Taking a liches body

[Siah5]

So my question is this im a lvl 12 wizard and i had a idea to take a liches body and i wanted your opinion. So say i have magic jar scroll or anouther wizard does eaither one. And i had soul cage prepared. After we kill a lich i cast soul cage traping the soul if only for few mins if yourr a dm and think a lich so powerful it cant be trap for long that fine.after its trap i use scroll or anouther player cast spell magic jar to then enter the b9dy of the lich with no resistance cause its soul is not there. Then after that say we cast a spell to stop a body from being reanimated like my unconscious body that the lich might try to take if dm decided to try that. What u think is this possible?.

[JackPhoenix]

Neither Magic Jar nor Soul Cage works on a lich, because they can only target humanoid, not undead. Neither would work on a lich anyway, because lich's body doesn't contain its soul: the phylactery does.

[MaxWilson]

Neither Magic Jar nor Soul Cage works on a lich, because they can only target humanoid, not undead. Neither would work on a lich anyway, because lich's body doesn't contain its soul: the phylactery does.

You could in theory True Polymorph the lich into a humanoid and THEN Magic Jar it. It's unclear what would happen when the True Polymorph duration expires. Ask your DM, or try it and find out.

[Siah5]

The pollymorph idea sounds fun then it can be a battle of whos conciousnes can dominate the other lol.

[JackPhoenix]

You could in theory True Polymorph the lich into a humanoid and THEN Magic Jar it. It's unclear what would happen when the True Polymorph duration expires. Ask your DM, or try it and find out.

Not at level 12. And not if the Lich has legendary save use left. Also Counterspell.

[Asmotherion]

I don't remember if it still works like this in 5e, but in 3.5 a Destroyed Liches Body turnes to dust, until his phylactery produces a new body.

The body itself is Animated by Necromancy; The Liche's Soul inhibits the Phylactery.

The best way I can describe my understanding of this is: The Lich's Soul is bound and protected by the Phylactery, which needs to be fed some souls every so often. What you actually meet, the "Lich" is roughly like a Buffed-Up, Necromancy School Variant of the Simulacrum spell (only avalable to be cast by a Lich's Phylactery) of the original Caster, controled by the safety of the Phylactery, and that has all the abilities the Original Lich had as a Caster, as well as those granted by the Creature of Necromantic Energy that is created as a product of it.

The creature is under total control of the Phylactery, as would a Simulacrum be to it's Creator. It however is not the Lich; Merelly it's vesel, kinda like what an Avatar is to a Deity.

IMO, even if you could get control of a Lich's Body by the means you describe, you would merelly get control of the Undead Creature, not it's Casting Stats. It's Proficiency bonus and Mental stats would adjust to yours; You would loose access to it's Spells Known/prepared, but not it's spell slots. You would also retain any non-Legendary Actions it had. You would keep it's physical stats, but drop to your Own HD (at least that's how I'd Handle it).

[Siah5]

That sounds better then i hoped for lol ty for all the input it sounds like it be fun 😁

[Unoriginal]

Neither Magic Jar nor Soul Cage works on a lich, because they can only target humanoid, not undead. Neither would work on a lich anyway, because lich's body doesn't contain its soul: the phylactery does.

Actually, the soul is only in the Phylactery IF the Lich got "killed". Most of the time the soul is in the Lich's body.

You're right about the rest, though.


I don't remember if it still works like this in 5e, but in 3.5 a Destroyed Liches Body turnes to dust, until his phylactery produces a new body.

The body itself is Animated by Necromancy; The Liche's Soul inhibits the Phylactery.

The best way I can describe my understanding of this is: The Lich's Soul is bound and protected by the Phylactery, which needs to be fed some souls every so often. What you actually meet, the "Lich" is roughly like a Buffed-Up, Necromancy School Variant of the Simulacrum spell (only avalable to be cast by a Lich's Phylactery) of the original Caster, controled by the safety of the Phylactery, and that has all the abilities the Original Lich had as a Caster, as well as those granted by the Creature of Necromantic Energy that is created as a product of it.

The creature is under total control of the Phylactery, as would a Simulacrum be to it's Creator. It however is not the Lich; Merelly it's vesel, kinda like what an Avatar is to a Deity.


Not true.

In 5e, the Lich's soul is in their body, except when the body is destroyed or when the phylactery is created in the first place.

When they go to 0 HP, the soul leaves the body, which crumble in dust, and go to the phylactery where a new body is reconstituted, after what the soul moves in it.




IMO, even if you could get control of a Lich's Body by the means you describe, you would merelly get control of the Undead Creature, not it's Casting Stats. It's Proficiency bonus and Mental stats would adjust to yours; You would loose access to it's Spells Known/prepared, but not it's spell slots. You would also retain any non-Legendary Actions it had. You would keep it's physical stats, but drop to your Own HD (at least that's how I'd Handle it).

Aside from the HD thing, that's how RAW does it.