Welcome, intrepid adventurer, to the threshold of knowledge and mystery! You have just opened the pages of our concise guide dedicated to one of the most formidable and fascinating entities within the realms of magic and fantasy: the lich.

A lich is a highly powerful undead spellcaster. Becoming a lich is the dream of spellcasters who wish to live longer to explore magic further, and at the same time who can give everything to reach immortality, even its own life.

Although a lich is typically considered evil in most cases, good liches exist as well. Moreover, a lich is an extremely intelligent individual, not a mindless beast. Because of these reasons, monster hunters still argue that they should be hunted or not but undead slayers and zealots of good deities may think otherwise.

This guide aims to provide an extensive research about liches, their strengths, weaknesses, and much more.

Understanding the Lich

Becoming a lich is not an easy thing. Even deciding to become one and preparing for the ritual of lichdom is one of the hardest tasks a spellcaster can take. To be so determined, to make up the mind to undergone the ritual of lichdom, a spellcaster must have good reasons.

The most common reason is to live forever. There are endless information in the universe, and a spellcaster may aim to learn all, or most of them at least, to become more powerful. A bard may become a lich to have enough time to find the perfect tune, a faithful cleric may be granted lişchdom from its dark deity who wishes to have an eternal servitor, a druid may wish to understand the nature of the undead, a sorcerer may become lich to infuse its innate abilities with the power of death to become death itself, a warlock can purely aim to become more powerful, or a wizard can become a lich to have more time to study. These are the first reasons that come to mind, and a spellcaster may have some of them or none of them to become a lich.

Strengths of a Lich

Grandmaster Spellcaster. Liches are highly talented spellcasters. Eventhough the powers listed below make the lich powerful enough, they perfect their undead existence with the spells they can cast. Most liches prefer necromancy spells, but all other spell scholls also contain lots of spells that can aid lich in battle or their search in knowledge.

Immunities and Resistances. Liches are immune to poison, any damage from nonmagical weapons, and resistant to cold, lightning, and necrotic damage. Moreover, thanks to being an undead and having a mental fortress, a lich is immune to being charmed, exhausted, frightened, paralyzed, and poisoned.

Paralyzing Touch. The lich can paralyze a creature by simply touching it.

Special Gem. The special gem explained above holds the life force of the lich. If the lich dies on the same plane of existence as the special gem, the lich is resurrected with all its hit points near the gem 1d6 days later. To destroy a lich, this gem must be destroyed as well.

Undead Prime. Liches are not common undead, hence they can’t be turned as easily as a zombie.

Weaknesses of a Lich

Arrogance. A lich is a powerful individual, and the lich is aware of that fact. This awareness may lead to arrogance in years, causing the lich to make small mistakes. These small mistakes may lead to the location of the gem that holds the lich’s life force, secret lair, library etc.

Ritual Dependency. Necrotic energies keep the lich’s body intact, as well as the bond between the lich’s soul and its rotten shell. These energies diminishes in time and should be renewed. At the end of each year, the lich needs to kill six humanoid creatures by performing a special, slow ritual of 8 hours. During the ritual, the lich cuts the body parts of the victims with a cursed blade and slowly absorbs their life energies. If this ritual isn’t performed, the lich’s hit point maximum is reduced by 20 at the end of each year until the ritual is conducted. This reduction can’t be prevented by any means short of a wish spell.

Strategy for the Hunt

Developing a comprehensive strategy for the hunt is essential for success. Analyze the gathered intelligence to determine the lich's strengths and weaknesses, consider the terrain and environmental factors that might influence the battle, and if the lich has a history of summoning specific types of creatures, prepare counters for those minions. Try to create a tactical plan that addresses the potential scenarios, including the destruction of the special gem holding the lich’s life force, disrupting the lich's spellcasting, and coordinating the group's strengths to exploit the lich's vulnerabilities.

PS: This article is taken from our upcoming book. DRS Guide to Monster Hunting. You can read the full article after the release!