Why would anyone become a lich?

[Zappo]

And? I used 3rd party book much more than the SRD (I don't have the PH or DMH of either 3.X- I don't need them).

And, if you use a different setting then it's no surprise that some things are different. If you start allowing people to become free-willed vampires, shades, constructs, whatever, then you shouldn't be surprised that lichdom becomes, by comparison, unattractive.

But that possibilities are not a given.

Um, what about multiclassed people?

Yeah, and clerics too don't suffer much from loss of INT. But the notion that only scholarly wizards are interested in lichdom is nothing new.

Becoming a shade allows you to become immortal with a human body- where does it say they forget their old life?

Where does it say that shades exist? Are we talking about lichdom in the forgotten realms?

I don't know much about liches in the forgotten realms. I know that lichdom in standard D&D is a good deal.

 

[DMH]

Where does it say that shades exist? Are we talking about lichdom in the forgotten realms?

Until 3.X, shades were a Greyhawk monster- they are in the 1st ed MMII. Which is why I was disappointed they didn't make it into the SRD (instead of things like gricks and ythaks.)

Now that I have dug myself in deep enough...

 

[JoeGKushner]

There are still pleanty of good reasons to be a lich.

1. Dress as a skeleton and surprise your enemies when you cast Cloudkill on them as the skeletons advance.

2. Lay around on a pile of bones and laugh as you cast Death Magic spells at the party and they keep looking around to see who did it.

No, seriously though, vampires and liches are two classic staples but the vampire, despite it's power, has a lot of vulnerabilities. Many constructs really aren't designed to be spellcasters either so that often leaves them out.

There are other options. Why not a plant construct of some time if you're looking to break out of the standard. Then again, there are liches, and then there are variants like the Iron Lich from Iron Kingdom's Monsternomicon. Ah, still spreading terror in players around the gaming table years later.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Why choose undeath?

Well, if you are an evil (or even neutral) spellcaster you would instantly hop on the undeath bandwagon when you realize that "option B" is to die and become an insignificant outsider. Why would an evil person become a dretch when they can retain all power at the low cost of looking like a bad special effect?

Also, there's the Planescape Torment philosophy: a spellcaster may realize that even if they start behaving good immediately, they simply don't have the time to truly change their own nature. So they just kind of go with it and become a lich.

 

[BSF]

Hey, why do you have to look bad as a lich? Gente Repose would keep you generally pleasant looking. OK, OK, it says a dead creature, not an undead creature. So research a version that works on an undead creature. Say, a 4th level spell. At 1 day/level in duration, you only need to cast it every couple of weeks.

As for being a shade, define shade? If you go with the Greyhawk version, as apparently envisioned by Gary Gygax, then you are strongly tied to the shadowrealm. Read the Gord the Rogue books. It is still not a terribly pleasant existance, unless you like that sort of thing already. If you are referring to a different type of shade, then what references are you using? I am not convinced that becoming a shade allows all the stated perqs.

The Phylactery is a beautiful thing. If your enemies don't find it, you come back. Nifty! Now you can reassess them and find a way to bring about your revenge.

 

[Hanuman]

Step one, make the Phylactery and become cool but undead Lich.
Step two, Set up the fantasy version of Studio 54 (Yeah Baby!)
Step three, Hire on foolish young buff type of your choice (How you do'in)
Step four, Cast the Magic Jar spell.
Step Five, Party,Party,Party (the best part is no hangover!)




The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.-Wilde-

 

[Captain Howdy]

To add to this frame of thought, is there any reason a Lich would not take their phylactery, put it in a small steel vault, cast transmute rock to mud on a random patch of floor, and then transmute it back to stone, and then decorate over the spot? In other words, put it somewhere where not only was it well-guarded, but buried?

Another wild thought - a Lich in Eberron may well pay House Kundarak (the banking house) to protect its phylactery. Now THAT would make a heck of an Eberron adventure - you have to break into a Kundarak Bank undetected, and steal the phylactery of your arch-enemy, before you go after him!

In an epic adventure that I DMed, the group had to fight the Tarrasque at one point. A old wise man offered to help, he had a small gem that would trap Tarrasque if the monster ate it... Well the plan worked and the wise man left with the gem. Then later the PCs find out that the old man was a lich (polymorphed into an old man), and the gem was his phylactery. The problem was: Let the lich do whatever he pleased with no fear of death, or destroy the lich and phylactery, releasing the Tarrasque.
That's a good idea if ever there was one. I think it was in an issue of Dragon, if I'm not mistaken...
BTW, I'm stealing your Eberron plot hook.

 

[Psion]

First off, all these assume that you will know all the rituals to do all of these. Some GMs aren't so generous.

Even if they are available, the phylactery is a compelling point in favor of lichdom.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Wizardly liches have:
Alter self
Polymorph

And, in a bit
Polymorph any object
Shapechange

IOW, the lich certainly doesn't have to live with his new form - taking the form of a vampire is available with a mere 2nd level spell, and higher power spells continue from there.

I believe a lich with polymorph any object would be able to turn himself into a normal human for periods exceeding 2 days, possibly for a week or more at a time.

 

[DMH]

My questions are answered, thanks one and all.

As for being a shade, define shade?

The MMII, the Annual MC 4 and an old Dungeon issue (Beyond the Glittering Veil I think is the title) are my sources. I always thought that retaining ones body, and being immortal was more important than being immortal and living in a husk. But 3e changed that about the lich.