BlueBlackRed
Explorer
Is the strip coming to a close, or is this another climax to be followed by another long period while the plot rebuilds?
OoTS 655
- Thread starter Nymrohd
- Start date
cdrcjsn
First Post
Wait, does (s)he owe time to the souls or the devil/demon/daemon that bound the souls in the first place?
Relique du Madde
Adventurer
The Demon/Devil/Deamon
wingsandsword
Legend
Okay, I know things are different from group to group, but I'd never heard this "just build another phylactery" thing.
Maybe it's just my group, and influenced by our 2e days and books like "Van Richten's Guide to the Lich", but a Phylactery stores a Liches soul at all times, and destroying the phylactery instantly kills the lich just like destroying the heart or brain of a mortal would. There are two sure-fire ways to kill a lich (in our games, assuming you can make the Knowledge: Religion DC 21 check to know strengths and weaknesses of liches in general) is to destroy the phylactery, or to have the lich and phylactery on different planes of existence when the liches body is destroyed.
That's why our group always thought it was Dumb (note the capital D) for the standard MM lich to wear his phylactery as a headband. Honestly, we never really thought of anybody doing it much differently (we were still using 2e ideas for liches).
PoeticJustice
First Post
Absolutely true. For all we know he doesn't even have Craft Wondrous Item.
Speaking as a fellow grognard who remembers the 2E days, I share your outlook on how it oughta be... but when I've seen it discussed online, there does seem to be a consensus that 3.5 rules allow the lich to a) survive the destruction of the phylactery and b) make a new one if the old one bites it. And I must admit that the text of the rules supports this view.
On the other hand, the text of the rules also gives no indication that the lich can tell when his phylactery has been destroyed. Which means that if O-Chul smashes the thing while Xykon's attention is occupied with V, Xykon could be left without his backup and not even know it.
However, I can't see any way the OotS could take out Xykon as things stand. Remember, the Cloister effect is still up. It took epic magic to punch through it, and the OotS doesn't even have normal teleportation available right now, much less epic. Xykon just needs to score some negative energy spells from Tsukiko or one of the hobgoblin clerics, and he's back up to full strength (minus the phylactery). There's no conceivable way the Order could get to him before that happens.
...Of course, if O-Chul is really smart (and ballsy), he sneaks out of the palace right freakin' now, with the phylactery - and the Cloister effect is turned against Team Evil! Because the spell lingers on anyone who was in the area when it was cast, O-Chul is warded against scrying. Only Xykon himself is powerful enough to break that, and Xykon doesn't know it's important enough to bother. Redcloak knows... but Redcloak just teleported out to God knows where, and the very same Cloister effect prevents him from teleporting back in.
If the OotS got their hands on Xykon's phylactery... the possibilities are considerable.
I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Man, I kind of miss the interior decorating skills of a 2e or 3e wizard...
Warrior: "Hey, did that mountain move while I was on the crapper?"
Wizard: "Yeah, I got bored waiting here and cast Move Earth. The mountain is now a few feet to the south."
Warrior: "You....moved the mountain?"
Wizard: "It's better like this."
Warrior: "Better?"
Wizard: "You know, Feng Shui."
Warrior: "I know? Feng Shui?"
Wizard: "Yeah. Mountain was kind of blocking the yin-yang. The planet has, like, hella chi flow now. So much maximum better."
Warrior: "The chi flow? Of the planet?"
Wizard: "Right. Feng Shui. Like when you move around furniture and put down carpets and stuff."
Warrior: "So the...er...the planet's chi...it's OK now? Now that you rearranged the furniture...of the planet? "
Wizard: "It's not bad. Maybe once we get into the dungeon I'll use Animate Object move around the torture devices and the idols and the altar to the dark gods. You know. Spruce up the joint a bit."
Warrior: "I see...because those goblins probably really need to have the yin-yang of their dungeon unblocked."
Wizard: "Right. They'll walk into a room, and it'll just feel so open!"
Warrior: "Hey, did you memorize Detect Sarcasm?"
Wizard: "No, why, will we be encountering some....oh...."
Warrior: "Right."
Wizard: "You know my INT is 18."
Warrior: "Is that because of your Feng Shui here?"
Wizard: "Er....no..."
Warrior: "Right then. Good for you. Off we go."
3e Wizards: Butt-kicking librarians who minored in Interior Decorating.
Last edited:
