I'm clear on the concept and the rules that surround the dracolich, but what I am not clear on, is who would be able to do this? What kind of mage would have this power? From a DM point of view. Is there powerful magic at work or is it simply a ritual that could be completed by anyone with enough effort (ie dozens of cultists etc...)
I'm pretty new to D&D after a 20 year hiatus, so my lore is a little rusty.
In the monster manual there is a section on the Dracolich (apparently only a link for Adult Blue Dracolich is available) that does talk about how a Dracolich comes to be. It is essentially the dragons decision in doing so but a ritual needs to be performed with a group of mages or cultists in which the dragon consumes a toxic brew that kills it, allowing it's spirit to be transferred to a phylactery, much like a lich.
I don't want to copy/paste the section as I'm unsure of the rules behind that and don't want to copy out proprietary content, but if you have the MM it is in there, and if you have the MM on this site, it is described here.
Mehetmet thanks for the reply. I had also read that portion in the monster manual. I guess I was curious if the mages/cultists were powerful magic users or it wasn't the strength of the mojo at work but just the ritual that was important. Lets say my adventurers interrupt a dragon being turned into a dracolich, would these cultists/mages power a serious problem on their own? Or would they be push-overs compared to the adult/ancient dragon in the room.
While rituals within the D&D vary immensely, they do all require some proficiency in spellcasting. I'm not sure that it's canon regarding the minimum spellcasting level to take part in certain rituals, but we at least do know that mythals required a group of powerful spellcasters to conjure such High Magic that could alter the essence of the Weave around it. With this in mind, I would suggest that the more powerful effect the ritual produces, the more powerful/number of spellcasters needed to fuel it.
I would rank the creation of a dracolich as a powerful ritual and would require a spellcasting level of 14 in order to participate in the ritual. But again, without any official word on the topic, it's purely left to your own devices as the DM!
Also, researching into the Cult of the Dragon might reveal some insights, since they're the ones who possess the knowledge on how to turn dragons into dracoliches. While I have no source to back up this claim, I do recall reading somewhere that only the high-ranking officials in the cult know how to create dracoliches, suggesting that only the high-ranking officials (and most likely most powerful) participate in the ritual.
CWard 83: Although it was written for 3rd Edition, you might want to review The Ecology of the Dracolich from Dragon #344 (available as a PDF from Paizo here), which provides some history and describes a few different ways they might be created. I'll also second Imoxator's suggestion to research the cult of the dragon, specifically the 2nd Edition book titled Cult of the Dragon (available as a PDF from the DM's Guild here), which is basically 128 pages on exactly this topic. Neither book is completely consistent with 5th Edition lore -- most notably the Cult has been now been taken over by Tiamat worshippers -- but there is still plenty of material there to draw on.
Thanks Echohawk! super duper helpful. Also I guess the whole Tiamat worshippers would limit the use of The Cult of the Dragon, since they are now focused on helping LIVING dragons from ruling the world instead of dead ones. But... I could tip toe around that since they must still retain the knowledge of the centuries of undead dragon love.
Thanks Echohawk! super duper helpful. Also I guess the whole Tiamat worshippers would limit the use of The Cult of the Dragon, since they are now focused on helping LIVING dragons from ruling the world instead of dead ones. But... I could tip toe around that since they must still retain the knowledge of the centuries of undead dragon love.
There can also be some dissenting cultists in the ranks, preferring the old ways over the new and secretly scheming
what you can consider is this- maybe the original cultists that were either chased away or left willingly still have the knowledge on making a dracolich. so theres that little plot twist you can use. Second, in my opinion, to make something as powerful as a dragon into a dracolich, you need something on par with it to take part in the ritual. something such as an Elder Lich maybe... but overall, i agree with the level 14 requirement for doing the dracolich ritual. you could change the itual though, to where less powerful people can perform it, by having those people gather powerful reagents, such as the soul fragments of a lich, or the phylactery of a super powerful lich that has been crushed and powdered till its dust, or any other number of things that can be related to either dragons or liches (since those are what the target creature will basically be)
Honestly if you could convince a dragon to want to become a lich for you, if I was a DM, I'm pretty sure I'd let you turn one. Haha.
Well the dragon itself would be the one who wanted to be a lich "Only the most narcissistic dragons choose this path, knowing that by doing so, they sever all ties to their kin and the dragon gods." I'd imagine the dragon is the one in charge (or at least convinced he is more powerful than everyone else and is the one in charge) but can't do it itself though, so would need to seek help which would take you to the OP's original question of "who has the power to complete such a task?"
Thanks Echohawk! super duper helpful. Also I guess the whole Tiamat worshippers would limit the use of The Cult of the Dragon, since they are now focused on helping LIVING dragons from ruling the world instead of dead ones. But... I could tip toe around that since they must still retain the knowledge of the centuries of undead dragon love.
There can also be some dissenting cultists in the ranks, preferring the old ways over the new and secretly scheming
Indeed there are (Rise of Tiamat spoiler below):
There are at least three of them described in Rise of Tiamat (see Dissident in the Ranks p.9) and most certainly many more roaming the Realms.
I'm clear on the concept and the rules that surround the dracolich, but what I am not clear on, is who would be able to do this? What kind of mage would have this power? From a DM point of view. Is there powerful magic at work or is it simply a ritual that could be completed by anyone with enough effort (ie dozens of cultists etc...)
I'm pretty new to D&D after a 20 year hiatus, so my lore is a little rusty.
thanks
In the monster manual there is a section on the Dracolich (apparently only a link for Adult Blue Dracolich is available) that does talk about how a Dracolich comes to be. It is essentially the dragons decision in doing so but a ritual needs to be performed with a group of mages or cultists in which the dragon consumes a toxic brew that kills it, allowing it's spirit to be transferred to a phylactery, much like a lich.
I don't want to copy/paste the section as I'm unsure of the rules behind that and don't want to copy out proprietary content, but if you have the MM it is in there, and if you have the MM on this site, it is described here.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
Mehetmet thanks for the reply. I had also read that portion in the monster manual. I guess I was curious if the mages/cultists were powerful magic users or it wasn't the strength of the mojo at work but just the ritual that was important. Lets say my adventurers interrupt a dragon being turned into a dracolich, would these cultists/mages power a serious problem on their own? Or would they be push-overs compared to the adult/ancient dragon in the room.
While rituals within the D&D vary immensely, they do all require some proficiency in spellcasting. I'm not sure that it's canon regarding the minimum spellcasting level to take part in certain rituals, but we at least do know that mythals required a group of powerful spellcasters to conjure such High Magic that could alter the essence of the Weave around it. With this in mind, I would suggest that the more powerful effect the ritual produces, the more powerful/number of spellcasters needed to fuel it.
I would rank the creation of a dracolich as a powerful ritual and would require a spellcasting level of 14 in order to participate in the ritual. But again, without any official word on the topic, it's purely left to your own devices as the DM!
Also, researching into the Cult of the Dragon might reveal some insights, since they're the ones who possess the knowledge on how to turn dragons into dracoliches. While I have no source to back up this claim, I do recall reading somewhere that only the high-ranking officials in the cult know how to create dracoliches, suggesting that only the high-ranking officials (and most likely most powerful) participate in the ritual.
Thanks for the help. I will look more into the cult of the dragon and see what I can find.
CWard 83: Although it was written for 3rd Edition, you might want to review The Ecology of the Dracolich from Dragon #344 (available as a PDF from Paizo here), which provides some history and describes a few different ways they might be created. I'll also second Imoxator's suggestion to research the cult of the dragon, specifically the 2nd Edition book titled Cult of the Dragon (available as a PDF from the DM's Guild here), which is basically 128 pages on exactly this topic. Neither book is completely consistent with 5th Edition lore -- most notably the Cult has been now been taken over by Tiamat worshippers -- but there is still plenty of material there to draw on.
Thanks Echohawk! super duper helpful. Also I guess the whole Tiamat worshippers would limit the use of The Cult of the Dragon, since they are now focused on helping LIVING dragons from ruling the world instead of dead ones. But... I could tip toe around that since they must still retain the knowledge of the centuries of undead dragon love.
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
what you can consider is this- maybe the original cultists that were either chased away or left willingly still have the knowledge on making a dracolich. so theres that little plot twist you can use. Second, in my opinion, to make something as powerful as a dragon into a dracolich, you need something on par with it to take part in the ritual. something such as an Elder Lich maybe... but overall, i agree with the level 14 requirement for doing the dracolich ritual. you could change the itual though, to where less powerful people can perform it, by having those people gather powerful reagents, such as the soul fragments of a lich, or the phylactery of a super powerful lich that has been crushed and powdered till its dust, or any other number of things that can be related to either dragons or liches (since those are what the target creature will basically be)
Honestly if you could convince a dragon to want to become a lich for you, if I was a DM, I'm pretty sure I'd let you turn one. Haha.
3D Artist - www.charliepharis.com
How do you get a one-armed goblin out of a tree?
Wave!
There are at least three of them described in Rise of Tiamat (see Dissident in the Ranks p.9) and most certainly many more roaming the Realms.
PbP: Curse of Strahd: In the Shadow of Ravenloft - Byllemura Ziasebek, Tiefling Sorceress (4)