Polymorphing Your Phylactery - What would happen?

[Khatoblepas]

So, you have a lich. Specifically, a dry lich, who has five phylacteries. You cannot cast Polymorph any object on the phylactery yet, as it is a Magic Item. But Dispel Magic says:


If the object that you target is a magic item, you make a dispel check against the item’s caster level. If you succeed, all the item’s magical properties are suppressed for 1d4 rounds, after which the item recovers on its own. A suppressed item becomes nonmagical for the duration of the effect.

Let's say you cast (maximised) Dispel Magic on one of your phylacteries, turning it into a nonmagical jar-o-guts (for 4 rounds). You then do one of the following scenarios:

1)
- PAO x 2 Phylactery into Elan/Warforged/other immortal race.

2)
- PAO into Statue.
- Animate Object + Permanency.
- Awaken Construct.
- Incarnate Construct.

In both cases, does the creature thus created have the properties of the phylactery? The magic item hasn't been destroyed, and there's no clause that says "a dispelled item that is no longer that item loses it's magical properties". It's still the same phylactery, but in a different form.

Would it be that the magical properties only return on the creature's death, in which case they would turn into an object (a corpse)? Or would you have a living, breathing phylactery that you could mold into being an upstanding citizen, one which a paladin would never even consider slaying and destroying the corpse of?

How would you even parse this?

[sdream]

There is nothing preventing you from hiding it, or embedding it into some into the spine of some construct (or the bones of some large creature) without PaO.

I don't see making it look like a bone first or turning it to flesh being all that different.

Anybody powerful enough to find your hidden urns, is probably powerful enough to track down the creatures hiding your urns, and figure out a way to end your urns with or without harming the creatures.

It's a cute roleplaying opportunity, but shouldn't make much difference overall.

[rockdeworld]

A regular phylactery "contains the character's life force." The DM rules on whether that means that whatever's inside the phylactery is attached to the character's life force, or the phylactery itself is attached to the life force (this bars the interpretation that the phylactery holds the life force, which is not attached to anything, because that's just silly).

If you choose the former, then whatever's inside the phylactery melds into the new form and becomes nonfunctional, as per the Alter Self rules. This essentially means the phylactery is destroyed.

If you choose the latter, then you can just play it that as long as the thing itself isn't destroyed, the lich can keep on regenerating. That opens up the whole "I'm a lich's phylactery and I need to sacrifice myself so you can beat him!" plot :smallsmile:

[ericgrau]

There's also the question of what would happen if the phylactery is no longer able to contain the lich's life force for 1d4 rounds. Does his soul fly off preventing his next regeneration? Does he cease being a lich and expire?

[Madara]

There's also the question of what would happen if the phylactery is no longer able to contain the lich's life force for 1d4 rounds. Does his soul fly off preventing his next regeneration? Does he cease being a lich and expire?

Think of it as a surpressed Contingency(via Craft Contingency). It won't work if you die during that period of time, but it'll start working afterwards.

[Kelb_Panthera]

This thread just gave me a crazy adventure idea.

So elans (XPH) are created by the elan council right, but the book never details the process. It only says that the resultant character loses his past upon the rituals completion.

So fluff it like this; what the council actually does is it captures a lich's phylactery, turns it into a creature via the above process with incarnate construct, then rips the soon to be elan's conciousness out and implants it into the phylactery. Pyschic resonance and the empowered soul of the lich are what give the elans their abilities, but the trauma of having your mind ripped out of your head is why the new elan is back at level one. They never discuss the ritual because they don't remember it, only some vague feelings implanted afterward and what they were told happened by the council.

The hook set for the players leads into an adventure where they discover this little factoid, probably by a canny lich finding his phylactery-in-elan-form, and must decide to whether or not to help the lich get his phylactery back, and how to protect the poor elan in either case. Maybe make it into a whole campaign arc where they try to bring down the elan council.

I may post this as a seperate thread to discuss the idea if anyone's interested.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Am I the only one thinking of a certain popular fantasy series?

[Zombulian]

Am I the only one thinking of a certain popular fantasy series?

yes.

nagini was a lame horcrux. So... MORTAL.

[Madara]

yes.

Now I'm thinking of it.

And I think the reference is to Harry

[Zombulian]

Now I'm thinking of it.

And I think the reference is to Harry

Dangit.

I feel hecka stupid now.