School of Lichdom

The School of Lichdom represents the ultimate pursuit of immortality through necromancy. Wizards who follow this path seek to transcend death itself by binding their souls to a phylactery and eventually undergoing the horrific transformation into a lich.

Necromantic Foundations

Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you gain the following benefits:

Bonus Proficiencies You gain proficiency with Constitution saving throws. You also gain expertise in Arcana and History. Additionally, you have advantage on Arcana and History  checks related to undead or necromancy. You gain expertise with alchemist’s supplies, jeweler’s tools, and the poisoner’s kit.

Languages You learn Abyssal and Infernal.

Undead Affinity Undead creatures of CR 2 or lower will not willingly attack you unless you attack them first or target them with a harmful effect or spell.

Necromantic Cantrip You learn the chill touch cantrip. It counts as a wizard cantrip for you and does not count against your number of cantrips known.

At-Will Spells You can cast detect magic, disguise self, and shield at will without expending a spell slot.

Necromantic Presence You have advantage on Charisma checks made to interact with undead creatures. You also have advantage on spell attack rolls against undead.

Phylactery You learn the secret formulae and rituals required to create a phylactery. You can anchor your soul to a phylactery by spending a long rest in its presence. You can have only one phylactery at a time.

The phylactery has AC equal to your spell save DC and hit points equal to your spellcasting ability modifier + your wizard level. If the phylactery is destroyed, you immediately gain 2 levels of exhaustion, and you cannot use your Soul Siphon feature until you create and attune to a new phylactery.

Soul Siphon When a humanoid within 10 feet of you is reduced to 0 hit points, you can consume its soul as a reaction (no action required on your turn). On your next turn, the first creature you hit with an attack or spell attack takes extra necrotic damage equal to 1d6 + your spellcasting ability modifier. A soul consumed this way can only be restored to life by the wish spell.

Death’s Door You have advantage on death saving throws. If you succeed on three death saving throws while at 0 hit points, you regain consciousness and immediately regain hit points equal to three times your wizard level.

Legendary Resistance You gain one use of Legendary Resistance. When you fail a saving throw, you can choose to succeed instead. You regain all uses after finishing a long rest.

Ability Score Improvement Your Intelligence score increases by 4, and your maximum Intelligence score increases by 2.

Growing Dominion

At 6th level, you gain the following benefits:

Necrotic Resistance You gain resistance to necrotic damage.

Empowered Soul Siphon When you use your Soul Siphon feature, you also regain one expended spell slot of your choice (of a level for which you have spell slots).

At-Will Spells You can cast counterspell, dispel magic, fly, lightning bolt, and animate dead at will without expending a spell slot. You can cast animate dead as an action.

Counterspell Retribution When you successfully use counterspell to cancel a creature’s spell, you can cause that creature to take 3d6 psychic damage.

Necrotic Step As a bonus action, you can teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. When you arrive, you can choose to deal 3d6 psychic damage to any creatures of your choice within 10 feet of your destination. At 10th level the range of the teleport becomes 60 feet.

Improved Death’s Door You now regain consciousness if you succeed on two death saving throws (instead of three).

Legendary Resistance (Improved) You gain a second use of Legendary Resistance (2 total uses per long rest).

Ability Score Improvement Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and your maximum Intelligence score increases by 2.

Undying Will

Beginning at 10th level, you gain the following benefits:

Undying Body You are immune to disease and being poisoned.

Greater Soul Siphon When you use Soul Siphon, you gain temporary hit points equal to the number of hit points the humanoid had remaining before it was reduced to 0.

Necrotic Retaliation When you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to deal 3d6 necrotic damage to the attacker and immediately teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see.

Final Death’s Door You now regain consciousness if you succeed on one death saving throw (instead of two or three).

Legendary Resistance (Greater) You gain a third use of Legendary Resistance (3 total uses per long rest).

Ability Score Improvements Your Intelligence score increases by 4, your maximum Intelligence score increases by 2, your Wisdom score increases by 4, your maximum Wisdom score increases by 2.

The Final Transformation

Starting at 14th level, you gain the following benefits:

The Lichne Potion You learn the complete formulae and ritual for creating the Lichne Potion. The potion requires 30 days of work, a special laboratory, and the following rare ingredients:

• 2 drops of the purest distillate of arsenic
• 1 drop of the purest distillate of belladonna
• 1 quart of blood from a dead unicorn yearling or human infant killed by wyvern poison
• 1 quart of blood from a dead demihuman (or non-human humanoid) slain by a phase spider
• 1 quart of blood from a vampire
• 1 intact heart from a humanoid killed by poisoning with a mixture of arsenic and belladonna
• Reproductive glands from 7 giant moths (killed within the last tenday), ground together
• 1 pint or more of fresh phase spider venom (less than 30 days old)
• 1 pint or more of fresh wyvern poison (less than 60 days old)

Drinking the Potion If your alignment is evil and your phylactery is intact, you immediately die and rise 1 minute later as a lich. Your alignment becomes permanently evil.

If your alignment is not evil, you die and rise 1 minute later as a boneclaw (your statistics are completely replaced by those of a boneclaw ; your alignment becomes permanently chaotic evil) and fall under the control of the nearest evil creature.

If you are a construct, ooze, undead, or plant, the potion has no effect on you.

Lich Transformation Benefits (if you become a lich)

• Creature Type: You become Undead.
• Damage Resistances: Cold and lightning.
• Damage Immunities: Necrotic and poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks.
• Condition Immunities: Blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, and stunned.
• Sustenance: You no longer need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. You only need half the normal time to complete a long rest and can remain awake during it.
• Necrotic Rejuvenation: Whenever you would take necrotic damage, you instead regain hit points equal to the damage you would have taken.
• Truesight: You gain truesight out to 120 feet.
• Turn Resistance: You have advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
• Unarmored Defense: While you are not wearing armor, your AC includes your Intelligence modifier.
• True Immortality: Upon becoming a lich, you no longer age and cannot be aged by any magical or non-magical effect. You cannot die from old age.
• Rejuvenation: When you die, your body turns to dust (leaving all equipment behind). After 1d10 days, you reform with full hit points in an unoccupied space within 5 feet of your phylactery. If your phylactery is destroyed at any point before or during this process, you die permanently and can only be restored by wish.
• Paralyzing Touch: As an action, you can make a melee spell attack against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target takes 3d6 necrotic damage and must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or be paralyzed  for 1 minute. The target repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
• At-Will Spells: You can cast fear and finger of death at will without material components. You can cast magic jar and create undead at will. You can cast create undead as an action.
• Legendary Resistance: You gain two additional uses of Legendary Resistance (5 total uses per long rest).
• Legendary Actions: You gain 3 legendary actions per round. At the end of another creature’s turn, you can expend one legendary action to take one of the following:
  • Cast a Spell: Cast one of your spells or cantrips (using a spell slot if required).
  • Attack: Make one weapon attack or use your Paralyzing Touch.
  • Disrupt Life (Costs 3 Actions): Each living creature of your choice within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC, taking 12d6 necrotic damage on a failure or half as much on a success.
• Additional Spell Slots: If you would gain an 8th-level or 9th-level spell slot through normal wizard progression, you instead gain one additional slot of that level.
• Ability Score Improvements: Your Intelligence score increases by 10, your maximum Intelligence score increases by 10, your Wisdom score increases by 4, your maximum Wisdom score increases by 2.
• Lair Establishment & Size: While you are a lich, you can establish a lair — a region infused with your necromantic power and tied to your phylactery.

  How to Establish a Lair

  1. Your phylactery must be physically present in the desired location.
  2. You must complete a long rest in that location while the phylactery is there.
  3. During the long rest, you perform a 1-hour ritual (this can be done while resting). The ritual involves inscribing glowing necromantic runes on the floor or walls, placing soul-infused markers at key points, and declaring the area as your domain.
  4. Once the ritual is complete, the area becomes your lair.

  The lair remains active indefinitely until one of the following occurs:

  • You perform another long rest and ritual to abandon or relocate the lair.
  • The phylactery is moved more than 1 mile away from the lair’s center for more than 24 hours.
  • The phylactery is destroyed.
  • You are permanently destroyed.

  Lair Size & Range The lair can be any single contiguous area or connected structure you designate during the ritual, up to a maximum radius of 1 mile centered on the phylactery. This is large enough to encompass:

  • An entire dungeon complex or multi-level crypt
  • A ruined castle or tower and its surrounding grounds
  • A small village, ancient temple, or forest grove
  • A network of caves, sewers, or catacombs

  You may choose a smaller area if you wish (e.g., just one floor of a tower or a single large chamber). The lair must be a logically connected space — you cannot claim disconnected areas (such as two separate buildings miles apart) as part of the same lair.

• Lair Actions: If you complete a long rest in an area that contains your phylactery, you can designate that area as your lair. While inside your lair, you gain access to lair actions on initiative count 20 (losing ties). You can use one of the following effects (you cannot use the same effect two rounds in a row):
  • You call forth the spirits of creatures that died in your lair. These apparitions materialize and attack one creature that the you can see within 60 feet of it. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, taking 15d6 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a success. The apparitions then disappear.
  • You roll a d8 and regain a spell slot of that level or lower. If you have no spent spell slots of that level or lower, nothing happens.
  • You target one creature it can see within 30 feet of you. A crackling cord of negative energy tethers you to the target. Whenever you takes damage, the target must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, you take 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 you or the target is no longer in your lair.

Demilich Fate

• Demilich Transformation: While you are a lich, you must periodically feed souls to your phylactery to maintain your power. If you do not feed at least one humanoid soul to your phylactery at least once every 10 days, your form begins to wither and decay.

  After 1 year of continuous neglect (no souls fed to the phylactery), you transform into a demilich. Your statistics are completely replaced by those of a demilich except for your charisma, intelligence and wisdom scores. You lose access to your spellcasting.