D&D General Druid lich?

[MockingBird]

So I was brainstorming about a possible story arch. I was wondering if there is an equivalent to liches in the druid world. What would they be called, this druid who seeks to ascend in power and stature? For context I was thinking about the repercussions if Belak returned. Belak was the big bad from The Sunless Citadel. A druid who has become evil.

 

[GreatestHonor]

I dont know of any official ones but Pointy Hat on YouTube has an ongoing series where they make Liches for each class and release statblocks for free.


Here’s the specific video about druid liches,

 

[hgjertsen]

So I was brainstorming about a possible story arch. I was wondering if there is an equivalent to liches in the druid world. What would they be called, this druid who seeks to ascend in power and stature? For context I was thinking about the repercussions if Belak returned. Belak was the big bad from The Sunless Citadel. A druid who has become evil.

I think there are lots of interesting possibilities, but here are some I came up with off the top of my head:

- An evil Wood Woad. Basically a druid who sacrificed themselves to assimilate with some vile corrupted tree to protect a bramble-choked forest and became an aspect of nature, a Wood Woad corrupted by a curse or blight.

- A druid who shapeshifted into a Rat and then formed a Rat King with other evil druids to command an army of rats and other pests to take down a local city.

- A druid fanatic who hates civilization and calls upon a council of werewolves to infect him or herself with lycanthropy in order to take down a Duke.

 

[the Jester]

Druid liches are a thing at least in 3e. Spoilers for an old adventure:

Spoiler

Red Hand of Doom has a druid/blighter/lich. "Blighter" was a prestige class for druids who fell and turned into nature-haters. I believe he was called the Ghostmaster but might be misremembering.

 

[MockingBird]

I think there are lots of interesting possibilities, but here are some I came up with off the top of my head:

- An evil Wood Woad. Basically a druid who sacrificed themselves to assimilate with some vile corrupted tree to protect a bramble-choked forest and became an aspect of nature, a Wood Woad corrupted by a curse or blight.

- A druid who shapeshifted into a Rat and then formed a Rat King with other evil druids to command an army of rats and other pests to take down a local city.

- A druid fanatic who hates civilization and calls upon a council of werewolves to infect him or herself with lycanthropy in order to take down a Duke.

These are really great! I really like the first and last one. Definitely giving me some inspiration!

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

- A druid fanatic who hates civilization and calls upon a council of werewolves to infect him or herself with lycanthropy in order to take down a Duke.

One of my legendary villains in my old 2E FR campaign was an evil high elf archdruid who was also a were-winter wolf. He was an elf-supremacist, despite being a monstrous boogeyman who liked the taste of human prey. His druidic "Circle of Winter's Teeth" was populated by his pack, followers, and their animal companions. The PC heroes of that era faced their first serious defeat, having half their number killed, when they scryed/teleported/alpha struck that Druidic Circle at its heart. That villain lasted through 3E and 4E and was ultimately defeated by those heroes after we translated them to 4E to finish their stories and Epic Destinies.

 

[ichabod]

When I think of a lich I think of someone seeking immortality. How would a druid do that? Two things that come to mind are fungi, who have strange connections we don't really understand and could send out spores when killed to reproduce; and the forest that is all part of the same organism, connected through the roots. And I wouldn't make him evil as such, just willing to sacrifice civilization to preserve the wilderness.

 

[Demetrios1453]

There's one in the final adventure in Candlekeep Mysteries, the CR 18 lichen lich.

 

[Gradine]

Candlekeep Mysteries presented a "Lichen Lich", Xanthoria, as the antagonist of its final adventure.

 

[aco175]

I can see a druid-lich controlling an army of animal undead, maybe zombies and skeletons. I'm not sure if normal animals would sense the lich part and stay away from one of these guys.