Prestige Class- Lich Aspirant

[Morrow]

I have a player who wants to play a cleric interested in the undead. Part of the cleric's faith is that undeath is a higher state of being. It seems logical that the cleric will try to become a lich at some point. I'd like to make the character jump through some hoops in the form of a prestige class. (On the other hand, I don't intend to go so far as to say, "You must collect these ingredients and these spells, and if you fail your Fort save you die. I don't intend this particular character motivation to be a centerpiece of the campaign.)

Setting aside for the moment the question of whether or not it is a good idea to have a nearly immortal undead creature as a PC... (Hey, if Doc Midnight could do it, I can do it.)

Just applying the template is a downer- suddenly the character has four extra levels he has to earn. Not fun for him because he doesn't advance any further for a long time and ends up losing 4 caster levels, not fun for the other players because one character became much more powerful than the rest of them overnight. One of the advantages of going with a prestige class is to allow the character to 'buy off' the level adjustment of the lich template. So I need a prestige class. The only one I know of that fits the bill is the Crypt Lord from Relics and Rituals, but it's really pretty boring- not enough going on for the amount of time it takes and it's really slanted for arcane casters. So I'd like your help designing an appropriate prestige class. Below is what I have so far. It's pretty bad. Making it only six levels hopes to combat the 'too long and boring' problem, but I'm not convined that the strict entry requirements and losing two levels of spellcasting is enough to account for the big bonus that lichdom gives. Not only that, besides that it gets to the point quicker, it isn't any more interesting than the Crypt Lord. I would appreuciate any suggestions you have to make the prestige class more interesting, and make the final result more balanced.



Morrow


LICH ASPIRANT
Hit Die: d4.
Requirements: To qualify to become a Lich Aspirant, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Alignment: Any nongood.
Skills: Knowledge (religion) 8 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks.
Feats: Craft Wonderous Item
Spells: Ability to cast at least one spell of 3rd level or higher.
Special: Rebuke Undead.

Class Skills
The lich aspirant's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier.

BAB: Low
Saves: Low Fort, Low Ref, High Will

Class Features
All of the following are Class Features of the lich aspirant prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Lich aspirants gain no proficiency with any weapon or armor.

Rebuke Undead: Lich aspirant levels stack with cleric levels for the purposes of turning undead.

Spells per Day: At 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained, except for an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming an lich aspirant, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Negative Energy Resistance: At 2nd level the lich aspirant gains a +1 resistance bonus to energy drain and death effects. At 4th level this bonus increases to +2.

Special: Before taking the 6th level of this prestige class the lich aspirant much craft his phylactery using his craft wonderous items feat. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.

Lichdom: Upon reaching 6th level the character gains the lich template.

 

[Eolin]

iirc, there was something similiar to this idea in the liber mortis book.

Also, 6 levels for a prestige class is abnormal. There's nothing wrong with it, its just unusual. Since Lich is 4 levels, I'd likely make it four levels and just slowly give out the affects of being a lich.

 

[the Jester]

I recommend dropping two of the hit dice along the way too. Keep in mind that once the character becomes undead, all those HDs change to d12s. Suddenly it doesn't matter if it used to be a d4.

 

[Morrow]

Maybe I'm aproaching this the wrong way. Perhaps, rather than having a prestige class that leads up to lichdom, what I need is a prestige class that more closely resembles a monster class. The requirements for the prestige class might look something like:

LICH ASPIRANT
Requirements: To qualify to become a Lich Aspirant, a character must fulfill all of the following criteria.
Alignment: Any nongood.
Skills: Knowledge (religion) 14 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 10 ranks.
Feats: Craft Wonderous Item
Spells: Ability to cast at least one spell of 6th level or higher.
Special: Before entering this class the lich aspirant much craft his phylactery using his craft wonderous items feat. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.

The prestige class would then be structured so that at first level you gained the undead type. Then over the later class levels you picked up natural armor, paralyzing touch, fear aura, ability and skill bonuses, and ability to use the phylactery. It would be a real gas if, at 1st level your soul would go into the phylactery when your physical body was destroyed, but you didn't gain the ability to create and inhabit a new body until several levels later. You'd be risking a pretty grim fate.

Hmm. When I aproach the problem from that direction it looks a lot more like the Lich Monster Class from Sean Reynolds' Savage Progressions article here. Perhaps there is a happy medium to be found.

Morrow

 

[RandomPrecision]

Knowledge (religion) of 14 requires the PC to be level 11, which makes a 10th level prestige class impossible to recognize without reaching epic levels. I was looking at making some prestige classes like this anyway, because I wanted a class that led into the Half-Celestial template in the same way that the Dragon Disciple class leads into the Half-Dragon template. I don't think the undead traits should be given until the end of the class. It's not like you become undead and then become a lich, you become undead when you attain lichdom. Anyway, I'd suggest something like this, although you're free to do whatever you want in your campaigns:

Lich Aspirant

Requirements:
Alignment: Any evil
Spellcasting: Ability to cast 5th level spells
Skills: Knowledge (arcana) - 10
Knowledge (religion) - 10
Feats: Craft Wonderous Item

1st Undead Body I, +2 Int
2nd Touch Attack (1d2+1), +2 to select skills
3rd Undead Body II, Cold/Electricity Resistance 5
4th Touch Attack (1d3+2), +4 to select skills, +2 Wis
5th Undead Body III, Supernatural Ability I
6th Touch Attack (1d4+3), +6 to select skills
7th Undead Body IV, Cold/Electricity Resistance 10, +2 Cha
8th Touch Attack (1d6+4), +8 to select skills
9th Undead Body V, Immunity to polymorph
10th Lichdom - Touch Attack (1d8+5), Supernatural Ability II, Cold/Electricity Immunity, Mind-affecting Immunity, Undead Traits, Turn Resistance +4

Undead Body - The Lich Aspirant gains a +1 Natural Armor bonus and Damage Reduction 3/bludgeoning and magic each time this bonus is given. The effects stack.

Touch Attacks deal negative damage. A Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 lich’s HD + lich’s Cha modifier) halves the damage.

Resistances are totals - they do not stack.

Supernatural Ability - Each time this ability is given, the Lich Aspirant chooses an ability from the following (Save DCs are equal to 10 + 1/2 PC's Lich Aspirant levels + Cha modifier):

Fear Aura: Liches are shrouded in a dreadful aura of death and evil. Creatures of less than 5 HD in a 60-foot radius that look at the lich must succeed on a Will save or be affected as though by a fear spell from a sorcerer of the lich’s level. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected again by the same lich’s aura for 24 hours.

Paralyzing Touch: Any living creature a lich hits with its touch attack must succeed on a Fortitude save or be permanently paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim (see the bestow curse spell description).

Lichdom - The bonuses listed are the remaining bonuses given by the lich template that have not yet been awarded. To reach the tenth level of Lich Aspirant, and thereby acquire the bonuses listed, the character must create a phylactery with the Craft Wonderous Item feat. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation. A ninth-level Lich Aspirant may use make a phylactery to reach tenth level, even if s/he does not meet the normal requirements to make a phylactery.

Skills modified by the above bonuses are: Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot. The listed bonuses are totals - they do not stack.

Another idea is that the epic levels of the class can extend to demilichdom...

11th +10 to select skills
12th Touch Attack (2d6+8), +2 Int, Wis, Cha
13th +12 to select skills, Acid/Fire/Sonic Resistance 5
14th Touch Attack (4d6+11), +2 Int, Wis, Cha, Phylactery Transference
15th +14 to select skills, Acid/Fire/Sonic Resistance 10
16th Touch Attack (6d6+14), +2 Int, Wis, Cha, Improved Touch Attack
17th +16 to select skills, Magic Immunity
18th Touch Attack (8d6+17), +2 Int, Wis, Cha, Acid/Fire/Sonic Resistance 15
19th +18 to select skills
20th Demilichdom - Touch Attack (10d6+20), +20 to select skills, Acid/Fire Sonic Resistance 20, Turn Resistance +20, Size changes to diminutive, Fly 180 ft., Perfect Automatic Still Spell, Damage Resistance 15/Bludgeoning and magic changes to Damage Resistance 15/Bludgeoning and epic (Vorpal weapons negate this bonus, but do only half damage), Trap the Soul

Additionally, with each level, an Epic Lich Aspirant chooses one of the following spell-like abilities, usable at will:
Alter Self, Astral Projection, Create Greater Undead, Death Knell, Enervation, Greater Dispel Magic, Harm, Summon Monster IX, Telekinesis, and Weird. At twentieth level, the Lich Aspirant gains both remaining abilities, as well as Greater Planar Ally, usable 2/day.

Touch Attacks deal negative damage. A Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 lich’s HD + lich’s Cha modifier) halves the damage.

Resistances are totals; they do not stack.

Improved Touch Attack - The Lich Aspirant uses their full Lich Aspirant levels when determining saves for Paralyzing Touch (making the save DC 10 + PC's Lich Aspirant levels + Cha modifier). There is no longer a saving throw versus the negative damage.

Demilichdom - The bonuses listed are the remaining bonuses given by the demilich template that have not yet been awarded. To reach the twentieth level of Lich Aspirant, and thereby acquire the bonuses listed, the character must create eight soul gems with the Craft Wonderous Item feat. Each soul gem costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation. A ninteenth-level Lich Aspirant may use make soul gems to reach twentieth level, even if s/he does not meet the normal requirements to make soul gems.

Perfect Automatic Still Spell is equivalent to taking the Automatic Still Spell feat thrice.

Trap the Soul: A demilich can trap the souls of up to eight living creatures per day. To use this power, it selects any target it can see within 300 feet. The target is allowed a Fort saving throw (DC 10 + demilich’s HD + demilich’s Cha modifier). If the target makes its saving throw, it gains four negative levels (this does not count as a use of trap the soul). If the target fails its save, the soul of the target is instantly drawn from its body and trapped within one of the gems incorporated into the demilich’s form. The gem gleams wickedly for 24 hours, indicating the captive soul within. The soulless body collapses in a mass of corruption and molders in a single round, reduced to dust. If left to its own devices, the demilich slowly devours the soul over 24 hours—at the end of that time the soul is completely absorbed, and the victim is forever gone. If the demilich is overcome before the soul is eaten, crushing the gem releases the soul, after which time it is free to seek the afterlife or be returned to its body by the use of either resurrection, true resurrection, clone, or miracle. If the demilich is overcome before the soul is eaten, crushing the gem releases the soul, after which time it is free to seek the afterlife or be returned to its body by the use of either resurrection, true resurrection, clone, or miracle. A potential victim protected by a death ward spell is not immune to trap the soul, but receives a +5 bonus on its Fortitude saving throw and is effective against the level loss on a successful save.

The ability bonuses listed above stack with each other, as well as bonuses accrued in the first ten levels of Lich Aspirant.

Skills modifed by the above bonuses are: Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot. The listed bonuses are totals - they do not stack.

Turn Resistance does not stack with previous lichdom bonuses.

I tried to follow the templates for the lich and demilich as carefully as possible, although I deviated in some cases, particularly in the demilich (because it's so annoyingly powerful). Details that haven't been discussed yet - attack bonuses and saving throws should probably resemble those of a sorcerer/wizard, I'd imagine. Of course, fortitude saves drop out as soon as the character becomes undead. Another issue is how the PC will gain new spells. Certainly, the Lich Aspirant must have a way to gain spells, or else a demilich could cast spells like a 10th level sorcerer (in my system, anyway). Giving full spell-casting abilities in addition to these seems a bit unbalanced, so I propose that 1/2 of the player's Lich Aspirant levels are added to a spellcasting class specified when the player first takes the class. Therefore, a Sorcerer 10/Lich Aspirant 6 would cast spells as a 13th level sorcerer.

Anyway, I've done enough typing (especially since the forum told me I had an invalid forum specified, so I've typed the above roughly twice, think I had more the 1st time). What do you all think?

 

[Li Shenron]

Hmm. When I aproach the problem from that direction it looks a lot more like the Lich Monster Class from Sean Reynolds' Savage Progressions article here. Perhaps there is a happy medium to be found.

I was just going to suggest this solution, and it's already provided

As pointed out before, the problem with the PrCl is that if you give Lichdom in "one shot", the PrCl must basically provide delay in other things to compensate. But that's not nice, having a weak character for a few levels, and then suddenly get an advantage over the others. Furthermore, a Lich with its ECL gives huge benefits for a terrible cost in spellcasting, while with your PrCl the cleric would not give up spellcasting to the least...

SKR savage progression is great and very balanced. The player HAS to choose to drop spellcasting if he want these benefits. I cannot imagine any other way to make it work otherwise.

 

[Morrow]

I was just going to suggest this solution, and it's already provided

As pointed out before, the problem with the PrCl is that if you give Lichdom in "one shot", the PrCl must basically provide delay in other things to compensate. But that's not nice, having a weak character for a few levels, and then suddenly get an advantage over the others. Furthermore, a Lich with its ECL gives huge benefits for a terrible cost in spellcasting, while with your PrCl the cleric would not give up spellcasting to the least...

SKR savage progression is great and very balanced. The player HAS to choose to drop spellcasting if he want these benefits. I cannot imagine any other way to make it work otherwise.

I agree. Having a weak character for a while doesn't really balance having an uber powerful character later. Its just unsatisfying both before and after. When I thought about it I realized that I was still coming at the problem using the Crypt Lord as a model. While the Crypt Lord is long and dead boring, it still gives full HD and spellcasting progression, so it does little to balance the lich template. If you really want to be a lich, you should have to buy off the +4 LA, taking the massive hit in HD and spellcasting. And that's my final answer.

Thanks for the help everybody!

Morrow