Customising a Lich

[Silly Name]

As my current campaign progresses, PCs obviously grow in power. Last session they hit level 11, and are looking forward to taking revenge on old foes and confronting enemies previously too powerful for them.

This includes a lich, the very one I previously posted about (they survived! The whole city was destroyed, but they survived!). They recently managed to come into possession of an old tattered robe which had belong to the lich, and want to use it to have a wizard scry on the lich... If they do, they will find that he's currently in an underwater fortress, doing whatever liches do, and they will also learn that his philactery is there, although they won't be able to just tell exactly what it is and where it's located.
My party is quite good at dealing a lot of damage, however, and I'm worried a fight with a Monster Manual standard lich may be over too soon.

I do plan on the following precautions:


They'll have to fight through the lich's minions, traps and so on before being able to confront him directly
The lich will obviously be accompanied by some minions, although I still have to decide what type(s?) and how many
The lich will have some defenses already active, and I plan on giving him a couple magic items (bonus loot!)
He'll have maximised hit points (198)
There will be a complex, dynamic terrain when they face the lich.



Ragnar, Minotaur Totem Warrior with the Great Weapon Master feat. He has Winged Boots, a Belt of Dwarvenkind and a Stirring Dragon's Wrath Greataxe.

Luxar, Silver Dragonborn Vengeance Paladin, with the Polearm Master and Sentinel feats. Winged Boots, +1 Glaive, Pearl of Power.

Galatas, Human Battlemaster Fighter 7/Assassin Rogue 4, Sharpshooter and Poisoner feats. Has a Dragon Slayer Longbow, a Cloak of the Bat and Bracers of Archery.

Riku, Golden Dragonbornd Lore Bard 10/Abberant MindSorcerer 1. Support-focused... when he's not Fireballing hordes of enemies away. Inspiring Leader feat, relevant items are a Cape of the Mountebank, a Pearl of Power and a Fernian Wood Focus.

Erik, Human Stars Druid 10/Peace Cleric 1, Fey-touched and Telepathic feats. Owns a +1 Moon Sickle, a Flying Broom and will soon find himself in possesion of a Staff of the Woodlands. Focuses on support and battlefield control.

As you can see, they have quite the collection of magic items, since the campaign is between "standard" and "high magic" and they've spent some time crafting their own items or "liberating" them and quite a few of them were quest rewards (such as the Dragon's Wrath weapon, or the Staff of the Woodlands). That said, I don't expect them to acquire any comparably powerful magic item soon, as they are plenty powerful already - if the loot tables decree they will, they will.

They are incredibly good at combat, even if you took away their magic items. They strategise, synergise and use their features and spells effectively. I love them for this, but I also want to present satisfying challenges. I was thinking of outfitting the lich as follows: Eldritch Staff (from The Wild Beyond the Witchlight), Ring of Protection, Robe of Serpents (5 charges) since the lich doesn't really use his BA, I was thinking that dropping some snakes on the ground to act as extra bodies could be helpful, even if they don't last more than a single hit.

So, with all this in mind, how else would you costumise a lich that ought to face the party outlined above?. I would especially appreciate feedback on magic items (I plan on him having no more than three, though), accompanying minions and eventual changes to the spell list.

[Saelethil]

This looks like it'll be a fun encounter and I like what you've got so far.
My suggestions for minions would be a Wraith and a heavy handful of Shadows.
For spells I would probably swap out Acid Arrow for Tasha's Mind Whip and maybe add Toll The Dead, but the rest of the spells might not be the most powerful but they are thematic.
Something that might be fun would be to have the area dotted with large ornate pots filled with bones that the Lich will cast Animate Dead on throughout the battle. Maybe give it an amulet that lets it cast Animate Dead as a bonus action.

[Asmotherion]

Some Ideas:
-Paralysing Touch should be permanent. No further saves, just the 1 save when the Lich touches you. You fail that, you appear dead and need a Lesser Restoration cast on you to be able to move again.
-The phylactery should never be in the same place as the Lich. In fact, it should rarelly be at the same Plane. It should be enclosed inside a Demiplane only the Lich has access to.
-They want to use scrying tactics on the Lich? The Lich can do the same, once it's pissed at the PCs. Plus, the PCs tend to sleep, and the Lich can teleport to them when they are vulnerable.
-You can costumise a Lich's Spell selection as you would any other caster.
-Should everything else fail, use tactical advantage. The Lich can equip it's Skeleton Minions with Bows and Arrows. Or he can dress them up exactly as him, and cast spells like Mirror Image; The PCs will wonder who the Real Lich is, and this will buy some more turns to the Lich.
-Don't rely only on Animate Dead; Use spells like Danse Macabre.
-Make him do the smart thing every turn; The Lich is probably smarter than you (no offence, but they do tend to have 18-20 Int), so if you can think of something, he can too. Be it Casting a Wall spell to protect himself from attacks, to targeting the enemy caster with a heavy hitting spell so they will loose concentration on their spells. And there is also Black Tentacles that can potentially incapacitate the whole group. Tons of options.

...This will truelly feel like a memorable encounter IMO. Is it too dangerous? Sure, but in my oppinion, a Boss Monster like a Lich should never feel like an easy win.

[Ionathus]

Liches struggle hard with action economy and spellbook "analysis paralysis" -- it's entirely possible for a lich to cast a total of 3 cool spells before dying. Your top priority should be making full use of every tool at your disposal to give the lich different things to do.

Lair actions and legendary actions are a good start, but don't rely on just the RAW ones -- they're pretty anemic, you'll probably only get/remember to use one or two. Matt Colville's Action-Oriented Monsters (https://youtu.be/y_zl8WWaSyI) is a helpful resource for tweaking a boss's action economy to create a more dynamic fight.

Choose magic items for the lich that provide useful bonus actions and reactions -- something a lich is sorely lacking in.

Definitely add in minions - plenty of low-level undead and maybe a few lieutenants. As Asmotherion said, Danse Macabre at the right moment will feel very dramatic and "classic necromancer".

Design the lair to be multi-level and convoluted, so the PCs have to fight to get to the lich all while it gets to drop spells on them from above.

Add in traps -- damage is okay, but "obstacle" traps that slow or redirect or impose status effects are probably better, because then the Lich gets to deal the damage and there's a sense of pacing to the fight and an opportunity to prevent "all the PCs dogpile the Lich and it crumbles."


-Paralysing Touch should be permanent. No further saves, just the 1 save when the Lich touches you. You fail that, you appear dead and need a Lesser Restoration cast on you to be able to move again.

I agree with most of your points but not this one. Paralysis sucks as a player, especially in a final dramatic fight. Missing even one turn -- with the potential for more if you keep whiffing -- is a big enough punishment. I have missed out on an entire campaign's final boss fight with a lich because of a paralysis effect (Power Word Stun followed by 2 subsequent failed saves). It was no fun and I would not recommend it.

[Oramac]

snip

So, with all this in mind, how else would you costumise a lich that ought to face the party outlined above?. I would especially appreciate feedback on magic items (I plan on him having no more than three, though), accompanying minions and eventual changes to the spell list.

I had more or less this exact issue when I was writing a deadly 20th level one-shot with a lich as the big bad. In addition to the changes below, I had him accompanied by 2-4 Death Knights (depending on the party).

I came up with the following changes for the lich:


He has 254 hit points (25d8+54) [frankly, even the max HP in the MM just flat isn't enough.]
He has Dominate Person prepared instead of Scrying
He is attuned to a Robe of the Archmagi, Book of Vile Darkness, and an Ioun Stone of Mastery, which he has on his person. The Book of Vile Darkness is slung over his shoulder by an adamantine chain.
Because of the above items, his Intelligence score increases to 24, spell Save DC to 25, Spell attack bonus to +17, AC to 18, and his saving throws are: Con +11, Int +15, Wis +10.
He has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
While attuned to the Book of Vile Darkness, he is blinded and deafened when more than 10 feet from it, and all holy water within 10 feet of him is destroyed.
The long term madness effect imposed by the book has worn off by the time the players reach him.


If your group is less than 20th level, you can scale to taste. I've run this a few times for parties of 4-5 players and it's been a solid encounter. Usually I've had one PC death and the rest on their last threads when they finally win.

[Mastikator]

Swap out some spells for the lich. Replace Blight with Private Sanctum, the lich has cast that spell every day on its lair for a year. The lich's lair has all the effects. Players can't scry on the lich while the lich is in his lair. The phylactery is in a different location also protected by the same spell.
Second swap out Power Word Stun for Feeblemind, it lasts longer and is WAY nastier, but also less boring.
Swap out Power Word Kill for Meteor Swarm.
Swap out Dimension Door for Greater Invisibility, which the lich has precast.

The lich should have mirror image and greater invisibility both precast, this makes them very difficult to actually target with an attack.

The lich has a Deathlock Mastermind minion, their primary objective is to cast dispel magic on the party if they buff themselves. And a regular Deathlock, their job is to hit the players with Hunger of Hadar. Finally a Boneclaw minion is there to soak attacks and to disrupt the players plans, for example by dragging/teleporting players into Hunger of Hadar or Darkness where they are grappled and must use their action to escape.

And of course the lich should counterspell any fireballs the party throws their way.

The lich could also send the boneclaw to attack the players while they are vulnerable, the lich scries on his own minion and observes the players. The boneclaw regens 1d10 days after near the lich and rejoins.

[JackPhoenix]

The lich is in an underwater fortress, isn't he? Just being underwater changes things a lot. Disadvantage for most weapon, limited range, resistance to fire (all of that sounds like great counter to the listed party), just the need to breathe there (and if you're using a spell, it can be dispelled), ability to move in 3 dimensions thanks to swimming (unless you're wearing heavy armor or are a skeleton with no buoyant flesh)...

If the lair isn't flooded, it should be, if not from the beginning, then the lich should blow up a wall or something to flood the place. On the second thought, it may be better if the place *isn't* flooded at the start of the battle... that way, there's a chance the invaders will need to provide their water breathing magic mid-battle, when it can be counterspelled or simply ruined by the inability to provided verbal components while they are drowning.

[Sigreid]

So the lich is an idiot that never bothered to private sanctum his lair?

[Mastikator]

So the lich is an idiot that never bothered to private sanctum his lair?

Arcane Sanctum his lair. Arcane lock his locks. Glyph of Warding all over the place. Alarm his rooms. Teleportation circle his innermost lair rooms. Etc etc. Any wizard worth his salt should do all of that.

[Zhorn]

Spells to take and cast in order:
Time Stop (Lv9)
Force Cage (Lv7)
Sickening Radiance (Lv4)
Dimension Door/Teleport/Plane Shift (Optional)

The Time Stop opener to set up the combo with as little interruption as possible. 1d4+1 means the key steps will work even on the lowest result of 2.

Force Cage to captures as many of the party as possible, or prioritising the targets that don't have easy answers (20 INT; smart lich should realistically know this). Doesn't directly effect the party so Time Stop continues.

Sickening Radiance on the Force Cage's Area. The spell doesn't effect creatures till the start of their turn, so again Time Stop can continue (assuming you got higher than a 2).

From here on it's just a matter of how cruel your Lich is.
But generally speaking the Lich has won the fight once they get that successful Time Stop, just use a teleport of your choice to get out of retaliation range of the party, taking the phylactery and holding concentration as long as possible.
An 11th level party should have answers to this, so it shouldn't be a TPK. But the fight is over.
What it does do is humbles an unprepared party thinking they can just waltz in and fight the lich without a good strategy for locking it down.
The Lich is functionally immortal, and is better off outlasting their opponents with the passage of time than risking it in a fair fight.

If the party isn't taking the hint to leave them alone; scrying on where their homes/loved ones are and dropping a Meteor Swarm as a warning that if the Lich ever knows they are coming again, this is the type of response that'll be dished out.

[Silly Name]

First of all, thank you all who replied and gave their opinion!



For spells I would probably swap out Acid Arrow for Tasha's Mind Whip and maybe add Toll The Dead, but the rest of the spells might not be the most powerful but they are thematic.

Mind Whip is definitely a good call, and I also like the idea of having Toll The Dead as an alternative cantrip option, especially for his Legendary Action.



Something that might be fun would be to have the area dotted with large ornate pots filled with bones that the Lich will cast Animate Dead on throughout the battle. Maybe give it an amulet that lets it cast Animate Dead as a bonus action.

Hm, zombie-spawning pots sounds fun. Maybe as an alternative Lair Action, rather than as a B.A.?



-The phylactery should never be in the same place as the Lich. In fact, it should rarelly be at the same Plane. It should be enclosed inside a Demiplane only the Lich has access to.

Let's just say that I have some plans for the phylactery - it will be challenging to even discover, and even more to harm.


-They want to use scrying tactics on the Lich? The Lich can do the same, once it's pissed at the PCs. Plus, the PCs tend to sleep, and the Lich can teleport to them when they are vulnerable.

Oh, already has been keeping tabs on them - some of them will be getting a fun Dream very soon... But the lich isn't terribly concerned with killing the PCs right now.


-Should everything else fail, use tactical advantage. The Lich can equip it's Skeleton Minions with Bows and Arrows. Or he can dress them up exactly as him, and cast spells like Mirror Image; The PCs will wonder who the Real Lich is, and this will buy some more turns to the Lich.

Skeletons will have their bow and arrows available, and the lich will certainly start the battle with Mirror Image on.



Design the lair to be multi-level and convoluted, so the PCs have to fight to get to the lich all while it gets to drop spells on them from above.

Add in traps -- damage is okay, but "obstacle" traps that slow or redirect or impose status effects are probably better, because then the Lich gets to deal the damage and there's a sense of pacing to the fight and an opportunity to prevent "all the PCs dogpile the Lich and it crumbles."

I'm also working on the lair design. It's definitely gonna be quite big, and with its cool traps and obstacles. I even plan on some traps that may possibly split the party forcibly for a little while.




He has 254 hit points (25d8+54) [frankly, even the max HP in the MM just flat isn't enough.]
[...]
He is attuned to a Robe of the Archmagi, Book of Vile Darkness, and an Ioun Stone of Mastery, which he has on his person. The Book of Vile Darkness is slung over his shoulder by an adamantine chain.
Because of the above items, his Intelligence score increases to 24, spell Save DC to 25, Spell attack bonus to +17, AC to 18, and his saving throws are: Con +11, Int +15, Wis +10.
He has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.



I'm definitely taking the increased HP you suggest into account. I ran some calculations, and just a couple of good rounds from the Paladin may obliterate the lich, so he def needs more HP.

Fun fact about the Book of Vile Darkness, it had been a core element of the previous campaign (different characters, same world), and the PCs of that campaign managed to destroy it (IIRC, it's not going to reform before 50 in-game years)... So not an option, sadly, but the Robe of the Archmagi is a nice touch.


The lich has a Deathlock Mastermind minion, their primary objective is to cast dispel magic on the party if they buff themselves. And a regular Deathlock, their job is to hit the players with Hunger of Hadar. Finally a Boneclaw minion is there to soak attacks and to disrupt the players plans, for example by dragging/teleporting players into Hunger of Hadar or Darkness where they are grappled and must use their action to escape.

And of course the lich should counterspell any fireballs the party throws their way.

The lich could also send the boneclaw to attack the players while they are vulnerable, the lich scries on his own minion and observes the players. The boneclaw regens 1d10 days after near the lich and rejoins.

Love this little undead posse. Definitely gonna include it!


If the lair isn't flooded, it should be, if not from the beginning, then the lich should blow up a wall or something to flood the place. On the second thought, it may be better if the place *isn't* flooded at the start of the battle... that way, there's a chance the invaders will need to provide their water breathing magic mid-battle, when it can be counterspelled or simply ruined by the inability to provided verbal components while they are drowning.

My plan was to have large parts of the lair be dry, just for the convenience of the lich's own private collections and minions, but I definitely like the idea of him smashing a wall during the final fight to flood the room!


So the lich is an idiot that never bothered to private sanctum his lair?

The interior of the lair is completely secure from scrying and teleportation, but the "outer area" isn't. The PCs have caught a glimpse of a fortress somewhere in the depths of the ocean, and actually entering it isn't gonna be easy.

[Mastikator]

In the future, please tell us how it went.

I expect the players to win, that's their job. But I want to know how!

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Vary the water depth and transparency throughout the dungeon. Make it so creatures can affect that somehow (raising/lowering the water level, using an ink capsule to make it suddenly impossible to see, etc.). A flooded room with a room-size floating block of ice that the enemies empty out suddenly to lower the ice block onto the party to trap them, for example.

Many rooms can have just waist-deep water, which will make it difficult terrain to slow their progress or use up flying time. Make the water murky, traps are almost impossible to find if they can't be seen so they would likely need to fly over the water to be safe, but the ceiling puts them into a cramped space for disadvantage on almost everything. Put holes in the floor through which grabby beasts try to yank intruders under, preferably during a fight. Have rooms that have a wooden floor above the water, but it's old and rotting away and there's spots that they'll easily fall through into much deeper water with more grabby beasts.

Lower rooms are completely flooded, water is so murky that they're effectively blind. Animated objects, oozes, various fiends, and other creatures that have blindsight and don't necessarily need to breathe are perfect for this, even at low CRs, especially if you mix in assassin vine seaweed.

Freezing Sphere is a cute spell that can really mix things up. It says if it strikes a body of water it freezes it to a depth of 6 inches, but that's assuming it goes off above the surface of the water. If it were to go off underwater, I'd say the spell's area would be halved to a 30-ft. radius, but freeze the entire area solid, trapping anyone inside. It would also start floating to the top, taking them with it, and if it floats up against something it will likely rotate as it rises. Try to get someone half-trapped inside with their legs sticking out to make it hilarious.

The CR 6 Mage in the core rules can be a Sahuagin or Bullywug or any other amphibious humanoid and you can swap Fly for Dispel Magic. These can disrupt any water breathing spells the party casts, making things even more difficult. Swap in Black Tentacles and Transmute Rock, so they'll have some thematic crowd control and a method of removing a wall or floor to quickly flood or empty a room when needed. In fact, casting Transmute Rock on the floor in even a partially flooded room with an unflooded room below would likely force a strength save to avoid being swept away.

[Oramac]

In the future, please tell us how it went.

I expect the players to win, that's their job. But I want to know how!

Yes please! I would love to hear the story as well!

[Silly Name]

I'll make sure to post a update when the party gets around to confronting a lich - currently, we're on a "detour" to the Astral Plane (actually the main plot of the campaign, although it does have ties to the lich), and I expect it to last a couple more sessions. After that, we'll see if the PCs will try to go and face the lich directly.