Monday Monster: Liches in Dragonbane.

They are a force to be reckoned with.

One of the biggest villains in the Misty Vale and beyond is a Lich, sort of. Azrahel Koth in the Dragonbane Adventures from the Core Boxed Set and Dakoth from Path of Glory are close, but not exactly. Yet Liches remain some of the scariest villains in tabletop as well as video game RPGs. So far the only unofficial one I’ve seen for Dragonbane is on the Fria Ligan GMs’ Only Forum by Gimkin. Link here.

Plenty of games include liches in their core rules or monster rulebooks. They are usually portray as the skeletal remnants of a powerful sorcerer or archmage who have stored their immortal soul in some sort of gem, phylactery, or other enchanted item. (Please don’t hate me for using the “P” word.) Basically even if their present body is destroyed, they can reform themselves with magic and be right back to torment the PCs a week later.

What would I do?

Unfortunately I’m not drawing out a whole stat block today, because I think liches are best reserved for use as Big Bad Evil Geniuses. (See what I did there?) That having been said, I think their stat blocks should be custom tailored to whatever campaign you’re running as a Game Master. Maybe in one game they’re known for curses, mental manipulation, and horrible decomposition of their enemies. Maybe a different lich used to be an Elementalist and blasts away at their enemies with Fire Bolts and Hell Balls (*home brew spell.)

The other reason I’m a little hesitant to say a whole lot about liches is because they are formerly archmages as far as we know. This means they are innately spellcasters. Free League Publishing has teased that a Book of Magic is coming for Dragonbane. I have tons of spells, schools of magic, ideas for more spells, magic items and artifacts, but I’m holding off on publishing anything until I see what is done for the official game.

Final thoughts for now.

I think liches would vary greatly by kin and culture. The mere thought of a Mallard lich just makes me cringe. A Dwarven lich might command Earth magic. A human lich might cut a pact with a demon. The way they gain immortality as a lich even changes on a case-by-case basis.

I think we also assume all liches are power hungry and slightly (or totally) maniacal. I don’t think every lich would be the fantasy equivalent of Lex Luthor or the Joker. Some might reach immortality and go do things they find joy in. Some might go the opposite route and discover they find no joy in anything now that they have spent so much time and effort to gain immortality. Some might become more sociable, others might want nothing to do with anyone and go study magic in a tower far away from other beings.

The mentality of a lich is almost beyond our human comprehension. I’ve always had a fascination with undead in general and liches specifically. They make for great villains. On occasion they might also prove beneficial to the group. Not all beings who live for hundreds of years, surviving by arcane magic, wits, and minions, are not going to want to risk their very existence by engaging in battle with some hapless group of adventurers who have wandered into their lair.

I think a lot of liches and vampires would be discouraged from direct confrontations with Player Characters unless they were prepared. If I had a well-constructed evil lair and a group broke in, killed all my guards or minions, and was now approaching my inner sanctum, combat might not be my first thought. PCs have needs and feeling the same way anyone else does. Hundred year old beings would surely recognize this and attempt a parlay. Otherwise there’s always the old supervillain trick of pulling a secret lever that activates whatever escape contingency is built into the lair. Pro tip: Teleportation spells tend to drive the players crazy. Please use them sparingly.

One of the worst TPK moments I ever ran in Dungeons & Dragons happens to be a lich’s lair in which he was prepared for the group. They never even landed a solid hit on the creature. In turn they got slapped around by Reverse Gravity into spikes on the ceiling, Telekinesis, fireball, magic missiles, teleported out of the building into a very long fall, petrified, and one of the group tried to flee before getting cut down by a minion. It did not end well at all. The lesson is: Use your liches sparingly because they can be monstrous.