Shared Phylacteries?

[Inevitability]

Hello playgrounders!

Just a question for an upcoming campaign of mine, but can the same phylactery be shared by multiple liches? Are there any examples of this in books, adventures or novels?

The edition doesn't matter, I am just trying to get some nice fluff ideas.

[Menevalgor]

I don't know of any examples of this but I don't see any reason why you couldn't do it. As for fluff you could use any number of "dark rituals" or "arcane rites" or whatever you want to embellish it.

Perhaps the liches were trying to force one another to cooperate or someone else wanted to weaken them by binding them together through their phylacteries so that they could all be destroyed at once or something.

[Inevitability]

These particular liches were good friends/brothers (haven't decided yet) who created their phylactery together to prove their friendship. Later on, they became bitter enemies and things got... interesting.

[Gildedragon]

Well a way that things could go is they have each multiple phylacteries (lets say 2 and 2) one which is a vessel, the other an object. In their vessel phylacteries they store each other's object.
Cuter yet: their vessel phylacteries are sealed riverine intelligent objects, and their other philactery(ies) are spellblades that prevent riverine's destruction.

[Alejandro]

If I were a lich, I personally would never do such a thing. Your most precious and vital possession could be destroyed by someone trying to take out an entirely different lich, that may not even be aware you exist. Why take such an awful risk?

[Amidus Drexel]

If I were a lich, I personally would never do such a thing. Your most precious and vital possession could be destroyed by someone trying to take out an entirely different lich, that may not even be aware you exist. Why take such an awful risk?

If the ritual was easier and you trusted the person? Plus, people do all sorts of irrational things - not everything is planned out and logical.

[Erik Vale]

I don't think you can make one object be the phylactery of two lichs unless you combined it after construction. I'm pretty sure you cant make magic objects your phylactery, not that it stops altering later...
Bonus points if you manage to turn your phylactery into a artifact.

[Alejandro]

If the ritual was easier and you trusted the person? Plus, people do all sorts of irrational things - not everything is planned out and logical.

Well, becoming a lich is a very extensive process that likely involves a huge amount of planning, and certainly isn't done impromptu.

[Benthesquid]

If nothing else, their Phylacteries could be two parts of the same thing- perhaps two gems set into the same necklace, or two stone blocks built into the same castle.

[GAA]

What if you had two litches that were very good friends when they were younger. Like they're all evil and everything but they still have a trust/friendship to the other. So their phylactery is one of those heart necklaces that combine together. Nobody would ever suspect. Not exactly the same but it spurred on that idea.

[veti]

Strangely enough, I was thinking about this just the other day when replaying the Neverwinter Nights module 'Demon'.

At the very end, a villain - to avoid spoilers, let's call him 'Boss' - is in the process of lichifying himself with the help of some kind of undead spellcaster (call him 'Skull'). Now, Skull tells Boss that his phylactery will be his (i.e. Skull's staff), and Boss, being apparently either desperate or very trusting, goes with it. In the end you get to pick up and break the staff, and only then can you kill Boss once and for all.

You kill Skull as well, obviously - to get the staff - and he doesn't come back. It's not clear whether Skull is a lich (and if so, whether the staff is also his phylactery), but I can't think what else he could be, and there must be a reason why he doesn't come back either, right? (Unless his phylactery is elsewhere, and he just has more sense than to show his bony face again after I've punched his teeth out once.)

So this might, depending on interpretation, be an example of what you're asking about. It's pretty tenuous, though.

[Slipperychicken]

Can't they just make their own private phylacteries afterward if they don't like the old one? Is there anything preventing liches from owning multiple phylacteries?

[Erik Vale]

RAW: No, but I don't think they'd be useful.
RAI [I think]: Yes, you can only have one, unless you can cast the epic spell to make your phylactery into phylacteries.

[Leviting]

just take two phylacteries, and duct tape them together... problem solved?
Then, of course, seal them in riverine coated in lava coated in more riverine teleported to a private (timeless) demiplane...

[Fable Wright]

Hello playgrounders!

Just a question for an upcoming campaign of mine, but can the same phylactery be shared by multiple liches? Are there any examples of this in books, adventures or novels?

The edition doesn't matter, I am just trying to get some nice fluff ideas.

Reading the description of becoming a lich from the Encyclopedia Magica, sure. The phylactery can explicitly be enchanted by anyone before the final step of the process, which merely involves the casting of a 5th level version of Gentle Repose followed in the next round by Magic Jar. If the two liches candidates use Cooperative Spell on the two spells, they could share the phylactery at no additional cost to either of them, in addition to splitting the crafting costs between them. To boot, the phylactery would also get double hit points based on the fluff in Encyclopedia Magica. There's also an odd tidbit about liches being spawned: Namely, the first time they die, they need a freshly dead corpse within 30ft of their phylactery to spawn. This doesn't have to be their own corpse. You could either work into their relationship an intentional body-swap or an accidental one on their first death.

[Cikomyr]

just take two phylacteries, and duct tape them together... problem solved?
Then, of course, seal them in riverine coated in lava coated in more riverine teleported to a private (timeless) demiplane...

That removes the entire point of making such a sweet dramatic MacGuffin.

Come on. Two ex-friends who let Undeath and the ages turn them into bitter enemies. But neither can truly annihilate the other without dooming himself as well. Kudos for the idea, OP. It's such a fantastic campaign potential.