D&D 5E Master Lich Challenge

[dave2008]

To answer a few questions:

The lich's scheme requires he be in this particular place--which is, according to legend, the spot where the gods stood while creating the world--to perform a certain potent magic. He has to be here, and he has no choice but to stand and fight when the PCs interrupt.

Despite not being in his lair, I'm still giving him his lair abilities, due to his age and sheer power. (I'm making a few other minor tweaks as well, but they don't affect the spell list question.) But it means he doesn't have the terrain advantage he might have if it was truly his home turf.

For reasons having to do with where he is and the magics he's attempting, he cannot count on his phylactery to save him.

I might suggest a ring of protection, staff of power, and robes of the magi. Given the high level of the party the lich will probably need those.

 

[Leatherhead]

[MENTION=53176]Leatherhead[/MENTION]: polymorph only allows beast forms, so it's not quite as good as being a solar or a dragon or something. I think T-Rex is the best option there, and giant gorilla is not bad. Plus, it's dispellable, so it's not quite as deadly as two-encounters-in-one. The rest of your spell picks are spot-on; wall of force is particularly nasty when used well.

Oh nuts, that's what happens when I get to typing in the middle of the night before I go to sleep.

A scroll of True Polymorph can accomplish the two-encounter effect, if you really want to go all out.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

To answer a few questions:

The lich's scheme requires he be in this particular place--which is, according to legend, the spot where the gods stood while creating the world--to perform a certain potent magic. He has to be here, and he has no choice but to stand and fight when the PCs interrupt.

Despite not being in his lair, I'm still giving him his lair abilities, due to his age and sheer power. (I'm making a few other minor tweaks as well, but they don't affect the spell list question.) But it means he doesn't have the terrain advantage he might have if it was truly his home turf.

For reasons having to do with where he is and the magics he's attempting, he cannot count on his phylactery to save him.

Well then, it seems that the lich will have some time to at least cast some spells before the PCs show up; and time is on the lich's side. In that case, I'd suggest the following spells:

Absorb Elements, Shield, Counterspell, Blade Ward: Common sense defense spells

Shapechange: can shapechange into an ancient white shadow dragon and abuse resistance to everything plus necrotic breath with a Con save (no Absorb Elements! no Evasion!) that makes shadow minions plus bonus action hide and stealth expertise plus some bonus Legendary Resists and flight and 333 extra HP PLUS all of your regular lich legendary actions. And you still have the freedom to choose a new form every round if you need to, e.g. if it turns out the PCs are all resistant to necrotic damage, you can turn into a regular ancient black with AC 22 (27 w/ Shield).

Symbol: throw down a Symbol of Insanity and a Symbol of Hopelessness

Wall of Force: no-save divide-and-conquer spell

Animate Dead: a few extra mooks with no concentration cost is never a bad use of extra spell slots. If you've got 3 of 5 PCs trapped behind a Wall of Force, having a dozen or so armored zombies with greatswords to meatshield, grapple the PCs, threaten opportunity attacks, Help you attack, and generally buy more time and space for you to whittle down the PCs with offensive actions is a great thing. The lich only has 135 HP, so 270-odd HP of armored AC 16+ zombies is a great thing to have available for no concentration cost.

Programmed Illusion: when the PCs show up for the showdown (heh), instead of one evil lich, they see four of them, each doing a different menacing thing like shapechanging into a dragon, Gating in a Goristro, performing the evil ritual, and casting a Prismatic Wall. Which one do you nova? Who's going to walk into the Prismatic Wall to test if it's real? What if they're all real? Just watching the player's reactions is going to be hilarious.

Teleport, Dimension Door, Expeditious Retreat: mobility is always useful when the unexpected happens. This is your compensation for not having a phylactery available. (Probably can't use Teleport in this fight because you've already spent your 7th/8th level spell slots, so if you have to drop one, this could be it. Depends on the circumstances of the ritual and how long the lich has had to prepare.)

Fireball, Blink, Mirror Image, Cone of Cold, Disintegrate, Fire Bolt, Greenflame Blade, Sword Burst: your basic ways of doing something useful with an action (or legendary action in the case of cantrips) when your concentration is busy elsewhere.

That's sixteen non-cantrip spells out of the twenty-three a lich has available. I guess I'd add Dispel Magic, Power Word: Stun just in case an opportunity arises (though again you probably won't get to use it), Longstrider (useful pre-combat buff), Feather Fall, Conjure Elemental, Conjure Minor Elementals, and... I dunno, Greater Invisibility.

 

[dave2008]

That's sixteen non-cantrip spells out of the twenty-three a lich has available.

Shouldn't the Lich have 25 prepared spells, level + int mod = 25

 

[Mouseferatu]

Shouldn't the Lich have 25 prepared spells, level + int mod = 25

The lich in the MM is 18th-level (though that's one of the things I may modify).

 

[dave2008]

The lich in the MM is 18th-level (though that's one of the things I may modify).

Your right! My mistake, nothing to see here

 

[77IM]

A scroll of True Polymorph can accomplish the two-encounter effect, if you really want to go all out.

Wow... SCROLLS! I forgot all about scrolls!

If you randomly roll a level 17-20 horde, I bet it will include a few high-level scrolls of nastiness. Nothing hurts more than watching the enemy destroy you AND use up your treasure at the same time.

 

[MechaPilot]

Nothing hurts more than watching the enemy destroy you AND use up your treasure at the same time.

I recall running an encounter for one group of players where their enemies started using the potions and the wand of magic missiles in the treasure hoard. One of the players exclaimed "Hey! I'm the mage! I've got dibbs on that wand!" at the monster using the charges.

Naturally, the PC's foes didn't stop using the wand. The mage player started grumbling about how if the wand had no charges left he'd have the enemy using it raised from the dead just so he can torture him and kill him again for ruining the wand.