I would say it does not work for a couple of reasons. In the description of the spell Clone it requires 1 inch of NON rotten flesh from the Lich. Since he is a rotten corpse given the semblance of life I would say that the 1st material item does not exist. Second even if you gloss over that portion the lich could not benefit from the Clone spell because its soul is not free to return because it is tied to the phylactery.
Hm, I could see some interpreting the phylactery's destruction as the closest thing to a death by "natural causes" a lich could get, and maybe triggering that line in the Clone spell. Not sure that I'd rule it that way though.
I'm not really sure otherwise. At best, you'd have to remake a phylactery, which is PRICEY. It'd be a nifty trick for a paranoid lich, though.
edit- I'd like it as a fun way to bring back a mid-campaign Lich BBEG way later in the campaign, preferably after a long search for a mysterious mastermind. Imagine the PCs reactions when they see the lich they destroyed utterly 8 or more levels ago has come back even stronger - Ha!
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I would say it does not work for a couple of reasons. In the description of the spell Clone it requires 1 inch of NON rotten flesh from the Lich. Since he is a rotten corpse given the semblance of life I would say that the 1st material item does not exist. Second even if you gloss over that portion the lich could not benefit from the Clone spell because its soul is not free to return because it is tied to the phylactery.
Could you cast Gentle Repose on yourself as a lich to avoid step one? If so, is the soul is destroyed with the phylactery, or is it just gone?
My take - The cloned body would return you as your former, living self. The problem is that if you're a lich, you've probably already gone past your natural lifespan (because otherwise, why be a lich?) so you're not going to be able to come back as a clone.
I would say it does not work for a couple of reasons. In the description of the spell Clone it requires 1 inch of NON rotten flesh from the Lich. Since he is a rotten corpse given the semblance of life I would say that the 1st material item does not exist. Second even if you gloss over that portion the lich could not benefit from the Clone spell because its soul is not free to return because it is tied to the phylactery.Could you cast Gentle Repose on yourself as a lich to avoid step one? If so, is the soul is destroyed with the phylactery, or is it just gone?
You need to take it while you're still alive for clone to work.
Could you cast Gentle Repose on yourself as a lich to avoid step one? If so, is the soul is destroyed with the phylactery, or is it just gone?
Gentle repose works on dead corpses. Liches aren't actually dead. You could take the flesh from the lich before he became undead, and keep it preserved with gentle repose.
Nothing says what happens to the soul if the phylactery is destroyed.
Mage plans in advance for his liching? before time of death harvests the required flesh, and produces clones, then stores them. and go.
Based on my reading I believe s clone spell would resurrect the Lich. They'd be living again.
Clone
School necromancy; Level sorcerer/wizard 8
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, M (laboratory supplies worth 1,000 gp), F (special laboratory equipment costing 500 gp)
Range 0 ft.
Effect one clone
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
This spell makes an inert duplicate of a creature. If the original individual has been slain, its soul immediately transfers to the clone, creating a replacement (provided that the soul is free and willing to return). The original's physical remains, should they still exist, become inert and cannot thereafter be restored to life. If the original creature has reached the end of its natural life span (that is, it has died of natural causes), any cloning attempt fails.
To create the duplicate, you must have a piece of flesh (not hair, nails, scales, or the like) with a volume of at least 1 cubic inch that was taken from the original creature's living body. The piece of flesh need not be fresh, but it must be kept from rotting. Once the spell is cast, the duplicate must be grown in a laboratory for 2d4 months.
When the clone is completed, the original's soul enters it immediately, if that creature is already dead. The clone is physically identical to the original and possesses the same personality and memories as the original. In other respects, treat the clone as if it were the original character raised from the dead, including its gaining of two permanent negative levels , just as if it had been hit by an energy-draining creature. If the subject is 1st level, it takes 2 points of Constitution drain instead (if this would reduce its Con to 0 or less, it can't be cloned). If the original creature gained permanent negative levels since the flesh sample was taken, the clone gains these negative levels as well.
The spell duplicates only the original's body and mind, not its equipment. A duplicate can be grown while the original still lives, or when the original soul is unavailable, but the resulting body is merely a soulless bit of inert flesh which rots if not preserved.
Hmm. What is the best way for a lich to keep it's familiar as in the same one? Is it to lichify your familiar or something else.
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Based on the third paragraph in the spell clone, the soul of the wizard would inhabit the restored body if already dead. However, in the case of the lich, the phylactery would prevent that from happening, as it immediately begins to build it a new body to continue its existence as an undead.
I'd actually recommend the use of simulacrums if you want "clones" of the lich. You can have as many as you need, they have half the lich's levels, and they're all under the lich's control. It'd be like Dr. Doom and his Doombots.
Could you cast Gentle Repose on yourself as a lich to avoid step one? If so, is the soul is destroyed with the phylactery, or is it just gone?Gentle repose works on dead corpses. Liches aren't actually dead. You could take the flesh from the lich before he became undead, and keep it preserved with gentle repose.
Nothing says what happens to the soul if the phylactery is destroyed.
Geb has several ways for undead to preserve themselves in the same manner as Gentle Repose, so the principle still works even if the specific spell doesn't.
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Based on the third paragraph in the spell clone, the soul of the wizard would inhabit the restored body if already dead. However, in the case of the lich, the phylactery would prevent that from happening, as it immediately begins to build it a new body to continue its existence as an undead.
I'd actually recommend the use of simulacrums if you want "clones" of the lich. You can have as many as you need, they have half the lich's levels, and they're all under the lich's control. It'd be like Dr. Doom and his Doombots.
Well, I meant as a paranoid lich's solution to a destroyed phylactery, with the clone spell, not an actual clone that could be controlled. Would the clone of the lich before undeath be inhabitable by the lich's now floating soul, or is the soul considered destroyed? So, in short, REALLY hard to actually kill for good.
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Then it sounds to me that what you need is the psychic lich template, as opposed to the standard lich template. That may satisfy your need more.
Now, in my opinion, the magic of the ritual used to create the lich would trump the the clone spell so long as the phylactery is intact. Destroying the phylactery won't kill the lich, but if it has a clone nearby contingent on the phylactery's destruction, then the lich would indeed inhabit the clone, becoming a living creature once more (at least until it could reconstruct a new phylactery).
Lich don't even need to be preserved, they don't necessarily rot in Pathfinder (they didn't even rot in 3.5e, just got very very very very skinny and pale)
That'd be odd, having to re-lich yourself. :P
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In my Carrion Crown campaign, one of the PCs is a clone that came to life sometime after the original became a lich.
I was rather proud of that storyline.
Nice idea, but in your case those are two different people, not what the OP is trying to do.
There's an AP however where something fairly close to what happened to your PC also goes down.
He essentially wants a double indemmity for his lich... both the phylactory and clones to hedge against his own destruction.
I know it's different... that's why I explained it.
Which AP was that? It's been a while since I've read through them all...
I gathered what his goals were. ^_^
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Back on topic, if he does this (since he's essentially trying to clone-res yourself), something weird and unique is bound to happen. The forsaken lich template might be involved. Or it might just not work. This is high-level magical interaction between powerful magics, and you could tell a very interesting story.
Now that I think about it, one of my players did this + simulacrums to have many of him running around.... though I did rule that it was fracturing his soul.