If you were a lich planning a HUGE battle...

[Cicobalico]

[Now, i might just not be aware of a strange rule which binds lich to bring with them their philactery, or maybe i'm just too noob BUT...]

Would you actually bring your philactery in a battle like that?:smallconfused:


Thank you for explanations :smallsmile:


Ps. My first post so... Hi guys! :smallsmile:
Pps. Sorry for the awful English...

[Ancalagon]

Of course.

The explanation is simple: If you put the thing in the cellar of the Dungeon of Horros behind the test of the Three Dragons in the Valley of Doom where you get when you sail The River of Maneating Mermaids after you crossed The Desert of Hungry Skeletons... you are in the middle of your victory when the hero makes it into said cellar.
You just raise your wand to slay the king and command the gods to bow before you when the hero raises the hammer and smashes your nice phylactery... so... is is better to take a highlevel cleric and have him near you where you can spot advancing hero.

edit: The best solution of course is tell anyone who wants to know that your phylactery is in said cellar... so those people go there and die there and even if they make it, they just find a note that reads: "Haha, the thing really is in the possession of the Rancor who lives in the Abyss of Lost Hopes in the Mountains of Snowstorms and you have to pass the..."

[Atheist_Cleric]

Xykon keeps his Phylactery as Redcloaks holy symbol because its an advantage in a number of ways. One, it means the thing that keeps him alive is in the hands of his most powerful subordinate. Two, as Redcloak cant cast spells without his holy symbol, there's little chance he'd betray Xykon by smashing it. And three, unless the enemy is very perceptive or knows a lot about phylacteries, its doubtful they could determine that the holy symbol is one. The reason why he allowed it into battle without worrying is because neither he or Redcloak were expecting Soon and the Ghost-Martyrs. They figured that Xykon would clear the throne room, and Redcloak would take everything else, and there was practically nothing that could seriously endanger either of them.

It was basically a case of bad luck, Soon being smart enough to see the phyactery and strong enough to beat the stupid out of both of them.

[Emperor Ing]

Xykon wasnt planning the battle, Redcloak was "discussing strategy at Xykon".

But it wouldve been smart to have some high level char, say the MITD to carry ur phylactery outside of battle, so when u die, u regenerate and get back in.

If i was an epic-leveled lich sorcerer attacking a massive castle, I would just have my fun slaughtering all the lower-leveled soldiers on the walls.

[Ancalagon]

I think the most stupid thing Xykon could do would be giving the thing (or anything else he does not want lost/eaten/forgotten/broken) to the MitD. :)

Just think what happend to MitD's Power Ranger Action Figures...

[holywhippet]

I'm not sure if there is a maximum distance that a lich can be away from his phylactery. However, I can think of two goods reasons to keep it nearby like that. Firstly, if Xykon had tucked it away in his first base, it would have been blown up when Elan hit the self destruct button. Secondly, if Xykon kept his phylactery buried in a cave underneath a distant desert, surrounded by traps. Then if his body got killed then the new one would grow in that place. This could mean Xykon would take a fair amount of time to regrow his body and return to where he was when he died.

Something occured to me: being a sorceror, Xykon would never have needed to have a spellbook. But does a regular lich need to memorise spells from a spellbook? That would be a second problem if they did - when their body dies their spellbook would be with it.

[Zaldrak]

Something occured to me: being a sorceror, Xykon would never have needed to have a spellbook. But does a regular lich need to memorise spells from a spellbook? That would be a second problem if they did - when their body dies their spellbook would be with it.
A mage Lich does need a spellbook. But you can make copies of your spellbook, so it would be dumb for a Lich to not make many (after all, they've got plenty of time)

[Meditating Mike]

If I were an undead lich I wouldn't plan a battle at all.
Since I am undead and have no biological needs I would not care for things such as personal power, fame, material wealth or any other material and "fleshy" matters.

[happyturtle]

If I were mad enough to perform unspeakable acts to grant me near immortality, then I certainly would not want the source of my immortality to go into battle with me. But then, before Redcloak's change of heart about the hobgoblins, he had been safely in the rear, far from the front lines.

[Cicobalico]

If I were mad enough to perform unspeakable acts to grant me near immortality, then I certainly would not want the source of my immortality to go into battle with me. But then, before Redcloak's change of heart about the hobgoblins, he had been safely in the rear, far from the front lines.
This is the only theory that actually makes any sense to me :smallconfused:
Well, :elan: of couse would have pointed out that it's much cooler to bring the only thing that grants you immortality to the big battle

[Kreistor]

If you're a Lich with Greater Teleport, it doesn't matter where your Phylactery is: you can go back as soon as your regenerate.

Without it, you don't want your phylactery too far away.

[the_tick_rules]

It's also unexpected. Except for Soon which with his powers figured it out right away has anyone even suspected that's his phalactery and not just a holy symbol?