Nytmare
David Jose
The choice is way easier to make if lich has just been a typo this entire time.
D&D 5E Why Lichdom?
The choice is way easier to make if lich has just been a typo this entire time.
I tried catching them as I was typing, I must've missed that one
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jimtillman
Explorer
sure but if you have decided to go the lich route that probably does not bother you
I think what it really comes down to is: Do you pursue arcane power so you can live forever? Or do you want to live forever so you can keep pursuing arcane power?
Wizards in the first category will clone themselves. Wizards in the second category will become liches.
(On the topic of killing yourself to transfer into a younger body: You wouldn't necessarily do that. You'd just create the younger body, and leave it on ice till you died of old age. Then your soul would transfer and you'd start over. Previous editions had you losing power and experience, but that doesn't happen in 5E.)
Wizards in the first category will clone themselves. Wizards in the second category will become liches.
(On the topic of killing yourself to transfer into a younger body: You wouldn't necessarily do that. You'd just create the younger body, and leave it on ice till you died of old age. Then your soul would transfer and you'd start over. Previous editions had you losing power and experience, but that doesn't happen in 5E.)
Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
The real question is, why stop at just one Phylactery? For instance, isn’t seven the most magically powerful number?
I said before, liches will often create dummy phylactories mostly as part of protecting their real one. But why not create real ones? Well think of it like attunement, he would have to attune his soul to one of them, that one would be the real one.
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Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
I was just making a Harry Potter reference, fam.
S
Sunseeker
Guest
Personally I agree that lichdom is generally a bad deal.
More powerful? Sure, but typically speaking the necromantic energies drive the lich insane. That's why they're almost universally evil and not the personable, sexy lawful evil but the crazy chaotic evil.
I mean, why not switch your brain with a dragon? Okay, they still die, but for the average human, you've just increased your lifespan a hundred fold. Okay you still end up with the same problem...but now you have 1000 years to solve it instead of 100 (really even an elf will do for starters). Why not transform yourself into living stone? Now you are effectively immortal and ya know, super tough, no lichdom, blood rituals or dark sacrifices required (probably).
Since there's not actually a spell in 5E that makes one a lich, we can go out on a limb and reason that lichdom is either the easiest option or the most readily available one. Sacrifice a few children, speak the dark invocations, secure your soul and POOF! Lichdom! So realistically powerful wizards probably become liches for no other reason than in their desperate search for more time, they seek out the quickest and easiest option. I mean there's a reason that good wizards don't usually seek immortality, good wizards either get it on accident (Oops I wore the Helmet of Living Forever! Yay, immortality! Downside? Possessed by insane spirit of the cosmos.) or as a byproduct of obtaining semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic power.
More powerful? Sure, but typically speaking the necromantic energies drive the lich insane. That's why they're almost universally evil and not the personable, sexy lawful evil but the crazy chaotic evil.
I mean, why not switch your brain with a dragon? Okay, they still die, but for the average human, you've just increased your lifespan a hundred fold. Okay you still end up with the same problem...but now you have 1000 years to solve it instead of 100 (really even an elf will do for starters). Why not transform yourself into living stone? Now you are effectively immortal and ya know, super tough, no lichdom, blood rituals or dark sacrifices required (probably).
Since there's not actually a spell in 5E that makes one a lich, we can go out on a limb and reason that lichdom is either the easiest option or the most readily available one. Sacrifice a few children, speak the dark invocations, secure your soul and POOF! Lichdom! So realistically powerful wizards probably become liches for no other reason than in their desperate search for more time, they seek out the quickest and easiest option. I mean there's a reason that good wizards don't usually seek immortality, good wizards either get it on accident (Oops I wore the Helmet of Living Forever! Yay, immortality! Downside? Possessed by insane spirit of the cosmos.) or as a byproduct of obtaining semi-phenomenal nearly-cosmic power.
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Kurotowa
Legend
It really depends on what your goals are.
Eternal youth and an indefinite lifespan? Then you want to invest in Clones. Sure, to keep that youth you need to suicide every few decades to hop to a fresh clone, but that's a small price to pay so you can continue to enjoy the pleasures of being alive.
Power and immortality? That's what lichdom is for. Not only do you become an eternal undead but the transformation itself bestows greater power. Rid of the annoying imperfections of flesh and moral qualms of life, you're free to pursue arcane mastery at any cost.
Some Wizards see discarding your humanity as a price too high to pay and seek other avenues. Others see it as the entire point on a path to transcending feeble human limits. That's why there's more than one path to take.
Eternal youth and an indefinite lifespan? Then you want to invest in Clones. Sure, to keep that youth you need to suicide every few decades to hop to a fresh clone, but that's a small price to pay so you can continue to enjoy the pleasures of being alive.
Power and immortality? That's what lichdom is for. Not only do you become an eternal undead but the transformation itself bestows greater power. Rid of the annoying imperfections of flesh and moral qualms of life, you're free to pursue arcane mastery at any cost.
Some Wizards see discarding your humanity as a price too high to pay and seek other avenues. Others see it as the entire point on a path to transcending feeble human limits. That's why there's more than one path to take.
Previous Editions - Wish ages you 5 years. A clone can cast wish 5 times, a lich can cast infinity times.
5e - My house rule is that a lich doesn't suffer "stress" from casting wish. So they can do all the old school wish stuff without having a 33% chance of never casting it again. Fun fact: You cant possibly run the last 2 "Grand Conjunction" Ravenloft modules in 5e without this rule.
5e - My house rule is that a lich doesn't suffer "stress" from casting wish. So they can do all the old school wish stuff without having a 33% chance of never casting it again. Fun fact: You cant possibly run the last 2 "Grand Conjunction" Ravenloft modules in 5e without this rule.
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