Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the lich fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Rejuvenation. If it has a phylactery, a destroyed lich gains a new body in 1d10 days, regaining all its hit points and becoming active again. The new body appears within 5 feet of the phylactery.
Spellcasting. The lich is an 18th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 20, +12 to hit with spell attacks). The lich has the following wizard spells prepared:
Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
1st level (4 slots): detect magic, magic missile, shield, thunderwave
2nd level (3 slots): acid arrow, detect thoughts, invisibility, mirror image
3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, counterspell, dispel magic, fireball
4th level (3 slots): blight, dimension door
5th level (3 slots): cloudkill, scrying
6th level (1 slot): disintegrate, globe of invulnerability
7th level (1 slot): finger of death, plane shift
8th level (1 slot): dominate monster, power word stun
9th level (1 slot): power word kill
Turn Resistance. The lich has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Paralyzing Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +12 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 10 (3d6) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
The lich can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. The lich regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Cantrip. The lich casts a cantrip.
Paralyzing Touch (Costs 2 Actions). The lich uses its Paralyzing Touch.
Frightening Gaze (Costs 2 Actions). The lich fixes its gaze on one creature it can see within 10 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or become frightened for 1 minute. The frightened target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If a target’s saving throw is successful or the effect ends for it, the target is immune to the lich’s gaze for the next 24 hours.
Disrupt Life (Costs 3 Actions). Each non-undead creature within 20 feet of the lich must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw against this magic, taking 21 (6d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
A Lich’s Lair
A lich often haunts the abode it favored in life, such as a lonely tower, a haunted ruin, or an academy of black magic. Alternatively, some liches construct secret tombs filled with powerful guardians and traps.
Everything about a lich’s lair reflects its keen mind and wicked cunning, including the magic and mundane traps that secure it. Undead, constructs, and bound demons lurk in shadowy recesses, emerging to destroy those who dare to disturb the lich’s work.
A lich encountered in its lair has a challenge rating of 22 (41,000 XP).
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the lich can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects; the lich can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- The lich rolls a d8 and regains a spell slot of that level or lower. If it has no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
- The lich targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers the lich to the target. Whenever the lich takes damage, the target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the lich takes half the damage (rounded down), and the target takes the remaining damage. This tether lasts until initiative count 20 on the next round or until the lich or the target is no longer in the lich’s lair.
- The lich calls forth the spirits of creatures that died in its lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the lich can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 52 (15d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
i will be one one day
Thank you, this was the post I was looking for. A warlock player selected a Elven Lich, and I had no idea of the why that would happen until now. How much would a being whom lived a millennia fear the end when it finally came around...
Badass!!!
"A lich must periodically feed souls to its phylactery to sustain the magic preserving its body and consciousness. It does this using the imprisonment spell."
Odd the spell's not on the statblock; is it a property of the phymactery itself, like how a Wand of Magic Missiles lets one cast Magic Missile?
The stat block simply has general spells it might have prepared regularly. Since it doesn’t always need Imprisonment, it wouldn’t make sense for him to waste a slot for his prepared spells on it.
Impatient probably, Clone is a very high level spell and generally spells of that caliber can't be found at any old scroll shop. Plus, in theory, lichdom would entail a small bit less planning and worrying about their clone being destroyed before they bite the dust. But overall I totally agreed with you and if a Wizard is smart and powerful enough to become a lich they should damn well know how to use the clone spell.
Why does it have only 3 cantrips?
It actually has a CR of 10, unless you are talking about the illithilich (?) which also only has a CR of 22
I have no idea because it says it is an 18th level spell caster and wizards at 18th level get 5 cantrips, but maybe those are the only ones it would use very commonly in a fight. I think that you could modify the crap out of it to make it an actual 18th level wizard who also happens to be a lich, but that also confuses me
Based on my character it takes four years of research downtime and the sacrifice of "many lives" in a very fullmetal alchemist style. I took advantage of a war that was occurring. Then it takes one humanoid soul (trapped with imprisonment) every nine months, with an extra within the month if you cast a 9th level spell.
The big problem is trying to hide the fact that you're a soul-eating undead monster from the rest of the party - your body decomposing is kind of hard to hide unless you're specced for illusion or transmutation to hide your transformation - but at the level at which this becomes plausible, your group probably deals with gods and archfiends, so good luck trying to fool truesight and Divine Awareness.
Then you need to work out what your phylactery is, and where you're hiding it - carrying it around is pretty risky (see above) but if you're an adventurer you probably won't have a "lair" to hide it in.
So basically you need a solid DM who's willing to put the work in, a character who is really ******* devoted to becoming a lich no matter the cost, and probably a way to escape once your party realises you're eating peoples' souls.
If I had to guess, it would be by doing something just really awful.
You know, like eating the heart of a newborn unicorn.
could I become one
I feel like the point of becoming a lich, with D&D's abundance of magical options, is for two reasons:
1, it's a hell of a lot of fun to be evil. If you're good at it, and you have the power to trap souls, getting intoxicated by the power could easily lead an archmage into lichdom, and
2, it's for magically experimentative purposes. Since liches retain all of their ability and are immune to all killing effects as long as their phylactery remains intact, they can conduct magical experiments and interact with beings so ancient, dangerous, and powerful that they would immediately destroy even an archmage of the status of Iggwilv or Mordenkainen, and a lich would be immune to these effects or, at worst, reform in a week to return to their studies. Due to their reputation, they also will have a steady flow of brave souls hunting them, which gives them a steady and easy source of soul-food, which prevents their having to expend the materials or magical energy necessary for the weaker forms of immortality.
For flavour, of course!
TBH, it would have been better to become a druid for their ageless feature. It never made sense to me to study undeath to achieve immortal life. Be (or become) an Elf. Become a lv 18 druid for timeless body. Get someone to clone you. Or obtain a Ring of Three Wishes or Luck Blade. Wash, rinse, repeat every 8000 years or so.
Or get that ring of wishes and wish for not aging at all anymore. Or any number of other methods to achieve immortality that does not require being an evil undead monster or being a puppet of Orcus or something. These guys were supposed to be smart.
End up like Manshoon... :D Still better than lichdom
Except, no, they're not all 'weaker'
Is it just me or unless what is needed to become a lich is so bad you could never do it
keeping a lich going could be done legally as the city Executioner and from the lich’s point of view of you become a king of some sort you have power and if most people like you you will have an entire city that will protect you
I see no down side to being a good lich
I think they need to take something similar to a long rest as it dose have a number
Witches before Liches