Gazakazan |
Hello. The title says it all. I'm working on the main villain for my next campaign and looking for a few ideas to really make him POP and stand out! The only real information I have in stone is that the Lich currently working on rituals and incantations regarding Spirits, which is part of the overall story.
If you know any good books, movies, forums, whatever, etc, just let me know, or post your own ideas.
Thanks
tonyz |
Look at Glen Cook's Black Company series -- the Dominator and the Ten Who Were Taken aren't quite liches, but they're pretty close (ancient very powerful spellcasters buried for centuries and now brought back), and they're all very memorable.
Physical description.
Odd habits.
Signature spells.
Past history players can get hold of with the right Knowledge checks.
Porphyrogenitus |
The lich could be a child. How does a child become a lich? This one died young (creepy-young), when his/her/its family was attacked by (a demon? an unspeakable bloody horror? Another, now destroyed, lich's minions?)
It was reanimated by its slayer as some form of intelligent undead and used as a creepy enforcer in that undead's plots (again, it could have been a previous lich). Over aeons in the service of this critter, it gained spellcasting levels.
Ultimately it hatched a devious plot; despite being under the (sometimes intermittent) control of its undead liege, it hatched a plot to both destroy said liege, and get itself reborn as a lich (going through all the preparations aspirant liches need). It managed to dupe adventurers into destroying the liege, and "destroying" itself.
It was then reborn from its phylactery and launched its unlife as an independent undead, further growing in power. Since gaining independence, it has sought to research spirits - as part of a misty dream, buried in its own mind, of reuniting itself with its long-lost, long-dead parents.
However it is fated to be forever foiled in this goal, because its parents have passed on to the upper planes and ascended into the ranks of celestials. However, its researches have gained it significant prowess when it comes to spirits.
Said celestial parents gently nudge the characters, surreptitiously, on their adventures against this lich. They hope that not only will the adventurers destroy their now undead child, but find a way to free and redeem its soul from the corruption of undeath. Whether this is even possible is up to the DM, whether the characters even bother with this part is up to the PCs.
In any case, said lich usually uses magic to take the form of a small child reminiscent of its appearance in life, floating in the air, with a creepy atmosphere around it. When it wants to it can simply appear as a normal child, and thus "harmless," or pose as the pawn of another, meek and innocent.
The Black Bard |
Sounds kinda voodoo to me, with the spirits and such. Try the villain from Princess and the Frog. He could sing a lot, almost maniacally, as if clutching at his lost mortality with a madman's desperation.
Picture a lich dressed in a fine suit with a top hat, twirling a cane as it dances and sings around its workshop, with the shadows themselves singing harmony. He invades personal spaces with the confidence of a charismatic seducer, despite being nothing more than bone and hate. He binds spirits, but they bind him as well. They could be the forces that power his phylactery, granting him eternal existance but denying him life. Perhaps he failed grievously with a previous bargain, and this is his punishment?
Or...
Boredom. Absolute boredom. He has seen it all before. In life, he was a brilliant tactician, and he predicted his enemies moves in advance to their great misfortune. With immortality and the experience of the ages behind him, nothing remains to hold his interest. He has seen it all. Man, dwarf, elf, goblin, orc, angel and devil, hero and villian. They have all raised sword and spell against him, but they have all failed because they were predictable. He would yearn for a surprise if he believed one yet existed. He binds the spirits of his enemies, exploring alternative scenarios with them in hopes they might have had a thought he had not forseen, but he is always disappointed.
But if you should succeed somehow, and truly surprise him, would he respond with ancient, forgotten joy? A childlike thrill that exults in the surprise, the sudden upset? Might he break off combat and reward those who have awoken such long dormant feelings?
Or might he fly into rage, startled for a moment and then threatened by the fundamental shake of the foundation of his being? That he, the tactician, the predictor, the one who has seen it all before, might have been incorrect? His tactics flawed? His experience incomplete? Could this insufferable idea throw him into madness, believing that his eternal memory is failing him rather than accept he was surprised? And what of the poor souls who prompt this damage to his psyche?
+5 Toaster |
Whats the target Cr. Any living creature can become a lich, and chances are the players will expect one from a humanoid race once their characters hear about it. Pick a target CR and see what interesting creatures you can come up with. Assuming 11 spell caster levels here are some examples
Lamia cr19
Harpy cr17
Green hag cr 18
Janni cr17 (yes outsiders technically qualify, that should make your players double take)
Djinni cr18
Gargoyle cr 17
Dryad cr 16 ( throwing a species thats normally good at them will also make the lich more memorable, provided a good reason was given. Power hungry usuall works)
Any ancient dragon, for those epic encounters. Bonus you dont even need class levels.
Any demons/devils, for obvious power seeking reasons.
Dark creeper/stalker at 15 to 17 cr respectively.
And of course the lich combo from 3.5 my players still talk about, the Aboleth lich (CR20). He kept his phylactery at the bottom of a flooded cave.
Started with a unique concept nd building a rich personality on top of that will keep your players intrigued and entertained.
Dragnfly |
I had a Lich once in a different system who was a fairly swell guy. Obsessed, and it basically boiled down to the Lich's goals prevented the player's goals, but both could be seen as "Good" goals. After he was defeated, two players actually tried to find a way to achieve both their goals to honour him. I was pretty touched by that sentiment.
He's been brought up in gaming conversations a few times since, and I was very pleased to hear somebody who didn't know he was my creation, to bring him up very favourably. So the story actually travelled from one group to another.
Gazakazan |
tonyz: Funny story, true story. That is next on my reading list. I will make sure to keep an eye out for those characters.
The Black Bard: I really like that style, Suit, top hat, cane, and lots of crazy singing and dancing. Sounds like the right track for one of the liches.
+5 Toaster: I love it. I love it. Although I have never really made a non-standard race villain, with class levels and templates, so I got a lot of reading to do.
hoku |
Try the trassque trapped in the crystal lich, a wizard trapped it for the good of the realm and lost his party trying to complete the ritual. He or she is now on the run from cults wanting to unleash it many years later. have him summon his now dead adventuring pals for support as intelligent undead (combat support or moral support be cause of side effects of negative energy)