How does one become a lich?

[Ozmar]

Hello,

How does one become a lich? I am interested in finding any "offical" description of the precise rituals and in-game requirements for a character to become a lich. I looked in the MM, but only found rules for creating the pylactery. I also looked in Libris Mortis, but didn't find any help there. Are there any other products that contain a description of this ritual? Maybe some Forgotten Realms product, perhaps?

Thanks!
-Ozmar, the Aspiring Lich

 

[XCorvis]

I haven't seen any specific steps other than the stuff in the MM, but IMO it goes something like this:

1. Prepare phylactery.
2. Prepare magic poison.
3. Drink magic poison.
4. Die.

You may or may not need to make a pact with a dark god as part of steps 1 and 2.

You might look at the 2nd Ed Necromancer's Handbook, or Van Richten's Guide to Liches. One of those should have something useful.

 

[darthkilmor]

Lich Characters

The process of becoming a lich is unspeakably evil and can be undertaken only by a willing character. A lich retains all class abilities it had in life.
The Lich’s Phylactery

An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death.

Each lich must make its own phylactery, which requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The character must be able to cast spells and have a caster level of 11th or higher. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.

The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40.

Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.

Pretty much left up to DM discretion I would guess then? Probably involves the murdering of innocents or excessive torture or components like the still-beating hearts of fifty newborns or something else Really Bad since it says its "unspeakably evil".

 

[MarkB]

Most likely, each lich researches their own particular ritual, which they then keep a closely-guarded secret. So there may be almost as many variations on the exact method as there are liches, with the one constant factor being the unspeakably-evilness.

 

[Ozmar]

Hmmm... interesting. So as a player-lich, then perhaps I just need to come up with some kind of mutually-agreeable ritual and run it by my DM?

I'll have to come up with some ideas, then. Thanks!

-Ozmar the Eager Lich Acolyte

 

[FalcWP]

Dragon 336 had an article called "Birth of the Dead: Origins of the Walking Dead", which dealt with the creation of all the undead (other than skeletons and zombies) in the Monster Manual, as well as some of those from other sources. Its a pretty interesting article that has given me more than a few diabolical ideas that I'm still waiting to use. It has some limited rules for making a lich (either arcane or divine), although it still has quite a bit of room for a DM to add his own twists. Might be worth checking out.

 

[Question]

You dont often see this question brought up, because its fairly DM-specific. Most DMs will however, accept that you spend some time researching it, or perhaps drop a quest. But most times campaigns just dont support liches......the whole evil thing, inability to walk into town with a disgusie and being attacked on sight, etc, etc........

Liches are pretty much designed for NPCs and BBEGs. A huge part of a lich is his many undead minions, isolated hide away, and stockpiles of magical items, all of which are not available to your PCs(most times). That, and the cost to become a lich is simply obscence, and the LA of +4 is horribly broken, in exchange for the mostly un-useful ability to not being able to die. You would need to die a lot of times for the LA and cost to payback, and if the game ever progresses into epic(VERY likely, as liches are a high level thing), ignore material components + true resurrection means that your amazing ability to not die permanently is......not really that amazing anymore. Plus you need to wait a few days. Your cleric is likely to just say "why couldnt i just cast this spell and bring him back in 10 mins so we can continue playing?!".

 

[Ozmar]

True... I guess I'm just interested in doing it because it is so rarely done. And just to see if I can (which is to say, if the DM allows it). And finally because its "in character" (said character being a worshipper of the Blood of Vol who greatly fears death, and seeks to extend his life through the only way he knows of that works "forever" - undeath. And of all the undead he knows of, only the lich appears to enable him to exist indefinitely without having to "feed" off the living, or lose his mind or autonomy.)

And thanks for the Dragon reference! I'll have to look that up tonight and see if there is something there that helps.

Ozmar the Apprentice Lich

 

[schporto]

If you have the Dragon CD set, there was an article or two on rituals and the process to become a lich in Best of I or II.
-cpd

 

[Einan]

The Dread Necromancer class in Heroes of Horror becomes a lich at 20th level. It's a pretty fun class to play if you're feeling lichy.

Einan