devastating effect. With planar binding and create undead and animate dead with their ability to regain spell slots the limit to the army that control is as big as the plot demands. A lich can annually make attempts to planar bind a balor, hundreds of attempts a day. If they can trap one. And they can true polymorph each of their minions (although only getting about 5% of their greater army so prioritizing the more powerful ones) into the form that suits their needs the best of appropriate cr. And reverts to the prior form on death. And since no undead harm them they need not maintain control. You may fight yuan ti mailson, yetis, trappers, swashbucklers, owl bears, intellect devourers, nightmares, also as the liches mount, neogi who themselves have charmed victims, lava children immune to metal weapons, illusionist, grell, carrion stalkers. All of which is actually an undead the lich created or animated, true polymorphed into another dangerous form that a cleric can not turn but, the form still remains obedient to the lich, and when defeated they reverts to its original undead form. While the lich maintains permanent command over mummy lords to bluster his army with more undead. and to true polymorph them into 2 choice creature of cr 15 or lower. The anti magic field of a beholder, and the negative energy field of a death tyrant sound appealing. So does the telepathic detection of an elder brain. Actually if you’re going to do that why get a mummy lord? Summon a night stalker to a preprepared area of symbols and glyphs that burn his legendary resistance take control of him and true polymorph him and get 2 cr 20 creatures like nagpa or ancient white dragons. You may think "If you true polymorph them they will be too intelligent to control perpetually by a necromancers 15th level ability" That introduces a new can of worms. That means they can true polymorph down a creatures intellect, and take temporary control of any undead over int 12, and true polymorph them into something of int 11 or less So. Let's say a lich acquires via this method, an adult dracolich or a night Walker. Or a death knight. That means the lich can have 2 creatures of cr 17 or lower of in 11 or lower, instead of 2 of cr 15 or lower with any int. Which means. Hello, Goristro, Hellfire engine, phinox, and steel predator, which on their defeat or dispelling, turn to death knights. I had nearly forgotten the bone claw. Every lich has a bone claw, seeing as the description of bone claws say they are failed liches that obey the commands of an evil creature, surely a lich could make a bone claw that obeys them? I have a few theories on how to make a bone claw. Theory one is if you have a clone up thinking it will be a failsafes against the dangers of lichdom, your soul won’t go into the phylactery and your body becomes a soulless bone claw bound to the commands of a soul having evil creature, my second theory is that an unwilling creature who has the imprisonment spell cast on them by someone else becomes a bone claw instead of a lich it would show that the ritual would work if self inflicted. In either case it’s similar enough to the process of lichdom that a lich could make a bone claw and since they can’t die, we’ll every lich ought to have at least one. Preferably many, but maybe 2 bone claws can’t share a master? Either way every lich has at least one bone claw. The bone claw is tough. It’s also cr 12. Which means yes. True polymorph and because it’s not under control undead it can be smart and because it’s not a simulacrum it can use spells. The best option: the arch Druid which has animal shape. Now a liches army is an army of giant scorpions that turn into intellect devourers and shadows when killed that turn into ghouls and skeletons when killed lead by an arch Druid giant vulture that turns into a air elemental that can cast spells when killed that turns into an arch Druid when killed that turns into a bone claw when killed, who reappears near the lich when killed. Oh the force needed to deal with that kind of invasion! These are just the forces a lich can create and command with spells alone! With magic items? A horn of Valhalla, or a book of vile darkness, or the like, a deck of many things, they can get more. We can safely assume a lich knows every necromancer spell so they make great tutors to necromancers spell casters who they also provide immortality via the clone spell, they form symbiotic relationships of both tutor and symbiosis of mind flayer arcanist who need the brains to the liches souls while the body is used in necromancy. And of course the lich is far too powerful at this point to not be the ULTIMATE ally to any creature of any amount of ambition competing with the devils in terms of providing services beyond mortal capabilities to overturn kingdoms and grant wishes. Guilds of mages at their beck and call, mind flayer archinist necromancers, kings with mundane soldier armies armed by LICH magic weapons. How a lich can have 1000 years to themselves, and have a party of level 20 adventurers waltz into it's lair like it were a dungeon and actually beat the lich in combat is beyond me. Unless the majority of the animated and raised forces are off fighting actual armies and they only have to deal with 1% or less, or they scry teleport in skipping most of the defenses. Maybe equally powerful magical preparation of equally powerful magic and legendary items? The lich has the advantage of time so I hope you got your hands on an artifact! and the use of the wards and guards and glyphs and symbols and the boneclaw even then the prep is what wins in high level play. Worse than liches. Orcus has 1000s of liches all doing this kind of shinanigans to protect him from the god who killed him last time and will kill him again, and the forces of demogogran and Graz’zt. These liches don’t waste their time researching for the fun of learning as wizards do. They obey orcus and raise an army on his behalf. Good luck killing a lich. And good luck to Graz’zt who is somehow in a stalemate with Orcus the prince of undeath and demogorgan who is more powerful than either of them. Really puts into perspective how small even a high level party is
" How a lich can have a 1000 years to themselves, and have a party of level 20 adventures waltz into it's lair .." Murder hobos and their friend/ DM running a power trip fantasy where they hand out dragons & liches as Xp snacks and they go god hunting on Friday's night on bull zhitting each other. Like the way you paragraph your statement, don't see enough of that now days.
@@krispalermo8133 having that long a life span they can specialize in everything and be impossible to deal with. To me it is the saddest of all creatures. An eternity in isolation and only the chance of dying by dumb adventures. You think they would welcome becoming dead again.
@@louiselockett2905 Ravenloft: Van Richten guide to lich & ancient dead/ mummy. Lich create lairs, dungeons and spread rumors to draw adventures into maze death traps to collect treasure from the adventures and souls to power themselves. Their little petty kingdoms are refer to as lich dooms, more or less they create their own private reality tv to watch.
There's a fun movie from 1983 called One Dark Night which features what I'd call a modern lich. A mass-murderer cultist and practitioner of the dark arts had died, and is interred in a local mausoleum. And as they tend to do in these movies, a group of high school girls decides to see if they can spend the night in that mausoleum on a dare. Which causes, predictably, all manner of hell to break loose. The magician's corpse, though not really mobile, still possesses awareness and some form of telekinesis or necromancy, and commandeers all the neighboring corpses to come to life against the interloping teens! Not the best horror movie of the era, and definitely slow-moving-- most of the film focuses on the dizzy teens making a slow and indecisive trek to the cemetery. But still worthwhile for the copious undead action at the end... including what I'm pretty sure qualifies as a 20th century lich ua-cam.com/video/tzWaJRfNuME/v-deo.html&ab_channel=MulticomEntertainment
You just inspired me to do a one shot based on my favorite Ambrose Bierce story "Oil of Dog"! The wheels are turning, and it's gonna be good. Thank you A.J. !
P.S. I don't think you have done a video on constructs, but mimir would make for a stimulating topic. It's in: Norse mythology, Bob from "Dresden Files", and of course the beloved Morte. Smarty pants disembodied floating head full of enchantments and sass. I would love to see your take on those morbid, sentient, lexicons.
I'd consider Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini,) in the film "Death Becomes Her" (1992) to be a kind of a Lich, as she is basically an undead spell caster.
Just imagine how much more you could achieve without the need to eat, drink, sleep, piss, or shit. That alone would make Lichdom worth it, lol. Think about it, 1/3 of a human's life is spent sleeping.
We all know about Vecna, Acererak, Szass Tam, the Lich Queen that rules the githyanki, and the like, but there is one lich in a published D&D campaign who at least somewhat breaks the mold: In the _Princes of the Apocalypse_ campaign, there is a lich named Renwick Caradoon who is holed up in the Sacred Stone monastery, which is occupied by the Cult of the Black Earth at the time of the campaign. In life, he was one of three brothers whose exploits founded the Knights of Samular. In fact, his choice to become a lich was one made out of desperation, as he was dying anyway before he drank the infamous potion that gave him un-death. Cut to the events of the campaign. Renwick was actively courted by the cult, but refused to join. You see, Renwick is neutral-aligned (Lawful Neutral in 3.5e), and is content to while away his endless hours reading his vast collection of books. If the PCs stumble upon his chamber, he will react to their presence in a non-hostile manner, and may note that the activities of the cultists are bothering him. If the PCs attack Renwick, he will simply cast Time Stop, drop a Cloudkill (one of the few damaging spells that can be cast without breaking Time Stop), and then leave. But if treated with courtesy and promises to return peace and quiet to the monastery, Renwick might give them a few useful scrolls/potions from his collection to aid in their effort, though he won't help them directly. There's also an ELF lich named Valindra Shadowmantle in the _Tomb of Annihilation_ campaign. Unlike Renwick, she plays the role of lich to a T, although she uses illusion magic to appear as a living elf. During the campaign, she occupies an earthmote near the Aldani Basin called the Heart of Ubtao, which is still a sacred site for the Chultans. Her goal is to capture the Soulmonger so that her friends in Thay can study it...and considering that it is nourishing an atropal, it might actually get Szass Tam what he wants: godhood. If the PCs attack her, she uses her Teleportation Circle to return to Thay, leaving her undead servants to handle them. Quite intelligently, she does NOT keep the sigil sequence inside the Heart, so the PCs will likely have no way of following her.
AJ Pickett the cat-Lich raises undead mice to chase and turns a whole house into an undead mockery of a cat paradise... eventually the profusion of negative energy creates a shadow crossing which in turn creates a domain of dread, and the cat becomes a darklord
Interested to listen to this. May I suggest that you forego the intro? I always find myself skipping past it, and I doubt that's just me- especially because it can be quite loud, when I tend to listen to these videos at night.
If I were a Lich I would make my phylactary an indestructible engraved sword and put it in a dungeon for a adventurer to find that way my phylactary is always mobile and no one would expect my soul to be in their favourite sword or I’d just have a completely loyal minion pretend to be a adventurer and I’d disguise myself as a masked spell caster and join the adventurers party
Make your Phylactery a Vorpal Sword of Wounding that drains the souls as well as the blood of its victims in such a way that can't be healed magically or in any way other than rest and recuperation, and when it lands a crit on an enemy, describe the sword itself forming a sort of 2-d maw of jagged teeth as it bites into/through the neck of the unfortunate victim
Patheron Aetherson I would but that would be extremely suspicious and prone to being destroyed as not everyone is fond of cursed weapons with the jagged teeth thing being the problem
It says nothing good about me, but liches are my favorite D&D monster. Wizard is my favorite class, and one of my favorite personalities/mindsets, so the end result monster that takes out all its weaknesses, and replaces them with immortality to benefit from their lifetime experience with arcane magic is great to me. Most liches that I use, though, are a bit more fearless; confident in their immortality, and the power of their distant phylactery. They are certainly still arrogant, and will hold the slight of being interrupted in their efforts against such heroes forever, but it doesn't weaken them, so they rarely avoid combat, in my uses. I also love Baelnorns, and one of my favorite BS epic personages for 3.5 was a character I didn't need anymore, who evolved into one, and then tried to recreate Myrh Drannor, before instead erecting his mythal elsewhere, after the writers beat me to the punch. Borrows a lot from Tales of Symphonia, which I was playing heavily, way back then, but I still loved it. I also liked psionic liches. I know psionics can be a bad word to some, but I was a fan, personally, and since 2e Psionics was different than magic, this incredibly potent monster could break spells, without as much fear of the same, since planning for psionics wasn't a thing most people did, outside of Dark Sun, where it was more common. On the other hand, one of my favorite NPCs has been Halaster Blackcloak; the mad artisan and architect of Undermountain. When I heard 5e was making that campaign, AND undoing the 3e decision that Halaster was dead, I was so stoked, and I probably enjoyed it more than most, as I have ong been a lorehound of FRCS. I will say, though, that I think I am glad he actually ISN'T a lich; he practically is, I grant, but not quite, and I appreciate that my evil Zifnab, the lunatic gameshow host of the Dungeon of the Mad Mage (how I run him, anyway) does still have that whimsical spark of life in him. I like Szass Tam, and REALLY like Larloch, but I guess I appreciate that not EVERY millennium-old evil archmage is also undead.😊
I think about liches a bit too much. I'm on 3,5 and Pathfinder. Liche bards are a hoot. Halfling Arcane Trickster Liche is a natural invisible evil. You just feel the aura
@@Kopeksi Back in 2e, my two worst liches were a stupidly powerful psionic lich wizard; basically what would add up to a high-end Dark Sun character, but not in that setting, and a potent Banelich cleric. The last one carried over into 3e, and Epic. As of 5e, I haven't spent as much time fabricating variants of liches, which is too bad.
The whole “selling off to more than one master” thing sounds a lot like every Skyrim player ever becoming the champions of all the deadric princes and divines in the game just to gain all the power and complete all the quests, so that’s a good answer to the question I’ve always wondered is who gets my Dragonborn vampire listener for the dark brotherhood with my black books and volenrund hammer and etc etc etc
Personally one thing I like to do is describe the lich as moving in a kind of jerky clumsy way as if on invisible strings or a puppet being controlled by a hand inside seeing as the lich doesn't so much control its body as manipulate it magically.
If a lich's phylactery cannot be magically located does that automatically negate a Revenant ability to know the location of the person they seek revenge on
No, I would say the reventant will always have a feeling where to go to pursue their target. But they probably couldn't point out a specific spot. Just a perverse game of hot/cold.
I'd rule that the revenant would be able to know the direction to the lich (or whatever body it happens to have its soul), but wouldn't be able to locate it once the soul was inside the phylactery.
In the books by Ed Greenwood "Elminster in Myth drannor" the Shrinshree tried to read Elminsters mind and was pushed out and "punished" by Mystra to turn 100 year old again.
*necromancer dies*-I have come to collect what was promised to me-You can't take his soul, I have rightful caim on it-All of you are in error. The soul belongs to me*Chains of Love starts playing in the background*
I heared that most Archliches (good Liches) don't have the same ritual, its something to do with whoever would own there soul in the afterlife letting them stay on the mortal plain. They don't look undead just really old and like what someone there age would look like if they somehow where still alive.
I think I preferred your older video on the lich. Then again, I don't like Baelnorns and the like - in my games Lichdom is always something horrific and evil, and even if they started out with good intentions, Liches inevitably end up depraved and psychotic.
I liked the idea of the litch. However i changed a lot about them in my current campaing. Simce there are lots of ways to live long this is not the reason why they became litches. In my current world spells need energy. This usually comes from the enviroment. If you use the enviroment to power your spells uou have to follow the laws of magic. But you can also use souls as an energy source. This allows you to ignore the rules of magic. But while you have your own soul studying and practising soul magic is extremly difficult. So in their mindless pursude for power and knowledge litches removed their own soul to practice the ultimate form of magic.
Master Pickett may I inquire as to would a lich be able to tamper with a spell caster that uses the shadow weave? Such as shade archmage. Love your videos, Loremaster
Well in someways that is kinda true. As a Necromancer raises more dead, learns more about undeath, and realizes the shortness of thier life they are increasingly tempted into Lichdom. So the necromancer does progress towards Lichdom the more they research, and raise people into undeath.
"Never nerf the Lich." Agreed. Things like the Lich are simply too legendary to nerf. Unless you are running a Lich that is a complete moron, but in that case I feel like they would screw up the process or the Adventurers would get to the Would-Be-Lich before they can complete the potion or ritual.
HAHAHHAHA HOLY SHIT! THATS MY ARTWORK AT 23:14! Thank you so much, I'm not worthy of being among all these other awesome artists but holy fuck! You go Ephira, my tragic Lich Queen lass!
If you have a website and sell custom art, now would be a great time to throw some links up here David :) Also, that art is absolutely worthy of being up there with the rest of them, it is fantastic.. I really like how it conveys that a Lich is dried up and thin, plus generally kind of dirty, and they are surrounded by undead minions most of the time. Great work.
Pretty great man high five
Thanks mate, i really appreciate it, although I've transitioned into game dev for a long while now so i mostly just do character design etc, while heading the studio, rather than working as a freelance artist. You might actually enjoy what we're making (kindof up your alley), you can see that here lordsofnether.com/ and here ua-cam.com/channels/ml0sU3ZlhL0ak4fWj285sQ.html if you're at all curious. Our own site isnt supposed to be live yet tho so shhhh :P
As for Ephira here, im glad that you find her so well representative of a lich! I had a major problem with overdetailing characters back then though, along iwth a number of other things, but live and learn. That image is probably like, 6 years old by now haha. She has a bit of a tragic story in the world ive made, that she resides in tho, where those undead are actually fully sentient humans she saved from death and they actually follow her out of devotion. She is not evil but she is a stern and strong matriarchal figure, but necromancy is largely misunderstood in her world (as is often the case) and this picture is set at the time where the Clergy is hunting her down as part of a larger crusade that is mercilessly killing her kind, which ends with her backed into this dark hall of antiquity, with her people swarming around her to defend her, but they lose, she is captured and burnt at the stake.
Well anyway, apologies for the rant, i tend to get a bit swept up in this stuff, but again, im really glad you like it and that i got to evoke the right feelings with the work!
You're a hero for sure. I never get the chance to thank the nameless artists who create awesome pictures of shit I love. So thank you for compensating for my lack of imagination.
Oh come now, im just a guy with too much free time haha. But im glad you like it, thank you!
"If it was easy to kill a high-level necromancer, you didn't kill him" -Zee Bashew
The truer truth was never better spoken than by his lordship. Also " oh look it's your entire hometown, only zombies. "
The best liches always maintain a flair for the dramatics JUST so they can engage in their favorite immortal past-time: punishing whole villages & cities of innocents for the transgressions of heros. 😂❤
When the Lich uses you for a free teleport back too his cave. Lmfao
"NEVER nerf the Lich."
This is undeniably a profoundly important statement that DMs must absorb before considering the use of a Lich in a campaign. Nerf the Lich and you have done nothing but spare the PCs from mistakes that should justifiably lead to their deaths. If you must do a thing to save your PCs, neither your nor they are ready for such a archvillain.
Thank you, neither you nor they are ready... Lichdom is about power, if a villian achieves it, they should only become more dangerous, powerfull, maniacle or cunning...
You have my respect, making a noble effort to properly pronounce all of those names. I also appreciate the fact that you outlined alternate forms of Liches, proving that they're not just cookie-cutter.
Someone actually told a story that included a GOOD Lich as a the final "Boss" as the players were simply being Chaotic Neutral (because the DM had banned Evil aligned characters,) Murder Hobos. If you look up "Narrated D&D Story: How My Players Learned What Chaotic Neutral Means," for the full story.
The TLDR of it is the elder Wizard of the realm used tamed zombies as farm workers as a desperate last effort to save the area after a devastating plague ravaged the land, without the manpower of which the remaining the living would starve. He spent decades researching how to bring the zombified plague victims ALL the way back meanwhile their loved ones still treated them as alive. He also trained other village elders to create zombies as manpower over the sheer devastation of the plague was too much for him to do alone The characters never listen to any of this & simply kill the monsters and "evil cultists" in every town they come to. It's only at the end that they find out "Are we the baddies?" because they never listened to any of the HUGE clues the DM dropped. There are juicer details if you look it up.
When I was about 8 and playing 1st edition with my dad and sister, our main villain was a lich and my dad described it as a "atheist mummy" which I feel still holds fairly true lmoa
Your Dad nailed it.
I feel like that applies only to evil lichen though.
That's hilarious..your dad is kick ass 👍😬
So basically Joe Biden-his-time
I've often looked at the Arch-Lich as just doing the job properly and not taking the shortcut of bartering with malevolent powers.
A true mastery of the Nercomancer's craft that makes the Lich into a conduit between creation (positive energy) & entropy (Negative energy)
No need for the meddling forces of the divine or fiendish pantheons.
"Never nerf the Lich!"
Curse of Strahd sweats profusely.
Strahds a vampire right? Never played it sorry
@@samrijners4704 I don't want to spoil adventure for you, but it's possible to encounter havily nerfed lich.
@@DarthRamzes i respect that thanks
"There is only darkness for you and only death for your people. These ancients are just the beginning. I will command a great and terrible army and we will sail to a billion worlds. We will sail until every light is extinguished. You are strong child, but I am beyond strength. I am 'The End.'"
That Bastard!
He stole my title!
(My Character's Name/ Apocalypse: The End)
Made a lich for a campaign I'm running. Using the spell "Alter Self", he contacted the party directly and asked them to help him investigate the old and powerful mages of waterdeep under the guise of a travelling scholar. My players never fail to surprise me, as they invited it to their home. They now live with a lich in the guestroom without knowing it.
"Never nerf the Lich." Yes!!
I've been binge watching this channel for the last 2 weeks now and let me tell you, I've never seen so many different intros for the same channel in my life lmao.
And now, I don't do them anymore... sad really, but yeah, they are unfashionable now.
@@AJPickett you’re the goat man love your channel
I love how absolutely broken Liches are, it's completely justified considering the insane requirements for becoming one.
If you really look, the actual earliest Lich is much older than the Victorian era. I am of course speaking of Koschei the Deathless from Russian folklore. Koschei was a lecherous pervert known for kidnapping beautiful women, and rode around on horseback. He’s a Lich though because true to his name he achieved immortality by removing his soul and imbuing it into some object (the exact object depends on the story) but most famously a needle which he then put inside an egg, which he put inside a duck, which was then somehow further magically placed in a hare, locked inside an iron chest which is then bound in chains and finally buried on a remote island. A classic Lich setup if I’ve heard one, and yet easily the oldest Lich story.
First important information drop, 2:10
4:24 potion information
5:52 spell information (links in description.)
7:00 Soul stuff
8:07 Soul hiding.
“In life, he sought a means by magic and medicine to extend his life. Far outliving his piers, he soon became the subject of the paranoia of the villagers. Whispers wafted through the the little town, of the strange mage who’d lived a hundred, a thousand years. In truth, the odd little man had lived no more than one hundred and eleven years, but such details were lost in the frantic gossip of the crones and the terror they inspired was truly frightening. Finally, after baring the scorn of the villagers for half a century, the queer little mage gave the denizens of the town a true reason for their estrangement. In the dead of night, the village was razed from the ground. Little is know of their fates, but rumors are heard of a terrible evil that dwells in the hills around the spot where the bloody raid was carried out. There are also some who’ve claimed to smell death itself when crossing that countryside. But who can say for sure?”
How They Do It: liches
"...first they take the Dingelbop and it's smoothed out with a bunch of sleem..."
It's 2023 and I'm still rewatching this little gem
IT IS AS ENDURING AS THE DEATHLESS HORRORS IT CHAMPIONS *hissssss*
I keep rewatching this video because its just such good story telling.
Its like I am a kid again and my older siblings are telling scary stories.
It’s always a choice moment when your player’s characters find out that they’ve been carrying around a lich’s phylactery for a few sessions.
Great stuff as always. Brings back memories from the old 2nd edition Van Richten's guide to the Lich. For those interested, they released the single guides as compendiums in three volumes, covering various creatures from were-beasts and vampires, to ghosts and fiends.
What I love about those guides is the story element to them, like, we are reading real journals, very in depth in some aspects, but vague in others, such as Van Richten saying he knows a potion is involved, and the female spellcaster refers to the evil brew, but he has no idea what it is made from, just that it is consumed under the light of a full moon. His writings on golems, mummies and witches is superb.
Wow, i listen to so many of these monstercology videos on various channels and this is one of my very favorites! Its so informative, entertaining, the pics were awesome... I have read and listened to a lot about liches specifically, too, and i still learned a lot from this. Bravo!!
he's the best. watch the rest!!
No one else that does dungeons and dragons Lore covered the Lich I think it’s a cool idea and makes a fun character to play as. Also this video does amazing job covering the lore definitely going to watch more videos 👍🏻
My longstanding Lich NPC, Memnoc, laughs.
He is a fun loving guy, with a habit of using created bodies like most people use outfits, different ones for different uses. He also enjoys hanging out in planar bars and gaining interesting/unique ideas for magic items. Like the Iron Golem stove/chef he created for his favorite bar.
For me, the worst Lich on Toril was always Szass Tam. I bet I COULD find a worse Lich, shit maybe you AJ could?
However! For my first campaign that I ever ran, I created a character that was an instant hit with all of the players. They were at level one, and were sent to a graveyard inside the city of Waterdeep to retrieve a lost family heirloom from a mausoleum dungeon, and to find out why ghouls were coming from said graveyard as well.
Once they entered the bottom room of the main crypt, a dark violet robed figure holding a black obsidian staff a head taller than itself, topped with the skull of a goat, turned to face them. Green flames flashed from the eyes of the semi-rotted face of what seemed to be an elf, a brass crown ringed with rubys sitting at an angle on his head. It looked more like staring into the emotionlessness of a skull who's eyes were alight with only the magic that drove him. 11:32
And it slowly grinned, it's lips long rotted away so he seemed to instead just smile broadly, opened his arms wide at the party and replied in a raspy hollow echoing voice that seemed to be coming from every direction:
"Adventurers!!! Juuust the kind of talent I needed! I! Am Typhis Ausarmeneskek!!! High Mage of Myth Phelgodin, servant Arch-Lich of Kelemvor and incinerator of all things that go.. BOOOM!!!"
On the last word, Typhis swung around and blasted apart the tomb he was in front of him apart with a surge of black and green fire from his staff. The tomb was instantly fragments across the room, the party shielding themselves from the pelting gravel.
As the party regained their senses, Typhis glided to the broken tomb, bent down slowly and grabbed something from the rubble. The turned back to the party and held out an an exquisitely beautifully made sword sheathed in dragon leather and inlaid with electrum. The family heirloom the party had been sent to find.
As the party stood there unsure what to do, Typhis boomed: "Well?! This IS what you were looking for it isn't? What?! Is my cheek hanging of me again?"
Typhis Ausarmeneskek is a Grey Elf Baelnorn Arch-Lich. In 3.5e, when I made him, he was level 34. If I made him 5e he'd be CR 25, maybe 26. He is a seeker of other liches, so as to kill them on behalf of the Lord of the Dead, with whom he made a deal for his own lichdom to carry out that duty. He created the mythal over Phelgodin and didn't die because, lich. He bound a soul to the vampire Aloysius Aurelius. And along with insight from Mystra and Kelemvor, was gifted knowledge on how to create phylcateries using only ones own soul, not an innocent one sacrificed to power them. And yeah, he has more than one phylactery. Each one of the high council of Phelgodin is in possession of one of them. In case his insanity goes too far or his alignment shifts.
The point of this character was just to get the party off and going down the rabbit hole. Little did I know, the whole time anything went sideways or bad the party would they start asking, "where the fuck is Typhis?!"
The problem when you make a good lich that's allied to the party is, everyone expects him to do all the heavy fighting. He is a famous and beloved character in my games though. If, a tad reckless and a bit schizophrenic...
Having your soul split into 20 different places leaves you feeling all over the place, ironically.
Rhangaun is a 33rd level lich wizard that heads the Faerunian equivalent of the Illuminati, the Twisted Rune.
Kartak Spellseer is one of those members, a 31st level lich necromancer.
Aumvor is a 32nd level Netherese lich necromancer.
Larloch is indisputably one of the most powerful wizards in the realms, and is a Netherese lich.
Just remember the original Deathknights had a 90% across the board magic resistance. thats why they could keep liches as pets.
Me and my friends, we released a lich a few weeks ago. It was trapped in a magical chain and as a warlock hexblade, I was like, yeah sure. And after it was released, she thanks us and gave us a shit ton of gold and disappears. It was a good day as a warlock. Hahaha
Evil parties are fun.
Wow, she gave you gold? Eh. Guess in long run, you can always get more gold.
Here's a question: If a clone spell is made before a Wizard becomes a lich, can he transport to the clone as a final fail-safe if his phylactery is destroyed & "freed"?
Clone states that if the soul is free AND willing it goes to the clone. If he dies in the Lich process he's wanting to be a Lich but ergo not "willing" to go to the clone. If his pylactery is eventually destroyed and his soul no longer inside it, he would THEN be free AND willing to go to the clone.
Oh, lord. Why? I have a headache. That's unfair! Why isn't everyone a lich?
Oh Mr Pickett! I haven't had a game in quite a while. Missing my D&D, and my Liches. I could think of no better comfort to sleep to tonight than the sound of you relaying some lore of the life that we love! ;)
Happy to oblige. try discord, get into a game online.
I love that lich at the end with all the cats. That's the kind of lich I'd be.
Glad to see you redid your lich video. Great work as always. Can make a video about Centaurs
I had a high level PC that turned Lich hunter. He didn’t destroy them though. He collected phylacteries and through them the lich’s that they were bound to. The more he collected the better he got at finding them. Nothing like forcing a cosmically evil monster to do good.
Funny you should mention that, its the MO of a rare type of undead dragon slayer..
Wouldnt he still have to maintain them through the consumption of souls?
Yuss! Been prowling your backlog forever, now I get to catch one of your vids early!
Typically, it is easier to bring the Lich's lair down on top of them rather than face them in combat.
"Being John Malco-lich" Much better movie.
I'd watch that.
"Hey, Malco-lich! Think fast!"
*Throws holy water*
Malcolich Malcolich Malcolich
Rimshiy
Liches can use soul larvae (buying them from nighthags in hades) to fuel their philacytery.
True
So... I have a couple anecdotes about liches. I just absolutely love the whole concept of a lich... so much that I've actually played pseudo-liches as PCs twice. The first one was a level 5 Necromancer (backstory being that he was previously a full-fledged lich before being destroyed by a team of heroes... only to be brought back in a weakened and amnesiac state by his cultists; using the Reborn lineage from Ravenloft to get as close as I could to an undead character RAW).
The second one I'm actually playing right now in a level 20 campaign; as with the first character, a Reborn Necromancer, though this time with the added boost of the Hollow One supernatural gift from Wildemount to get even more undead while technically staying RAW. Between the insane power of a level 20 Wizard and his undead nature, this guy is basically just a lich straight-up, though he is a lot more reasonable and less murder-happy than a typical lich (his official alignment is Lawful Neutral, made possible by the fact that in-universe he managed to ascend to undeath without a phylactery... maybe not technically a 'true' lich, but when you're talking about an insanely powerful skeletal necromancer the distinction is pretty much purely semantic unless you consider the phylactery the defining trait of lichdom... which it apparently is not, judging by the Eldritch Lich and the Devkarin Lich).
The thing I really like about a lich is just how tragic a figure he or she really is... a brilliant mind of a powerful mage trapped in a withered corpse, doomed rot inside that shell for all of eternity. Whenever I think of a lich, my immediate question is "why would someone feel the need to do that to himself/herself?" In the case of my first pseudo-lich character, it was part of a deal he struck with Orcus to save his home from invaders.
In the second character's case, his daughter was murdered by Drow, and he vowed to avenge her death, even if it took him all of eternity to do it. Unfortunately for him, it's been several centuries since he found the last of his daughter's killers and delivered 'justice,' now all he has left are the memories of what he lost and an eternity of loneliness to look forward to. Even when he does find temporary solace in companionship, he knows all too well that any mortal companion will eventually age and die while he endures...
I often pull out my elven Bard 1 / Wizard X character, Ashleaf, just to fuck with people. He is a knowledge and crafting specialist, with a particular focus on alchemical research. He is actually alive, but uses a hat of disguise and ring of sustenance to FAKE being a Lich. Then he opens an alchemy shop in a city, pays taxes, obeys local laws, and does everything he needs to in order to be a pillar of the community...thanks to the skill ranks he took in Diplomacy and Kn (aristocracy & nobility) he took with his Bard level. Once in place, he starts selling the alchemical equivalent of crystal meth, a "night watchman's helper"...ingratiating himself with his *customers* in the guard.
Then, when this inevitably draws Clerics and Paladins to slay him, he points out three things:
--> Failure to affect him with Turn Undead and anti-undead spells OBVIOUSLY means their diety has no faith in the Cleric....causing him to have a crisis of faith, usually resulting in loss of their powers.
--> He is a LAWFUL member IN GOOD STANDING with the local authorities, pays taxes, and has violated no laws...so assaulting him will violate the Paladin's restriction on attacking law-abiding members of lawful society in good standing.
--> NOT attacking him will result in violating the Paladin's restriction on knowingly letting evil survive, when given the chance to put it down.
Thus no matter what he does, just *meeting* Ashleaf turns Paladins into NPC Warriors, lol. But that is ok, Ashleaf runs a charity for this, a home for fallen Paladins. He will even help you get a job with the city guard, so you can still do some good. Since, as a newbie, you will get put on the night watch he will even give you some...help...to stay alert. First taste is free heh heh heh
I'm glad I actually read all that. Fantastic idea
@@Death_Shambles thanks. Just keep in mind that it only works in city-based areas. Also get an *amulet of proof against detection and location* and a *ring of mind shielding* soon as you can.
Another idea is to use your ranks in Use Magic Device to make bracers which allow you to cast a combined *bestow curse* and *inflict serious wounds* to mimic a Lich's touch, and a robe that allows the wearer to heal from negative energy effects. But those are long-term goals, to finish the masquerade.
Strutinan Very nice! I do love fucking with people, and watching others do so too! XD
I'm a cook in a restaurant and there is a tiny plastic skeleton next to the heated window where prepared food goes and i insist he stays there. Because, like undead, line-cooks don't require air, food, sleep or drink.
As a short order cook for 14 years, I developed a taste for cold black coffee.
@AJPickett no biggie, skeletons are immune to poison, after all. Splash that Java on your bones, you're fine.
I just remembered a good aligned Bardic Lich from, of all places, Ravenloft. I don't recall the specifics but I believe he was an elf and since Bards do use arcane magic it stands to reason they could theoretically become some form of lich. Great video as always AJ!
A high level mage has a plethora of options to use before resorting to lichdom,for instance a powerful mage or better yet a specialist in alterations could polymorph into a body more suitable for a longer existance such as an elf....some species of elf live for 2000 years or more and then you could do what my Warlock/Philosopher did and take an existing spell, in this case it's "Life Force Exchange" a level 9 Necromantic spell from the complete Necromancers Guide and developed it into a new more powerful spell I call "Titanic Life Force Exchange" my character spent a VERY longtime researching it and by sharing this knowledge with a well established college of wizardry my Necromancer used his new found power and attained not only godhood but created a new race of titans in the process! God i love this game!
Working up a lich that has no idea he is undead, but being kept alive by a necromancer God surreptitiously. And growing more agitated each century unable find sweet solace in death.
Yes! If not Jim Davis, I always like to fall asleep to AJ.
And my favorite monster as well.
The Lich has been such a good creation they are often found as the end boss in D&D games or fantasy books. It's a powerful evocative image, the one who sought to defy death, pervert natural order etc. They vie with the dragon for the role of popular ultimate evil in fantasy settings.
Look no further than Tomb of Annihilation (i will never spell that word right) in the current 5e, or the old classic: Tomb of Horrors in the old AD&D. We all love the Lich! ;)
And then there's the dracolich
Sorry I was late to this video. Wow, AJ, I'm going to have to watch this one a few times, it is packed with great info. Keep up the good work
In 5e the lich is nutritiously a terrible stat block let’s fix that.
First thing we notice is the health. The con is higher than an arch mage but not by much just +1, and they have no additional hit dice when compared to their level as a caster. Lichdom provides no additional heartiness compared to being an arch mage? Preposterous, no organ is essential anymore and the body has to be completely destroyed for death. If that doesn’t at least warrant a con of 18 or higher, it sure warrants actually having at least 25 hit dice, and having a Cr appropriate amount of health.
Next thing needs fixing. Necrotic damage resistance? A necromancer gets that at level 6? Does Lichdom not improve this feature? Necrotic damage IMMUNITY for the masters of undeath. While we’re at it add the rest of the necromancer wizard features. The second level feature will allow them to combine their fireballs with hoards of zombies to heal. Control undead and improved animate dead can be presumed and don’t need to be listed, combined with the fact that the undead it looses control of still don’t attack it and a liches army can be as big as the plot demands it be.
Now let’s change their spell list. Power word kill is a cute 9th level, just cause it’s the only necromancy 9th level for wizards but isn’t imprisonment like a spell you have to learn in order to become a lich and sustain your existence? Let’s have that. Too bad about the casting time right? Easy fix, molydeus style cast a spell as a legendary action, for all 3 they cast any spell imprisonment included or for something closer to home a lair action. Instantly a Cr 21 threat now isn’t it when a single wisdom save takes someone out of the fight instantly until they 9th level dispel magic the phylactery or wish their friend back?
How about their 8th level? The lich has dominate monster and power word stun. Good options but the lich is immune to non magic damage and have a powerful paralytic touch so why would they have an 8th level be anything other than anti magic field? Well, as an undead perhaps their 8th level can also be demiplane. A Demi plane can be filled with things harmful to the living but harmless to it. Poisonous gas, necrotic energy, thousands of undead that need not eat or drink. Or, if you want to be actually immortal. A phylactery and a tuning for to the prime material. If they work across different planes of existence why would you keep your phylactery anywhere else? Combine these strategies, and you can make a credible Cr 20 threat for an intelligent party. Yes it’s still a squish all easily counter spelled caster with few defensive abilities and a moderate ac that shouldn’t be anywhere near Cr 21. But that’s just logical changes and spell choice across the two highest level slots? What if we kept going? Give them other class features like a first and second level spell at will? Make them a 20th level caster with a 22 int for a 21 dc and a second 6th level, take off magic missile they hit enough, take out acid arrow, and add some better spells, force cage, negative energy flood to hurt enemies and heal undead allies. Lose blight get wall of fire. Combine it with force cage better yet, sickening radiance, lose acid arrow get mind sliver. Pick up the spells best suited to the encounter, if that’s fly, investiture of fire, or enemies abound or control water. And hey those are just the spells a lich has prepared when you fight it. Why wouldn’t their tower be loaded with guards and wards and glyphs of warding loaded with slow dot the entrances to it’s lair. Or load glyphs of warding with dispel magic that prevent the liches enemies from effectively using magic. Elementals and demons planar bound to it, great targets for dispel magic btw, multiple souls caged by soul cage to heal every turn or give itself advantage on that attack roll with contagion against the rogue, also a good option for a spell to have if the lich fears a clerics revivify. And this isn’t even getting started on magic items, but they could easily have enough caged souls to either heal or give themselves advantage every turn as a bonus action. 6 per soul times how many innocents they’ve killed bought or witnessed die?
I probably wouldn’t give a particularly old lich wish though. I find the prospect that they have lost the ability to cast wish by the time they turned 700 comically likely. But you will likely find it in their spell book.
One more thing: advantage vs turned? A lich more intelligent than humans that got its powers from the GOD vecna is repelled by a cleric? No. Turn IMMUNITY. An aura of turn immunity even to share with its undead allies.
The lich stat block is a baseline to turn into the most terrifying monster to exist. The lich as is, is one of the weakest creatures for it’s CR of any CR. Don’t let the flaws of 5e stop you from being reasonably malicious to your players. And making fun unique encounters of course
Oh also add magic items. If you’re going to give them as loot put them in the hands of intelligent enemies not their night stands
26:00 Aww! He wuvs teh kitty cats! 😻 Seeing this would legitimately make me question whether I'm doing the right thing. I mean... How many unspeakably evil undead abominations do you know that are beloved by small, furry critters, especially cats?
You realize those are the dreaded Death Cats of the blood twine pits of Carceri right? The Lich is the least of your worries in that scene. :)
I just thought the kittens were there just in case the Lich is feeling peckish and was in the mood for simple-minded horror and fear followed by a sense of regret and loss.
Remember, most fiends can agree that a few drops of innocent blood does improve the taste of Demon Grog, but adding to much makes the whole thing much to sweet...
I’ve heard of Archliches being good but in 5e I’ve also heard of some very powerful evil liches also being referred to as archliches. (Maybe due to being more powerful like arch-Wizard?) It’s interesting to see how they change between editions such as the demilich no longer being as powerful as it once was nowadays. Great to see this newer version of the Lich video and all the little ideas that people can use or think about. Thanks for making these!
sanddry I'm pretty sure that canon wise Arch-Liches are the good/neutral liches as they have different rituals and stuff as well.
3:50 this sounds like a good plot twist villian. You collect parts from these beasts just thinking they are a normal spellcaster then boom you've unleashed a lich unknowingly. Might run a campaign with it
Yeah, if a magical ritual doesn't call for weird and adventure worthy ingredients, I say discard it and try harder.
I've got a game (Pathfinder) where the Lich set himself up as a priest in a town, so that the dead are brought to him, and in secret he animates Phantom Armor from them which the townsfolk think are just defensive constructs made in memory of their loved ones. He has the Phantom Armors guard the town, because he's protecting his infinite source of new souls, and once he has built up a sufficiently large army, he'll use it to take back the throne that he lost centuries before when he was ousted by his brother who'd found out he'd been studying necromancy..
Thoughts? Feedback?
@@Bill-ns4sp That's pretty good, assuming the Lich is taking measures such as disguising himself and protecting his phylactery from divination, etc. Although, if a competent wizard or other intelligent character were to see the phantom armors, they would probably suspect something is up and confront the priest. But I'm guessing that's the way the characters will trigger the quest.
I like it, it is a nice blend of might and mind. They can’t just attack the Lich without enough evidence or the townspeople would likely support him and try to run the adventurers out of town.
I like it. Interesting to see liches hiding in plain sight, and not in some deep dark dungeon. Depends on how well you execute it though.
I really like this concept
Recently read Van Richten’s Guide to Liches and it’s honestly a great little book for getting a deeper understanding of liches both in how people react to them and their own psychology
It also gives you the vassalich, a spellcaster who has pledged themselves to a lich's service in return for partial lichdom.
A person of culture I see.
In short I just find liches to be over glorified ghosts with fetters/ phylacteries.
High ranking ghost can also animate corpses and cast magic.
I once used a Ring of Wish to ensure my PC would never rot away, effectively preserving my 20th level wizard in a youthful(ish) body whilst keeping my lichdom.
Green Ronin had a GREAT 3.5 splat book called The Secret College of Necromancy. In that book the 9th level spell Lich allows the user to become a Lich if they have a phylactery, and the potion is described as a distilled mix of rare herbs, poisons, and raw negative energy. The spell's casting time is a week and its a fort save or die, if you succeed you become a Lich.
In one D&D game we had a lich that we had tried to kill several times, only for him to hand us our butts each time. After a while, when we went to the dungeon, the wizard started leaving flowers and candy at the door of the lich's tomb, with notes from the party ending in "xoxo". We figured if we couldn't kill it we could at least annoy it.
Although he didn't use the term "lich" in his story "The Festival", Lovecraft wrote a passage from the Necronomicon that I think sums liches up pretty well.
-The nethermost caves are not for the fathoming of eyes that see, for their wonders are strange and terrific. Cursed is the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied. And evil is the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Sabbacchio say that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain and happy the town at night who's wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumor that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from its carnal clay but, fattens and instructs *the very worm that gnaws* until out of corruption horrid life springs. And the dull scavengers of the earth wax crafty to vex it [the earth] and swell monstrous to plaque it. Great holes are secretly digged where the earth's pores ought to suffice. And things hath learnt to walk which ought to crawl.
See, this is why I love Lovecraft.
I wonder if Lovecraftian lich would be able to gaze upon cthulhu and not go insane?
@@dreadlordaxtonus6673 probably up to the dm's discretion. That is why you must choose your dm wisely. My twin brother was a cruel dm and always preferred ravenloft for his campaign setting. He wasn't happy unless one character died in every campaign and if you died he would take your character sheet. He never got mine but when your party numbers get too low the campaign becomes unwinnable. You can't even butt out and call it even.
Story time! So I had an old DM who was skull fuckingly insane.
Lvl 20, my 3 companions and I are duking it out with a Lich we've been trying to hunt down for like 12 sessions. We've already destroyed all of his 6 life preserving items so all that's left is to wreck his shit.
Finally got him cornered in his lair and the fight is nuts.
Our Barbarian rages and goes full banana sandwich. I'm talking swinging for the fences.
Now in the midst of this the Lich activates a teleportation circle that we've all been unwittingly standing in, presumably to port us to the bottom of the ocean or something.
Right in the middle of the spell the Barbarian misses the Lich and hits part of the circle.
Or DM then rolls on a random table to see where we go, "Huh" he goes, and we're ported a huge field with rolling hills like the Irish Moors.
Fight continues.
Several explosions later our DM raises an eyebrow and rolls on a random table again....he grins.
He looks up at us and says, "You feel the ground rumble violently beneath you, you all notice the Lich's face go from confused to horrified. 'It can't be!!' he whimpers".
Not a good sign.
Then a split second later the ground erupts open then low and behold....the motherfucking Terrasque!
"Roll to dodge!!!!" our DM yells!
Four of us make our saves. But Guess who fucking crit fails....the Lich, who is unceremoniously crushed by the Kaiju's foot.
The aforementioned giant lizard then proceeded to slaughter the Lich while we ran away due to being low on health and spell slots.
And that's the story of how the big bad of the last 12 sessions was ragdolled by one of the baddest monsters in the book.
F.Y.I. it took us 5 more sessions to deal with the Terrasque.
Do not forget the lich can restore spell slots with lair actions. Not their 9th and the level restored is on a d8 so it takes some time, but not more than 2 minutes average even for the 8th level. So, a lich really can have as many spell slots of each non 9th level over the course of a day as he wants. And the amount of 10 min and 1 hour buff spells that he can have on himself when you walk in after having been informed of your exact arrival?
In addition to the walls being lined with glyphs of warding and symbols and guards and wards that cast suggestion, wall of force people with a sickening radiance and more antipathy sympathy than any one caster could ever put in a place, seeing as that only cost slots and not money, lich can be found in its lair with the following spells on it basically all the time
mind blank, mage armor, disguise self, tongues, long stride, see invisibility, true sight, crown of stars, fire shield, false life at 6th level and it’s preferred concentration option, such as Tasha’s otherworldly guide for the ever valuable ac increase, radiant damage immunity, and perhaps use alongside a magic weapon of legendary power like a vorpal sword. But these are just the longer than a minute wizards spells that he can keep up perpetually until the party shows up. He can also fit a blink and mirror image in there with the right timing. When you encounter him in his lair he will have on him ALL of these spells, and all his spell slots. Plus a contingency. perhaps a resilient sphere to eat up the first attempt to dispel the 10 buff spells the lich has on him at all times. If you ever manage to dispel them not to worry, for all the liches lair actions legendary actions and their paralytic touch work in the anti magic field he can cast but you know what doesn’t? Anything anyone can do to a lich. Besides throwing oil at it and setting the oil of fire, or splashing it with acid or holy water, truely only the weakest available attacks can even tickle the lich in an anti magic field.
And the lich can have all of this. And every single spell slot. Because he can get his spell slots back as a lair action
The one thing I never give my lich is wish. The idea that you can live 1000 years with wish as a spell and not lose the ability to cast it is absurd to me. But the lich will have a pet simulacrum of the strongest non caster humanoid they can find. Since they can’t make one of undead. They may have a simulacrum of their prior to undead self but it will have long exhausted it’s spell slots. A well prepared lich will likely have either a warlord simulacrum commanding their undead army, since the warlord can itself regenerate making repair easier. The lich will deck them out in magical arms and armor of their own design, +3 plate +3 shield cloak of protection and luckstone. And the warlord simulacrum will use it's legendary actions to command ghouls and ghast to make paralytic claw attacks at advantage, to a very devastating effect.
With planar binding and create undead and animate dead with their ability to regain spell slots the limit to the army that control is as big as the plot demands. A lich can annually make attempts to planar bind a balor, hundreds of attempts a day. If they can trap one. And they can true polymorph each of their minions (although only getting about 5% of their greater army so prioritizing the more powerful ones) into the form that suits their needs the best of appropriate cr. And reverts to the prior form on death. And since no undead harm them they need not maintain control. You may fight yuan ti mailson, yetis, trappers, swashbucklers, owl bears, intellect devourers, nightmares, also as the liches mount, neogi who themselves have charmed victims, lava children immune to metal weapons, illusionist, grell, carrion stalkers. All of which is actually an undead the lich created or animated, true polymorphed into another dangerous form that a cleric can not turn but, the form still remains obedient to the lich, and when defeated they reverts to its original undead form. While the lich maintains permanent command over mummy lords to bluster his army with more undead.
and to true polymorph them into 2 choice creature of cr 15 or lower.
The anti magic field of a beholder, and the negative energy field of a death tyrant sound appealing. So does the telepathic detection of an elder brain. Actually if you’re going to do that why get a mummy lord? Summon a night stalker to a preprepared area of symbols and glyphs that burn his legendary resistance take control of him and true polymorph him and get 2 cr 20 creatures like nagpa or ancient white dragons. You may think "If you true polymorph them they will be too intelligent to control perpetually by a necromancers 15th level ability" That introduces a new can of worms. That means they can true polymorph down a creatures intellect, and take temporary control of any undead over int 12, and true polymorph them into something of int 11 or less
So. Let's say a lich acquires via this method, an adult dracolich or a night Walker. Or a death knight. That means the lich can have 2 creatures of cr 17 or lower of in 11 or lower, instead of 2 of cr 15 or lower with any int.
Which means. Hello, Goristro, Hellfire engine, phinox, and steel predator, which on their defeat or dispelling, turn to death knights.
I had nearly forgotten the bone claw. Every lich has a bone claw, seeing as the description of bone claws say they are failed liches that obey the commands of an evil creature, surely a lich could make a bone claw that obeys them? I have a few theories on how to make a bone claw. Theory one is if you have a clone up thinking it will be a failsafes against the dangers of lichdom, your soul won’t go into the phylactery and your body becomes a soulless bone claw bound to the commands of a soul having evil creature, my second theory is that an unwilling creature who has the imprisonment spell cast on them by someone else becomes a bone claw instead of a lich it would show that the ritual would work if self inflicted. In either case it’s similar enough to the process of lichdom that a lich could make a bone claw and since they can’t die, we’ll every lich ought to have at least one. Preferably many, but maybe 2 bone claws can’t share a master? Either way every lich has at least one bone claw. The bone claw is tough. It’s also cr 12. Which means yes. True polymorph and because it’s not under control undead it can be smart and because it’s not a simulacrum it can use spells.
The best option: the arch Druid which has animal shape. Now a liches army is an army of giant scorpions that turn into intellect devourers and shadows when killed that turn into ghouls and skeletons when killed lead by an arch Druid giant vulture that turns into a air elemental that can cast spells when killed that turns into an arch Druid when killed that turns into a bone claw when killed, who reappears near the lich when killed. Oh the force needed to deal with that kind of invasion!
These are just the forces a lich can create and command with spells alone! With magic items? A horn of Valhalla, or a book of vile darkness, or the like, a deck of many things, they can get more. We can safely assume a lich knows every necromancer spell so they make great tutors to necromancers spell casters who they also provide immortality via the clone spell, they form symbiotic relationships of both tutor and symbiosis of mind flayer arcanist who need the brains to the liches souls while the body is used in necromancy. And of course the lich is far too powerful at this point to not be the ULTIMATE ally to any creature of any amount of ambition competing with the devils in terms of providing services beyond mortal capabilities to overturn kingdoms and grant wishes. Guilds of mages at their beck and call, mind flayer archinist necromancers, kings with mundane soldier armies armed by LICH magic weapons.
How a lich can have 1000 years to themselves, and have a party of level 20 adventurers waltz into it's lair like it were a dungeon and actually beat the lich in combat is beyond me. Unless the majority of the animated and raised forces are off fighting actual armies and they only have to deal with 1% or less, or they scry teleport in skipping most of the defenses. Maybe equally powerful magical preparation of equally powerful magic and legendary items? The lich has the advantage of time so I hope you got your hands on an artifact! and the use of the wards and guards and glyphs and symbols and the boneclaw even then the prep is what wins in high level play.
Worse than liches. Orcus has 1000s of liches all doing this kind of shinanigans to protect him from the god who killed him last time and will kill him again, and the forces of demogogran and Graz’zt. These liches don’t waste their time researching for the fun of learning as wizards do. They obey orcus and raise an army on his behalf.
Good luck killing a lich. And good luck to Graz’zt who is somehow in a stalemate with Orcus the prince of undeath and demogorgan who is more powerful than either of them. Really puts into perspective how small even a high level party is
" How a lich can have a 1000 years to themselves, and have a party of level 20 adventures waltz into it's lair .."
Murder hobos and their friend/ DM running a power trip fantasy where they hand out dragons & liches as Xp snacks and they go god hunting on Friday's night on bull zhitting each other.
Like the way you paragraph your statement, don't see enough of that now days.
Wow this is extensive.
@@krispalermo8133 having that long a life span they can specialize in everything and be impossible to deal with. To me it is the saddest of all creatures. An eternity in isolation and only the chance of dying by dumb adventures. You think they would welcome becoming dead again.
@@louiselockett2905 Ravenloft: Van Richten guide to lich & ancient dead/ mummy.
Lich create lairs, dungeons and spread rumors to draw adventures into maze death traps to collect treasure from the adventures and souls to power themselves. Their little petty kingdoms are refer to as lich dooms, more or less they create their own private reality tv to watch.
Lich better have my money.
Thank you
There's a fun movie from 1983 called One Dark Night which features what I'd call a modern lich. A mass-murderer cultist and practitioner of the dark arts had died, and is interred in a local mausoleum. And as they tend to do in these movies, a group of high school girls decides to see if they can spend the night in that mausoleum on a dare. Which causes, predictably, all manner of hell to break loose. The magician's corpse, though not really mobile, still possesses awareness and some form of telekinesis or necromancy, and commandeers all the neighboring corpses to come to life against the interloping teens! Not the best horror movie of the era, and definitely slow-moving-- most of the film focuses on the dizzy teens making a slow and indecisive trek to the cemetery. But still worthwhile for the copious undead action at the end... including what I'm pretty sure qualifies as a 20th century lich
ua-cam.com/video/tzWaJRfNuME/v-deo.html&ab_channel=MulticomEntertainment
You just inspired me to do a one shot based on my favorite Ambrose Bierce story "Oil of Dog"! The wheels are turning, and it's gonna be good. Thank you A.J. !
P.S. I don't think you have done a video on constructs, but mimir would make for a stimulating topic. It's in: Norse mythology, Bob from "Dresden Files", and of course the beloved Morte. Smarty pants disembodied floating head full of enchantments and sass. I would love to see your take on those morbid, sentient, lexicons.
Nice, thanks.
I'd consider Lisle Von Rhuman (Isabella Rossellini,) in the film "Death Becomes Her" (1992) to be a kind of a Lich, as she is basically an undead spell caster.
Congratulations on 20K! and congratulations to Sky!
The artwork is always so good
Just imagine how much more you could achieve without the need to eat, drink, sleep, piss, or shit. That alone would make Lichdom worth it, lol. Think about it, 1/3 of a human's life is spent sleeping.
Makes me think of the southpark episode about WoW :)
We all know about Vecna, Acererak, Szass Tam, the Lich Queen that rules the githyanki, and the like, but there is one lich in a published D&D campaign who at least somewhat breaks the mold:
In the _Princes of the Apocalypse_ campaign, there is a lich named Renwick Caradoon who is holed up in the Sacred Stone monastery, which is occupied by the Cult of the Black Earth at the time of the campaign. In life, he was one of three brothers whose exploits founded the Knights of Samular. In fact, his choice to become a lich was one made out of desperation, as he was dying anyway before he drank the infamous potion that gave him un-death. Cut to the events of the campaign. Renwick was actively courted by the cult, but refused to join. You see, Renwick is neutral-aligned (Lawful Neutral in 3.5e), and is content to while away his endless hours reading his vast collection of books. If the PCs stumble upon his chamber, he will react to their presence in a non-hostile manner, and may note that the activities of the cultists are bothering him. If the PCs attack Renwick, he will simply cast Time Stop, drop a Cloudkill (one of the few damaging spells that can be cast without breaking Time Stop), and then leave. But if treated with courtesy and promises to return peace and quiet to the monastery, Renwick might give them a few useful scrolls/potions from his collection to aid in their effort, though he won't help them directly.
There's also an ELF lich named Valindra Shadowmantle in the _Tomb of Annihilation_ campaign. Unlike Renwick, she plays the role of lich to a T, although she uses illusion magic to appear as a living elf. During the campaign, she occupies an earthmote near the Aldani Basin called the Heart of Ubtao, which is still a sacred site for the Chultans. Her goal is to capture the Soulmonger so that her friends in Thay can study it...and considering that it is nourishing an atropal, it might actually get Szass Tam what he wants: godhood. If the PCs attack her, she uses her Teleportation Circle to return to Thay, leaving her undead servants to handle them. Quite intelligently, she does NOT keep the sigil sequence inside the Heart, so the PCs will likely have no way of following her.
Imagine an awakened cat with a headband of intellect, who realises the shortness of animal lifespans and so goes on a quest to become a lich....
I still have bad dreams about undead cats thanks to that movie *Pet Cemetary*.
AJ Pickett the cat-Lich raises undead mice to chase and turns a whole house into an undead mockery of a cat paradise... eventually the profusion of negative energy creates a shadow crossing which in turn creates a domain of dread, and the cat becomes a darklord
eyyyy Ner'zhul at 5:00 and Kel'thuzad at 6:15 WoW has some amazing fan and concept art for liches
Sure does, it is the King of Liches.
I think a fun video on the Devourer should be on your next to do list for undead videos... Once again a well made video... Thanks...
25:59 AWWW!!! I like that lich.
You won't when you discover why it has those kittens, and what's it gonna do to them...
:P
a druid lich, phylactery made into a seed, and grows into a forest, because thanksgiving oneshot and ideas
Interested to listen to this. May I suggest that you forego the intro? I always find myself skipping past it, and I doubt that's just me- especially because it can be quite loud, when I tend to listen to these videos at night.
You can most certainly suggest it, and I have no problem with you skipping past it. Thanks for the feedback.
Liches are the dms ultimate excuse to play dirty and use meta knowlege
No, that would be demon lords or archdevils.
If I were a Lich I would make my phylactary an indestructible engraved sword and put it in a dungeon for a adventurer to find that way my phylactary is always mobile and no one would expect my soul to be in their favourite sword or I’d just have a completely loyal minion pretend to be a adventurer and I’d disguise myself as a masked spell caster and join the adventurers party
M3k simple it’s a sword that’s indestructible it’s probably going to see a lot of use so with each kill a soul is devoured
LordKellthe1st that’s a pretty cool idea as well
Make your Phylactery a Vorpal Sword of Wounding that drains the souls as well as the blood of its victims in such a way that can't be healed magically or in any way other than rest and recuperation, and when it lands a crit on an enemy, describe the sword itself forming a sort of 2-d maw of jagged teeth as it bites into/through the neck of the unfortunate victim
Patheron Aetherson I would but that would be extremely suspicious and prone to being destroyed as not everyone is fond of cursed weapons with the jagged teeth thing being the problem
@@lordmeepers7297 Okay, but consider the fact that its a vorpal sword
I was surprised that my DM let me become a Lich with my dwarf wizard.
I want to make a lich who's basically the same personality as Trazyn the Infinite from Warhammer 40 000. I love that kleptomanic metal bastard.
Another great vid AJ!
Shout out to The OG, granddaddy of Liches, owner of the first phylactery in folklore- Slavic legend Koschei the Deathless.
It says nothing good about me, but liches are my favorite D&D monster. Wizard is my favorite class, and one of my favorite personalities/mindsets, so the end result monster that takes out all its weaknesses, and replaces them with immortality to benefit from their lifetime experience with arcane magic is great to me. Most liches that I use, though, are a bit more fearless; confident in their immortality, and the power of their distant phylactery. They are certainly still arrogant, and will hold the slight of being interrupted in their efforts against such heroes forever, but it doesn't weaken them, so they rarely avoid combat, in my uses. I also love Baelnorns, and one of my favorite BS epic personages for 3.5 was a character I didn't need anymore, who evolved into one, and then tried to recreate Myrh Drannor, before instead erecting his mythal elsewhere, after the writers beat me to the punch. Borrows a lot from Tales of Symphonia, which I was playing heavily, way back then, but I still loved it. I also liked psionic liches. I know psionics can be a bad word to some, but I was a fan, personally, and since 2e Psionics was different than magic, this incredibly potent monster could break spells, without as much fear of the same, since planning for psionics wasn't a thing most people did, outside of Dark Sun, where it was more common.
On the other hand, one of my favorite NPCs has been Halaster Blackcloak; the mad artisan and architect of Undermountain. When I heard 5e was making that campaign, AND undoing the 3e decision that Halaster was dead, I was so stoked, and I probably enjoyed it more than most, as I have ong been a lorehound of FRCS. I will say, though, that I think I am glad he actually ISN'T a lich; he practically is, I grant, but not quite, and I appreciate that my evil Zifnab, the lunatic gameshow host of the Dungeon of the Mad Mage (how I run him, anyway) does still have that whimsical spark of life in him. I like Szass Tam, and REALLY like Larloch, but I guess I appreciate that not EVERY millennium-old evil archmage is also undead.😊
I think about liches a bit too much. I'm on 3,5 and Pathfinder. Liche bards are a hoot. Halfling Arcane Trickster Liche is a natural invisible evil. You just feel the aura
@@Kopeksi Back in 2e, my two worst liches were a stupidly powerful psionic lich wizard; basically what would add up to a high-end Dark Sun character, but not in that setting, and a potent Banelich cleric. The last one carried over into 3e, and Epic. As of 5e, I haven't spent as much time fabricating variants of liches, which is too bad.
“Never nerf the Liche” well said
9/10: needs more colour contrast AJ.
But I loved this, the Lich is such a classic and still can be made so fresh each time it's used.
Cool video man there was alot about the lich I didn't know
thanks for making this video, I'm making a character in dnd who is a claric and this is the perfect thing for him to worship
The whole “selling off to more than one master” thing sounds a lot like every Skyrim player ever becoming the champions of all the deadric princes and divines in the game just to gain all the power and complete all the quests, so that’s a good answer to the question I’ve always wondered is who gets my Dragonborn vampire listener for the dark brotherhood with my black books and volenrund hammer and etc etc etc
Personally one thing I like to do is describe the lich as moving in a kind of jerky clumsy way as if on invisible strings or a puppet being controlled by a hand inside seeing as the lich doesn't so much control its body as manipulate it magically.
If a lich's phylactery cannot be magically located does that automatically negate a Revenant ability to know the location of the person they seek revenge on
No.
No, I would say the reventant will always have a feeling where to go to pursue their target. But they probably couldn't point out a specific spot. Just a perverse game of hot/cold.
I'd rule that the revenant would be able to know the direction to the lich (or whatever body it happens to have its soul), but wouldn't be able to locate it once the soul was inside the phylactery.
In the books by Ed Greenwood "Elminster in Myth drannor" the Shrinshree tried to read Elminsters mind and was pushed out and "punished" by Mystra to turn 100 year old again.
*necromancer dies*-I have come to collect what was promised to me-You can't take his soul, I have rightful caim on it-All of you are in error. The soul belongs to me*Chains of Love starts playing in the background*
Can u make a video about the alhoon lich and make one on the star spawn larva mage
Possibly.
I heared that most Archliches (good Liches) don't have the same ritual, its something to do with whoever would own there soul in the afterlife letting them stay on the mortal plain. They don't look undead just really old and like what someone there age would look like if they somehow where still alive.
I think I preferred your older video on the lich.
Then again, I don't like Baelnorns and the like - in my games Lichdom is always something horrific and evil, and even if they started out with good intentions, Liches inevitably end up depraved and psychotic.
@ 5:00, that's not a lich! That's Dranosh Saurfang, who was made into a death knight by the Lich King. Still, the art is awesome!
Great vid as always
I liked the idea of the litch. However i changed a lot about them in my current campaing.
Simce there are lots of ways to live long this is not the reason why they became litches.
In my current world spells need energy. This usually comes from the enviroment. If you use the enviroment to power your spells uou have to follow the laws of magic.
But you can also use souls as an energy source. This allows you to ignore the rules of magic.
But while you have your own soul studying and practising soul magic is extremly difficult. So in their mindless pursude for power and knowledge litches removed their own soul to practice the ultimate form of magic.
Can a lichs soul travel across planes back to a phylactery?
Yes
Thank you! I learned things!
Sounds like a hell of a hangover drink
Master Pickett may I inquire as to would a lich be able to tamper with a spell caster that uses the shadow weave? Such as shade archmage. Love your videos, Loremaster
I think a DM could certainly explore that without running into any lore issues, sure.
So I keep hearing this dragon magazine. Is there any place online to check them out?
I vote Thanoi and/or Grimlocks haha, thank you for doing these, very entertaining
Walrus men, good choice.
As a kid I always thought a lich was a human necromancer who lost his/her humanity the more he/she rose the dead
That is kind of the theme of the Banelich, so yeah, a nice addition to the flavor text.
AJ Pickett True.
Well in someways that is kinda true. As a Necromancer raises more dead, learns more about undeath, and realizes the shortness of thier life they are increasingly tempted into Lichdom. So the necromancer does progress towards Lichdom the more they research, and raise people into undeath.
"Never nerf the Lich."
Agreed. Things like the Lich are simply too legendary to nerf. Unless you are running a Lich that is a complete moron, but in that case I feel like they would screw up the process or the Adventurers would get to the Would-Be-Lich before they can complete the potion or ritual.
We call those idiot liches boneclaws. Look them up. :)
Idiot Lich, see Xykon (Sorcerer)