Plane of Acheron (Tintibulus) and a lich

[Sirithhyando]

Hi everyone,

It's the first time i make a connection to an other plane as a DM.
One of my player is our usual DM and i'm sure he'll try to corner me with this absurdity (to everyone pleasure i'm sure, myself included).

Anyway, there's a portal connecting to Tintibulus that's going to follow the group.

First, how do you close a portal? (it was open through a failed experiment and is bound to a character, it's connected on his head so anything from the plane can come out of it or the group can get in it too)

Second, a lich was bound to this plane but the portal opening freed him.

Right now, the group is in a pinch, so i thought the appearance of the lich might bring confusion enough to help the characters gain the upperhand though the lich would flee.

The group is unknowingly in the possession of the said lich philactery though they have no mean to destroy it. Since Tintibulus is the home of many wizard libraries, i thought one tome could tell them how to get rid of it.

I suppose the lich would be able to sense his philactery. The first time they got it, it was in an old ruin underground protected by a mythos that was weakening. The residual magic is still protecting the philactery from being scryed upon making the lich unable to find it yet.

So, my experience as a DM is very low and i'd like some advice for how to play/use the lich and the portal.

Thanks

[NecroDancer]

Well a Sphere Annihilation will take out a portal.

Maybe the portal requires a rare key to use? Or it has a specific time it can be used.

The Lich would immediately check the last place he knew his phylactery to be, If he can't find it there he would try to stay low until he found this phylactery (through daily scrying and detect thought to figure out who has seen it).

He would also probably look for clues where he last hid his phylactery (footprints, graffiti, etc). He would also go to a place of learning to figure out what happened in the world while he was gone.

[JackPhoenix]

The portal is entirely up to you, there's no precedent for that in the rules.

As for lich, by default fluff, he's on a timer: if he doesn't keep feeding souls to his phylactery, he'll weaken and eventually turn into demilich. He's also got reliable, though risky, way of finding his phylactery: if he "kills" himself, he'll reform next to the phylactery in few days. It may be a way to inform the characters the item they grabbed is a phylactery: it starts emit smoke which forms into a lich, which may be nasty surprise, depending how capable of defeating the lich they are.

[NecroDancer]

He's also got reliable, though risky, way of finding his phylactery: if he "kills" himself, he'll reform next to the phylactery in few days.

I forgot about that. I'd assume it would
be a "last resort" method.

[Sirithhyando]

Thanks for the answers

Any suggestion for a fun way to interact with the plane?
What if the characters decide to go within the plane? It's still the biggest library in the multi-verse.

This thing all started with a little sidequest i added to Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Maybe a way to help them through this particular quest would be fun too? Just thought they could find stories of heroes who tried to kill tiamat in the past, another sidequest for magical items to help them against dragons...

I'm just trying to get as many ideas before deciding on what to do. :smallbiggrin: (detrimental ideas or completly unrealated ideas are welcome too :smalltongue:)

[NecroDancer]

Well you can always check out planes of law from the 2e era to get info about Acheron.

The main faction that lives there are the mercykillers, a faction that believes justice can only be reached by killing the guilty. They hunt down and sentence criminals to death or prison work (enslavment). The mercykillers definition of crime can range from: "stealing a piece of bread to feed your family" to "murder", all crimes are equal and all punishments are the same. Check out Mimir.net to find out more about them.

The creatures of Acheron range from: Devils, githyanki, hellhounds, rust monsters, hobgoblins and my favorite: Rust Dragons.