Where does a lich resurrect?

[Albions_Angel]

Hi all

So a party kills a lich/dry lich. But they havnt found the philactory or canopic jars. After a time, the lich resurrects. Where? At the site of death? With the object? Anywhere it pleases? Somewhere random?

Thanks

[ExLibrisMortis]

It doesn't say. It's a known issue, and the devs are hard at work to... ah dammit. Presumably, since none of the text says you move, you regrow where you died, or possibly where your body is.

[Britsky]

I thought traditionally they resurrect at their phylactery?

[weckar]

Traditionally yes. It's sometimes even used as a tactic to recover a lost phylactery. There is however no rule specification regarding it.

[Alcibiades]

A quick google returns this (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031212a):


Once the phylactery has been completed, the lich can avoid permanent destruction as long as her phylactery survives. If she dies or is destroyed, she reappears 1d10 days after her old body's death. She gains her new physical form by grafting her undead spirit to a humanoid corpse, mindless undead, or some weak-minded creature within a few miles of her phylactery. The new body has all the abilities and powers of her old one, though any items she used to carry are lost (probably taken by those who slew her old body). Likewise, any spells or effects bound to her old body with permanency do not spontaneously appear on her new one. Most liches who recover from death spend a year or more tracking down their items and learning more about their attackers, and it is not unusual for a lich to wait decades before exacting her revenge.

Of course that raises a bunch of new questions, but I agree with Britsky that traditionally they resurrect near their phylactery.

[Segev]

Dracolilches specifically possess a new corpse or undead. Liches...had no rules for it, but that article linked in the post above indicates at least some writers think they should.

I am inclined to agree: let them possess a new corpse or unintelligent undead. It takes 1d10 days to find a suitable one (possibly somewhat related to the distance from their phylactery the body is).