Lichdom

[Darklady2831]

1. So, has anyone ever made a character who has started at lower level, and actually become a lich while the campaign is still in full swing?

How did your DM do it?

How did the Party Handle it?


2. Is there any way to make the Lich +4 LA less crippling to a wizard?

[Elric VIII]

1. So, has anyone ever made a character who has started at lower level, and actually become a lich while the campaign is still in full swing?

How did your DM do it?

How did the Party Handle it?


I did this as a Cleric and converted an entire continent to predominantly a religion dedicated to worshipping me. The continent was located on a plane that had a faster rate of time than the plane we were on, so the religion started small and spread very fast from our perspective. The party knew I was LE (mostly Lawful with a merciless streak) and I ventured back to the plane of fast time alone and completed the ritual and used glamers to hide it from my party. My DM helped me by letting the religion spread and having the tributes help me to pay for my lichdom.

I ended up subverting the party's Rogue and Duskblade because they saw me as the team leader and followed my increasingly evil plans. They accepted my transformation pretty well, however the Druid disliked me and only continued to adventure with me out of necessity of the campaign.



2. Is there any way to make the Lich +4 LA less crippling to a wizard?

AFAIK, no. I basically gimped myself, and the only reason I could still contribute is because we were all poorly optimized and I got a lucky draw from the Deck of Many Things that granted me a bonus level that my DM instead allowed me to use to reduce the LA by 1.

The best way of becoming a Lich is through the Walker in the Wastes PrC (Sandstorm) that allows you to become a Dry Lich as its capstone ability. It only loses you 1 CL and you can enter it as a Cleric 3 with the Sand and Thirst domains. I am unaware of any way to make it less painful to a wizard.

[FMArthur]

If you dedicated much of your build to it you could get by with only 3 lost levels of Wizard casting.

Wizard 2 / Cleric 1 can qualify you for Geomancer (CD) if you take Sanctum Spell (CA) or if you are an Illumian with Improved Sigil: Krau (RoD). Other ways exist but IIRC they are later / more expensive.

Advance your Wizard casting with Geomancer. The Geomancer class's Spell Versatility feature lets you mix and match your spells' parameters between your classes as you see fit - letting you cast in armor, key all your spells off of Wis, etc.

Take the Arcane Disciple feat (CD) for the Sand or Thirst domain (Sandstorm). This alone does not qualify you for Walker in the Waste because you cast them as arcane spells, but with Geomancer you can probably cast your Wizard spells as divine spells. If you take the feat for both of those domains you can get into Walker in the Waste after only 2 levels in Geomancer, otherwise you'd qualify after 3.

You get into Walker in the Waste losing only 1 level of Wizard progression and lose another two in the class to become a Dry Lich at ECL 15 or 16. You need the Heat Endurance feat.


The best way of becoming a Lich is through the Walker in the Wastes PrC (Sandstorm) that allows you to become a Dry Lich as its capstone ability. It only loses you 1 CL and you can enter it as a Cleric 3 with the Sand and Thirst domains. I am unaware of any way to make it less painful to a wizard.

Walker in the Waste loses you 2 spellcaster levels, not 1.

[Yukitsu]

I went from level 2 to lich. I'm the party power gamer, so my overshadowy ness of the party starts to become apparant at around level 12 or so. Around then, I take crippling templates to avoid advancing above the party further. I have a general agreement to nerf myself as compensation for my semi-competence.

DM let me pool EXP so I could take the level adjustment all at once. I got most of the extra from an item familiar, which became my character's phylactery (it was also a iode stone made of aurorum).

As an aside, the crippling +4 is pretty fair to just take, so long as you have a normal party, and can make the best of battle field control/save or lose.

[Elric VIII]

Walker in the Waste loses you 2 spellcaster levels, not 1.

You're right, I always miss that.

One thing I did forget to mention, my DM let me count the LA as advancing my CL for variable effects, but not for actual spell levels. I would ask about this since Lichdom is basically fluffed as an enhancement to your megical power.

[vampire2948]

Ask your DM about this : Lich Monster Class (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8535643&postcount=427)