Lych (Half-Lich)

Prerequisites

In order to be a lich, you cannot be a race that is a construct or undead by default.

Lich Introduction

It truly doesn't matter how you became a lich, what matters is what you choose to do now. A properly created Lich will always have a powered phylactery that sustains the Lich and reconstructs their body when they die, and the proper method for creating a lich is a closely guarded secret. However, there are many ways a "lesser lich" can be created. These liches have phylacteries that are simply random objects that were near their bodies when they died, and they can be created in a wide variety of ways.

Ways a person could become a lich, or a lesser lich, which don't necessitate being evil:

• Turned into a lich to serve a greater purpose, willingly or unwillingly
• Succumbing to your fear of death and seeking immortality at any cost
• Dying in a haunted land where most are brought back as zombies and skeletons
• Created as a byproduct of a flawed human sacrifice, or a backlash from wild necromantic magic
• Transformed into a lich by a cursed artifact
• An ancient and once great evil lich, brought back after being sealed away from a long time and willing to turn over a new leaf

A New Lease on Life Those who become a lich unwittingly may find themselves missing their humanity, but now they have new tools at their disposal to make the most of their situation. A lich can choose to branch out, focusing on spellcasting, fighting, or simply being an artist. Either way, they take advantage of their resilience as they do not have to fear the consequences of hitting 0 HP, as well as their ability to drain life from the living. Even as a dedicated spellcaster, a lich can be surprisingly hard to kill!

Social Pariah That said, being a lich is not all fun and games. It takes a good number of great deeds to be able to walk around a town without inducing fear and suspicion amongst those who once considered them kin. Add on to the fact that they can only easily sustain themselves through grisly means and it becomes quite hard for them to earn trust.

Creating a Lich

Why play a lich?

• You want to be a nightmare on the battlefield that feels supernatural in a way a warrior does not
• You want to be a morally ambiguous trickster and deciever
• You want to explore morality and make a character who might be good but selfish, or a character who suffers from a tramautic experience and still holds fresh scars
• You want to die and be brought back to life enough times it becomes a running joke
• You're kind of edgy

Grim Harvest

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to reap life energy from creatures you kill with your spells. Once per turn when you kill one or more creatures with a spell of 1st level or higher, you regain hit points equal to twice the spell’s level, or three times its level if the spell belongs to the School of Necromancy. You don’t gain this benefit for killing constructs, undead, or celestials, but you gain double the hitpoints if it slays a demon or devil.

Undead Mark

Once per short rest you gain the ability to mark on creature using a bonus action. The marked creature has disadvantage on all wisdom and constitution saving throws for spells you cast on it. If the creature falls in battle while you have it marked, it rolls a charisma saving throw against your spell casting DC. On a fail it immediately rises with half it's full HP as your undead thrall.

Inured to Undeath

Beginning at 10th level, you have resistance to necrotic damage, and your hit point maximum can't be reduced. You have spent so much time dealing with undead and the forces that animate them that you have become inured to some of their worst effects.

Undead Pariah

 Any living creature that is not celestial, construct, elemental, fiend, or undead has disadvantage on all saving throws from spells you cast and you have advantage on all attack rolls. In concurrence with this all celestials will now impose the same effect upon you.