D&D 5E A lich must periodically feed souls to its phalactery...

[KarinsDad]

"Periodically" could mean once every hundred years. Without the text stating what the period is, it could be anything. The "consumed and destroyed utterly" phrase means that PCs have less than a day to rescue the soul of an imprisoned character.

There is also nothing in the text that indicates that the amount of activity the lich does modifies how often he has to feed the phalactery. In fact, the term "periodically" strongly implies a consistent rate, not a sporadic one. So I would use a different interpretation than others here and say that whatever rate the DM decides, it probably should more or less stay that way.

 

[Reynard]

There is also nothing in the text that indicates that the amount of activity the lich does modifies how often he has to feed the phalactery. In fact, the term "periodically" strongly implies a consistent rate, not a sporadic one. So I would use a different interpretation than others here and say that whatever rate the DM decides, it probably should more or less stay that way.

I need to put gas in my car periodically.

 

[Unwise]

For me, liches are a bit like the bad guy from The Mummy. The more they feed, the more alive they look. So the old ones you find locked in hidden crypts tend to be tatters of bone and old robes. The lich-kings that rule a city-state could be easily mistaken for human.

 

[KarinsDad]

I need to put gas in my car periodically.

Do you? If so, I suspect that it does not have the same amount of fuel in it every time and that it is not a need, but a habit. Or do you need to do it sporadically, based on how much fuel you have used since the last filling and how long of a time frame that was. Although the need to fill up a tank can be periodic (e.g. someone only uses the car to go to work and has to fill it up every Monday), that's rarely the case. People do it periodically out of habit though.


I was once at a city council meeting where the local law stated "this area can be used for periodic events..." and a small group of young businessmen had licensed the area from the city manager to have Sunday paintball games. The entire city council (including the mayor) mistakenly thought that the word periodic meant sporadic and were arguing that every Sunday games were not periodic. Until I spoke up from the back of the room. The city lawyer then got out a dictionary and started looking up periodic. It was so sad that our local representatives didn't know the meaning of the word that they were using to support their argument. After they found out the true meaning of the word, they changed tactics in order to get their desired result (i.e. shut down the paint ball business).

People often confuse the word periodic with sporadic or even sometimes intermittent. But, they have different meanings.

 

[Leatherhead]

I'm not too keen on liches becoming "soul vampires"

 

[Henry]

I renew my Driver's license periodically (ten years in my state), so "once per <plot> years" sounds fine to me.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Do you? If so, I suspect that it does not have the same amount of fuel in it every time and that it is not a need, but a habit. Or do you need to do it sporadically, based on how much fuel you have used since the last filling and how long of a time frame that was. Although the need to fill up a tank can be periodic (e.g. someone only uses the car to go to work and has to fill it up every Monday), that's rarely the case. People do it periodically out of habit though.

If you're going to be pedantic about words, check the definition first to make sure you're not hyper-correcting.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/periodically

Definition of PERIODICALLY

1: at regular intervals of time
2: from time to time : frequently

Reynard's usage of "periodically" was valid.

 

[KarinsDad]

If you're going to be pedantic about words, check the definition first to make sure you're not hyper-correcting.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/periodically

Definition of PERIODICALLY

1: at regular intervals of time
2: from time to time : frequently

Reynard's usage of "periodically" was valid.

The person posting a dictionary definition is calling someone else pedantic? Really?

I prefer to use the primary definition of the word periodically for that text. It makes the phylactery feel more like magic with a duration that must be renewed as opposed to magic that might unexpectedly sputter out, especially since there is no real detail there. Feel free to use the alternative definition.

 

[Henry]

Oh, come now, we're a group of gamers - pedantry is as rife as black t-shirts and beards. anyway, I now have a new reason to use liches in my games, whether PF or 5e, so it's a win/win for me!

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I just take it like this. A lich after feeding a soul to it's Phylactery is fine and stuff. They don't know how long it needs to be before they feed another soul to the Phylactery. Just that eventually their bodies start to decay again and that means they have to devour another soul to revert the decay. Some just stop caring and decay completely becoming demilichs, others wait until they start to decay then get a soul to revert it, some just grab souls whenever they feel they should and never start decaying.