Lich
Lich Demilich
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any Any
FREQUENCY: Very rare Very rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night See below
DIET: Nil Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius (19-20) Supra-genius (19-20)
TREASURE: A Z
ALIGNMENT: Any evil Any evil
NO. APPEARING: 1 1
ARMOR CLASS: 0 See below
MOVEMENT: 6 See below
HIT DICE: 11+ See below
THAC0: 9 9
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1 See below
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10 See below
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better mag- See below
ical weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil See below
SIZE: M (6' tall) M (6' tall)
MORALE: Fanatic (17-18) Fanatic (17-18)
XP VALUE: 8,000 10,000
The lich is, perhaps, the single most powerful form of undead known to exist.
They seek to further their own power at all costs and have little or no intere
st in the affairs of the living, except where those affairs interfere with the
ir own.
A lich greatly resembles a wight or mummy, being gaunt and skeletal in form. T
he creature's eye sockets are black and empty save for the fierce pinpoints of
light which serve the lich as eyes. The lich can see with normal vision in ev
en the darkest of environments but is unaffected by even the brightest light.
An aura of cold and darkness radiates from the lich which makes it an ominous
and fearsome sight. They were originally wizards of at least 18th level.
Liches are often (75%) garbed in the rich clothes of nobility. If not so attir
ed, the lich will be found in the robes of its former profession. In either ca
se, the clothes will be tattered and rotting with a 25% chance of being magica
l in some way.
Combat: Although a lich will seldom engage in actual melee combat with those i
t considers enemies, it is more than capable of holding its own when forced in
to battle.
The aura of magical power which surrounds a lich is so potent that any creatur
e of fewer than 5 Hit Dice (or 5th level) which sees it must save vs. spell or
flee in terror for 5-20 (5d4) rounds.
Should the lich elect to touch a living creature, its aura of absolute cold wi
ll inflict 1-10 points of damage. Further, the victim must save vs. paralysis
or be utterly unable to move. This paralysis lasts until dispelled in some man
ner.
Liches can themselves be hit only by weapons of at least +1, by magical spells
, or by monsters with 6 or more Hit Dice and/or magical properties. The magica
l nature of the lich and its undead state make it utterly immune to charm, sle
ep, enfeeblement, polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, or death spells. Pri
ests of at least 8th level can attempt to turn a lich, as can paladins of no l
ess than 10th level.
A lich is able to employ spells just as it did in life. It still requires the
use of its spell books, magical components, and similar objects. It is importa
nt to note that most, if not all, liches have had a great deal of time in whic
h to research and create new magical spells and objects. Thus, adventurers sho
uld be prepared to face magic the likes of which they have never seen before w
hen stalking a lich. In addition, liches are able to use any magical objects w
hich they might possess just as if they were still alive.
Defeating a lich in combat is difficult indeed, but managing to actually destr
oy the creature is harder still. In all cases, a lich will protect itself from
annihilation with the creation of a phylactery in which it stores its life fo
rce. This is similar to a magic jar spell. In order to ensure the final destru
ction of a lich, its body must be wholly annihilated and its phylactery must b
e sought out and destroyed in some manner. Since the lich will always take gre
at care to see to it that its phylactery is well hidden and protected this can
be an undertaking fully as daunting as the defeat of the lich in its physical
form.
Habitat/Society: Liches are usually solitary creatures. They have cast aside t
heir places as living beings by choice and now want as little to do with the w
orld of men as possible. From time to time, however, a lich's interest in the
world at large may be reawakened by some great event of personal importance.
A lich will make its home in some ominous fortified area, often a strong keep
or vast subterranean crypt.
When a lich does decide to become involved with the world beyond its lair, its
keen intelligence makes it a dangerous adversary. In some cases, a lich will
depend on its magical powers to accomplish its goals. If this is not sufficien
t, however, the lich is quite capable of animating a force of undead troops to
act on its behalf. If such is the case, the lich's endless patience and cunni
ng more than make up for the inherent disadvantages of the lesser forms of und
ead which it commands.
Although the lich has no interest in good or evil as we understand it, the cre
ature will do whatever it must to further its own causes. Since it feels that
the living are of little importance, the lich is often viewed as evil by those
who encounter it. In rare cases, liches of a most unusual nature can be found
which are of any alignment.
The lich can exist for centuries without change. Its will drives it onward to
master new magics and harness mystical powers not available to it in its previ
ous life. So obsessed does the monster become with its quest for power that it
often forgets its former existence utterly. Few liches call themselves by the
ir old names when the years have drained the last vestiges of their humanity f
rom them. Instead, they often adopt pseudonyms like 뱓he Black Hand? or 뱓he F
orgotten King.? Learning the true name of a lich is rumored to confer power ov
er the creature.
Ecology: The lich is not a thing of this world. Although it was once a living
creature, it has entered into an unnatural existence.
In order to become a lich, the wizard must prepare its phylactery by the use o
f the enchant an item, magic jar, permanency and reincarnation spells. The phy
lactery, which can be almost any manner of object, must be of the finest craft
smanship and materials with a value of not less than 1,500 gold pieces per lev
el of the wizard. Once this object is created, the would-be lich must craft a
potion of extreme toxicity, which is then enchanted with the following spells:
wraithform, permanency, cone of cold, feign death, and animate dead. When nex
t the moon is full, the potion is imbibed. Rather than death, the potion cause
s the wizard to undergo a transformation into its new state. A system shock su
rvival throw is required, with failure indicating an error in the creation of
the potion which kills the wizard and renders him forever dead.
Demilich
The demilich is not, as the name implies, a weaker form of the lich. Rather, it
is the stage into which a lich will eventually evolve as the power which has
sustained its physical form gradually begins to fail. In most cases, all that
remains of a demilich's body are a skull, some bones, and a pile of dust.
When it has learned all that it feels it can in its undead life, the lich will
continue its quest for power in strange planes unknown to even the wisest of
sages. Since it has no use for its physical body at this point, the lich leave
s it to decay as it should have done centuries ago.
If the final resting place of a demilich's remains are entered, the dust which
was once its body will rise up and assume a man-like shape. In the case of th
e oldest demiliches (25%), the shape will advance and threaten, but dissipate
without attacking in 3 rounds unless attacked. Younger demiliches (75%) still
retain a link to their remains, however, and will form with the powers of a wr
aith. This dust form cannot be turned. In addition, it can store energy from a
ttacks and use this power to engage its foes. If the dust form is attacked, ea
ch point of damage which is delivered to it is converted to an energy point. S
ince the demilich will fall back and seem to suffer injury from each attack (t
hough none is actually inflicted), its attackers are likely to press on in the
ir attempts to destroy it. Once the demilich has acquired 50 energy points, it
will assume a manifestation which looks much like the lich's earlier undead f
orm and has the powers and abilities of a ghost, but which cannot be turned.
If anyone touches the skull it will rise into the air and turn to face the mos
t powerful of the intruders (a spell user will be chosen over a non-spell user
). Instantly, it unleashes a howl which acts as a death ray, affecting all cre
atures within a 20' radius of the skull. Those who fail to save vs. death are
permanently dead.
On the next round, the demilich will employ another manner of attack. In order
to attain the status of a demilich, a lich must have replaced 5-8 (1d4+4) of
its teeth with gems. Each of these gems now serves as a powerful magical devic
e which can trap the soul of its adversaries. The physical body of someone hit
with the demilich's spell collapses and rots away in a single round. Once it
has drained the life essence from the most powerful member of the party, the s
kull sinks back to the floor. If it continues to be challenged, the demilich c
an repeat this attack until all of its gems are filled. An amulet of life prot
ection will prevail over the gem, but the character's body will perish regardl
ess.
In addition to the attacks mentioned above, a demilich can also pronounce a po
werful curse on those who disturb it. These can be so mighty as to include: al
ways being hit by one's enemies, never making a saving throw, or the inability
to acquire new experience points. Demilich curses can be overcome with a remo
ve curse, but the victim loses one point of charisma permanently when the curs
e is removed.
The skull of a demilich is Armor Class -6 and has 50 hit points. It can be aff
ected by spells in only a few ways: a forget spell will cause it to sink down
without attacking (either by howling or draining a soul), a dispel evil will d
o 5-8 (1d4+4) points of damage to it, a shatter spell will inflict 3-18 (3d6)
points of damage to it, a holy word pronounced against it will deliver 5-30 (5
d6) points of damage, and a power word kill spell cast by an ethereal or astra
l wizard will cause the skull to shatter (destroying it).
Most weapons will be unable to harm the skull of a demilich, but there are exc
eptions. A fighter or ranger with a vorpal sword, sword of sharpness, sword +5
, or vorpal weapon can inflict normal damage on the skull, as can a paladin wi
th a vorpal or +4 weapon. Further, any character with a +4 or better weapon or
a mace of disruption can inflict 1 point of damage to the skull each time he
strikes it.
Upon the destruction of the skull, those who have been trapped inside the gems
must make a saving throw vs. spell. Those who fail are lost forever, having b
een consumed by the demilich to power its magical nature. If the character sur
vives, the gem glows with a faint inner light, and true seeing will reveal a t
iny figure trapped within. If the throw is made the soul can be freed by simpl
y crushing the gem. A new body must be within 10 yards for the soul to enter o
r it will be lost. Such a body might be a clone or simulacrum. (See spells of
those names.)
If the fragments of the destroyed skull are not destroyed by immersion in holy
water and the casting of a dispel magic the demilich will reform in 1-10 days
.
Archlich
From time to time, sages have heard rumors of liches having alignments other t
han evil, and even lawful good liches apparently have existed. There have even
been reports of priests who, in extreme circumstances, have become liches. Th
ese reports have recently been verified, but the archlich is as rare as Roc's
teeth.