The Undying (Lich)

Sometimes, a wizard decides one lifetime is not enough to explore the infinite mysteries of the weave.  They seek the eternal existence that can be achieved through Lichdom.  To gain this knowledge, the must make deals with powerful and evil extraplanar beings, such as Gods of death, eldritch entities that exist outside of reality, or Orcus, the Demonic prince of undeath.  These evil beings grant the lich the knowledge to create a phylactery, an arcane device that allows the Lich to exist beyond death.  Additionally, they must routinely feed souls to their phylactery to maintain the undead body and maintain their consciousness.

A lich spends the majority of its endless existence engaged in magical research, learning the greatest secrets of magic, and becoming increasingly more powerful.  They rarely have the time to leave their lairs, so they will, on occasion, employ the services of Warlocks, grating them a portion of their immense magical power so that they might complete tasks the Lich needs in the larger world.  Whether this involves trapping souls on which their patron can feed upon, finding magical artifacts their patron needs for their research, or eliminating their patron's enemies or rivals, these Warlocks will travel far and wide to gain more power.

The alignment of Warlocks that make a pact with an Undying Lich are almost without exception evil.  Many of them hope to one day seek the path to eternal life themselves.  They will be asked to murder, kidnap, and rob potentially innocent victims to fuel their patron's undeath.  Some might serve the Lich as payment for a service rendered.  Perhaps the Lich used its immense magical abilities to return their murdered spouse to life.  Perhaps it gave a beleaguered ruler the magical assistance he needed to overcome his foes.  Whatever the case, the price a Lich charges for its services make the Lords of Baator envious.

Some who serve the Undying Lich seek to overthrow and perhaps even destroy their masters, but a Warlock that destroys their patron will lose their magical abilities, so they will not dare make a move against their patron until they are sure they have the knowledge necessary to ascend to Lichdom themselves.  They have to be extremely guarded with their thoughts because most Liches possess the magical ability to peer into the minds of others.

 The magic learned from these ever-living spellcasters often focuses on powerful offensive spells, stopping incoming damage, protecting themselves and their treasures from the peering magical sensors of Diviners, and teleporting to known locations, often including their master's lair.

Expanded Spell List

The Lich lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Lich Expanded Spells

Spell Level	Spells
1st	Magic Missile, Shield
2nd	Acid Arrow, Detect Thoughts
3rd	Fireball, Nondetection
4th	Private Sanctum, Vitriolic Sphere
5th	Cloudkill, Teleportation Circle

Undying Resilience

One of the main reasons magic users seek Lichdom is to avoid the ravages of diseases and toxins that can bring life to an early end.

When you enter into this Pact at 1st level, your patron bestows upon you a portion of its undead resilience.  You are now completely immune to all diseases, you gain resistance to poison damage, and you have advantage on saves against the poisoned condition.

Soul Tether

A Lich can punish those who choose to attack it in their lair, reflecting some of the damage they receive back upon their enemies. 

When you enter into this Pact at 1st level, you learn to replicate this effect.  As a bonus action, you can create a Soul Tether to a hostile target within 30 feet.  This target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC, or they will take half of the damage you receive (rounded down) as Necrotic damage.  This effect lasts until the start of your next turn. 

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Paralyzing Touch

One of the most feared abilities of a Lich is its ability to freeze someone in place, causing them to drop like a puppet with their strings cut with a single touch.

Beginning at 6th level, you learn to replicate this effect.  As an action, you can make a melee spell attack against a target in within 5 feet.  This creature must make a Constitution saving throw against your spell save DC or be paralyzed for one minute.  The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of their turns, ending the effect on a success.  

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Improved Pact Boon

Beginning at 10th level, your pact boon is enhanced as your connection to your patron further enhances your abilities.

Pact of the Blade: Drain Life

Liches feed on souls to sustain their undead physiology.

Beginning at 10th level, if you selected the Pact of the Blade at 3rd level, when you reduce a creature to 0 hit points with your pact weapon equipped, you gain temporary hit points equal to its challenge rating or total class levels (minimum of one temporary hit point).  You do not necessarily have to strike the killing blow with your pact weapon; as long as the weapon is in your hand when the creature is reduced to 0 hit points, you gain the temporary hit points.

Pact of the Chain: Undead Familiar

Liches often employ Will-o'-Wisps as guardians in the areas surrounding their lairs.  These malevolent beings feed upon the panic and terror many felt in a Lich's presence. 

Beginning at 10th level, if you selected the Pact of the Chain at level 3, you can now choose to summon a Will-o'-Wisp as your familiar.  

Pact of the Talisman: Imperfect Phylactery

Lich's undead bodies are highly resistant to nonmagical damage.

Beginning at 10th level, if you selected the Pact of the Talisman at 3rd level, you now have advantage on Death Saving Throws and resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks while you are wearing your Talisman.  This effect does not extend to others if you give them your Talisman.

Pact of the Tome: Potent Spellcasting

Liches are masterful spellcasters, manipulating their magics in ways that can cause serious harm to foes even when their targets dodge or try to resist the effects.

Beginning at 10th level, if you selected the Pact of the Tome at 3rd level, you can deal half damage with any cantrip even if you miss or your target succeeds on their saving throw.  In this case, the target suffers no other effects of the spell, including any enhancements to Eldritch Blast through any Eldritch Invocations.  For example, a target struck by a Ray of Frost would take half the damage but would not have its speed reduced by ten feet.

Soul Stealer

Liches feed on souls, which maintain the undead physiology and keep their eternal existence from wavering.  They also on occasion exploit souls for other purposes, using them to gain knowledge, experience, and information.

Beginning at 14th level, you learn the Soul Cage spell.  It does not count against the number of spells you know, and you can cast it without using a spell slot a number of times equal to your charisma modifier (minimum of once), and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.  When you capture a soul, you can only exploit it once before your patron absorbs the soul into their phylactery.

Author's Note

Due to DnD Beyond's rules on using spells from sources other than the Basic Rules or the Elemental Evil Player's Companion, the spell cannot be added directly to the character sheet.