Help me with a cat familiar lich

[Analytica]

Strange idea time again. I got this image of a lich, with a familiar that is also a lich. Their phylacteries are egyptian-style sarcophagi, one medium-sized for the main lich and a cat-sized for the (former) cat familiar, in which they regrow if destroyed.

This is entirely doable with Leadership. The "familiar" was just a cat, then was transformed by magic (similar to the case with tibbits) to a cat hengeyokai, learned wizardry from its master, then also became a lich.

The problem: I want the cat to spend most of its time in cat rather than humanoid form, but still cast spells. Unfortunately, the cat form has no hands and no human speech organs.

Sure, it could just prepare all its spells as silenced or stilled, but that's +2 metamagic for every single spells. Can I reduce that within the 13 levels of wizard that an ECL 17, LA +4 lich cohort gets? Otherwise, are there other options for mystic power that still lets it qualify for lich?

[Misery Esquire]

Strange idea time again. I got this image of a lich, with a familiar that is also a lich. Their phylacteries are egyptian-style sarcophagi, one medium-sized for the main lich and a cat-sized for the (former) cat familiar, in which they regrow if destroyed.

For some reason I thought the cat would be the lich, with a human familiar. Go figure.



The problem: I want the cat to spend most of its time in cat rather than humanoid form, but still cast spells. Unfortunately, the cat form has no hands and no human speech organs.

I'm fairly sure it's never been specified the language required for spells, or the actual hand motions. So technically, you could try to get a ruling that the cat meow-ing and waving its paws is the verbal and somantic equivalents in "Cat Wizardspeak"?

[Analytica]

For some reason I thought the cat would be the lich, with a human familiar. Go figure.



I'm fairly sure it's never been specified the language required for spells, or the actual hand motions. So technically, you could try to get a ruling that the cat meow-ing and waving its paws is the verbal and somantic equivalents in "Cat Wizardspeak"?

Creatures with innate spellcasting can do this. Others can get it via the Savage Species Surrogate Spellcasting feat, but that requires that you have a non-humanoid basic form. With my refluffing of hengeyokai as an awakened familiar, that would work, but RAW it might not, as hengeyokai are humanoid type (unlike tibbits or actual awakened housecats), which is a requirement for lich.

[holywhippet]

The problem: I want the cat to spend most of its time in cat rather than humanoid form, but still cast spells. Unfortunately, the cat form has no hands and no human speech organs.


Dragons can become dracoliches even though they don't have hands or "human" speech organs. Of course, that is a very specific lich type. Discuss the matter with the DM (or hand wave it if you are the DM), it sounds somewhat reasonable to do.

[Tvtyrant]

The cat can just cast mage hand to do the crafting. It should be fine.

[marcielle]

Dread Necromancers automatically lichify at 20 no matter what. An awakened cat is -1 LA right? You start at DN 18 your body is half lich already due to a class feature. If you can find another -2 LA template or something you are set. I remember something about incarnate construct but I'm not sure.
I actually have plans for an awakened cat dread necro who polymorphs to human when needing to deal with people.
Always wanted to have a scene where he appears to the good guys as a humanoid, ducks round a corner and goes back to cat and goes running around completely ignored by the ones chasing him while summoning and creating scores of undead from a nearby graveyard.(unoptimized dread necros get about 300HD worth by level 8. :smallamused:)

Cleric: Runing out of turns here.
Rouge:*whimper*(runs off and hides cause he can't sneak attack anything)
Fighter:FIND THAT DAMN NECROMANCER ALREADY
Wizard: I'm using every spell of true-seeing and magic detection I have but all I see besides zombies is that absolutely normal housecat and WHY IS HE LAUGHING AT US?