[Forgotten Realms] Finally got an idea of what I want for my campaign...

[SurfMonkey01]

And on this note... I was thinking. I might have him start out as just his human self. The lich thing I going to be too hard to hide regularly at first, given all the spells you can use to see through illusions. So here's what I'm thinking now:

He's human when they find him -- he's the heir to the throne of Cormyr, can they escort him there? He shows up in Cormyr, and since he's an heir and older than Azoun V (who's a friggin baby) he gets to hold the throne for the time being at least. He works to clean the kingdom up for a while, then preps everyone for the war thing. While he's doing so, an attempt is made on his life by a Zhentarim infiltrator (who of course only got in because kingy hired him to do so on the sly as part of a series of secret deals he's got not only with the Zhents but with the Drow of Cormanthor). This will of course rally the peope to his war cause more, especially if the attempt can be blamed on a neighbor. So the invasions will begin -- during the course of one of these, he will be "critically wounded" in battle and will vanish behind his guarded chambers for a time. While he's back there, let the lich ritual begin! As for his phylactery -- I was thinking an amulet -- like, I dunno, the amulet of lineage and right to rule that hangs around young Azoun V's neck? And then if the young heir were, oh, I dunno, kidnapped by "unknown assailants?"

Is this all as cool and evil as it sounds, or am I getting overconfident?

 

[Silas the Mariner]

What is the Lich's ultimate goal? Even if he does conquer all surrounding lands in the name of Cormyr, he's done it under the guise of being Good, so if he started doing Evil things the people would just overthrow him... especially when the state army, the Purple Dragons and the people in surrounding lands are mostly of Good alignment...

 

[Calico_Jack73]

So here's something I was just thinking of: how do I keep my little lich buddy's facade hidden from my players? They're the savvy kinds who have things like Arcane Sight permanencied on themselves... I was thinking of a combination of Misdirection and/or Nondetection, but I'm not sure -- what say you? How should I do this?

Going with the improved Magic Jar idea it wouldn't matter. They'd see the person that the Lich was dominating. Non-detection would still be needed to keep the party from detecting alignment on the host and detecting the Lich's presence. Whenever I use Liches I keep in mind some advice from the Van Richten's Guide to Liches. They have been around for a LONG time and for most of that time they've been researching spells so it isn't unreasonable for the DM to create new spells which the players haven't seen or heard of before (such as an Improved Magic Jar). Van Richten's also gave many examples of additional abilities that Liches may develop as they get older.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

What is the Lich's ultimate goal? Even if he does conquer all surrounding lands in the name of Cormyr, he's done it under the guise of being Good, so if he started doing Evil things the people would just overthrow him... especially when the state army, the Purple Dragons and the people in surrounding lands are mostly of Good alignment...

What if the Lich made a deal with an Archdevil who then sent his minions to possess key figures in the government. You'd need the BOVD for the system but a bunch of devil possessed officials could help keep the populous from overturning him. Heck, maybe the Archfiend provides the Lich with an army of devils.