Lich template

[ImSAMazing]

Dear Playgrounders,

I have a big question, so roll up your homebrewing sleeves! In the MM it states a Vampire template for when a player transforms into a vampire. It also talks a bit about becoming a lich, but not what it means to become one. So, what would a player lich get?

[Silavor]

Alright, I'll take a stab at it. Based on how the vampire template works, player liches should have:


Dex and Con to 16 if it isn't already higher.
Natural Armor 14+Dex (is that right? It seems a little high, but I can't see what else is giving a lich an AC of 17).
Damage Resistances: cold, lightning, necrotic.
Damage Immunities: poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons.
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned.
Senses: Truesight 120 ft.

Rejuvenation
Turn Resistance

Paralyzing Touch.




All in all that is an awful lot of stuff, but it does kind of make sense; the character is becoming one of the most powerful kinds of undead, so naturally they should have the traits of an undead. As a DM I like giving my players powerful things, so I don't think I would change this up all that much, especially since lichdom is very likely to be an end-of-game thing.

If that list seems too OP for your players, you could try cutting it down to:


Damage Resistances: cold, lightning, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons.
Damage Immunities: poison.
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned.
Senses: Truesight 60 ft.

Rejuvenation
Turn Resistance

Paralyzing Touch.

That seems to keep the core of the lich/undead traits around without turning you into the campaign's true final boss.



Edit: Oh right, and it goes without saying that the character now counts as Undead whenever that becomes relevant (usually for healing skills and the like). Paralyzing Touch is a melee spell attack, so I'd just have it use the player's already-existing (assuming they're not doing something silly like turning a Fighter into a lich) Spell Attack Bonus and Spell Save DC. Having managed liches in 3.P, I find that constantly switching between a Class save DC and a Lich save DC depending on the attack gets really tedious and needlessly complex. Your mileage may vary. If you do prefer separating Lich DCs from Class DCs, then the Spell Attack portion of Paralyzing Touch looks like it's based off of Int, while the Con Save DC seems to come from Cha.

[ImSAMazing]

Alright, I'll take a stab at it. Based on how the vampire template works, player liches should have:


Dex and Con to 16 if it isn't already higher.
Natural Armor 14+Dex (is that right? It seems a little high, but I can't see what else is giving a lich an AC of 17).
Damage Resistances: cold, lightning, necrotic.
Damage Immunities: poison; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons.
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned.
Senses: Truesight 120 ft.

Rejuvenation
Turn Resistance

Paralyzing Touch.




All in all that is an awful lot of stuff, but it does kind of make sense; the character is becoming one of the most powerful kinds of undead, so naturally they should have the traits of an undead. As a DM I like giving my players powerful things, so I don't think I would change this up all that much, especially since lichdom is very likely to be an end-of-game thing.

If that list seems too OP for your players, you could try cutting it down to:


Damage Resistances: cold, lightning, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons.
Damage Immunities: poison.
Condition Immunities: charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned.
Senses: Truesight 60 ft.

Rejuvenation
Turn Resistance

Paralyzing Touch.

That seems to keep the core of the lich/undead traits around without turning you into the campaign's true final boss.



Edit: Oh right, and it goes without saying that the character now counts as Undead whenever that becomes relevant (usually for healing skills and the like). Paralyzing Touch is a melee spell attack, so I'd just have it use the player's already-existing (assuming they're not doing something silly like turning a Fighter into a lich) Spell Attack Bonus and Spell Save DC. Having managed liches in 3.P, I find that constantly switching between a Class save DC and a Lich save DC depending on the attack gets really tedious and needlessly complex. Your mileage may vary. If you do prefer separating Lich DCs from Class DCs, then the Spell Attack portion of Paralyzing Touch looks like it's based off of Int, while the Con Save DC seems to come from Cha.

Anymore feedback?

[Shining Wrath]

AFB, but I am old-school on liches and believe the template must include an evil alignment. You intend to spend the rest of eternity consuming other people's souls to sustain yourself, after all.


Undead are typically immune to charm, poison, sleep, paralysis, and nausea.
Resistant to non-magical [BPS] weapon damage and cold damage.
Vulnerable to radiant damage.
Blindsight of 60'.
Natural armor of +1, full dexterity bonus, and the ability to add their intelligence modifier to AC like a monk adds wisdom. It's very hard to hit a creature that anticipates your every move.
A lich does not gain any additional spellcasting ability but retains what it had before achieving lichdom.
Grappling a lich or making an unarmed attack (includes creatures biting, clawing, slamming) subjects the attacker to D6 necrotic damage.
Gains an unarmed slam attack (either strength or dexterity based, lich's choice) for D8 base plus ability modifier necrotic damage.

[ImSAMazing]

AFB, but I am old-school on liches and believe the template must include an evil alignment. You intend to spend the rest of eternity consuming other people's souls to sustain yourself, after all.


Undead are typically immune to charm, poison, sleep, paralysis, and nausea.
Resistant to non-magical [BPS] weapon damage and cold damage.
Vulnerable to radiant damage.
Blindsight of 60'.
Natural armor of +1, full dexterity bonus, and the ability to add their intelligence modifier to AC like a monk adds wisdom. It's very hard to hit a creature that anticipates your every move.
A lich does not gain any additional spellcasting ability but retains what it had before achieving lichdom.
Grappling a lich or making an unarmed attack (includes creatures biting, clawing, slamming) subjects the attacker to D6 necrotic damage.
Gains an unarmed slam attack (either strength or dexterity based, lich's choice) for D8 base plus ability modifier necrotic damage.


Thanks, seems good.

[Totema]

I took a crack at making a Lich template a while ago. It's for a specialized adventure, so I doubt it would fly in an ordinary game, even at high levels, but here's my version:


Creature type. You are considered an undead creature, and you lose your previous creature type and, if applicable, your race. (You retain your racial and subracial abilities, however.)
Hit dice advancement. All of your hit dice below d8 become d8 instead. Reroll your hit point maximum using your new hit dice.
Ability score improvements. The lich gains +2 to its Constitution and Strength scores, and a +8 bonus which can be split among any of its mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma). (For instance, you can give yourself +1 to Intelligence, +3 to Wisdom, and +4 to Charisma, or +5 to Intelligence, +1 to Wisdom, and +2 to.Charisma.)
Natural armor. The lich gains a natural +4 bonus to AC. This does not count as wearing armor or wielding a shield, and no longer applies if the lich wears armor or any kind of item that grants an AC bonus.
Defenses. The lich gains resistance to cold, lightning, and necrotic damage, immunity to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non-magical weapons and poison damage, and immunity to being charmed, exhausted, frightened, paralyzed, and poisoned.
True sight. The lich gains truesight for up to 120 feet, meaning that in this range it can see perfectly in normal and magical darkness, see invisible creatures and objects, automatically detect visual illusions and succeed on saving throws against them, and perceive the original form of a shapeshifter or a creature transformed by magic. The lich can also choose to see into the Ethereal Plane at this range (doing so requires no action).
Legendary resistance. The lich gains the legendary resistance trait: If it fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead. This feature can be used three times per day.
Turn resistance. The lich gains turn resistance, giving it advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.
Paralyzing grasp. The lich gains a paralyzing grasp attack. It is a melee spell attack (To hit: proficiency bonus + modifier of user’s spellcasting ability score; Reach: 5 ft.; Hit: 3d6 cold damage), and when hit, the target must make a Consitution saving throw (save DC: 8 + proficiency bonus + Constitution modifier) or become paralyzed for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a successful save.
Rejuvenation. As a lich, you are not completely slain while your phylactery still exists. If you lose all your hit points, you no longer can make death saving throws, but your body will regenerate 1d10 days after your death, within five feet of your phylactery, even if it is on another plane.

[Inevitability]

I took a crack at making a Lich template a while ago. It's for a specialized adventure, so I doubt it would fly in an ordinary game, even at high levels, but here's my version:

Far too many stacking bonuses. At least make it so that ability scores can't be increased beyond 20/22/24, or you get wizard liches with 28 intelligence.

[ImSAMazing]

I took a crack at making a Lich template a while ago. It's for a specialized adventure, so I doubt it would fly in an ordinary game, even at high levels, but here's my version:
Wow, I think you were right when you said you weren't sure if it would fly in an ordinary game, cuz I don't think so xd.


Far too many stacking bonuses. At least make it so that ability scores can't be increased beyond 20/22/24, or you get wizard liches with 28 intelligence.

True, this isn't the way to go.