OK, according to RAW, if a wizard takes a bonded object, it can be "lost or destroyed", but with no ability to sense his object outside of Locate Object (which he now needs a Concentration check to cast), it seems like the rules are totally lacking in whether a bonded object is any more special than, say, a set of car keys.
My situation's pretty interesting, and I'd like to see other people's take on it (both players and GMs).
(a) Party kills lich, but can't find his phylactery. In looting him, they take his bonded object.
(b) Party wanders into an area protected by a permanent Nondetection spell.
(c) Lich fumes helplessly, as he doesn't even get a bonus to his caster level check to find his own bonded object.
So, has anyone house ruled any kind of bonus for finding something so inherently glued to your own magic?
Or did the lich just lose his car keys?
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This seems like a great adventure hook. Assuming the Lich is super intelligent, the phylactery hiding place would also have a cash reserve and some emergency supplies (wands/scrolls) the Lich can use to get back on his/her feet after being beaten. First the Lich would attempt magic. Then, when that doesn't work, the Lich would start to reach out to allies to help find the group.
You could structure this as:
1) Lich hires one or more groups to research the group. Then leverage that intelligence for 2-4 below.
2) Lich contacts NPC group 1 to try to buy the bonded item (as part of a larger purchase of loot from the group).
3) Lich contacts NPC group 2 to find vulnerabilities in family or dependents of the group members, and conduct a kidnapping to use to leverage a trade for the item.
4) Lich contacts NPC groups 3-5 to do some basic snatch & grabs to steal things from various members - hopefully getting the bonded item as part of the burglary.
In all cases, the Lich would not want their hirelings or allies to know the value of the bonded item. Instead, the Lich directs each to try to get the bonded item as part of a larger set of items. That also hides the value of the item from the adventuring group.
It also sets up the potential of two or more groups bumping into each other as they work at cross purposes to try to get the item.
Could be very fun as the adventuring group now has a powerful hidden enemy moving pawns to hinder them. But the reason for the enemy's actions would (initially) be hidden from the group. So there's the opportunity for the group doing counter intelligence to try to find out why these different groups are targeting them.
LOL. You guys are on the right track.
Of course he had a stash with his phylactery, and used some of it in his second attempt to slay the party. A large number of extremely inconvenient die rolls (2's and 3's by him, 16's and over by them) forced him to flee a second time. (OK, technically the first time he just got pounded into the ground with extreme prejudice, but he learned their strengths and weaknesses, and escaped after exhausting his spells in the second go-round).
Unfortunately, after the second encounter they tracked down and destroyed his phylactery, and he's now off using his stash to purchase more powerful weapons with which to annihilate the party, of course making sure that now that he's vulnerable he comes nowhere near them.
But I hadn't thought of getting NPC adventurers involved.
I LIKE it...
I think he'd probably want to spend his time and effort making a new phylactery and just not messing with the party at all. Probably should even spread rumors he was destroyed.
Unfortunately that would be extremely sensible, intelligent, and would remove him from the campaign.
The correct call? Yes. The fun call? No...
I do so love messing with the kids... :-P
EDIT: And honestly, I added him to an AP as a complete side track, and the kids are having SOOOO much fun having him as an arch-rival that having him just fade into the sunset would vastly disappoint them. Sometimes sense, sensibility, and fun just don't go together well.
As an after thought, the Lich sould have had Instant Summons on both his Bonded Object and his Phylactery.
I like it, but it's out of his league (he's only CL 11, being a run-of-the-mill lich out of Bestiary 1), but the whole
If the item is in the possession of another creature, the spell does not work, but you know who the possessor is and roughly where that creature is located when the summons occurs.
would have made for some fun roleplay.