Should a Lich's phylactery be on the same plane?

[Winternight]

I don`t get the secret chest thingy

Duration: Sixty days or until discharged
After sixty days, there is a cumulative chance of 5% per day that the chest is
irretrievably lost.

It materilze some where
If it does on the positive enregy plane you don`t even have time to say
"oh shi..."

also (as I undertanf the spell) you need the replica to retrive the chest.
Where is the point in it? They slay ya take the replica and get ya phyli.
exit lich

 

[FrankTrollman]

That could be just what they were planning on though... They are baiting you! Now they have both you and your phylactery in the same place...

I am genuinely confused. If you have a Lich's phylactery it doesn't matter a sheep's eyelash what the Lich himself is doing. If their big "plan" is to lure you into a fight by finding your phylactery and then not killing you - they are so stupid that you can probably run right into their "trap".

It's probably something like shooting you with 20 negative energy rays and then filling the room with poison gas...

-Frank

 

[Xavim]

Enchant the thing to be a potent/useful magical item, I recommend a badass sword. Then give it to local kingdom here to become a symbol of the royalty and be passed down for generations. The sword would be the kingdoms narsil/excaliber and would be pretty damned safe.

Though I REALLY like that idea of surrounding it in stone and sending to the bottem of the ocean. With a few simulectrums constantly watching it for any problems.

 

[hong]

Wow! The DM can just make something up.

True, I'm not the one making up random people wandering the ethereal plane.

Thanks for the tip.

Don't mention it, grasshopper. At this rate, it won't be long before you're Ridley and not just his cohort.

 

[Norfleet]

Sheesh. What is it with liches and hiding phylacteries in the weirdest, most godforsaken locations guarded by the weirdest monstrous guardians? Didn't anyone here read the Evil Overlord's Guide?

Rule #5: The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragons of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

 

[LightPhoenix]

I like the heirloom idea, and the ocean one. You could hide it in a dragon's horde... the older, the better. Personally, I would try and hide it on a moon somehow.

The thing is, any place tricky is fair game, because characters of a level to fight a lich should have some sort of divinatory abilities.

 

[green slime]

I am genuinely confused. If you have a Lich's phylactery it doesn't matter a sheep's eyelash what the Lich himself is doing. If their big "plan" is to lure you into a fight by finding your phylactery and then not killing you - they are so stupid that you can probably run right into their "trap".
-Frank

That is alright, Frank. Let me explain.

Mayhap, the plan isn't to kill the lich, merely negotiate an agreement...

For whatever reasons, it may actually be less difficult to locate the phylactery than the actual lich himself. Anyone has to be aware that when you approach the phylactery, the lich is going to make an effort to divert you. If you have already found it, then you know he is going to make an appearance. Knowing this, you come prepared. The Lich might be willing to negotiate or not, depending on the exact situation.

You stated that the lich had a day to prepare for this, due to the slow time trait. Doesn't mean those approaching the phylactery are any less prepared themselves.

In 3.0 I can't see that the lich expires upon destruction of the phylactery (which you seem to be implying), unless you have already defeated the lich first. For 3.5, I seem to have malplaced my book.

Perhaps I read it incorrectly, but they way I see defeating the Lich:
1) Destroy its physcial body
2) Destroy the phylactery
In that order. So the sheep's eyelash might just matter after all. 'Cause if you destroy the phyactery first, the lich will flee, to create another.

I can understand your position if destruction of the box automatically defeats the lich.

Personally, I think Lich phylacteries should function akin to magic jar requiring a physical body for them to take over, rather than just spontaneously creating one after 1d10 days. This would leave them being given away as a child's toy, or some such innocous object.

 

[Leopold]

I'd give it to a commoner in town and wear it as a simple necklace that's been passed down from generation to generation.

What better place to hide something than right out in the open??

 

[Ferret]

Complete and utter secrecy? This is from Soveliors SRD:

THE LICH’S PHYLACTERY
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death.

Each lich must make its own phylactery, which requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The character must be able to cast spells and have a caster level of 11th or higher. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.

The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.

So it probably has lots of magic aura, best to make it obviously magical. But also something you don't want, I'm thinking cursed items. Another good idea is if it's a portal back to the material plane (lich is on his own demiplane with dimensional anchor?).