My PCs are now level 4 and starting to explore each other's background hooks. My wizard PC (first time player) wanted to start as a Lich and, as a new DM, I basically told him that's high level stuff and so that could happen in-game but not at level 1. He chose instead as his backstory that he has no memory of anything prior to 5 years ago when he remembers living in a moderately sized town and trying to remember his previous life. He's a human PC in a medium-magic, realistic, RP heavy, medieval style homebrew world. In talking with all my players I think they are all most intrigued by his back story and want to discover it first. I don't want to disappoint him, as he's said several things about discovering he was a lich in his old life, but I'm not sure how to go about this? Advice is welcome.
My current options for plans are, in no order: You discover you were a lich but still don't have memory of or access to that way of life (let him build back up to it). You discover you tried to become a lich and failed, erasing your memory up to that point. You were beat in a battle that occurred as you tried to discover the dark information needed to become a lich, your memory wiped and you were deposited in a remote town. Your previous adventuring party discovered you in a ritual that seemed dark and tried to break you free of it, the break of magic erased your memory, they have been keeping an eye on you in a town you weren't previously known in.
I will talk to my player before picking one (including asking if he wants to be involved in picking how his backstory goes or surprised), but want to present him with some good and realistic options for his backstory.
Thoughts? Better options to present or on how to handle this?
You discover you tried to become a lich and failed, erasing your memory up to that point. You were beat in a battle that occurred as you tried to discover the dark information needed to become a lich, your memory wiped and you were deposited in a remote town. Your previous adventuring party discovered you in a ritual that seemed dark and tried to break you free of it, the break of magic erased your memory, they have been keeping an eye on you in a town you weren't previously known in.
Those are both great options! They both answer the first major question with this idea, "Ok, why isn't your character undead right now then?" without taking away the idea.
Furthering it you can use the memory loss angle to make a deeper connection to the attempt at lichdom. The character's memory is locked in the phylactery they made for the moment of transformatoion. It got that far and then was interrupted and disturbed, robbing the character of memories.
If the party wants to go down this road you can set it as a long campaign arc, behind the scenes of other events and shorter arcs. Maybe the party starts to find clues of some forgotten wizard's quest to become a lich. Lost notes, journals, lives ruined, lost hideouts, etc. and it all cumulates with the discovery that it was their friend all along. They are then faced with the choice of destroying the phylactery which will destroy all those memories, or preserving it and enabling another attempt at lichdom.
The rough spot in it all is the threat of PVP as the end, when one character betrays the others. So I'd make sure that there's been a table discussion. It could also be a great heroic moment... the character seeing who he was, who he's become, and willfully destorying his former, evil, self and memories. Could be fantastic.
All of this let's your player ramble in character about their desired past, without robbing them of it, or just handing it to them. It makes that decision the unwritten page that they explore.
I suppose there is the possibility of giving the character the undead condition, but not access to any of the abilities of a lich until they are high level. Maybe unlocking some as they level up along the way.
It seems that the player is approaching this from the role playing, this would be an interesting story/character angle rather than this will give me k3wl pow3rz. This I think is a good thing.
A lich is so powerful that I am not sure how best to introduce one as a player character, even in a high level campaign. I like both the idea of a former lich now reincarnated, or a wizard who was attempting to become a lich and something went wrong. They give options to explore the story without the unbalancing over of a lich in the party. the character also won't set off every Detect Evil and other undead detection in the place.
Idea playing off one above: The memories are locked in the phylactery, but that's normal for the ritual he was undergoing. In this world maybe becoming a lich means that you have to live many lifetimes, locking away memories (power) in the phylactery each life until you have enough power locked away to survive the transformation into an undead that powerful.
Character becomes wizard (long ago), gets very powerful, lives a long time through magic, starts to lose humanity and becomes colder, more cruel.
learns more and more magic and realises that they need to become undead/a lich to gain eternal life. After a while they realise that they will be unable to do this alone.
Makes deal with some dark entity (devil/demon/creature from the abyss) trading what's left of their soul and humanity in return for eternal life and lichdom. They are now extremely cruel for cruelty's sake or fun.
They perform the odd 'job' for this entity causing much death, destruction, evil things to happen.
One day they attack a village/town/holy place and a powerful cleric there places a holy curse upon the lich: a full return of all humanity and their soul. (the original character being of a good persuasion).
With the intense guilt of having killed hundreds/thousands of people tries to seek redemption (although to little success). 2nd holy person (cleric?) enters the lair of lich and having found that they other no resistance in any form, casts resurrection on them (in some form), returning them to their human state. However the combined knowledge acquired over the years is too much for a mere human brain, and so all memory is lost. They are placed within a nearby society.
Unknown to all involved, the entity which made the deal is angry at the loss of the soul and has sent it's minions to attempt to retrieve it. And it has finally found them....
Sounds very Knights of the Old Republic with Revan and Malik. There are ways that you could still accomplish the lichdom without having PvP involved. The party could decide that they all want to go dark and have a powerful lich to aid their plans to take over the world (same thing we do every night, Pinky...).
It could also be part of an epic final battle where the big bad is too powerful for the party alone, the PC finishes the transformation while the party holds it off, the newly undead lich subdues the big bad long enough for the rest of the party to destroy the phylactory and the big bad (and the PC) in the process. PC gets to be a hero and a martyr. The other players will need a special moment comparable.
Of course, the lich could also decide to keep the big bad as a puppet, wipe the party, and move to Thay to take over the Red Wizards.
A Level 0 Lich seems to be a reoccuing thing... :) I thought Lich knowledge will kill or drive insane, a low level character.
A Lich King takes on a Level 0-4 living person as thier thrawl. Without realising it, the Pupil is Cloned, the Clone stored in a Jar. Years later the pupil now a Lich, has risen to be a threat, so the Lich King kills the pupil phylactery. *Jar Pops open* a Level 0 living Clone with faint memories of being a Lich is born and kicked out to some random village.
Beholders and such psion creatures are suppose to be able to dream stuff into existance. Maybe a Beholder learns of a famous Lich who died, then dreams him back into existance but as a level 0 mortal character. You then have a Beholder tracking your movements eating popcorn.
If a dopplegander became a lich, shapeshifted to a mortal lvl 0 appearence, then wipes its memory. Tar-dar Level 0 former Lich. (Although you would technically still be undead so clerics would sniff you out.)
This is a terrible idea, it means (1. he can use 9th level spell Imprisonment spell (2. He had his soul in a bx which means he has not been feeding it so he is dead any way. (3. Your soul is pretty much damned once you become a lich so yeah.
I think it's a great idea, if done right. I love the idea of a wizard questing to restore their lost memory, only to discover a terrible secret. Classic.
I say embrace the possibilities.
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My PCs are now level 4 and starting to explore each other's background hooks. My wizard PC (first time player) wanted to start as a Lich and, as a new DM, I basically told him that's high level stuff and so that could happen in-game but not at level 1. He chose instead as his backstory that he has no memory of anything prior to 5 years ago when he remembers living in a moderately sized town and trying to remember his previous life. He's a human PC in a medium-magic, realistic, RP heavy, medieval style homebrew world. In talking with all my players I think they are all most intrigued by his back story and want to discover it first. I don't want to disappoint him, as he's said several things about discovering he was a lich in his old life, but I'm not sure how to go about this? Advice is welcome.
My current options for plans are, in no order: You discover you were a lich but still don't have memory of or access to that way of life (let him build back up to it). You discover you tried to become a lich and failed, erasing your memory up to that point. You were beat in a battle that occurred as you tried to discover the dark information needed to become a lich, your memory wiped and you were deposited in a remote town. Your previous adventuring party discovered you in a ritual that seemed dark and tried to break you free of it, the break of magic erased your memory, they have been keeping an eye on you in a town you weren't previously known in.
I will talk to my player before picking one (including asking if he wants to be involved in picking how his backstory goes or surprised), but want to present him with some good and realistic options for his backstory.
Thoughts? Better options to present or on how to handle this?
Maybe they WERE a lich, but got resurrected/reincarnated somehow.
You could go down a dark road where they discover some of the horrible, evil things they did as a lich.
I'm thinking like the plot of the movie - total recall.
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Those are both great options! They both answer the first major question with this idea, "Ok, why isn't your character undead right now then?" without taking away the idea.
Furthering it you can use the memory loss angle to make a deeper connection to the attempt at lichdom. The character's memory is locked in the phylactery they made for the moment of transformatoion. It got that far and then was interrupted and disturbed, robbing the character of memories.
If the party wants to go down this road you can set it as a long campaign arc, behind the scenes of other events and shorter arcs. Maybe the party starts to find clues of some forgotten wizard's quest to become a lich. Lost notes, journals, lives ruined, lost hideouts, etc. and it all cumulates with the discovery that it was their friend all along. They are then faced with the choice of destroying the phylactery which will destroy all those memories, or preserving it and enabling another attempt at lichdom.
The rough spot in it all is the threat of PVP as the end, when one character betrays the others. So I'd make sure that there's been a table discussion. It could also be a great heroic moment... the character seeing who he was, who he's become, and willfully destorying his former, evil, self and memories. Could be fantastic.
All of this let's your player ramble in character about their desired past, without robbing them of it, or just handing it to them. It makes that decision the unwritten page that they explore.
I suppose there is the possibility of giving the character the undead condition, but not access to any of the abilities of a lich until they are high level. Maybe unlocking some as they level up along the way.
It seems that the player is approaching this from the role playing, this would be an interesting story/character angle rather than this will give me k3wl pow3rz. This I think is a good thing.
A lich is so powerful that I am not sure how best to introduce one as a player character, even in a high level campaign. I like both the idea of a former lich now reincarnated, or a wizard who was attempting to become a lich and something went wrong. They give options to explore the story without the unbalancing over of a lich in the party. the character also won't set off every Detect Evil and other undead detection in the place.
Maybe try a split personality so characters discover one by one, but the main character denies it?
I had a friend do this to me once, it was shocking. The personalities denied each other's existence
Idea playing off one above: The memories are locked in the phylactery, but that's normal for the ritual he was undergoing. In this world maybe becoming a lich means that you have to live many lifetimes, locking away memories (power) in the phylactery each life until you have enough power locked away to survive the transformation into an undead that powerful.
Possible backstory:
Character becomes wizard (long ago), gets very powerful, lives a long time through magic, starts to lose humanity and becomes colder, more cruel.
learns more and more magic and realises that they need to become undead/a lich to gain eternal life. After a while they realise that they will be unable to do this alone.
Makes deal with some dark entity (devil/demon/creature from the abyss) trading what's left of their soul and humanity in return for eternal life and lichdom. They are now extremely cruel for cruelty's sake or fun.
They perform the odd 'job' for this entity causing much death, destruction, evil things to happen.
One day they attack a village/town/holy place and a powerful cleric there places a holy curse upon the lich: a full return of all humanity and their soul. (the original character being of a good persuasion).
With the intense guilt of having killed hundreds/thousands of people tries to seek redemption (although to little success). 2nd holy person (cleric?) enters the lair of lich and having found that they other no resistance in any form, casts resurrection on them (in some form), returning them to their human state. However the combined knowledge acquired over the years is too much for a mere human brain, and so all memory is lost. They are placed within a nearby society.
Unknown to all involved, the entity which made the deal is angry at the loss of the soul and has sent it's minions to attempt to retrieve it. And it has finally found them....
(bulletpointed-ish for sake of brevity)
Sounds very Knights of the Old Republic with Revan and Malik. There are ways that you could still accomplish the lichdom without having PvP involved. The party could decide that they all want to go dark and have a powerful lich to aid their plans to take over the world (same thing we do every night, Pinky...).
It could also be part of an epic final battle where the big bad is too powerful for the party alone, the PC finishes the transformation while the party holds it off, the newly undead lich subdues the big bad long enough for the rest of the party to destroy the phylactory and the big bad (and the PC) in the process. PC gets to be a hero and a martyr. The other players will need a special moment comparable.
Of course, the lich could also decide to keep the big bad as a puppet, wipe the party, and move to Thay to take over the Red Wizards.
A Level 0 Lich seems to be a reoccuing thing... :) I thought Lich knowledge will kill or drive insane, a low level character.
A Lich King takes on a Level 0-4 living person as thier thrawl. Without realising it, the Pupil is Cloned, the Clone stored in a Jar. Years later the pupil now a Lich, has risen to be a threat, so the Lich King kills the pupil phylactery. *Jar Pops open* a Level 0 living Clone with faint memories of being a Lich is born and kicked out to some random village.
Beholders and such psion creatures are suppose to be able to dream stuff into existance. Maybe a Beholder learns of a famous Lich who died, then dreams him back into existance but as a level 0 mortal character. You then have a Beholder tracking your movements eating popcorn.
If a dopplegander became a lich, shapeshifted to a mortal lvl 0 appearence, then wipes its memory. Tar-dar Level 0 former Lich. (Although you would technically still be undead so clerics would sniff you out.)
This is a terrible idea, it means (1. he can use 9th level spell Imprisonment spell (2. He had his soul in a bx which means he has not been feeding it so he is dead any way. (3. Your soul is pretty much damned once you become a lich so yeah.
I think it's a great idea, if done right. I love the idea of a wizard questing to restore their lost memory, only to discover a terrible secret. Classic.
I say embrace the possibilities.