How does a Lich control its body?

[KindOfGoodGuy]

Ok so almost all of us know that because the undead have no souls (hence the "dead" in "unDEAD") they need to be powered by negative energy in order to sustain themselves. With a lich however, it never mentions that negative energy is used because the soul, even though it left the body, is still controlling the body due to it being contained by a phylactery. Also even though the entry for liches states," When a lich is destroyed, its phylactery (which is generally hidden by the lich in a safe place far from where it chooses to dwell) immediately begins to rebuild the undead spellcaster's body nearby", I think that it is a little unclear about what is actually doing the creating. Because it is almost always mentioned on other sites that the creation of the body is a very tedious task, it sounds like the soul within the phylactery is doing the creating, not the actual container holding the soul. If that was the case, it wuldnt be tedius because it would have been built to do that with relative ease. Because of these very strong connections that the body has to the soul in this manner, could it be argued that instead of negative energy sustaining a lich, it is the soul of the lich controlling the body? Like a puppeteer?

Also to take it a step further as a follow-up question, if a lich somehow became LG through some miracle (like the cursed item, the helm of opposite alignment (the argument about how that could be valid is found here http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?75877-Helm-of-opposite-alignment-and-undead (yes it is 3.5 but the information should still be the same converted to pathfinder. ) or the alignment shifting card from the deck of many things), could they theoretically take levels as a paladin? I know that would probably be the mother of oxymorons but I have been racking my brain all day with this. :smallannoyed: Half of the people I asked said yes, the other half said no.

[Raven777]

You make the assumption that undead do not usually have souls. Sentient ones do, as per Magic Jar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicJar.htm). The funnier part is that per Magic Jar, sentient undead also count as a "Life Force". :smalltongue:


While in the magic jar, you can sense and attack any life force within 10 feet per caster level (and on the same plane of existence). You do need line of effect from the jar to the creatures. You cannot determine the exact creature types or positions of these creatures. In a group of life forces, you can sense a difference of 4 or more Hit Dice between one creature and another and can determine whether a life force is powered by positive or negative energy. (Undead creatures are powered by negative energy. Only sentient undead creatures have, or are, souls.)

Also, yes, the Lich controls its body like a puppeteer, but it doesn't really have an impact. Your brain does the same thing with your body, really. Even if your brain meat is inside your head, you still feel the extremity of your fingers at the extremity of your fingers. You still see what's in front of your eyes, not the inside of your skull. Same goes for the Lich. All the I/O ports are where the Lich's body is located. The interpretation of the data won't change even if the CPU is miles away.

[KindOfGoodGuy]

You make the assumption that undead do not usually have souls. Sentient ones do, as per Magic Jar (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicJar.htm). The funnier part is that per Magic Jar, sentient undead also count as a "Life Force". :smalltongue:



Also, yes, the Lich controls its body like a puppeteer, but it doesn't really have an impact. Your brain does the same thing with your body, really. Even if your brain meat is inside your head, you still feel the extremity of your fingers at the extremity of your fingers. You still see what's in front of your eyes, not the inside of your skull. Same goes for the Lich. All the I/O ports are where the Lich's body is located. The interpretation of the data won't change even if the CPU is miles away.

Thanks for the clarification! I do feel a tad bit silly though, because I forgot about Magic Jar.