D&D 5E SURVIVOR RETURNS: Lich Wars - Vecna Wins!

Dausuul · Sep 21, 2016

Undead won the Monster Types thread. Vecna’s Hand and Eye were in the top two on Artifacts and Relics before the forum crash. And the Survivor threads are returning from the grave after they were all seemingly destroyed. Clearly, the new Survivor thread needs to be about liches.

In this Survivor, D&D’s most infamous liches, demiliches, and liches-turned-deities*, plus one dracolich, turn their centuries-long plots and undead legions against each other! As usual, each day, you get one upvote for +1 and one downvote for -2. Ten points seemed to go a little too quick, so I'm upping this one to thirteen.

Acererak - 13
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 13
Dregoth - 13
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 13
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 13
Vlaakith CLVII - 13
Xykon** - 13

[SIZE=-2]* The fact that we need a category for this is disturbing.
[/SIZE][SIZE=-2]
** Technically, Xykon shouldn’t be on this list, since he isn’t an official D&D lich. Xykon’s not big on following rules, though.[/SIZE]

Dausuul · Sep 21, 2016

A refresher for anyone trying to recall which lich is who:

Acererak - Greyhawk. The demilich creator and inhabitant of the Tomb of Horrors.
Azalin - Ravenloft. The lich darklord of Darkon, one of the major domains in Ravenloft.
Dragotha - Greyhawk. The dracolich lieutenant of Kyuss, god of undeath. Not to be confused with Dregoth.
Dregoth - Dark Sun. The undead sorcerer-king of Giustenal, slain by his rivals just before completing dragon metamorphosis. Not to be confused with Dragotha.
Erandis Vol - Eberron. Mistress of the Emerald Claw and the Blood of Vol cult.
Fistandantilus - Dragonlance. The Master of Past and of Present, parasitic mentor and role model for Raistlin Majere.
Harthoon - No single setting. Advisor to Orcus.
Kieransalee - Forgotten Realms. Drow lich-queen who became the drow goddess of vengeance and the undead.
Szass Tam - Forgotten Realms. The Zulkir of Necromancy and now ruler of Thay.
Vecna - Greyhawk. A mighty lich from Greyhawk's distant past; destroyed by his treacherous lieutenant, leaving only a hand and eye. Came back to become the god of secrets.
Velsharoon - Forgotten Realms. Lich wizard who became a god of necromancy.
Vlaakith CLVII - No single setting. Lich queen of the githyanki.
Xykon - Order of the Stick. A slightly dim-witted but very powerful sorcerer lich, pursuing a demented scheme to enslave an extraplanar deity-killing monstrosity.

Sacrosanct · Sep 21, 2016

Might as well just narrow it down to Xykon and Acererak now

Dausuul · Sep 21, 2016

Sacrosanct said:
Might as well just narrow it down to Xykon and Acererak now

You might be surprised. The Heroes and Villains thread was won by Gord the Rogue, whom I certainly would not have picked for a top contender in a list containing Raistlin and Drizzt.

Some of these guys are likely to go down fast (I doubt anybody's going to make much effort to defend Velsharoon), but for the top spot, I could see any number of possibilities. Those that are the sole representatives of a particular setting--Azalin for Ravenloft, Fistandantilus for Dragonlance, Dregoth for Dark Sun, and Erandis Vol for Eberron--may end up as proxies for that setting's fan support. And you should never count out Vecna in any scenario.

Dausuul · Sep 21, 2016

And to start off the voting:

Acererak - 13
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 13
Dregoth - 13
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 13
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 11
Vlaakith CLVII - 14
Xykon - 13

I like the githyanki, and something about Vlaakith just appeals to me. Bonus points for being a female lich, which is not terribly common (only three of the thirteen).

Velsharoon made the cut because I wanted a thirteenth lich to round out the list, and he'd managed to cross the "deity" threshold, which was barely enough to make him notable. He's just a bargain-basement Vecna, though.

UselessTriviaMan · Sep 21, 2016

Acererak - 14 He's killed more adventurers than all the DMs' Girlfriends combined...
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 11 Even after reading the descriptions, I still don't know who this is.
Dregoth - 13
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 13
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 11
Vlaakith CLVII - 14
Xykon - 13

steeldragons · Sep 21, 2016

Acererak - 15
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 9 -a drawing in a corner of the White Plume Mountain map does not a "lich" make.
Dregoth - 13
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 13
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 11
Vlaakith CLVII - 14
Xykon - 13

ElderElementalEye · Sep 21, 2016

Acererak - 15
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 9
Dregoth - 13
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 11 -- I don't even know where that guy come from !
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 11
Vlaakith CLVII - 14
Xykon - 14 -- Because he can have an evilgasm ! http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0197.html

FormerlyHemlock · Sep 21, 2016

Acererak - 16
Azalin - 13
Dragotha - 9
Dregoth - 11 -- Borys is the real thing. Dregoth is just a wannabe replacement because TSR's writers killed Borys off-screen with a MacGuffin and still needed someone for adventurers to fear. Better solution: just don't kill Borys in your campaign.
Erandis Vol - 13
Fistandantilus - 13
Harthoon - 11
Kieransalee - 13
Szass Tam - 13
Vecna - 13
Velsharoon - 11
Vlaakith CLVII - 14
Xykon - 14

Dausuul · Sep 21, 2016

Well, so far it looks like Sacrosanct's prediction is spot-on.

I admit, I don't quite get the Acererak thing. All the guy ever did was build a dungeon. Is it just the cathartic nature of that dungeon, allowing DMs to indulge their fantasies of gruesomely slaughtering the PCs with no concern for fairness?