Where would you hide your phylactery

[Jack Simth]

By the way, for the sake of keeping consistent answers to the question, can we assume that "I" was only able to find the standard lich formula that results in a phylactery in the shape of a tiny box, rather than "adamantine peg leg of a pirate" or other such off the wall stuff?

From The SRD

The Lich’s Phylactery

An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death.

Each lich must make its own phylactery, which requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The character must be able to cast spells and have a caster level of 11th or higher. 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 most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40.

Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.

(Emphasis added)

It depends on what all you're allowed to do with it.

If you're allowed to stack things any which way you want, mine would be very, very, lost in the planes. As it's an amulet of the planes. That's intelligent in it's own right. With a dedicated purpose: Escape, and a dedicated power of, oh, I don't know... perhaps Dimesion Door. Or maybe Prying Eyes. Oh, and I stacked that nifty 3rd eye: Conceal item from the XPH into it (also available in the Psionics section of the SRD). So it doesn't register as magical at all.

If it's just it's own item, well, sealed demiplanes are fun, especialy when you have a simulacrum of something capable of casting, say, Forbiddence.

 

[szilard]

So how do you get out of the Bag of Holding when your body reforms?

Plane Shift?

-Stuart

 

[Artoomis]

I'm going to steal someone else's answer:

Take a Bag of Holding.

Go into a Anti-Magic Field.

Open Bag of Holding - now non-magical.

Insert phylactery into Bag of Holding's normal space.

Exit Anti-Magic Field.

I'd rule that as soon as you enter the anti-magic field your life force is no longer magically contained with the phylactery and escapes, so that the next time you get killed it's permanent.

If I was in a generous mood, I'd even let you know this ahead of time.

I really like the idea of it being connected up with wondrously good things such that no one would want to destroy it. It would be horrendously expensive, but everlasting life is worth it, right?

 

[RigaMortus2]

I would give my phylactery to Pun Pun

 

[Ciaran]

I'd rule that as soon as you enter the anti-magic field your life force is no longer magically contained with the phylactery and escapes, so that the next time you get killed it's permanent.

This also makes the antimagic field a valid lich-killing tool in your campaign, yes? Cast the field and run past the lich; just a touch of the field and the lich's phylactery fails, and your fighter companions can finish the job.

 

[Dracorat]

Anything in a BoH's normal space when you exit the Anti Magic would go to its extradimensional pocket. I am not asserting that as RAW, but rather, just as reason.

But hey, as for the original question -

I would have a portal on the bottom of a stack, then a Permanancy Force Cube, then the phylactery, then another Permanency Force Cube. The portal itself would be on a ledge underneath a lip. The top Force Cube would be the flooring of whatever chamber I chose to inhabit for All Time. Directly underneath that floor would be a separate portal to the quasi-elemental plane of lava.

Now, my life force for my current host would be tied in to a Contingency that would cast an area effect dispel in the area of all the above-described effects. Since I created everything, I would be dispelling my own spell which succeeds automatically, causing my would-be killers to fall in to the quasi-elemental plane of lava and my phylactery to fall harmlessly through its own portal in to a long-abandoned-and-forgotten-aboud graveyard.

The entire thing would be null-aura'd and the lip for the pylactery, it's little portal and little force cube would be mundane in nature (but still underneath the lip I described earlier). The phylactery would be wareded against magical and mundane lava damage, just in case for some reason, it fell off its ledge. (PCs who think they are so smart)

As you can tell, I've given this some thought. =)

 

[Berandor]

Imprisonment is a great idea. Bury it with a loyal creature that can teleport, so if intrepis adventures unearth it it may immediately flee.

 

[ExMachina]

So here is my $.02...

Put the phylactery, spare spell books and a few bodies (you have to have a body near it to occupy right?) in a Leomund's secret chest 1cu' ft/lvl, and then intentionally let it get lost on the Ethereal plane.

Although, I do like the idea of a contingency spell that teleports it away on your death, to a predetermined (preferably shielded from scrying) location.

I also like the 'make it something so magical no one will destroy it' idea, but is it allowed to be a magical object? Aside from the fact that it holds your soul?

 

[Moon-Lancer]

I'm going to steal someone else's answer:

Take a Bag of Holding.

Go into a Anti-Magic Field.

Open Bag of Holding - now non-magical.

Insert phylactery into Bag of Holding's normal space.

Exit Anti-Magic Field.

thats really cool.

 

[Wolfwood2]

Plane Shift?

-Stuart

How are you going to prepare Plane Shift inside a bag?

I think the necessity of keeping a stock of spell books somewhere near the phylactery should not be underestimated. Could be a long walk home otherwise.