Devious Phylactery Hiding places.

[hong]

Post #10 in this thread! :gnash: (the latter, at least, but not the former)

I said Christopher Walken quote, not Bruce Willis quote.

 

[Geoff Watson]

It can't be too impossible, as the lich needs to be able to get out of where the phylactery is when he dies and reforms.

Geoff.

 

[jmucchiello]

A Lich, bored with his long immortal life and repentant for his evil ways wants to end his own evil existence. The Lich hires the PCs to find and destroy his phylactery, their reward? All of his worldly treasures. The Caveat: For some reason the Lich is unable to help or perform this task. i.e. He Magically altered his own memory as to the exact location. The Lich does know the general location (plane, city, perhaps dungeon).

I don't get it. The first thing the PCs will suggest is that the lich "die". That will take him directly to his phylactery. One's something's fishy meter would be reading off the charts. IOW, why does the lich really need their help?

 

[kelson]

maybe the lich is a pansy. dieing hurts like a mother@#$%. He doesnt wanna...

 

[Eldragon]

I don't get it. The first thing the PCs will suggest is that the lich "die". That will take him directly to his phylactery. One's something's fishy meter would be reading off the charts. IOW, why does the lich really need their help?

Mostly it an excuse to have a plot OTHER than "go kill this Lich by finding his phylactery". That, and making the players second guess themselves and their "employer" is always fun.

If the player's as, the Lich will respond:

"Since I don't know exactly where it is, I am not sure I can get out from wherever I hid it. And being trapped for an eternity would certainly be a downer."

 

[XCorvis]

Mostly it an excuse to have a plot OTHER than "go kill this Lich by finding his phylactery". That, and making the players second guess themselves and their "employer" is always fun.

If the player's as, the Lich will respond:

"Since I don't know exactly where it is, I am not sure I can get out from wherever I hid it. And being trapped for an eternity would certainly be a downer."

I was thinking more along the lines of "I don't want to use any more negative energy than I have to, because I believe it is wrong and will jeopardize my chances at redemption." That could make things extra interesting, depending on what his phylactery is. If the destruction of the phylactery could put folks in danger, the now good lich might have to oppose the PCs actions.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

I was thinking more along the lines of "I don't want to use any more negative energy than I have to, because I believe it is wrong and will jeopardize my chances at redemption." That could make things extra interesting, depending on what his phylactery is. If the destruction of the phylactery could put folks in danger, the now good lich might have to oppose the PCs actions.

Or maybe he pulls a "Mr. Lindermann/Heroes" kinda thing. Destroying the phylactery will take out a city? Too bad; if the PCs won't do it, he'll find someone else who will. After all, it's for the greater good.

 

[nonamazing]

The phylactery is in his ribcage. Over the years, he's had so many nondetection and false aura spells cast on him that it's impossible to distinguish the aura of the phylactery from his own aura. Casting "Wish" just brings the lich to the characters (Tell the players: "It seems that that the lich and his phylactery are so magically similar that wish just brings the closest one to you.") Killing the lich just causes him to re-form right where he was; in fact, he tells the characters about this from the start, using this fact as 'proof' that he can't find his own phylactery (perhaps going so far as to kill himself right in front of the characters, and then innocently saying, "I don't know why I didn't reform at my phylactery!")

Combine this with several really good fake phylacteries. Each time the players destroy one, they return to the lich who says, "Sorry, my phylactery must be in another castle." The lich is very, very helpful, does everything he can to seem extra nice, giving all sorts of magic items to the party, healing them when they're hurt, and genuinely hopeful that the characters will eventually manage to find him the eternal rest he so desires. He gives them clues as much as he is able to, directing them to places where the phylactery might be.

Meanwhile, the lich is actually just going about his daily life as normal, while the characters systematically destroy every other lich in the entire campaign world on his behalf. If he's smart, he's hired every powerful group of adventurers around, giving each the "please kill me" story. If the players start to distrust the lich, then they have to deal with the other adventurers who do trust him, and who have begun to see the lich as a benevolent friend.

 

[Frostmarrow]

Maybe Orcus has a hunch that the lich will go postal if left damned for long enough. He's just waiting for the lich to lose it and go on a killing spree in the mortal world. Orcus loves this sort of thing. Meanwhile Orcus will just sit on the phylactery waiting fot the show. He'll use scry to watch the lich so the PCs will feel watched all along and they can't seem to beat the scryer.

Or the short version: The lich is just a puppet in someone elses box of toys.

 

[Ze]

The real trick is, though, that nothing can get in unless it is lost or forgotten. No gate will open there, no crystal ball will scry inside. Players will have to figure out how to get hopelessly lost, and hope that everyone they know stops thinking about them.

Ravilah, this is beautiful.