Technically a lich does not need a phylactry, but it would be foolish not to, almost to the point of why bother if not. As for chicken_champs notion that there are good liches, any DM that would not immediately alter anyone's alignment to evil after intentionally killing a baby is not a real DM.
One of the ingredients for the Lichnee Potion is a quart of blood from a human infant
At the end of the day the exact morality of lichdom is a DM call for their setting, but in the Forgotten Realms and the general lore Monster Manual entries are based on the destruction of souls is an inherently Evil act and undeath- particularly physical undeath- is a violation of and abomination to the laws of nature, with powerful physical undead almost always desiccating the land around them simply by residing in an area for an extended period (lair effects). Personally I prefer stories that are willing to commit to a position like this over playing the moral relativism card, because the distinctions in the latter have a tendency to be arbitrary with strong tones of “it’s okay when the protagonist does it/the plot demands it”.
What about archliches? Isn’t being good their whole thing?
*sorry for resurrecting this post (pun intended), but one of my players wants to become an archlich*
They haven't really been updated to 5e, but as was mentioned earlier, the Baelnorn Liches (Forgotten Realm) and Aerenal Liches were good aligned liches.
The best advice I can think of would be maybe play as a Reborn or a Dhamphir from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and/or playing a Warlock with an Undying (Sword Coast Adventure's Guide) or Undead (Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft) patron.
What about archliches? Isn’t being good their whole thing?
*sorry for resurrecting this post (pun intended), but one of my players wants to become an archlich*
They haven't really been updated to 5e, but as was mentioned earlier, the Baelnorn Liches (Forgotten Realm) and Aerenal Liches were good aligned liches.
The best advice I can think of would be maybe play as a Reborn or a Dhamphir from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and/or playing a Warlock with an Undying (Sword Coast Adventure's Guide) or Undead (Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft) patron.
Talking about 'baelnorm liches' is like talking about the 'yakuza mafia'. It's a shorthand that can get certain key aspects across, but at the same time it will lead to enormous amounts of confusion with all the differences between the two groups.
Baelnorns and liches are both types of undead, but that is pretty much where the similarities end. Liches get their energy from the Negative Material Plane while baelnorn get their energy from the Positive Material Plane. Liches pursue unlife because they are afraid of death. Baelnorns are sacrificing their eternal rewards for the good of others.
I don't know that much about the undead of Aereni, but as I understand it they are in a somewhat similar boat. Yes, they are undead, but the circumstances surrounding them are radically different. It is like the difference between a vengeful haunting spirit and a protective ancestral spirit.
What about archliches? Isn’t being good their whole thing?
*sorry for resurrecting this post (pun intended), but one of my players wants to become an archlich*
They haven't really been updated to 5e, but as was mentioned earlier, the Baelnorn Liches (Forgotten Realm) and Aerenal Liches were good aligned liches.
The best advice I can think of would be maybe play as a Reborn or a Dhamphir from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and/or playing a Warlock with an Undying (Sword Coast Adventure's Guide) or Undead (Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft) patron.
Talking about 'baelnorm liches' is like talking about the 'yakuza mafia'. It's a shorthand that can get certain key aspects across, but at the same time it will lead to enormous amounts of confusion with all the differences between the two groups.
Baelnorns and liches are both types of undead, but that is pretty much where the similarities end. Liches get their energy from the Negative Material Plane while baelnorn get their energy from the Positive Material Plane. Liches pursue unlife because they are afraid of death. Baelnorns are sacrificing their eternal rewards for the good of others.
I don't know that much about the undead of Aereni, but as I understand it they are in a somewhat similar boat. Yes, they are undead, but the circumstances surrounding them are radically different. It is like the difference between a vengeful haunting spirit and a protective ancestral spirit.
It's been a while since 3.x days. I could have sworn the Baelnorn were explicitly positive energy, good aligned elven liches. They were still Undead though. The Aerenal Elves in 3.5 prompted a new creature type, Deathless, for the Undying Court members. These were positive energy based creatures that would otherwise be Undead. I thought they had liches, but their Councilors are not liches and also more look like mummies.
In both cases, regardless of my memory, they basically fill the role of positive energy fueled spellcaster beyond death.
Like I said, calling them 'liches' is a sort of shorthand that gets some essentials across (powerful undead spellcaster) while unfortunately dragging in a bunch of other incorrect assumptions (baelnorns don't have phylacteries, they don't have a fear aura, etc.) and neglecting other things that they can do (projecting themselves).
It's convenient to call them 'baelnorn liches' or 'positive energy liches', but at the end of the day it is like referring to the Yakuza as the 'Japanese mafia'; convenient, but not very accurate.
(For one thing, becoming a baelnorn typically involves the Seladrine, so unless someone has figured out how to pull a fast one on multiple deities it isn't being done for selfish reasons)
Like I said, calling them 'liches' is a sort of shorthand that gets some essentials across (powerful undead spellcaster) while unfortunately dragging in a bunch of other incorrect assumptions (baelnorns don't have phylacteries, they don't have a fear aura, etc.) and neglecting other things that they can do (projecting themselves).
You say that, but Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerun page 90 lists both Baelnorns and Archliches on page 90 under the heading of "Liches, Good".
"Archliches are transformed human spellcasters ... who have deliberately and carefully accomplished their own transformation into liches.
"Baelnorns are elven liches..."
Common traits of Good Liches (Good Liches may have some of these but not necessarily all) in addition to those of a standard lich
Turn Undead
Animate Dead
Projection
Turning Immunity
Water Walking
Baelnorns are mentioned as not having a phylactery but using the clone spell extensively. Both the Archlich and Baelnorn start with the Lich statistics.
It's not really "shorthand" if it's explicitly stated in an official product.
I'd have to look through several books to see if I am misremembering the Aerenal descriptions.
Back to OP's question, I think one of the Warlock Subclasses would be best suited for it.
Technically a lich does not need a phylactry, but it would be foolish not to, almost to the point of why bother if not. As for chicken_champs notion that there are good liches, any DM that would not immediately alter anyone's alignment to evil after intentionally killing a baby is not a real DM.
One of the ingredients for the Lichnee Potion is a quart of blood from a human infant
At the end of the day the exact morality of lichdom is a DM call for their setting, but in the Forgotten Realms and the general lore Monster Manual entries are based on the destruction of souls is an inherently Evil act and undeath- particularly physical undeath- is a violation of and abomination to the laws of nature, with powerful physical undead almost always desiccating the land around them simply by residing in an area for an extended period (lair effects). Personally I prefer stories that are willing to commit to a position like this over playing the moral relativism card, because the distinctions in the latter have a tendency to be arbitrary with strong tones of “it’s okay when the protagonist does it/the plot demands it”.
What about archliches? Isn’t being good their whole thing?
*sorry for resurrecting this post (pun intended), but one of my players wants to become an archlich*
They haven’t really been a thing in 5e.
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Archlich
They haven't really been updated to 5e, but as was mentioned earlier, the Baelnorn Liches (Forgotten Realm) and Aerenal Liches were good aligned liches.
The best advice I can think of would be maybe play as a Reborn or a Dhamphir from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft and/or playing a Warlock with an Undying (Sword Coast Adventure's Guide) or Undead (Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft) patron.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
Talking about 'baelnorm liches' is like talking about the 'yakuza mafia'. It's a shorthand that can get certain key aspects across, but at the same time it will lead to enormous amounts of confusion with all the differences between the two groups.
Baelnorns and liches are both types of undead, but that is pretty much where the similarities end. Liches get their energy from the Negative Material Plane while baelnorn get their energy from the Positive Material Plane. Liches pursue unlife because they are afraid of death. Baelnorns are sacrificing their eternal rewards for the good of others.
I don't know that much about the undead of Aereni, but as I understand it they are in a somewhat similar boat. Yes, they are undead, but the circumstances surrounding them are radically different. It is like the difference between a vengeful haunting spirit and a protective ancestral spirit.
It's been a while since 3.x days. I could have sworn the Baelnorn were explicitly positive energy, good aligned elven liches. They were still Undead though. The Aerenal Elves in 3.5 prompted a new creature type, Deathless, for the Undying Court members. These were positive energy based creatures that would otherwise be Undead. I thought they had liches, but their Councilors are not liches and also more look like mummies.
In both cases, regardless of my memory, they basically fill the role of positive energy fueled spellcaster beyond death.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.
Like I said, calling them 'liches' is a sort of shorthand that gets some essentials across (powerful undead spellcaster) while unfortunately dragging in a bunch of other incorrect assumptions (baelnorns don't have phylacteries, they don't have a fear aura, etc.) and neglecting other things that they can do (projecting themselves).
It's convenient to call them 'baelnorn liches' or 'positive energy liches', but at the end of the day it is like referring to the Yakuza as the 'Japanese mafia'; convenient, but not very accurate.
(For one thing, becoming a baelnorn typically involves the Seladrine, so unless someone has figured out how to pull a fast one on multiple deities it isn't being done for selfish reasons)
You say that, but Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerun page 90 lists both Baelnorns and Archliches on page 90 under the heading of "Liches, Good".
Common traits of Good Liches (Good Liches may have some of these but not necessarily all) in addition to those of a standard lich
Baelnorns are mentioned as not having a phylactery but using the clone spell extensively. Both the Archlich and Baelnorn start with the Lich statistics.
It's not really "shorthand" if it's explicitly stated in an official product.
I'd have to look through several books to see if I am misremembering the Aerenal descriptions.
Back to OP's question, I think one of the Warlock Subclasses would be best suited for it.
How to add Tooltips.
My houserulings.