Firsah's Guide to the Glorious World of Lichdom

Hello amateur necromancers, cultists, and religious zealots bent on killing what you may call "undead monstrosities". I, Rana Lévesque Firsah, renouned necromantic researcher and sole heir to the Firsah house, have compiled this tome of observations and in some cases, instructions in the ways of those we call "Liches". If you are reading this volume purely in hopes of destroying "evil", set the book down right now, and walk away. The zombies are already on their way, and this tome is inscribed with explosive runes which, if you read at the average speed of a grown, intelligent humanoid, will detonate in 10 seconds.

Well, now that all the undesirables have been taken care of, I shall continue. If you're here to discover the beautiful truth of undeath, of the second life we all deserve, read on. As a side note, please forgive my lack of artistic talent.

A World of Beautiful Variety

While the average dumb, bumbling paladin may think of liches as one kind of undead (namely, an evil, powerful wizard who only wishes to gather knowledge and mindlessly destroy the living out of some sort of unfounded jealousy), the truth is far more interesting, complex, and beautiful. In truth there are a plethora of lich types.

Really, the word "lich" better describes a group of beings than one kind of being. Just as how "humanoid" describes anything from Gnomes to Goliaths, "lich" can be used to describe anything from the previously mentioned eccentric arcane researcher to the Siabrae (or Druidic lich).

Liches are no more monsters than any person you know. They are talented people from a variety of backgrounds with a variety of goals and philosophies. While a number of liches fall into the cliche of going mad with lonliness or being irrideamable, indescriminate killers, there are a large number who break this mold, many of which I know personally, and many of which I have been personally mentored by.

In the following sections, I will attempt to categorize the variety of liches I have encountered into simple divisions based on the exact nature of their undeath, and even outline the measures you may take to follow in their necrotic footsteps.

Table of Contents

Lich	Page
Arcane Lich	2-5
Divine Lich	6-8
Druidic Lich	9-12
Bardic Lich	13-15
Pact Lich	16-19
Sorcerous Lich	20-22
Lich Spells	23
Additional Notes	24

The Academic Arcane Lich

I will begin with the most well known kind of lich: those who have aquired their improved forms through careful study and practice of magical effects, who then used their knowledge in order to become undead. In short, these are your wizard liches, your nerds.

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. One does not simply become a lich. Completing the rituals necessary to become a lich requires an incredible knowledge of the inner mechanations of the universe. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Wizard with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Intelligence. The complex spells and rituals necessary to become a lich require a high degree of intelligence to master.
• Arcana Proficiency. Knowledge of the arcane nature of life and death are needed in order to achieve lichdom.
• Forbidden Arcane Knowledge. You must find or aquire the specific knowledge of a ritual that will allow you to ascend to lichdom. This is never an easy task and can involve anything from voyaging to far off dimensions for ancient scrolls to making deals with death gods for such knowledge.
• Phylactery Resources. All academic liches have one thing in common: a phylactery. Phylacteries are not cheap or simple to make and cost anywhere from 100,000 gp to 500,000 gp depending on various factors such as additional enchantments and intricacy of craftsmanship.

Lichdom

As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.
• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

Phylactery

For a wizard, an integral part of becoming a lich is having a phylactery (or container) which holds your soul. Without a phylactery, the lich is but a mortal in a rotting body held together by weak magical fragments. This makes the phylactery both the lich's strongest attribute, and their greatest weakness.

Phylactery Creation

Creating a phylactery is a risky feat indeed, as the process often involves preparing the container for an extensive period of time, perhaps even decades, and then killing oneself in some way and hoping that your long laid plans and calculations will work.

The process of creating a phylactery in preparation for whatever ritual you have engineered or discovered involves creating or using a container of some description (which must be 2 size categories smaller than you are) and enscribing complex runes onto the inside of it.

All phylacteries are different and unique, and can even be enchanted for additional protection to their hosts. Phylacteries all, however, cost inordinate amounts of money to create, with the cheapest and most rudimentary of phylacteries costing 100,000 gp to create.

A simple metal box with no special protections may cost 100,000 gp, but if you would like a more ornate gilded jewlery box with the ability to set those who try to break it on fire, that will cost you significantly more to create.

Soul Ties

As a powerful undead, you will have many adventurers and do-gooders after your "life" (regardless of your true morality). Anyone who wishes to kill a lich will likely know of their greatest weakness: their phylactery. Liches can automatically sense when your phylactery is being harmed. If your phylactery is destroyed, you feel an overwhelming sensation of pain which will stun you (for 1d6 rounds).

As long as your phylactery has not moved from where you have placed it, you can always sense where your phylactery is. If your phylactery moves in some other way and you use the spell Locate Object to discern its location, gaining an additional 2 miles to the range of detection.

Reformation

Where the real power of a phylactery lies, is in its power to bring a lich back to unlife if it is destroyed. When you are killed as a lich, your body turns to ash and your perspective switches to that of your phylactery.

Over the course of anywhere from 1 to 10 days your body regrows around the phylactery as described below. While your body reforms you have no control over it but your mental faculties are under your control. You have blindsight up to 5 ft while reforming and can communicate telepathically up to 30 ft but none of your other senses work. I have observed the reformation process following these phases during the reconstruction of several different liches.

Lich Regeneration

Stage	Description
1	Negative energy begins to pool around the phylactery in a large, shapeless glob.
2	The glob of negative energy begins to form into your previous shape.
3	The glob darkens and flesh begins to grow within it.
4	From within the mass of flesh, bones grow. Vital organs begin to form.
5	Organs and bones are fully formed but are unconnected.
6	Nerve tissue and ligaments form connections between body parts, but remain inert.
7	Flesh forms over the body and begins to revert you to your apperance before you became a lich, including deformations and scars.
8	Hair, fingernails, and pigmentation form. Blood and other fluids form.
9	The soul begins to reconnect itself to the body.
10	Your soul connects to your body and you awaken. A glob of negative energy with your phylactery in the center are in the place of your heart, which can then be removed. The body then seals itself.

Negative Energy Aquisition Via Soul Consumption

Liches are simply put, not perpetual motion machines. Because they are no longer mortal and cannot digest food, they must regenerate the negative energy which fuels their body in some other way. Most commonly this means using mortal souls to continue ones own existance. When a lich kills another mortal with an intelligence of 5 or higher, once a week, they may choose to send the creature's soul to their phylactery, where it is absorbed and eventually drained out of existence over the course of one month.

A lich must consume at least one soul every two months in order to remain in peak condition. If a lich does not consume souls at this frequency, they begin to degrade into what is known as a demilich, their body slowly crumbling to dust as it attempts to conserve energy in order to protect the head. If a lich degrades into a demilich, they may no longer cast spells and must feed on at least one soul before they are restored to their lich form.

I have observed the degredation only once, and have yet to witness a repeation of the process. From what I observed in the case study, the degredation process is very painful, as well as mentally traumatic, so those looking to become a lich of this nature should be wary and always consume enough souls.

Spellcasting

As an academically arcane lich you have delved deep into the secrets of the arcane and are a powerful spellcaster.

Spell Slots

As an arcane lich, you use the multiclass spellcaster table on page 165 of the Player's Handbook. Every lich level you learn a number of spells designated by the Total Spells Learned section on the class table.

You may learn a spell of any level for which you have spell slots and that are from either the lich spell list or the spell list of your other class(es).

For instance, a level 17 character who is wizard 10/ sorcerer 5/ arcane lich 2 would have access to any spell from the wizard, sorcerer, and lich tables and have access to spells up to the 9th level, where if they only had 1 level in arcane lich, they would have access to spells up to the 8th level.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your lich spells.

Ritual Casting

You may cast a spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You may continue using the same spellcasting focus as you have in the past. The focus may be used to cast spells from your previous levels as well as your lich levels.

Paralyzing Touch

Once you reach 2nd level as an arcane lich, you gain a paralyzing touch. Once per long rest you may make a melee spell attack for 4d6 cold damage. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your lich spellcasting DC or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Frightening Gaze

When you reach 3rd level as an arcane lich, your eyes inspire fear in your enemies. Once per long rest you may fix your gaze on a creature that you can see within 100 feet of you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw against your lich spellcasting DC or be frightened for 10 minutes. The frightened target may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. If a target's saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to your gaze for the next 24 hours.

Disrupt Life

When you reach your 4th level as an arcane lich, you gain a powerful necrotic power to drain the life energy of those around you. Once per long rest, you may use an action to drain the life force of all living creatures within 40 feet of you. These creatures must make a Constitution saving throw against your lich spellcasting DC, taking 8d6 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Protection of the Grave

When you reach your 5th level as an arcane lich, you gain immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons. In addition, thrice per long rest, you may reroll any failed saving throw and use the higher number.

Truesight

In addition, when you reach your 5th level as an arcane lich, you gain truesight up to 120 feet.

Notes on Wizard-Liches

The following section is filled with various information on this classification of lich and tips on surviving as one. Learning from the mistakes and triumphs of those before you can only benefit you in the long-run.

Methodology

Although, as I have previously stated, all liches I have encountered have been highly unique individuals, there are certain methodologies which liches of certain types tend to share, purely because they are effective in keeping the lich in question alive.

One particular habit, I have noticed, is that of the members of a group or organization of like-minded necromancers which are on friendly terms to trade phylacteries with one another in order to confound those who may be after their "lives".

The average lich may hide their phylactery deep underground within a labyrinth of deadly traps and monsters, or relegate the object to a dimention full of nothing but objects imbued with magic which all look identical to the phylactery, but the above average lich will plot with another lich and hide each other's phylacteries in similarly inpeneterable strongholds.

This way if Mr. Big Dumb Paladin comes waltzing in expecting to destroy the phylactery of one lich and succeeds, going on his merry way to attempt the murder of a lich which still has a phylactery intact and wins the fight, he has still lost. The lich who the phylactery truely belonged to has now felt its destruction and, unobserved by Mr. Paladin, has time to reconstruct it while his cohort regenerates in safety.

On Choosing Your Phylactery

Please, refrain from making your phylactery a large and obvious amulet you wear around your neck at all times. There is a certain individual I know who made this mistake. She's dead now. For real. So, what kind of containers make the best phylacteries? Well, really use your imagination. Any small container.

Make it an opaque bottle which you keep on an unnoteworthy shelf full of bottles. Make it a jewlery box with a false exterior compartment. The adventurers routing through your posessions will likely be so distracted by the simple magic amulet you keep in it that they will take that and leave the box. The possibilities are endless.

On Picking a Fight

As powerful a spellcaster as you are, there is likely always going to be someone out there who can best you in a basic fight. I don't care how much you care about "honor" in combat, you are a higher being. Those out to destroy you are beneath you. Use whatever tactics keep you in one piece.

Mr. Big Dumb Paladin may be dumb, but give him an enchanted warhammer, get him close to you and he's going to break your bones like twigs.

For all your arcane power you are a rotting corpse and those tend to fall apart rather easily. Make a habit of practicing and learning spells which teleport and conceal you, and find or create clothing which augments this ability.

Learn long-ranged offensive spells, practice those, do not let a BDP get too close to you with that hammer of his.

Mental Health

Stereotypes often exist for a reason. I cannot stress the importance of this section enough. Being mentally and emotionally unstable is a one way ticket to becoming the irrational, obsessive villian that this kind of lich is well known for being. Often, if a wizard-lich is not already alone in the world, and has a few friends, they die eventually, and the lich succumbs to a solitude-induced madness. Do not let this happen to you.

Almost every humanoid race is social at its very core, and needs interaction with peers to remain stable and happy. As much of a genius as you think you are (or actually are), take a step back from your research and personal persuits on a regular basis in order to socalize in some way. As the ages go by and your friends die, find new ones. If you don't know fellow liches, disguise yourself and venture into civilization regularly. It may seem like quite a risk to do so, but being lonely is an even greater risk to you than the average city guard.

In my opinion, this should be as much of a priority to you as consuming souls. You may live forever, but do you want to do so as a raving lunatic?

The Divine Lich

Divine liches are those who were clerics or druids in life, most likely in service to gods of life, death, autumn, winter, time, magic, knowledge, disease and night. They have made a pact of loyalty with these divine forces in order to become a lich so that they may continue their service to greater powers.

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. Completing the trials and proving your loyalty and worthyness to your god(dess) necessary to ascend to undeath requires much skill and hard work. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Cleric with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Wisdom. The trials required to prove oneself worthy of ascension require a high level of wisdom.
• Religion Proficiency. Knowledge of the divine nature of life and death are needed in order to achieve lichdom.
• Completion of a Trial. In order to ascend into undeath, you must complete an arduous trial which your god(dess) grants to you in order to prove your devotion and worth.

• Relic Resources. The divine relic which will contain your soul requires very difficult to aquire components to be gathered outside of the Trial in order for your relic to be shaped by your patron.

  6
  PART 3 | DIVINE LICH

  Lichdom

  As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.

• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

The Pilgrimage (or Trial)

Once a Cleric has made their intentions of ascending into undeath known to their diety through prayer, and the diety finds the Cleric worthy, they may recieve visions leading them on a trial to a far off place to fulfill some greater purpose in order to prove that they are worthy of undeath.

Records of these Trials vary widely depending on which god(dess) the Cleric serves. A death god inclined to the side of what most would call evil, for instance, may order their servant to kill all the members of a village that (in the diety's eyes) should not exist. A god of night may require the Cleric to find a way to visit the heavens, or tame a giant, legendary owl.

Once this Trial has been completed, the Cleric has proven themself worthy of serving their god(dess) in undeath, and my gather the parts of their relic.

Relic Creation (or Second Trial)

Much like a phylactery, a relic contains the soul of a lich. However, the two are entirely different in nature. While a phylactery is created by an intelligent mortal, a relic is created by a patron diety when a Cleric who has passed their Trial presents the necessary components to their god(dess).

Much like the journey asked of by a Trial, gathering the parts of a relic often involves a grand quest of some kind, leading the would be lich anywhere in the world in search of items such as unicorn tears or dragon scales. Once three items have been gathered, the cleric sets up a suitable altar to their diety on which the items are presented.

After this step, the diety appears in some form before the protolich, combines the items into a totally unique relic, and rips the immortal soul from their loyal Cleric, storing it in the divine object and disappearing.

If a Divine lich's relic is destroyed, they are rendered mortal until they can present three more objects to be made into a new relic. Because the relic is a Divine lich's greatest weakness, it is important that they make appropriate reliquaries to store their relics in, similar in the strongholds and tombs that arcane liches create.

Reformation

When a Divine lich is destroyed, their body turns to ash, and they travel to wherever their relic is located. They reform much the way that an arcane lich, taking about the same amount of time to do so and following the same basic stages.

They reform looking however their deity sees fit, and so the apparance of a Divine lich does not change much over time. If their deity wills them to be forever stuck in a certain stage of decay, that is how they shall look. If the deity wishes for their worshipper to always look as though they were still alive (much like a vampire), then that is how they shall look.

Soul Ties

As a powerful undead, you will have many adventurers and do-gooders after your "life" (regardless of your true morality). Anyone who wishes to kill a lich will likely know of their greatest weakness: their phylactery. Liches can automatically sense when their phylactery is being harmed (or in your case, relic). If your relic is destroyed, you feel an overwhelming sensation of pain which will stun you (for 1d6 rounds).

As long as your phylactery has not moved from where you have placed it, you can always sense where your phylactery is. If your phylactery moves in some other way you will occasionally recieve visions of its location. These visions can range from very specific and helpful to extremely vague depending on how your deity feels about you losing your relic.

Energy Aquisition via Holy Deeds

In order to be blessed with the energy to continue as a lich, a Divine lich must continue to preform holy deeds that their deity approves of. If they ever falter in their services, or disobey their deity, their relic returns the soul to the lich's body and they are left to slowly degrade into a kind of mortal demilich unless they can attone for their actions.

Due to the nature of deities that these liches often serve, these holy deeds often include killing mortals for one reason or another. This is not the only service a lich can perform, however. Those worshipping deities less fixated on killing may simply need to retrieve an artifact every decade, start a grand place of worship and vow to upkeep it, etc.

Because of this, Divine liches are always busy with something. If they ever stop serving their deity, they will be reduced to a shell of their former self. They're always on some quest, upkeeping some organization, or out to murder some important person. There is no rest for them.

Blessed Undead

The undead you create are blessed by your god or gods. Because of this, their attacks count as +1 magical attacks regardless of how they are attacking. They also gain +2 to Armor Class. If you are of good or neutral alignment, their attacks count as radiant damage. If you are of an evil alignment their attacks count as necrotic damage. Undead under your control have advantage on all saving throws to resist turning.

Banish Good/Evil

As a powerful undead you are able to send your enemies to the realm of the undead: Shadowfell, upon reaching your 3rd level in Divine lich. As an action you may choose up to 3 creatures you can see which are within 30 feet of you and within 10 feet of each other, and attempt to banish them to the realm of Shadowfell.

The targets must attempt a Wisdom saving throw against your Divine lich spell save DC. On a failure they are cast into the dimension for 30 minutes. If they pass the saving throw they remain in the material plane.

Once this ability has been used, it may not be used again until you finish a long rest.

Summon Spirits

At 4th level you gain the ablility to call upon the departed to aid you in one of two ways.

First, you may summon a ghost of someone you knew when they were alive to speak to. This ghost cannot move from where you summoned them and cannot make any attack actions or harm anyone in any way.

Secondly, you may summon the ghost of a random deceased to fight by your side until they are either dispelled, reduced to 0 hit points, or until 1 hour has passed.

Once this ability has been used, it may not be used again until you finish a long rest.

Divine Armor

When you reach your 5th level as a Divine lich, you are now healed by both necrotic damage and healing effects. In addition you gain immunity to radiant damage and have a permanent +3 to Armor Class.

Soulsight

In addition, when you reach 5th level as a divine lich, you gain a passive ability called soulsight. Soulsight allows you to see the souls and auras of those around you up to a radius of 120 feet. From gazing upon a soul you are able to discern the target's allignment, and if they have commited any great acts of evil or good in their lives. A soul who has murdered hundreds of people but has since become a force for good, for instance, will appear as a glowing golden form but with deformations and bloodstains.

You must focus on a specific individual for at least 10 minutes to gain a full understanding of their soul. If you focus on a soul for a shorter period than this, you gain less and vaguer information.

Notes on Divine Liches

The following section is filled with a few notes on the few divine liches which I have encountered. Keep in mind that most of my exposure to this particular type of lich have been those who worship... less savory gods. While a deity such as Chang'e, a goddess of immortality and the moon is an example of a kinder deity which would allow their followers to become liches, most who I have encountered worship... less forgiving powers.

Methodology

Not too much is to be said about the survival tactics of Divine liches, as they often have to travel constantly in order to fulfill quests for their deity. Because a Divine lich's relic is nearly identical in function to your standard arcane phylactery, similar measures should be taken to protect it.

Because they are embodiments of their deity's will and powerful clerics, these liches often build great temples with a reliquary to contain their relic. These temples are tightly guarded by their followers, and their reliquary is often enchanted with extremely powerful divine magic.

The most common type of reliquary is that shaped like a coffin large enough to hold the lich's body. This way if the lich is defeated it may regenerate within this coffin-reliquary with all the added protections with wich the reliquary already has installed.

Gathering a Following

Gathering a mortal following to worship your god within a temple holding your reliquary is your best bet of protection. However you should be sure as to not allow these followers to worship you more than they worship your deity. If they end up worshipping you more than your patron there is a strong chance that the source of your power could interpret this as an act of rebellion, grow jealous, and strip you of your power.

Because of this risk it is recommended to undersell your own abilities to the congregation, take every step necessary to ensure their focus remains on your deity lest your congregation become nothing more than a cult of personality.

This piety, however, must be balanced with a healthy dose of self-interest. You must not allow these people to worship you, but at the same time you must have enough of their respect for them to give their lives protecting your reliquary.

Druidic Lich

Liches who gain their undead status through the power of natural magics are rather unlike any other kind of lich. Really, a more specific name for this kind of lich is a "Siabrae". Instead of having their soul contained within a container, a Siabrae instead performs a ritual in which it gives its soul to the earth while in the center of a henge which has stones engraved with necromantic runes.

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. Completing the ritual necessary to ascend to undeath requires much skill and hard work. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Druid with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Wisdom. The ritual required to become one with nature and the material plane forever require a high level of wisdom to perform.
• Nature Proficiency. Knowledge of the natural cycles of life and death are needed in order to achieve lichdom.
• Completion of a Ritual. In order to become a Siabrae one must complete a ritual, the nature of which remains a tightly guarded secret held by only the eldest Druids and other Siabrae.
• Henge Construction. The ritual to become a Druidic lich requires the construction of eight intricately carved standing stones, which require master craftsmanship and several decades of work for a single person to complete.

Lichdom

As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.
• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

Henge Sculpting

The circle of eight standing stones necessary for a druid to become a lich require an astounding level of craftsmanship and dedication to complete. Although there are acceptions to the rule, Druids often spend several decades in solemn isolation creating their henge if they are to ascend. At least, this is what I have heard from my extremly limited sources.

From what I have gathered, a Siabrae remains tied to the henge at which they were created and if this henge is demolished, the Siabrae will truly die upon destruction. Because of this simple fact, Siabrae will often grow thick, insurpassable foliage around their henge, or place a number of traps and enchantments around it.

Ritual Secrets

Among those very few Druids who do know of the rituals necessary to become a lich, very few of them have transcribed these secrets or would ever dare to give them up. Part of this is due to the already hyper-secretive nature of Druidic circles, and the other part is due to the unique nature of the Siabrae ritual.

From my limited knowledge of the ritual, I can entirely understand why a Siabrae would hold the specifics of it so tightly. Due to the ritual's mechanisms, it is entirely possible for one to make a henge and then force another to become a Siabrae against their will. I have yet to hear of a first hand account of this happening, however.

Thankfully for you, the reader, I have a singular source of this ritual knowledge. Although he was extremely vague about the specifics of how he personally completed the process, he was willing to release enough information to me in the interest of others being warned against the process.

The Ritual

The vague outline of the ritual process is as follows. A henge is constructed, druidic runes are carefully enscribed into eight unique stones, each representing a cardinal direction. The design of the stones must integrate the likeness or general aesthetic of an animal or plant that they feel particularly drawn to.

The Druid then must recite a number of incantations, charging the circle for a full year with natural energy. The purpose of this stage is to imbue the stones with aspects of the seasons, each stone now representing a stage in the year (the icy chill of winter, the melting of snow, the blossoming of spring, etc.). This stage helps tie the stones to the cycle of nature, and in turn time itself.

After the year has passed the Druid may step into the center of the henge and begin their transformation, giving their soul to the earth. The Druid then collapses into the earth and reemerges after the passing of one lunar cycle as a skeletal version of their mortal form.

The exact nature of the druidic runes needed, the incantations, and the process of giving ones soul to the land was barred from my knowledge. Anyone looking to become a Siabrae must gain this knowledge from elsewhere, much to my displeasure.

Reformation

Upon destruction a Siabrae collapses into a pile of bones if they sculpted their henge with the design of an animal, or a pile of leaves, flowers, etc. if they chose to sculpt their henge with the design of a plant.

The Siabrae then begins to reform its skeletal body deep in the earth anywhere within a ten mile radius of its place of destruction. This regeneration process takes one full lunar cycle to complete, and little is known about the exact reconstruction process past this.

My source tells me that he has had to reform only once and while he was, he could hear and see through the eyes and ears of plants within a one mile radius of his location. Given that his henge was attuned to the spirit of a maple tree, one can assume that if the Siabrae had been attuned to an animal, they would be able to see and hear through the animals within a one mile radius of their location.

Once the Siabrae's skeleton has reformed, they may emerge from the earth fully formed but without any clothing or equipment they had when they were bested.

Energy Aquisition via Soul Consumption or Blighting

Much like the arcane lich, Siabrae may consume souls in order to upkeep the energy needed for day to day function. In order to do this they must simply kill an intelligent humanoid (5 or more intelligence) with the purpose of consuming their soul and returning their body to the earth. They need only one soul every three months in order to upkeep their body.

Unlike the arcane lich, however, a Siabrae also has the option to blight and curse an area of land in order to drain the natural energy from it. This option provides a constant stream of energy for a Siabrae to utilize so that they do not need to supplement with souls or additional blighted land. One must keep in mind, however, that as a Siabrae's power grows, so does the amount of land they must keep blighted in order to upkeep their energy.

Blighted land will appear sickly and dead. Plants will be twisted and blackened, and animals will appear sickly. A desert will be devoid of any life at all. In reality what is truly occuring is that, when the land produces natural energy, rather than that energy being used to grow the plants or nourish the animals, the land gets only enough energy to stay alive while you take the rest for yourself.

In order to blight an area a Siabrae must preform (once again, secret) rituals over the course of one lunar cycle for every ten square miles they blight. Keep in mind more mortally-inclined druids, do-good paladins, etc. will work to find ways to ruin your hard work and restore this land to normal, often requiring some artifact of "goodness" or preforming counter-rituals of some form.

Land Needed

Lich Levels	Area (in square miles)
1	5
2	10
3	20
4	50
5	100

Spellcasting

As a Druidic lich you can channel the divine and raw essence of nature itself, and can cast spells to shape that essence to your will.

Spell Slots

As a Siabrae, you use the multiclass spellcaster table on page 165 of the Player's Handbook. Every lich level you learn a number of spells designated by the Total Spells Learned section on the class table.

You may learn a spell of any level for which you have spell slots and that are from either the lich spell list or the spell list of your other class(es).

For instance, a level 17 character who is druid 10/ sorcerer 5/ druidic lich 2 would have access to any spell from the druid, sorcerer, and lich tables and have access to spells up to the 9th level, where if they only had 1 level in druidic lich, they would have access to spells up to the 8th level.

Spellcasting Ability

Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your lich spells.

Ritual Casting

You may cast a spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You may continue using the same spellcasting focus as you have in the past. The focus may be used to cast spells from your previous levels as well as your lich levels.

One with the Land

Upon becoming a lich, you have a henge which includes designs of an animal or plant which you are attuned to. If you are destroyed, you regenerate underground within the stone in a random location within ten miles of where you were "killed" over the course of one lunar cycle.

Animal/Plant Spirit

After spending enough time in your new form, you gain an attribute corresponding to the attuned plant or animal in your henge at your 2nd level. A Siabrae attuned to a deer will gain one attribute of the animal, such as antlers, the skeletal hind-legs of a deer, or even an entire deer skull head. A Siabrae attuned to ivy may continually find themselves covered with a growth of the plant and so on. This attunement gives a druid a unique ability depending on the creature they are tied to.

Spirit Powers

Creature	Ability
Bird	Grow skeletal wings, 30 ft. flight.
Deer	+6 to Perception checks
Cat	+6 to Stealth checks
Flowering Plant	+6 to Persuasion checks
Tree	Barkskin as a permanent effect

On Spirit Powers

The previous table was not intended to be a list of all possible animal and plant spirit powers, but rather as an example of the kinds of abilities that should be granted to the Siabrae. If a player wishes to have a unique spirit not listed here, collaboration between the player and DM on choosing a suitable power is of the upmost priority.

Stone Bones

Your bones gain an even greater connection with the earth. At your thrid druidic lich level you gain a burrowing speed equal to your land speed, melding with the ground. This innate connection also grants you with 30 ft tremorsense.

Additionally, you may use an action while in the ground to pull another creature down with you. When you attempt to do this, you must successfully grapple the creature If they fail, you may transport them through the earth with you to any location within your land speed's radius.

Blight Creation

As an undying creature of the land, you may use your druidic magic to create Blights (Monster Manual page 32) out of plants using Animate Dead or Create Undead in place of creating a zombie, ghoul or skeleton starting at 4th level.

If using Animate Dead, which normally creates one zombie or skeleton under your control, you may create two Twig Blights or one Needle Blight.

If using Create Undead, which normally creates up to three ghouls, you may instead create up to six Vine Blights, twelve Needle Blights, or twenty four Twig Blights.

Archsiabrae

At 5th level you have reached the peak of your growth as a lich. You may now transform using Wild Shape an unlimited amount of times.

Earthsight

Also at 5th level you have become so permanently attuned to the natural energies of the material plane that you may view the world through the plants and animals around you.

With 10 minutes of careful meditation, you may view the world through the eyes of any plant or animal within 1 mile of your position.

In addition, your tremorsense range expands to a 60 foot radius.

Notes on Siabrae

The following is a list of observations and advice on "living" as a Siabrae, mostly based on my observations of the two Siabrae I have met and spoken to.

Protecting your Henge

Protecting your Henge is of the upmost importance. While the arcane lich is simply able to reconstruct their phylactery, once a Sinabrae's henge is destroyed, there is no fixing it. If Big Dumb Paladin decides to demolish your henge, you are no better than the abominations that are awakened skeletons. At that point you are merely a shambling corpse with intelligence.

This is why you must always keep the location of your henge a secret, as well as take careful steps to safeguard it. My sources tell me that the best way to do this is to be very wary of diviners and psions, as well as to install a complex web of traps, illusions, magical safeguards, and natural labyrinths around the location of your henge, without overdoing it in a fashion which would make it obvious that something is being hidden there.

Don't, for instance, place obvious protective totems around the area, or an obvious wall of brambles a mile high. Those things just scream "there is an evil presence here, please kill me".

Instead, use more subtle measures. Carve runes meant to make it appear as if the area is empty, and cover the runes with heavy foliage. Form the landscape to subtly direct travelers around your henge rather than blatently bar them from entering the area. Make sure to keep large game and berries from growing in the area, as this may attract the unassuming hunter or forager.

Be sure to take measures to ward the area against being divined, and attempt to find or create magically enchanted items which prevent others from reading your thoughts.

Combat

If you are to engage an enemy, do so in a place in which you have the advantage. As a Siabrae, you are skeletal, and can be easily broken with the right blunt object.

If you find yourself in a city, take all measures you can to retreat into the wild, where you can confound, run, hide, and overall take the upper hand on your enemy. This seems obvious, but you would be surprised by the stupidity of... certain people.

Mental Health

Do not lose your mind to lonliness, keep in touch with the things that brought you happiness before you ascended. Keep animal companions, make friends, garden, whatever.

Living forever can be a mentally and emotionally trying ordeal. Don't become the mindless villian that do-good adventurers expect you to be.

This is something that my main source is exceedingly good at. Although his combative thinking and strategic planning is laughable, he is at least smart enough to disguise himself as a mortal and interact with people very frequently.

Part of this is due to the fact that he is very young, and therefore has not lived long enough to see mortals around him die, but his efforts are commendable nonetheless.

The Bardic Lich

Quite possibly the rarest form of lich, the bardic lich is formed from one who was a practitioner of bardic magic in life. Astoundingly, they aren't all complete wrecks once they lose the ability to become drunk. Rather, most bardic liches become what they are out of their love of the mortal planes, of a hunger to continue on through the ages and observe history be made again and again. They often simply never want the experience of life to end, or to miss out on what the future has to hold.

Bardic Lich

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. Pulling off the preformance necessary to become a lich requires an incredible degree of skill in bardic casting. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Bard with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Charisma. The complex performance necessary to become a imbue your instrument with your soul and become a lich require a high degree of charisma to master.
• Arcana Proficiency. Knowledge of the arcane nature of life and death are needed in order to achieve lichdom.
• Performance Proficiency. You must have an understanding of performance arts to complete the performance to become a lich.
• Arrangement of the Dead. You must find or aquire the sheet music detailing the performance that will allow you to ascend to lichdom. This is never an easy task and can involve anything from voyaging to far off dimensions for ancient tomes to making deals with death gods or art gods for such knowledge.
• Instrument Resources. All bardic liches have a musical instrument which functions as a phylactery. The instrument must be constructed to very specific specifications are not cheap or simple to make and cost anywhere from 200,000 gp to 1,000,000 gp depending on various factors such as additional enchantments and intricacy of craftsmanship.

Lichdom

As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.
• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

The Dance of Death

In order for an instrument to contain a bard's soul, they must perform a specific magical arrangement which may be passed down from a college of bards, or found in some forgotten library far off in the multiverse. The specific piece can be referred to by a multitude of names: "The Forbidden Song", "The Grim Fandango", "The Great Dirge". No one has ever been able to reverse engineer the song, and it is unknown who wrote it.

Once the sheet music is attained, the bard must begin an hour long performance which must remain uninterrupted under risk of an instant, permanent death. The song must be performed with an instrument made specifically for holding the soul of the bard, similar in runic design to the arcane lich's phylactery.

If a bard fails to perform the song perfectly, they die permanently, their soul cast into the outer planes and chained there by divine forces. If they succeed, they fall to the ground, body ceasing function as their soul travels into the instrument. The bard reawakens merely seconds later, now undead.

Those who wish to perform this song must be aware that all who hear it within 200 feet of you will be drained of their vitality as though affected by the Blight spell continuously (every round).

The Soul Instrument

A bardic lich's soul instrument is very similar to a lich's phylactery. It contains the lich's soul and if destroyed, will render the lich mortal as their soul enters their body. A bardic lich may simply replace a broken instrument by preforming the necessary song with a new one, which is a much easier process than what is required of creating a new arcane phylactery.

Unlike the academically arcane lich's phylactery, the instrument does not need to be fed souls. The caveat of this, however, comes in what does need to be done instead.

Energy Aquisition via Artistic Creation

The downside of not needing to feed on souls to survive, is the vulnerablility of needing to keep your soul instrument with you at all times. This is because the instrument must be preformed on at least once every three days for a duration no shorter than 30 minutes in front of a minimum of one intelligent, non-undead creature in order for the bardic lich to retain enough energy to survive, lest they degrade into a demilich.

The energy in question comes from a combination of expressing creative energy, and feeding on the emotional response of those who hear that release. Thus, being a bardic lich is rather risky, as it requires the lich in question to remain in constant contact with mortals, at constant risk of being exposed to the, frankly uneducated masses as a "monster".

Reformation

Reforming from the soul instrument is a tricky ordeal for a bardic lich. They follow the same, basic stages outlined in the section on arcane liches, but the nature of their phylactery makes reformation extreamly risky unless they have a trusted ally to care for their instrument while they reform.

Because bardic liches must preform with their phylactery consistantly, they must keep it on their person nearly all of the time. The disadvantages of this are blantantly obvious. While an arcane lich or a divine lich can hide their pylactery or relic, and a druidic lich can protect their henge, the bardic lich must keep their greatest weakness with them, relatively in the open and unprotected.

This often adds to the social nature of bardic liches, who nearly always have at least one confidant in which they can entrust their soul to. In some cases this means their biological decendants. In other cases the bardic lich has an apprentice or fellow lich they can trust. Very rarely, a bardic lich will even entrust their instrument to a mortal lover or close friend (although I personally would not recommend this method).

Spellcasting

As a bardic lich you have delved deep into the secrets of the arcane and are a powerful spellcaster.

Spell Slots

As a bardic lich, you use the multiclass spellcaster table on page 165 of the Player's Handbook. Every lich level you learn a number of spells designated by the Total Spells Learned section on the class table.

You may learn a spell of any level for which you have spell slots and that are from either the lich spell list or the spell list of your other class(es).

For instance, a level 17 character who is bard 10/ sorcerer 5/ arcane lich 2 would have access to any spell from the bard, sorcerer, and lich tables and have access to spells up to the 9th level, where if they only had 1 level in bardic lich, they would have access to spells up to the 8th level.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your lich spells.

Ritual Casting

You may cast a spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You may use a magical instrument as your spellcasting focus. This extends to your soul instrument.

Syncopation

At 2nd level you may add a section to your songs full of unexpected, highly varying rhythms in order to produce a magical effect which causes you to appear, smell, feel, and sound like a mortal version of yourself.

You can feel and smell and taste as you did in life, but lack the ability to metabolize food and drink. In essence you may use a chaotic rhythmic pattern in order to mimic the chaos of life, and temporarily bestow this chaos upon yourself for up to 3 hours.

Ritornello

At 3rd level as an action you may play a short musical interlude in order to temporarily transport yourself between the fabric of the material and ethereal plane, recreating the effects of the Etherealness spell.

Once this ability is used, it cannot be used again until after a long rest.

Nocturne Sonata

At 4th level you may play a calming and heartfelt sonata which fills all who hear it with an unearthly calm once per long rest. All intelligent creatures within 200 feet of you who can hear the song are tempted with the promise of a sleep as deep as the blackness of death.

The targets must all make a Charisma saving throw against your bardic lich spell save DC or fall into a deep slumber until they are awoken by sufficient stimuli. If a target passes the save DC, they are immune to this song for the next week.

Tutti

At 5th level, you gain the ability to have your undead not only flawlessly perform songs as a brilliant, professional level orchestra, but also to cast spells with thier music as a 3rd level bard would. They can preform any 1st or 2nd level spell or cantrip you know, with four first level slots and two second level slots.

Artistic Vision

By 5th level, you have an eye for all things artistic and historical. Not only can your eyes and ears understand all languages, but simply by studying an object for 10 minutes, you may discern its entire history, from creation to the present.

If you were to find a painting, for example, you would know who made it, who comissioned it, every detail down to the specific pigments used in the shade of red the artist used.

Notes on Bardic Liches

Although I have never personally encountered a bardic lich, those who have existed have been kind enough to leave behind detailed records of their thoughts and abilities. These are some additional notes I have gathered.

Staying Undead

Because of your unique relation and dependance on living people, you will find yourself "living" in a more precarious situations than most liches do.

Unless you feel it is absolutely necessary, and that you can absolutely trust a particular person. Do not, under any circumstances, allow mortals to discover your true nature.

Although bardic liches may live peacefully umong the living, as they do not need to collect souls, the living will rarely be educated or intelligent enough to realize such a nuance. If you are discovered, you will be seen as, at best, an arcane lich, and at worst, a shambling monsterous corpse which must be destroyed at any cost.

Live as someone who is well known in your place of residence, where everyone is an aquaintence. At most have a few distant friends and do not let anyone too far into your personal life.

Have a plan for if you are discovered. Have a pack ready for if you need to leave at a moment's notice. Install magical security measures in your place of residence and be ready to move at least two towns over with a new identity already thought out.

Bar Fights

Don't get into bar fights. You need the living to upkeep your energy. You don't want to get ostracized from every town you try to stay in when they find out you're a corpse.

Because bardic liches must keep their soul instruments with them, if you are to fall in battle you will most likely die permanently rather than regenerate unless you have a powerful and trusted partner who can retrieve your instrument and flee in the heat of a battle.

Learn spells which let you teleport and escape from dangerous situations, have someone you can trust who is also very good at escaping from a battle. You are a rare creature. It's time to abandon any notions of being a brave and honorable opponent and accept that you cannot afford such tactics.

Getting a Significant Other

Although I would like to simply be able to say: "Don't, just don't." I've seen enough mortal bards to know why people call them "spoony".

If you love life enough to never want to pass on, you probably are the overly sentimental type who cries when they see sunrises and devotes their eternal soul to at least one person a year. Not that there's anything wrong with that, just don't get too attached to one aspect of life, because it is bound to change.

If you want to have... intimate relations with the living, I'm not here to stop you. I am simply warning you to take precautions to avoid disappointment. If your lover doesn't know off the bat that you are undead, plan to tell them early into the relationship. Don't have them "discover" it, as beautifully dramatic as it may seem to your narrative-driven head.

Unless your lover is devoted to you and plans to become immortal in some way as well, don't get too attached to them. And always, always make sure that your significant other isn't some sort of undercover paladin zealot.

The Pact Lich

At first glance, one would think a warlock could never become a lich. Becoming a lich often requires an extreme commitment to learning secrets on the part of the to-be lich. A warlock, on the other hand, becomes a lich by making this desire known to their Patron and, if the Patron approves and the warlock proves themself worthy, the Patron may transform them. This is, of course, if the Patron has some sway over the forces life and death in the first place.

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. Pulling off the test necessary to become a lich requires an incredible degree of skill in pact magic casting. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Warlock with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Charisma. The level of power you must be capable of displaying to impress your Patron requires a high level of Charisma.
• Persuasion Proficiency. In order to convince your Patron to even consider bestowing such a wonderous power to you, you must have a tongue of silver.
• Test. The Patron of the warlock will likely be stingy with handing out such a large power to just any servant of theirs, and the warlock will need to prove themselves as above average in the Patron's eyes. Sometimes this will mean being pitted against other servants of the Patron in a competition for power. Other times this will mean going on some great, nearly impossible quest on the Patron's behalf.
• The Right Patron. In order for a warlock to become a lich, they must be serving a Patron which has some power and willingness to bend the rules of life and death. Patrons such as Ancient Hags, The Queen of Air and Darkness, Orcus, Tharizdun, Dendar, Erebus, Achlys, Geras, The Moirai, Thanatos, Yanwang, Hēidì, and the Entropic Lord are all theoretically capable of such a feat along with any ancient liches and undead with a large amount of power at their disposal.

Lichdom

As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.
• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

The Fetish

Upon passing whatever test their patron required of them, the warlock is gifted with a fetish. This fetish can be made of stone, gemstone, twigs, etc. it can even be a small painting of the warlock but in some way it will resemble them.

This is their phylactery, and it serves nearly an identical purpose to an arcane lich's phylactery, only that it may be used to produce various magical effects, and must remain within a certain distance of the warlock in order for the warlock to retain their powers.

If the warlock leaves the fetish's zone of influence, they will not regenerate if they are killed, and lose all spellcasting abilities and invocations granted to them by being a lich. Having a fetish, however, is not without its upsides. As a Pact lich grows in power, they may learn to use their fetish in powerful ways.

Allowed Distance from Fetish

Lich Level	Distance in Miles
1	3
2	6
3	12
4	25
5	50

Reformation

When a Pact lich is defeated, its body erupts into a suitable material corresponding to their Patron. A lich who serves a devil, for instance, will erupt into flame. If they serve a deity of shadows they will erupt into waves of darkness and so on. Their fetish, likewise, erupts in a similar way and the soul of the lich is transported into a pocket dimension aesthetically and thematically representative of their Patron.

From there the lich follows a nearly identical reformation process to what I have described in the section on arcane liches, except with a new fetish acting as a temporary heart. Once the body is ready, the new fetish can be removed from the position of the heart and the hole is resealed.

The warlock then appears in the place where it died, teleporting from the pocket dimension to the material plane.

Because of the nature of this process, the only way for a Pact lich to be truly killed is for their fetish to be destroyed before they are, as being killed transports both the lich and the fetish to an inaccessible dimension until they are restored.

Energy Aquisition via Sacrifice

In order to aquire more energy with which to survive, a Pact lich must make sacrifices to their Patron. In most cases this means following through with a complex ritual in which captures not only the victim's soul, but their body into the lich's fetish.

This ritual is a means of showing the lich's devotion and takes at least 12 hours to perform. This ritual must be completed at least once every 6 months. After the ritual is complete the Patron will bestow upon their servant enough energy with which to survive another half year.

Spellcasting

As a Pact lich you can channel the power from your Patron in order to produce magical effects.

Spell Slots

As a Pact lich, you use the multiclass spellcaster description on page 164 of the Player's Handbook under the Pact Magic section. Every lich level you learn a number of spells designated by the Total Spells Learned section on the class table.

You may learn a spell of any level for which you have spell slots and that are from either the lich spell list or the spell list of your other class(es) and use the spell slots from your Pact Magic feature to cast spells you know of have prepared from other classes and vice versa.

Levels in Pact lich effect the levels of spells you are able to cast as seen on the Multiclass Spellcaster table on page 165 of the PHB and count as a class in the same category as wizard, bard, etc.

For instance, a level 17 character who is warlock 10/ sorcerer 5/ Pact lich 2 would have access to any spell from the warlock, sorcerer, and lich tables and have access to spells up to the 5th level, and have 2 spell slots from their warlock class.

In addition their 5 levels in sorcerer and 2 in Pact lich would make them a 7th level multiclass spellcaster on the respective table, giving them the amount of slots normally allocated to someone of that level.

If you take this class as a level 8 warlock (the minimum amount required of the class), your slot level becomes 5th level upon taking your first level in this class.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your lich spells.

Ritual Casting

You may cast a spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You may continue using the same spellcasting focus as you have in the past. The focus may be used to cast spells from your previous levels as well as your lich levels.

Mystic Arcanium

Upon reaching your 2nd level in Pact lich, you a magical secret known as an arcanium. If you have not previously gained an arcanium, you gain the 6th-level spell version of the arcanium as described in the Player's Handbook. If you already have an arcanium, you gain the next stage in the arcanium.

For example, if you have already been bestowed up to the 7th-level spell arcanium, the arcanium you gain from this feature will be of 8th-level. If you have gained the 8th-level arcanium, you gain the 9th-level spell arcanium and so on.

Pins and Needles

Upon reaching your 3rd lich level, you gain the ability to use your fetish offensively in a variety of ways. By focusing on a creature for three rounds, you may attune their body to your fetish, and harm them.

By poking the fetish with a needle, you can inflict 3d6 piercing damage. By placing the fetish in fire, you can light the target on fire, inflicting 3d6 fire damage. Freezing the fetish induces 3d6 cold damage and so on.

Horrors of Undeath

Upon reaching your 4th level, you may envoke a terrifying illusion which may affect any senses you wish. Any creature within 150 feet of you which perceives this illusion must pass a Charisma saving throw against your Pact lich spell save DC or be stricken by an otherworldly terror for 5 minutes.

Pact of Death

At your 5th Pact lich level, you have reached a level of power which allows you to make pacts with mortals, becoming a Patron yourself. As you make pacts with young warlocks, you may use them as you please, even summoning them to your side in times of need.

Vision of the Ancients

Also at 5th level, your eyes have gained the ability to see through time in a variety of ways. Upon observing a creature for 10 uninterrupted minutes, you may discern their entire heritage, their family tree, and vague details of any people of interest represented in their blood. You may also see in darkness, magical or otherwise, as though you were in broad daylight.

New Eldrich Invocations

If an eldrich invocation has prerequisites, you must meet them to learn it. You can learn the invocation at the same time you meet these prerequisites. All of the following Invocations require at least one level in Pact lich to be used.

Clone of Shadows

You may split your essence in half, channeling your being into a duplicate of yourself. For every time you split your being, the amount of spell slots, ability uses and both maximum hit points and current hit points is distributed evenly among them.

Your clones are still connected and cannot travel more than 500 feet from you without dissapating and returning their power into the original. When one uses a class ability which has only one use per long rest or a simlar ability, that use is used up and no other clone can use it until the clones are dispersed and the original rests the necessary amount.

Dark Flock

As an action, you may transform in to a flock of crows once per long rest.

Deception Barrier

After preparing for one full minute, you gain truesight up to 20 feet and can discern all lies you hear. The effects last for 10 minutes, and a long rest is needed before this invocation can be used again.

Eyes of the Oracle

You gain blindsight up to 60 feet and can cast Scrying once without using a spell slot. You can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Forceful Polymorph

Prerequisite: Polymorph or True Polymorph spell

When you cast Polymorph or True Polymorph on an unwilling victim, you may choose to augment the effect.

When the victim makes a Wisdom saving throw against the polymorph, and fails by 8 or more, the polymorph automatically becomes permanent, and can only be fixed by the target being polymorphed again, or by a Wish. Shapechangers are still immune to the permanence.

Ghost Step

As a bonus action, you may become incorporeal as described in the Etherealness spell for 3 rounds once per long rest.

Psionic Mind

Prerequisite: 15th level

You may cast Telekinesis once per long rest without expending a spell slot.

Notes on Pact Liches

The following section contains general information on "living" as a lich in a pact with a Patron. My main source was in a Pact with Dendar, the Night Serpant.

Methodology

Because your fetish is such a vulnerability, it is often the wisest course of action to do your best to disguise the fact that you have one at all. If an enemy out for your life already knows of your undead nature, but not of too many specifics, pretend you are an arcane lich and that your phylactery is elsewhere.

If they already know that you are a Pact lich and of the mechanics of fetishes, play it off as if you have it safely stored somewhere miles away where they'll never find it. Actually letting your fetish out of your sight is, of course, a terrible idea, but if you are a convincing enough liar this trick should work.

If your opponent does know that you have your fetish with you, whether it is because you were forced to use it or they called your bluff, always keep in mind that if you are destroyed before they destroy the fetish, you can come back. In the worst case scenario, where they have the fetish in their palm and the knowledge of how to destroy it, simply kill yourself and flee into your Patron's pocket dimension to reform.

Gathering your own Warlocks

Once you become a powerful enough lich, you will be able to assemble your own servants to which you bestow power. In order for you to gather power to give to these warlocks, you will need to constantly perform twice as many sacrifices for your Patron until you find a way to make their power your own.

This, of course, is extremely risky, as Patrons often have a seemingly supernatural ability to guess at your true intentions, and at any sign of betrayal they can strip all of your aquired power from you. In cases like these you must be extraordinarily cautious. Be sure to grow some reserve of backup magical power to fall back on if you are caught.

In order to become a true Patron you must find a way to either kill your Patron, or persuade them to pass on all of their power to you. How one chooses to go about such a monumental task is up to them.

The Sorcerous Lich

The sorcerous lich, at first glance, has no phylactery. This is only partially true. They do indeed have something which serves the basic function of a phylactery (that is, to contain their soul) but this object is their heart. Almost through sheer force of their innate magical power alone, Sorcerous liches are those who have forced their souls into their hearts, transforming the organ and allowing the rest of their body to die.

Prerequisites

• 15th Level Spellcaster. Pulling off the magical display necessary to become a lich requires an incredible degree of skill in spell casting. The majority of these levels (min 8) must be in Sorcerer with a total of 15 spellcasting levels.
• 16 Charisma. The level of power you must be capable of displaying to convert yourself into a lich requires a high level of Charisma.
• 14 Intelligence. A high level of intelligence is required to complete the research and testing needed to become a lich.
• 12 Consitution. Because the sorcerer will need to put themselves through countless experiments in order to become a lich, they will need to be strong enough to survive failures.
• Arcana Proficiency. In order to become a lich you must have a high degree of understanding of the arcane mechanics of life and death.
• The Method. In order for a sorcerer to become a lich, they must first do extensive research to discover how to do so. Often times this means they will need to try to channel their soul into their heart several times and under several different circumstances before the process finally works.

Lichdom

As a lich you are no longer a mortal creature and gain the following traits:

• Undead Nature. You do not age and do not require air, food, drink, or sleep. To gain the effects of a long or short rest you must still rest as normal. You are immune to poison and all non-magical diseases.
• Dead Eye. You have darkvision to a range of 120 ft.
• Necrotic. You are healed by necrotic damage and take damage from healing effects.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per lich level

Hit Points: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per level

The Heart

The heart of the sorcerer, which acts as the lich's phylactery must become immortal through a display of arcane power, the secrets to which is different for each sorcerer and must be independantly discovered.

Because of the nature of their abilities, no sorcerous lich becomes as they are in the exact same way as another. The end product may always be the same for the most part (the heart will etherealize and begin to glow with a unique color, taking on an otherworldly apperance) but the means to reach this are different for every sorcerer.

One sorcerer, for instance, may need to drink a special potion made of ground up dragon horns and the captured souls of several intelligent humanoids before they may attempt to channel their soul into their heart. Another may simply need to attempt the transformation in a specific, magically charged place.

If a method is close to working, but not quite right, the sorcerer will feel their soul condense farther into their heart before the transformation fails. Often times a sorcerer simply needs to go through enough instances of trial and error to discover how to become a lich.

Reformation

After a Sorcerous lich is killed, their heart remains floating where they once stood. After a split second, the heart will shoot into the air at a tremendous speed, breaking through any ceilings, walls, or other barriers which would be in its way.

It appears as a shooting star in the sky, flying around the material plane as the lich regenerates around it over the course of one to ten days as described in the section on arcane lich reformation. Once the lich has regenerated, they land in a random location on the material plane fully rejuvenated, but drained. For the next month the lich has their Strength reduced to 3 and hit point maximum halved. If they are defeated once more in this state, their heart will be too weak to escape and fly them to safety.

Aquisition of Energy via Soul Consumption

In this respect, sorcerous liches work identically to arcane liches. In order to maintain the proper amount of energy needed for daily function, a sorcerous lich must sacrifice at least one soul to their heart every two months. Faliure to do so will result in degredation into a demilich. This, however, has much more dire consequences for a sorcerous lich. After all, where is your phylactery located?

If a sorcerous lich degrades into a demilich, they are no longer able to cast spells and must consume a soul in order to regain their body. This is extremely difficult for sorcerous liches because their heart is their phylactery. If a sorcerous lich degrades, their heart stays in place, floating below their skull, completely exposed.

Because of this, sorcerous liches must never falter in their aquisition of souls, lest they be left in such a vulnerable state.

Spellcasting

As a sorcerous lich you have delved deep into your well of arcane power and are a powerful spellcaster.

Spell Slots

As a sorcerous lich, you use the multiclass spellcaster table on page 165 of the Player's Handbook. Every lich level you learn a number of spells designated by the Total Spells Learned section on the class table.

You may learn a spell of any level for which you have spell slots and that are from either the lich spell list or the spell list of your other class(es).

For instance, a level 17 character who is sorcerer 10/ bard 5/ sorcerous lich 2 would have access to any spell from the sorcerer, bard, and lich tables and have access to spells up to the 9th level, where if they only had 1 level in sorcerous lich, they would have access to spells up to the 8th level.

Spellcasting Ability

Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your lich spells.

Ritual Casting

You may cast a spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared.

Spellcasting Focus

You may continue using the same spellcasting focus as you have in the past. The focus may be used to cast spells from your previous levels as well as your lich levels.

Necromantic Affinity

At 2nd level your spells all become imbued with necromantic energy. Any spell you cast which does damage can have their damage type changed to necrotic damage. If a spell already does necrotic damage, it now does an additional 2d6 damage.

Enhanced Necromancy

Once you reach 3rd level, at the cost of 2 sorcery points, you may empower your spells further.

If you were a draconic sorcerer, any spell which deals necrotic damage can have an additional 2d8 elemental damage applied corresponding to your draconic type (red sorcerers can imbue a spell with fire damage, etc.). If you were a wild sorcerer, you may instead add 3d6 force damage to the spell.

Bone Armor

At your 4th level, you may spend 8 sorcery points in order to cause your body to grow a thick exoskeleton of bony armor, adding an additional +6 to your Armor Class for 10 minutes.

The exoskeleton of a draconic sorcerer will mimic the aesthetic of the dragon they share blood with. The exoskeleton of a wild sorcerer will appear to be covered in glowing, swirling runes.

Vampiric Casting

At 5th level you may channel the souls of the deceased into your reserve of magical power, rather than absorbing the power into your heart.

As an action you may activate your vampiric ability. For the next 10 rounds, every intelligent humanoid you kill restores 1 of your sorcery points.

Arcane Vision

Also at 5th level, you gain an attunement to magic so strong that it is as if you are under the effects of both the detect magic spell and the identify spell.

In addition, you can sense the presence and direction of any other sorcerers within a half-mile of you.

Notes on Sorcerous Liches

The following section contains a selection of observations of the habits of sorcerous liches based on the few I have met.

Methodology

At first glance, the sorcerous lich seems to be the hardest to destroy. They have their phylactery inside them which escapes at an impossible speed and flies to a random place at the moment of their death. Sure they're weak for a month after regenerating as their heart recovers, but what's a month to a being that lives forever?

The sorcerous lich, in actuallity, is rather easy to eliminate once you know how to. Something as simple as a Forcecage is enough to keep a heart from flying away. If enough magical barriers are used preventing the heart from escaping, it will simply reform its host where it is, effectively making the lich completely helpless as it is killed a second time and its heart is extinguished.

To stay alive, take advantage of the mystery around sorcerous liches. Sorcerers are alien to the common person in their own right, liches doubly so. It is highly unlikely that whoever is fighting you knows of your true nature. Do your best to hide the fact that you have any weaknesses at all. In addition, take every measure you can to eliminate casters you fight as soon as possible, in the rare case that whoever is fighting you does know of the simple trick to destroy you.

Mental Health

Due to the reclusive nature that sorcerous liches can so often fall into, they frequently fall into the same trap that arcane liches do and grow mad from lonliness.

Because this is such a simple pitfall, it is as recommended for sorcerous liches to make a point of having a healthy amount of social interaction as it is for arcane and druidic liches. Living forever can take an emotional and mental toll on those who were once mortal.

This is a weakness which you cannot erase without in turn erasing who you are at the most basic level. You didn't become immortal to live forever as someone else. You became immortal to live forever. And that, on the most basic level, requires you to continue experiencing life if you are to survive as yourself.

Lich Spells

Because of there necromantic nature, there are certain spells that all liches can cast, regardless of type.

Lich Spells

Cantrips (o Level)

Chill Touch

Spare the Dying

1st Level

False Life

Inflict Wounds

Ray of Sickness

2nd Level

Blindness/Deafness

Gentle Repose

Ray of Enfeeblement

3rd Level

Animate Dead

Bestow Curse

Feign Death

Speak with Dead

Vampiric Touch

4th Level

Blight

5th Level

Contagion

6th Level

Circle of Death

Create Dead

Eyebite

Harm

Magic Jar

7th Level

Finger of Death

8th Level

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting

Clone

9th Level

Astral Projection

Power Word Kill

Weird

5th Edition Libris Mortis Spells

I have attempted to convert a large number of the spells within the 3e supplement book "The Libris Mortis" into 5th edition. If your DM allows, the spells contained in this spellbook may be used in addition to the list of lich spells in this Compendium.

Additional Notes

The following are some additional rules and tables you may need to use as a lich. Keep in mind that some of what has been mentioned in this book is very flexible and subjective. In the end, the DM has the final say, but always work together!

Disguising Yourself

The longer you have been rotting, the easier it will be for intelligent creatures to identify you as an undead. In the case of liches such as a Siabrae, which is always skeletal, blending in can be especially difficult. The upside is that, chances are, as long as you don't do a particularly poor job disguising yourself, most people won't even think to really observe you the way they should.

The base DC for a creature with an intelligence of 5 or more to recognize you is 12. This check can be a medicine check, perception check, or even some other check depending on circumstances. The following table lists a few modifiers to this check.

Blending in

Circumstance	Check bonus
Days since reforming	+1 per every 3 days passed
Target checks pulse, breath, etc.	+7
Disguise Self	-2
Alter Self	-5
Disguise Kit	-1/4 of the deception check rolled

Source and Inspiration Credits

• Complete Lich. by Maerok

• Pathfinder's Siabrae

• All D&D 5e Sourcebooks

• Homebrew Warlock Invocations. by Deviston

• My wonderful players

• The D&D 3.5e Libris Mortis

• Chinese, Greek, and Finnish mythology

Art

All of the shitty crayon drawings were created by me. All the characters used are actual NPCs in my campaign. Insert shameless Tumblr art blog plug here.