Call on the Power of the Ascended

Your pact binds you to the depths of forbidden knowledge and the whispers of the long-forgotten. You have entered into an agreement with an Archlich, a once-mortal being who achieved undeath through arcane mastery and sheer will. This patron, though steeped in the arcane arts and necromantic prowess, harbors noble aims that transcend mere existence. Their pursuit of immortality is not born out of fear of death but a relentless quest for ultimate understanding and mastery over the very fabric of life and death.

Your connection with the Archlich allows you to tap into a reservoir of ancient and dark arcana. Through this bond, you access spells and abilities that manipulate the energies of life and death, pierce the veils between realms, and command the shadows that dwell in the corners of existence. As you pursue goals that align with the Archlich's inscrutable designs, you become an instrument of its timeless will, advancing a grand vision that few mortals can fathom.

The Archlich's quest for knowledge and power is driven by a desire to unlock the secrets of the universe and to ensure that such knowledge is preserved and utilized for the betterment of those who follow. Their wisdom, accumulated over eons, is a guiding light that illuminates your path as a warlock. Through their teachings, you learn that true power lies not in domination, but in the ability to shape and understand the intricate dance of life and death.

As you walk this path, you are imbued with the strength and cunning of one who has seen beyond the mortal coil. You gain the ability to weave life and death into a tapestry of your own design, granting you unparalleled control over the forces that govern existence. This dark pact, while steeped in mystery and shadow, bestows upon you the noble pursuit of ultimate understanding and mastery.

Embrace this pact, and wield the secrets of the dead as your own. Through your bond with the Archlich, you become not just a warlock, but a seeker of truth, a guardian of ancient wisdom, and a master of the delicate balance between life and death.

Any spellcaster of great power can eventually become a lich. You choose your patron’s type or determine it randomly, using the Archlich type table:

d6	Archlich Type
1-2	Arcane
3-4	Divine
5-6	Primal

 

Archlich Type

You choose your patron’s type or determine it randomly, using the following Archlich Type table:

d6	Archlich Type
1-2	Arcane
3-4	Divine
5-6	Primal

Arcane

Your patron is an Arcane Archlich.

Divine

Your patron is a Divine Archlich.

Primal

Your patron is a Primal Archlich.

Archlich Spells

3rd-level Archlich feature

Level 3: Archlich Spells

The magic of your patron ensures you always have certain spells ready; when you reach a Warlock level specified in the Archlich Spells table, you thereafter always have the listed spells prepared among those associated in the table below with your patron's type: arcane, divine, or primal.

Level	Arcane Spells	Divine Spells	Primal Spells
3	Tasha's hideous laughter, magic missile, suggestion, mirror image	healing word, bless, lesser restoration, find steed	cure wounds, entangle, spike growth, augury
5	fireball, slow	spirit guardians, haste	animate dead, call lightning
7	dimension door, greater invisibility	banishment, death ward	polymorph, blight
9	telekinesis, scrying	raise dead, greater restoration	antilife shell, cone of cold

Lich's Artifact

3rd-level Archlich feature

Your patron gifts you a magical artifact that imbues you with some of their power. This Lich’s artifact is a Tiny object, and you can use it as a spellcasting focus for your warlock spells. You decide what the object is, or you can determine what it is randomly by rolling on the Lich’s artifact table.

Lich’s Artifact

Your Lich’s artifact can only be destroyed by use of a disintegrate or wish spell. If you lose your artifact or it becomes destroyed, you can perform a 1-hour ritual during a Short Rest or Long Rest to receive a replacement from your Patron.

While you are touching the artifact, you gain the following abilities associated with you patron's type: arcane, divine, or primal: 

Siphon Life (Arcane): You gain the ability to lash out with a spectral whip and drain the vitality from your enemies. You learn an enhanced version of chill touch that has an extended range of 60 ft. When you deal damage using this version of chill touch, you deal extra necrotic damage to the target and regain Hit Points equal to your proficiency bonus. On a critical hit, the target must also succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the start of your next turn.

Death Knight (Divine): You gain proficiency with heavy armor and shields. When you deal necrotic damage to a creature, it can’t regain Hit Points until the end of your next turn.

Necromancy Adept (Primal): As an action, you may target a humanoid within 10 feet of you that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target becomes reanimated as a skeleton, zombie, shadow, ghoul, or specter (choose one) in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The reanimated target is an undead creature under your control until it is destroyed or you use this feature again. You can have no more than one such reanimated creature under your control at one time. On each of your turns, you can take a Bonus Action to mentally command a creature you made with this feature if the creature is within 60 feet of you. You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move on its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature takes the Dodge action and moves only to avoid harm. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete. Undead creatures under your control have base armor class equal to 10 + your spellcasting modifier and dexterity modifier. Attacks by undead creatures under your control also deal additional necrotic damage equal to your spellcasting modifier. 

Death Knight (Divine)

You gain proficiency with heavy armor and shields. When you deal necrotic damage to a creature, it can’t regain Hit Points until the end of your next turn.

Necromancy Adept (Primal)

As an action, you may target a humanoid within 10 feet of you that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target becomes reanimated as a skeleton, zombie, shadow, ghoul, or specter  (choose one) in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The reanimated target is an undead creature under your control until it is destroyed or you use this feature again. You can have no more than one such reanimated creature under your control at one time. On each of your turns, you can take a Bonus Action to mentally command a creature you made with this feature if the creature is within 60 feet of you. You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move on its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature takes the Dodge action and moves only to avoid harm. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete. Undead creatures under your control have base armor class equal to 10 + your spellcasting modifier and dexterity modifier. Attacks by undead creatures under your control also deal additional necrotic damage equal to your spellcasting modifier.

Siphon Life (Arcane)

You gain the ability to lash out with a spectral whip and drain the vitality from your enemies. You learn an enhanced version of chill touch that has an extended range of 60 ft. When you deal damage using this version of chill touch, you deal extra necrotic damage to the target and regain Hit Points equal to your proficiency bonus. On a critical hit, the target must also succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be frightened of you until the start of your next turn.

Lich's Curse

6th-level Archlich feature

As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you. The target is cursed for 1 minute. The curse ends early if the target dies, you die, or you are incapacitated. A remove curse or greater restoration spell also ends this effect. Until the curse ends, the target has disadvantage on Constitution saving throws and its Speed is reduced by 10 ft when you deal either necrotic or radiant damage to it for the first time in a turn. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a Long Rest unless you expend a soul charge (no action required).

Wraith Form

10th-level Archlich feature

As a bonus action, you can expend a warlock spell slot to channel negative energy from one of Three Glooms of Hades (according to your patron’s type) and transform yourself into a ghostly form. You can remain in this form for 1 minute. It ends early if you are incapacitated, you die, or you dismiss it as a bonus action. While in this form, you gain resistance to Necrotic, Poison, Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing damage. You can also move through other objects and creatures as if they were difficult terrain. You receive 5 force damage if you end your turn inside another object or creature. While in sunlight, this form has disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

While your wraith form is active, you also gain one of the following abilities according to your patron’s type: arcane, divine, or primal.

Conduit of Pluton (Arcane): You have a Fly Speed equal to your Speed and can hover. As you fly, black vapour trails in your wake.

Fog of Nilfheim (Divine): Once per turn, when you deal necrotic damage to a creature, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Spell Save DC or become blinded until the end of your next turn.

Pestilence of Oinos (Primal): other creatures which receive damage from undead creatures you control must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw against your Spell Save DC or take 2d6 poison damage and become poisoned until the end of your next turn.

Conduit of Pluton (Arcane)

While your Wraith form is active you draw upon energy from the Pluton Layer of Hades. You have a Fly Speed equal to your Speed and can hover. As you fly, black vapour trails in your wake.

Fog of Nilfheim (Divine)

You draw upon the unnatural atmosphere of the Nilfheim Layer of Hades to empower your attacks. Once per turn, when you deal necrotic damage to a creature, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your Spell Save DC or become blinded until the end of your next turn.

Pesilence of Oinos (Primal)

You draw upon the toxic atmosphere of the Oinos Layer of Hades to empower your undead minions. Other creatures which receive damage from undead creatures you control must succeed on a Constitution Saving Throw against your Spell Save DC or take 2d6 poison damage and become poisoned until the end of your next turn.

Phylactery

14th-level Archlich feature

Your Patron siphons a fragment of your soul and uses it to imbue your Lich’s artifact with greater power, upgrading it to a phylactery. When an enemy affected by your lich’s curse dies, you may use your reaction to capture its soul as it attempts to leave the creature’s body and trap it in your phylactery as a soul charge, of which your phylactery can hold a maximum of 9 soul charges. Thereafter, you can consume a soul charge to produce one of the following effects (no action required):

• Use your Lich’s curse feature.
• Activate your Wraith Form feature without using a spell slot.
• Cast one of your Archlich Spells without using a spell slot. If you cast a spell using this feature, it is powered by the consumed soul and does not require material components or concentration.

If you would die or be destroyed while your phylactery is within 500 feet of your body, you may consume all remaining charges to transfer your soul into the vessel. You then gain a new body after 10 days minus one day per soul charge that was consumed. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery and your soul is transferred to the new body.