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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 7300836" data-attributes="member: 2209">Kobold Quarterly 3<a href="http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/54285/Kobold-Quarterly-3?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Kobold Quarterly 3</a>3.5Lich: The sorcerer or wizard with an unnatural lifespan has been the subject of tales and fables throughout the ages; a thousand, thousand stories hint at their dark beginnings. One of the best known tales tells the story of the Cabal of Unsleep – a cabal of wizards who worked towards the single goal of immortality. The Cabal ruled kingdoms eons ago, and all its members were tyrants of renowned cruelty. While they waged war with each other on the surface – they secretly held true as a brotherhood, using their squabbles to gain influence in other lands until, at last, no part of the world was untouched by their icy fingers. This cabal, it is rumored, were among the first to discover the Dreadful Pact and thus were the first liches. Liches are created, not born, and their only method of reproduction is the creation of a new lich. The lich monster description casually mentions that the process of becoming a lich is unspeakably evil, and that it can only be undertaken by a willing character. In his great work Arcanum, Manse Hoff describes three methods through which a lich can be created, although he hints that some three dozen methods were once catalogued in the great Monstorum Sorcerus. The three known to most are the Dreadful Pact, the Hideous Sacrifice, and the Ripping.The Dreadful Pact – in this method, the would-be-lich’s soul is ripped from the body and placed into the phylactery by the self-destruction of the spell caster. The caster creates the phylactery and takes his own life, hoping that the magic that he has used to make the phylactery is strong enough to draw the soul into it. This method is quick but has the drawback that unless the phylactery has been prepared perfectly, the soul of the caster is simply drawn away. Some surmise that souls drawn in this way do not simply pass onwards, but move to some unspeakable nether place where they spend eternity wandering in madness. The Hideous Sacrifice – this method draws the soul into the phylactery through a variant of the magic jar spell. However, the lich-initiate must cast the spell at the precise moment of his death, and this requires extraordinary timing on behalf of the spellcaster.As a consequence, this method is the one most fraught with the chance for mishap - the soul can be drawn before death, trapping the caster in his own spell; the caster can fail to complete the spell and die prematurely, or (in the worst case) the caster’s soul is drawn into entirely the wrong place. In this last case, the lich might end up trapped within a nearby creature or object, such as an accomplice, building, or item.The Ripping – the most dreadful method requires a trustworthy and willing volunteer. The ripping is spiritual warfare; the soul is driven from the body into the phylactery through force of pain inflicted on the spellcaster. This method is the most sure of success, but it is also the longest and most painful, and requires extraordinary determination on the part of the spellcaster.Once the transformation from lich-initiate has been withstood, three further stages remain in the life cycle of a lich: the Journey, the Fading, and the Corruption.The JourneyOnly some lich-initiates complete the Beginning and become liches. Those that are lost are variously referred to in arcane works as NetherLiches, the Lost or simply Fallen. Those who do survive acquire the lich template and can look forward to eternal life – and eternal waking. Thing at the Soul of the Mire, Human Lich Druid 15: ?Stone Door: Combining necromantic artifice and the art of trapmaking, this door is a favorite among priests of undeath, liches, necromancers, and the depraved wretches who favor such evil devices to deal with trespassers. Creating a bone door is quite tedious, and requires placing an animated skeleton in a specially prepared door mold, then pouring in a high quality mortar. This slurry eventually hardens to the consistency of stone. Later, the stonework is decorated, fitted with a locking mechanism and hinges, and then mounted. The skeleton’s arms and head are free of the stone confining the rest of its folded extremities, and they jut out like a necromantic fossil. Each bone door’s skeleton has different instructions, though most attack trespassers. Thus, a bone door has two parts: a masterfully constructed stonework door and a large embedded skeleton. In combat, the stonework provides the skeleton with improved cover, though it negates any Dexterity bonus to AC and imposes a –8 penalty on its Reflex saves.The sample bone door uses a stone giant skeleton to grapple would-be trespassers and crush them to pieces. The EL takes into account its high AC and grapple bonuses.The cost to construct a bone door varies but is never less than 1,825 gp.Stone Giant Skeleton: ?</blockquote>

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