BBEG: a stalking lich...

[Zeruel]

So guys, I've been planning on building a campaign around the idea of having the party followed in all their adventures by a very persistent enemy. And what's more creepy and dangerous than being stalked by a lich?

I figured the party to find a crypt where a lich has been "partially" defeated, shortly before, by some tomb raiders; there, with the right skill checks, they could access a secret treasure room where, among some items and money, the lich's phylactery (disguised as a common/magic item) lies. While traveling, if the party choose to keep the item, the lich could amboush the PCs along the road every time he resurrects; otherwise, if they sell it, they could learn some days later that the place where they sold the item has been devastated by some unknown evil force.

I think that a concept like this could scare the hell out of my players, but I never attempted something similar, that's why I need some help...

1. What is the perfect item that could be disguised as a phylactery? Maybe a useful item, difficult to depart from (like a ring or a necklace), or a common and unsuspectable one (like a coin)?

2. What are good ways to avoid/protect from identification the phylactery? I looked at the lich section inside Liber Mortis, but I'm searching for a smart and non-magical way to hide its nature.

3. If the PCs sell the item, how can I make them retrieve it again unnoticingly?

4. How and how long can I keep up the facade without them suspecting what's actually going on?

Thanks in advance, hope you can give me some personal advices, too! :smallsmile:

P.S.: as always, forgive me if I'm unclear by some means... :smalltongue:

[John Longarrow]

1) Most liches use a tiny object as their phylactery, normally some small box. This is hidden by a LOT of tricks (nystul's magic aura, putting it inside of something else, having it plated with a cheap material, ect...) Having it inside of something the players will want / want to keep would be the easiest.

2) Best way to have the players find it and take it but not recognize it is to have it sitting in plain site, but have it be something the previous group didn't grab for one reason or another. The 'icky' way to do this would be to have it inside the skeletal remains of one of the liches henchmen. When the first group came through they killed the guy but didn't gut him to look inside his corpse

For something the players will probably want to keep, make it a brooch that produces attire like a rod of splendor does. This would be something most players would be loathed to part with since its cool to pimp out on command. Pretty unique but not game changing.

[ExLibrisMortis]

3.5 rules on phylacteries forbid them being enchanted (besides the soul-trapping bit). That is, you can't have a phylactery that's also a headband of intellect, or similar. The rule is a bit of a double-edged sword, where PCs are concerned. On the one hand, there's no real reason to keep the trinket around, because it doesn't do anything; on the other hand, it's a highly magical trinket that can't be identified, so it's probably Plot and Relevant. If your players threaten to throw it out, you can always introduce a rich collector or magic pawnbrokers in the City of Convenient Plot Distance.

[Nibbens]

3.5 rules on phylacteries forbid them being enchanted (besides the soul-trapping bit). That is, you can't have a phylactery that's also a headband of intellect, or similar. The rule is a bit of a double-edged sword, where PCs are concerned. On the one hand, there's no real reason to keep the trinket around, because it doesn't do anything; on the other hand, it's a highly magical trinket that can't be identified, so it's probably Plot and Relevant. If your players threaten to throw it out, you can always introduce a rich collector or magic pawnbrokers in the City of Convenient Plot Distance.

If you're tying to get this to work, first: as a DM, I'd rule zero this one about the phylactery being enchanted. Or, at the very least store the phylactery inside an item, like the gemstone of a ring.

Second, I'd make the ring a ring of protection + whatever is better than what they have at the moment. And to cover the whole phylactery mess, the ring is enchanted the stone (which is the phylactery) is not. This will ensure that the players keep it for quite a while, as rings of protection usually get passed down from the player who needs it the most to the next as the PCs find better.

Third, profit. You have your item covertly stashed among the PCs for a long time and ample opportunity for a loch to start harassing them.

Caveat - I'd make sure to give them an opportunity to figure it out after about the second time or so, just to get some use out of the situation you've created and to be fair to the players.

Lastly, never ever ever plan on your PCs not discovering it soon after the first attack or even before. PCs are a wily bunch...

[Deeds]

Isn't there some sort of silly trick involving an anti-magic field + bag of holding = regular bag until it leaves the AMF? The phylactery could be inside the bag of holding, and what PC decides to sell a bag of holding? Perhaps the previous tomb raiders failed to find the bag hidden under the body of henchman #12 and the PCs stumble upon it.

[Jack_Simth]

Isn't there some sort of silly trick involving an anti-magic field + bag of holding = regular bag until it leaves the AMF?
Yep. Put the Bag in an AMF, and it's a normal bag. Stuff something inside the normal bag. Take out of AMF. Bag now opens up into a nondimensional (or was it extradimensional? I forget...) space... not the inside of the physical bag. Makes it hard to find the phylactery.

The phylactery could be inside the bag of holding, and what PC decides to sell a bag of holding? Perhaps the previous tomb raiders failed to find the bag hidden under the body of henchman #12 and the PCs stumble upon it.A related method: Put a false floor in a portable hole, and put the phylactery under the false floor. Sovereign glue everything in place, and disguise the false floor to seem to be a normal portable hole floor. Requires an active search check to find.

People may get rid of Bags of Holding, because they have some weight, and are vulnerable to puncture. Portable Holes are a lot less likely to be sold, unless the party has a large number of them for some reason.