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Here is the question: Can a Golem itself act as a Phylactery for a Lich? The only reason I bring it up is due to the fact that most Golems seem to be immune to Magic (or at least any that allows for spell resistance.)
I am currently writing a campaign and had an interesting idea for an encounter.
Basically, the party stumbles across a Lich who has turned an inactive/incomplete/ancient Golem into his phylactery, but has yet to transport it to a safe location out of his current lair. After defeating said Lich in combat, they revel in their glory and start looting the lair. Several minutes later, the Golem (now controlled by the spirit of the Lich) breaks into the room in a fury attempting to slay his weakened attackers with his new metal body or force the party to retreat so he may leave and reconstitute while plotting revenge.
Thanks in advance for any input.
I see no particular reason why not (especially considering the oft-referenced Rule of Cool, which definitely applies here), though it seems wiser for the lich to have the golem have an escape route. It would make his phylactery near-impossible to recover.
To ensure that the PCs have a clue, and a chance to stop the golem from escaping, consider having the lich have left some of his phylactery plans lying around. They see the picture, realize what's going on, and can try to catch up before the Golem escapes.
Hell yes.
::scribbles note on pad titled "Ways to Pound PCs"::
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If the golem is a phylactery, does that make it a Phylactery Golem?
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It says that the phylactery is created with the Craft Wondrous Item feat, dunno if it can apply with the Craft Construct feat.
Still, hiding a small box INSIDE a golem would still work.
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It says that the phylactery is created with the Craft Wondrous Item feat, dunno if it can apply with the Craft Construct feat.
Still, hiding a small box INSIDE a golem would still work.
I'd be tempted to go with this, if only to also avoid quarrels over whether the golem's magical resistance could interfere with making it a phylactery. Make the phylactery, then construct the golem around it :)
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I'd be tempted to go with this, if only to also avoid quarrels over whether the golem's magical resistance could interfere with making it a phylactery. Make the phylactery, then construct the golem around it :)It says that the phylactery is created with the Craft Wondrous Item feat, dunno if it can apply with the Craft Construct feat.
Still, hiding a small box INSIDE a golem would still work.
I honestly never thought about merging a previously made phylactery into a golem during construction.
I dunno about rules-legal, but putting a phylactery inside a golem is something I've done before.
More fun ... conceal the phylactery inside a valuable magic item of some sort that the party will want.
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Sure, and that makes sense, too. The original Hebrew Golem was activated by putting a scroll inside its mouth, so you've got shades of that with the phylactery.
Better question: can a phylactery act as a golem?
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I dunno about rules-legal, but putting a phylactery inside a golem is something I've done before.
More fun ... conceal the phylactery inside a valuable magic item of some sort that the party will want.
Phylactery in the pommel of a sword. Took the group forever to figure out why all of their plans were going awry... almost as if someone knew their every plan...
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Also, grisgol: Constructs created with a dead lich's phylactery.
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Swiping a few idea here...
Most evil phylactery idea I ever had was to have the lich turn a living bloodline into a phylactery. The party would have to track down and kill every descendent of this family (most of whom were innocent) in order to defeat the lich.
Obviously, this can't be done in the standard rules.
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A golem made out of a bunch of phylacteries in a community of liches. Give them a reason to band together. A small golem that eats phylacteries to gain power. A phylactery imbedded into a homunculus inside a golden. When the party finishes killing the golem the homunculus pops out and starts flying away.
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@Derek Vande Brake: Familiacide from Order of the Stick comes to mind but that was a made up spell and also epic level.
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GMs ought not have to justify every little story quirk with an appropriate feat bestowed upon each and every NPC. The players ought not be reading your notes anyway.
You could just as easily say that the lich acquired a one-of-a-kind tome that instructed him in this construction, and then burst into flames. Or that the creature was constructed in a fit of brilliance that can never again be duplicated.
Adventure designers tweak and outright break the rules all the time, or simply design things that have no rules to govern them, or that omit the rules that govern them. They have been doing this since the earliest days of the game, for any manner of unique places or effects. Exceptions to each rule exist. That is the nature of a magical world, driven by story.
As long as there is a means of destroying the golem that is fair, and a means of figuring out the golem's nature that am average party can work out, it is perfectly acceptable to create something unique without naming every single feat and spell that went into it, or nerfing your lich so the rules lawyers on a website can sleep better tonight.
RAW, it's not really possible, at least not in the sense that a golem simply acts as the phylactery (though there's nothing against placing something inside the golem as noted).
Rule of Cool? Yes. Yes, and double yes.
I've flirted with this idea several times, though I've never successfully worked it into a campaign.
I had a golem that was a lich once, though. Well, sort of.
See, he's got a phylactery, and is restored if he's ever destroyed... and if he's ever destroyed so that he can't come back, his phylactery kicks in and rebuilds him...
... but he's a good guy that the player helped create in my Council of Thieves game so... it probably doesn't really count.
The "most evil" I've gotten with a phylactery was an innocent living girl who worshiped Pelor (an avatar of Pelor was tracking down the epic villain in question) who was dependent on the lich-spirit to live. It would have turned into a bloodline, except for the fact that the avatar used her Divine Power to remove the spirit as if the phylactery was destroyed without destroying the girl while providing her with a new personal spirit, and destroying the lich of Vecna. Of course, doing that actually triggered a powerful magical "thingamabob" that sealed the avatar away "forever" (i.e. transported her to another world), permanently robbing Pelor of an avatar, and causing the avatar in question to begin to whither and die from being cut-off from her "father", and (as a by-product, not by intent) to become subject to powerful "god-catchers" that branded her in the service, power, and influence of Shar. ()
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As long as there is a means of destroying the golem that is fair, and a means of figuring out the golem's nature that am average party can work out, it is perfectly acceptable to create something unique without naming every single feat and spell that went into it, or nerfing your lich so the rules lawyers on a website can sleep better tonight.
This. SO MUCH THIS. A THOUSAND TIMES THIS.
Especially when you're working with something other than combat stats, NPCs are plot-driven, not rule-driven.
I’ve always liked the idea of a lich building a Adamantine Golem that was hollow enough to wear per the modifications. His phylactery would be inside and protected with a major curse: those that see it desire it. No mechanical bonus but makes the user constantly feel a dopamine release on a scale where they will protect this item. Maybe its a little statuette of a puppy
I really want to use this! What a great idea!
Fiend-Infused Adamantine Golem...
NPCs are plot-driven, not rule-driven.
Yeah, I really don't see the need to justify every little thing with some kind of existing rule.
Exceptions to rules are going to exist regardless of genre or setting. When you have something like a ttrpg that's trying to simulate natural laws and reality as a whole...you can get as crunchy as you like, but you'll never be completely without need for a little improvisation and houseruling.
For a NPC lich? Absolutely.
I don't need any rules to justify what my NPCs can do. NPCs work better when you don't try to constrain yourself to the same rules players follow. They have different roles and purposes.
As long as the NPC is designed to be defeated in a way that your group can grasp then it's perfectly fine.
How difficult that is, depends on you as a GM and what your group is willing to tolerate. Some groups might balk if they have difficulty determining what/where the phylactery is or how to destroy. Other groups trust the GM that they're in for an interesting ride and know to buckle up.