Help? Feel like I’m missing something...

Okay, so I am relatively new to Pathfinder and I feel like I’ve been missing something obvious in the current campaign. A bit of history...

We are an adventuring group that ran across an “evil” Necromancer, but one of our group decided to make friends with him instead. We left his city and accidentally set loose a powerful Druid. We headed back and were able to warn him but he was not able to escape and she killed him. However due to our warning he was able to tie his soul to an artifact and come back as a lich. He has since been a consistent side presence and helpful ally throughout the game so far, attempting to set up a sanctuary for the undead in the world to live in peace next to the living. Now however, the artifact has apparently reached a new power tier and has kind of taken over and suppressed his personality for its own goals. We know how to destroy the artifact but what I am looking for is if there is any way to separate his soul from the artifact before destroying it so he can be returned to his previous friendly lich form... any suggestions?

That isn't something that is going to have an answer outside of the specific campaign you are in. In other words, whether it is possible or not is entirely up to your GM.

If your character is interested in saving the lich, then you would have to find out the answers to such questions within the game. Asking notable scholars is possible. Some magics like commune can help provide information.

My guess would be that he was able to shortcut the process to becoming a lich by using an artifact as a phylactory, and now he and that phylactory are going to be inextricably linked.

From what I’ve been able to find out, that’s exactly what he did... using the artifact as a phylactory (just couldn’t come up with the right word). Is there any way to destroy a phylactory without destroying the soul tied to it? Or a way to unlink the soul first? Maybe forcibly shift it to another phylactory?

If not, I guess we will just continue to research in game... I had been getting the feeling that he thought that the solution to save the lich was obvious and the challenge was finding a way to destroy the artifact and the only person in the world who has a decent chance of succeeding...

Usually destroying a phylactery does not harm the lich if it is not currently destroyed. Only if the lich is first "killed" and then the phylactery destroyed, the lich is gone for good. So as long as you have not destroyed your "friend" he should be fine if you destroy the phylactery.

But since this whole thing is so much GM dependent, I accept no responsibility about the outcome of following my advice :-D

"The only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery."

It doesn't say specifically that destroying a phylactery kills the lich, but in many (I'd say most) of the source literature where this sort of monster appears destroying the phylactery causes its undead existence to cease. The soul, no longer bound the the phylactery is free to move on to its eternal reward.

In any event, a lich without its phylactery would not be able to rejuvenate and it certainly seems to me that while creating a vessel suitable for a phylactery is not horribly difficult, making a 'new' phylactery and binding the now unbound soul to it is probably not possible. Again, it doesn't say this directly, but the intent certainly seems clear that a particular phylactery and the lich are inextricably bound.

So even if the lich wasn't immediately killed by the loss of his phylactery he would lose his immortality.

But of course how I see it doesn't matter nearly as much as how your GM sees it. And the way to find that out is to ask questions (or, if you or another member are skilled enough make some knowledge religion rolls.) It is indeed possible that your GM thinks it is an obvious and simple answer, and if that is the case then asking a few questions should indeed reveal that answer.

Put more ranks in sense motive

More seriously, the rules don t answer that question so your dm will have to.

You might have to give him a spare phylactery. Possibly by defeating a different lich. This sounds like a quest you would want to talk to your DM/GM about. Your lich ally got his lichdom from a story item, so another story item will probably be needed to keep him around.

Or you could find a way to make him a demilich. What could possibly go wrong???

find a way to siphon his soul to a new item that will act as a phylactery then destroy the original