[PF] Tattooed sorcerer + Lich mechanic issues..

[Sceluvia]

Dear almighty knowlegde of alot of people.

Ok so i am a DM in a pathfinder game and one of the players is roleplaying an elven tattooed sorcerer (archetype).
For RPG value he is frightend to death by..well death itself.

He intents to become a lich, details are still being worked out.
My problem a.t.m. is the mechanics after he explained to me what he is up to.

He has an Imp familiar (which is loyal to him).
The Imp familiar can transform into a tattoo through the power of the archetype.

So now he wants to create a ring as his phylactery.
He intents to give this ring to the familiar, which them will transform in a tattoo and make his phylactery unharmable by normal means.

It stated that when the familiar is a tattoo, it can't rest / eat/ breath, sleep etc. it becomes a painting in total, still giving powers to it's master like alertness (feat).

So in short:
His imp familiar with a phylactery ring will become a tattoo on himself.

Now the Lich dies.. what happens next?

Senario 1:
Will he resurrect because the phylactery still exists as a tattoo on now, a dead body?
So the imp can sit out and wait for his master to return?

Senario 2:
His imp MUST become a "person" (not the right words) again before the phylactery powers holds effect.
So the imp can sit out and wait invisible untill his master returns.

Please give me a good reason or RAW explanation wich senario would come to pass? or even if a 3rd senario is there..

thank you in advance.

Sceluvia

[grarrrg]

I'd rule that anything the Imp carries does NOT transfer to the tattoo.
Thus the ring cannot become a part of the tattoo in the first place.

[Sceluvia]

I'd rule that anything the Imp carries does NOT transfer to the tattoo.
Thus the ring cannot become a part of the tattoo in the first place.

It is true there is no mentioning of any equipment that transforms aswell.. only the familiar has the power.

That would solve this issue with ease.

Thanks

[Serafina]

In addition to having equipment not transform (definitely warranted when someone tries to pull shenanigans like that!), only the special familiar ability is kept active. Everything else ceases functioning - effects from the creature type, any worn magic items, active spell effects etc. cease functioning since the familiar effectively ceases to exist as a creature separate from its master.

In tattoo form it continues to grant its special familiar ability, but otherwise has no abilities and can take no actions except to transform from tattoo into creature
Another example where this is relevant is if you take Improved Familiar to get a Cassisian Angel (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/angel/angel-cassisian) - if in tattoo-form, it doesn't grant its protective aura since thats not a special familiar ability.

This is arguably preferable to ruling that equipment isn't transformed and drops to the ground, since thats just extra annoying micromanaging. But as said above, definitely justified if someone tries to rules-lawyer like that.

[13ones]

Well I'd rule that the imp can hold the ring as a tattoo on his person. However if the lich is destroyed with the imp tattoo on his bones then the imp as well as the phylactery would also be destroyed. Much easier to cast Clone (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/c/clone) and then stash the tattoo on the clone, and the clone in a demi-plane.

[Serafina]

...thats acually an excellent point. While you can't destroy the phylactery separately from the lich that way, the main use of a phylactery is after all to save yourself in case you get killed. But if you get killed while being fused with your tattoo familiar...well we don't even know what happens to regular familiars if their wizard dies, but since a tattoo familiar is definetly not a normal animal imbued with power (its much more like a construct) it probably just vanishes.

Either the equipment vanishes with it (and thus the phylactery would be destroyed) or just drops to the ground. In which case you can just store it on your person.

[13ones]

Yup. So cool concept but generally Liches do not want to keep their phylactery on them at all times. They want to stash it somewhere no one will find it or even want to look for it. Having it on them is usually a bad idea but having it combined into their body is an even worse one.

[icefractal]

I think I'd go with scenario #2, sort of. That is, when the lich dies, his tattooed sorcerer ability stops functioning, meaning that the imp is immediately forced back into physical existence. Not invisible either, because its abilities don't function while being a tattoo.

Usually, that would be a bad thing - whoever killed the lich can just finish off the imp and then they'll have the phylactery. I guess if he was killed from a distance, the imp might have time to make a getaway. It's kind of a cool image though - the lich falls, and suddenly one of the tattoos on his skin becomes a flesh and blood imp, trying to fly away. I'd use it for a villain, I think.

If the player actually wants scenario #1, then that's actually very easy even without a familiar - just swallow your phylactery. Liches don't eat or have a metabolism, so it will just sit there in your stomach, safe from any attack. The only problem is that it means the phylactery is now right next to whatever killed you, and might soon be destroyed itself.