Lich (Dungeons & Dragons)

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In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the lich is an undead creature; a spellcaster who seeks to defy death by magical means. A lich converts itself into a skeletal creature by means of necromancy, storing its soul in a magical receptacles called a phylactery. In some sources the method of becoming a lich is referred to as the Ritual of Endless Night. The lich creation process is often described as requiring the creation and consumption of a deadly potion which is to be drunk on a full moon. The potion invariably kills the drinker but if the process is successful he rises again some days later as a lich. Occasionally, this metamorphosis occurs by accident as a result of life-prolonging magic.

A lich can be of any evil alignment, retaining whatever alignment it had in life.

Unlike most other forms of undead creatures, the lich retains all of the memories, personality, and abilities that it possessed in life - but it has a virtual eternity to hone its skills and inevitably becomes quite powerful. Like other powerful forms of undead (such as a vampire or mummy), a lich has unnatural powers owing to his state. For example, he can slay mortals with a mere touch, and can, through their typically powerful magical spells, summon other lesser undead to protect him. Liches can radiate an aura of horror which can send weak-willed would-be foes to flight. The lich is capable of sustaining tremendous physical damage, and is immune to disease, poison, fatigue and other effects that could not affect something which is not alive. However, despite all his undead "gifts", a lich's most valuable resources are his vast intellect, his supreme mastery of sorcery and limitless time to research, plot and scheme.

Since a lich's soul is mystically tied to its phylactery, destroying its body will not kill it. Rather, its soul will return to the phylactery, and its body will be recreated by the power keeping it immortal. Thus the only way to permanently destroy a lich is to destroy the phylactery as well. Therefore, the lich will generally be extremely protective of the priceless item. The phylactery, which can be of virtually any form (the default form is a metal box filled with rune-covered papers, but it usually appears as a valuable amulet or gemstone), will often be hidden in a secret place and protected by powerful spells, charms, monsters and/or other servants; the phylactery itself is usually of magical nature, meaning its destruction will generally be little easier than attaining it.

Liches are usually among the most powerful undead creatures in almost any setting in which they appear, and are one of the most powerful non-unique undead creatures in the D&D game. Several D&D gods were liches before becoming deities; these gods include:

Vecna from the Greyhawk campaign setting,
Velsharoon and the drow goddess Kiaransalee from the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
Vol, chief deity of the Blood of Vol religion in the Eberron campaign setting.
The githyanki lich-queen Vlaakith CLVII has been attempting to attain godhood.

Other well-known liches are:

Azalin, the lord of Darkon in the Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft campaign setting
Klaxx the Malign (from )
Lyran (from )
Deimos (the final boss in )
Maugrim (the boss of chapter 2 in Neverwinter Nights).
Szass Tam (the de-facto ruler of Thay in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting)
Mellifleur, the god of liches

Other forms of liches

Still in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, one can also encounter the Archlich, which is not, as the name implies, a more powerful type of lich. Archliches are good liches which are able to memorize spells through intuitive nature and do not need spellbooks; they also do not become demiliches (see below) but remain in their form for eternity.

If a lich exists long enough, it may reach a point where it feels it cannot learn any more in its present state and seeks other avenues to attain knowledge. The lich's interest turns away from the physical realm, and its soul voluntarily leaves its undead form and phylactery, using astral projection to travel across other planes of existence. The magics preserving the lich's body against the ravages of time weaken, usually causing the body to gradually deteriorate until only a skull or even a single skeletal hand remains; this advanced form of lich is known as a demilich. Despite its ruined body, a demilich is far from powerless; if disturbed, the skull will levitate and suck the souls from nearby living creatures. The most notable demiliches are Acererak, found in the classic adventure Tomb of Horrors, and Kangaxx, one of the most powerful adversaries in the PC game .

Other races also have their own special versions of the lich, which are not necessarily evil; for example, an Elf from the Forgotten Realms setting can become a baelnorn, or an Illithid can become an illithilich, also known as an alhoon. A dragon can also become a dracolich. Dracoliches are greatly feared, for they are far more powerful than ordinary liches. A dracolich that becomes a demilich would be an extremely powerful monster, even by dragon standards.

References

Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977).
Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).

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