So I'm trying to do a story where the BBG is a lich. Long story short, he was a Warlock who made a pact with a fiend. He traded his soul for his abilities and sought a way to escape his bargain. After being foiled several times in different attempts to leverage his patron, he decides to pursue lichdom since if he's immortal, the fiend can never collect.
If I am correct though...a Lich upon dying, their soul is destroyed? No afterlife, and specifically no Avernus, no?
If so, what would be a suitable revenge/punishment if you were the Patron loosing out on said soul. Would trapping the Lich until it turns into a demilich suffice? Would it then be possible for a powerful enough fiend to enslave the demilich? Or considering their lack of independent thought in this form, would it make more sense to place their phylactery in the same place of some other rare artifact that the fiend would want guarded and use them as a minion.
I'd say they would become a Deathlock, to quote form Mordenkainens Tome of Foes: "The forging of a pact between a warlock and a patron is no minor occasion- at least not for the warlock. The consequences of breaking that pact can be dire and, in some cases, lethal. A warlock who fails to live up to a bargain with an evil patron runs the risk of rising from the dead as a deathlock, a foul undead driven to serve its otherworldly patron from beyond the grave."
So if the patron plays the long game then they nab the lich at the point of death and reincarnate it as a deathlock forever under the patrons control.
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I'd say they would become a Deathlock, to quote form Mordenkainens Tome of Foes: "The forging of a pact between a warlock and a patron is no minor occasion- at least not for the warlock. The consequences of breaking that pact can be dire and, in some cases, lethal. A warlock who fails to live up to a bargain with an evil patron runs the risk of rising from the dead as a deathlock, a foul undead driven to serve its otherworldly patron from beyond the grave."
So if the patron plays the long game then they nab the lich at the point of death and reincarnate it as a deathlock forever under the patrons control.
That's an interesting option, would it make sense for the Lich to revert to this state after being destroyed though? I'm thinking I want it to achieve Lich status and then get defeated.
Or would this be if the fiend interferes with the ritual and claims the soul during the ritual? Because if so, at least in my head there will be wards and spells to protect the location of the phylactery so the Fiend cannot directly interfere. They could possibly send agents but then I don't get the climatic end of fighting a Lich
Picture it as the Warlock thinks they have got away with it and achieved Lichdom, maybe centuries or longer have passed and they revel in getting one over on their patron. Unknown to the lich is that the Patron warped their Lich ritual so that any soul given to the phylactary is sent to the Patron, this has two effects, 1) the Patron gets souls which increase its power and 2) the Patron always knows where the Warlock is. The Patron maybe quite amused by this mortal trying to evade its pact and even set the party on their path with the goal to destroy the lIch, if they fail, their souls are likely going to be fed to the Phylactary in which case the Patron gets a little more powerful or the Lich is destroyed in which case the Patron nabs the Lich, takes it to what ever layer of the abyss or nine hells it calls home and reincarnates it into a Deathlock, either way for the Patron its a WIn/Win scenario.
From the Party point of view they have their big battle and the Lich gets destroyed in some great unravelling of magic but they are otherwise unaware of what has actually happened to the lich, and if you need it you can always being the Deathlock back as a recurring villan for this camapign or a future one.
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* Need a character idea? Search for "Rob76's Unused" in the Story and Lore section.
That could setup a cool evil vs evil plot with the characters eventually figuring out that the shadowy group that hired them are agents of the fiend. They would then have both bbegs asking them to help verse the other and no good groups involved. A lich is challenge 21 and a pit fiend 20, so either option is similar in power. Enemy of my enemy is my friend.
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So I'm trying to do a story where the BBG is a lich. Long story short, he was a Warlock who made a pact with a fiend. He traded his soul for his abilities and sought a way to escape his bargain. After being foiled several times in different attempts to leverage his patron, he decides to pursue lichdom since if he's immortal, the fiend can never collect.
If I am correct though...a Lich upon dying, their soul is destroyed? No afterlife, and specifically no Avernus, no?
If so, what would be a suitable revenge/punishment if you were the Patron loosing out on said soul. Would trapping the Lich until it turns into a demilich suffice? Would it then be possible for a powerful enough fiend to enslave the demilich? Or considering their lack of independent thought in this form, would it make more sense to place their phylactery in the same place of some other rare artifact that the fiend would want guarded and use them as a minion.
I'd say they would become a Deathlock, to quote form Mordenkainens Tome of Foes: "The forging of a pact between a warlock and a patron is no minor occasion- at least not for the warlock. The consequences of breaking that pact can be dire and, in some cases, lethal. A warlock who fails to live up to a bargain with an evil patron runs the risk of rising from the dead as a deathlock, a foul undead driven to serve its otherworldly patron from beyond the grave."
So if the patron plays the long game then they nab the lich at the point of death and reincarnate it as a deathlock forever under the patrons control.
That's an interesting option, would it make sense for the Lich to revert to this state after being destroyed though? I'm thinking I want it to achieve Lich status and then get defeated.
Or would this be if the fiend interferes with the ritual and claims the soul during the ritual? Because if so, at least in my head there will be wards and spells to protect the location of the phylactery so the Fiend cannot directly interfere. They could possibly send agents but then I don't get the climatic end of fighting a Lich
Picture it as the Warlock thinks they have got away with it and achieved Lichdom, maybe centuries or longer have passed and they revel in getting one over on their patron. Unknown to the lich is that the Patron warped their Lich ritual so that any soul given to the phylactary is sent to the Patron, this has two effects, 1) the Patron gets souls which increase its power and 2) the Patron always knows where the Warlock is. The Patron maybe quite amused by this mortal trying to evade its pact and even set the party on their path with the goal to destroy the lIch, if they fail, their souls are likely going to be fed to the Phylactary in which case the Patron gets a little more powerful or the Lich is destroyed in which case the Patron nabs the Lich, takes it to what ever layer of the abyss or nine hells it calls home and reincarnates it into a Deathlock, either way for the Patron its a WIn/Win scenario.
From the Party point of view they have their big battle and the Lich gets destroyed in some great unravelling of magic but they are otherwise unaware of what has actually happened to the lich, and if you need it you can always being the Deathlock back as a recurring villan for this camapign or a future one.
Thanks!
That could setup a cool evil vs evil plot with the characters eventually figuring out that the shadowy group that hired them are agents of the fiend. They would then have both bbegs asking them to help verse the other and no good groups involved. A lich is challenge 21 and a pit fiend 20, so either option is similar in power. Enemy of my enemy is my friend.