I have always found the concept of a benignlich to be really appealing, after all, even the greatest heroes fall with time, what better way to safe guard the world than thorugh immortal lichdome? After obtaining immortallity, you could guard the world until some other great hero has arisen to take your place. In such circumstances, you migh not be the only lich. Perhaps there is an entire cabal of like minded arcanists, all subtly guiding and watching over the world...
As for your phylactery... why not hide it in plain sight? Instead of having it be an amulet or ring, why not have your soul reside in one of your rib bones? In the heat of battle, no one is going to think to check your person for your phylactery, after all what lich hides it in such an obvious place? Further, should you fall in battle, your allies can always pick it up and guard it until you can restore your body.
I have always found the concept of a benignlich to be really appealing, after all, even the greatest heroes fall with time, what better way to safe guard the world than thorugh immortal lichdome? After obtaining immortallity, you could guard the world until some other great hero has arisen to take your place. In such circumstances, you migh not be the only lich. Perhaps there is an entire cabal of like minded arcanists, all subtly guiding and watching over the world...
As for your phylactery... why not hide it in plain sight? Instead of having it be an amulet or ring, why not have your soul reside in one of your rib bones? In the heat of battle, no one is going to think to check your person for your phylactery, after all what lich hides it in such an obvious place? Further, should you fall in battle, your allies can always pick it up and guard it until you can restore your body.
that sounds pretty cool. only thing is; any blow to your torso is possibly a deathblow just because it cracked a rib...
Not nessecarily, if you take a look in Arcane Power, you'll notice that all phylacteries have resist 20 to all damage.
doesn't sound all that safe by the time a character is powerful enough to become a lich. 20 damage is... almost negligible.
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Alright, on a more serious note, I have a Lich character I really want to play. I'm not sure how I'll be able to play it in game, but in esence, a Kobold Necromancer. Their ambition? A holy mission from Kurtulmak, to oversee and shepard Koboldkind into a brighter future, where Kobolds can stand tall, and not fear death around every corner(you know how adventurers are about slaughtering kobolds). They'd start with the party, about 12 years(or 25 to a human) old, and well aware of their own mortality. They would constantly seek dark, forbidden magics, and be in constant pursuit of a way to become a Lich. The kobold's main focus would be Necromancy, but would not above using other spells, so long as it can further their goals. They will bear a strange marking that only has meaning to kobolds, and if the party manages to succeed on certain checks, they can discern it has a certain religious significance, but beyond that, they don't recognize it's significance. Upon success of the Kobold's goal of becoming a Lich, the Kobold will then invest heavily in scrying tools and rituals, or whatever they can, and gain a strong desire to own land, the more remote or far away from civilazation, the better. The Kobold's share of the loot will simply appear to vanish, at least in the eyes of the party. If none in the party speak Draconic, the Kobold will write in it, and use spells to convey their words in Draconic, and if the party has a draconic speaker, they will be careful not to do any of this in sight or hearing of them.
The Kobold wilkl not give it's name, and if pressed for something to call them, will say "Ko." Eventually, once the party has gained the Kobold's trust, Ko will let them know their name, Kossyndra. And that SHE may need the parties help(I'm going to work with the DM on this one). She will reveal that her money has been going towards buying up land, that her symbol denotes her as a chosen of Kurtulmak, and that a gathering of her people has been called. Between her and a few other chosen, they've been buying empty land of little worth, in order to found a nation for their people. The gathering is to be a great many representatives of the tribes, who will then begin to live on those lands, build a city, and fortress, and establish roads to another nearby nation for trade. At this point, there will be cool opportunities for the party involving this new nation, where they can help it rise and prosper, or if they wanna be dicks, wreck it. Followers of Erathis would probably be stoked, though.
But yeah, the best part will be revealing the gender. They're going to realize all sorts of akward things later on in the adventure.
Well the D&D worlds have many ways of becoming immortal so the whole "cause i wanna live forever" is a bit weak. If a character is strong enough to become a lich, they are probably strong enough to attain other forms of immortality.
Necromancers and Liches tend to be crazy, but they also tend to be pragmatic. There must be a specific property of being a Lich that makes the process worth wild. Your character needs a reason to want to die, and a reason to not want to live. The reasons to not die can be clear and simple. What will make you character unique, is their reason to not want to live.
For example, Lord Voldemort was afraid to die and loose his power. Yet he did not want to live because he hated life. He was disguested by it, and was disguested that he was associated with life. So he became neither, alive or dead. He even went the extra mile and made multiple phylacteries.
Perhaps: >Your character isn't strong enough to become immortal, and made deals for the secrets of become a Lich. When you die, you want to come back to life, true life. You made the deal, activated the ritual, and took on the debt it requires. You can not live, or die, your "benefactors" wont let you until you have paid your debt them. When your debt is paid, you hope you will become truely alive. Until then you must suffer the stygma, the pain, and the hollowness of being a Lich. It is the price you pay for your deeds. Works well if your a warlock, as you already make pacts for your powers.
>You need to die. Purhaps you commited a crime, and are pursued by many powerful adventures, assassins and bounty hunters. Purhaps you are pursued by the party. Your death will serve justice, but you do not want to stay dead. You want to come back and start fresh. Becomeing a Lich is the logical answer. You make your preperations, and when the time comes you put on a good show. However your "death" only makes you stronger. It gives you a new chance at existance, and it enables justice. What you do after your "death" is up to you. Do you seek to undo your wickedness, or enchance it? In either case, after becoming a lich, you will need new and strong allies. Like the ones that put you to death...
I'm going to take a slightly more Good viewpoint on this, having been rather tempted by Archlich before....
1) You have realised that the power you are drawing into your body to cast certain spells has been having an effect on you. You have meditated, investigated and determined you have the capacity to use that power to renew your body, even regenerate new ones by maintaining your essence beyond your body's end. Why die, if it takes only a short, effortless ritual to ascend? No bargaining with a higher power, no endless evil unleashed, just the knowledge that your life can continue until you are bored of this world.
2) Perhaps you are looking to achieve a certain goal? You have worked hard all your life, tried every method, reached new heights of power, but your task remains unfinished. It is an unpalatable option, obviously, but you hand your phylactory over to the church, and receive their vow that they will shatter it once you can rest, your soul can finally rest.
3) The fight between the living and the undead is not a fair one. Great warriors have fought and slain the corruption, but all fall sooner or later. Their bodies may then be plundered by necromancers and worse. In learning to fight them you have uncovered many dusty tomes and secrets, with which you have punished the tainted ones. And then, one day, you found the secrets of lichdom, and discovered no new weakness in their form... only a new strength. You believe there are purer powers that could assist in this process, ones that would imbue you with immortality, yes, but one brimming over with life, a pure energy with which you could rot the vile forms of vampires and worse, containing all their evil energies to be unleashed upon their still living allies. The Good souls of your allies will remain pure, and you will have turned their greatest weapon against them, under the halo of divine powers.
may need the parties help(I'm going to work with the DM on this one). She will reveal that her money has been going towards buying up land, that her symbol denotes her as a chosen of Kurtulmak, and that a gathering of her people has been called. Between her and a few other chosen, they've been buying empty land of little worth, in order to found a nation for their people. The gathering is to be a great many representatives of the tribes, who will then begin to live on those lands, build a city, and fortress, and establish roads to another nearby nation for trade. At this point, there will be cool opportunities for the party involving this new nation, where they can help it rise and prosper, or if they wanna be dicks, wreck it. Followers of Erathis would probably be stoked, though.
