D&D 5E Why is animate dead considered inherently evil?

[Tolerable Tyrant]

I'm having a troublesome time understanding why the animate dead spell is considered evil. When I read the manual it states that the spall imbues the targeted corpse with a foul mimicry of life, implying that the soul is not a sentient being who is trapped in a decaying corpse. Rather, the spell does exactly what its title suggests, it only animates the corps. Now of course one could use the spell to create zombies that would hunt and kill humans, but by that same coin, they could create a labor force that needs no form of sustenance (other than for the spell to be recast of course). There have also been those who have said "the spell is associated with the negative realm which is evil", however when you ask someone why the negative realm is bad that will say "because it is used for necromancy", I'm sure you can see the fallacy in this argument.

However, I must take into account that I have only looked into the DnD magic system since yesterday so there are likely large gaps in my knowledge. PS(Apon further reflection I've decided that the animate dead spell doesn't fall into the school of necromancy, as life is not truly given to the corps, instead I believe this would most likely fall into the school of transmutation.) PPS(I apologize for my sloppy writing, I've decided I'm feeling too lazy to correct it.)

 

[MGibster]

Indeed, most stories and warnings center around vengeance- everyone has been done wrong. If the dead are restless there is someone who is at risk, and sometimes the dead are not choosy about settling with the right target. Other times it is not the dead themselves, or more rightly who they were, that are angry. But, rather, an evil spirit or entity that finds opportunity to inhabit and raise the body to commit mischief. Then there is the original necromancy, disturbing the dead to interrogate them.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the dead are envious of the living because they spend an eternity in the afterlife eating and drinking dust. Ishtar threatens to destroy the gate to the afterlife so the dead will spring forth and consume the living. Mind you that this isn't hell. In the Odyssey, Odysseus encounters Achilles in the underworld who tells him:

"No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man—
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.”

Even for Achilles, the afterlife sucked.

 

[MGibster]

This is a very odd take considering we're talking about a game about 80% of the character options being all about exactly that thing.

One of the big things that differentiates us mere mortals from the gods is that we die and they don't. You take away death and you take away what is a universal human experience.

They still had to find a way around teleporter buffer immortality. Because No Transhumanism allowed.

This is true. But there are certainly other transhuman science fiction stories, right? The RPG Blue Planet features transhumanism and prolonged life through an alien substance mined off a distant planet.

 

[Lanefan]

Not entirely true for 5E. Without spoiling it, you can encounter a lich in one of the more popular 5E campaigns that is essentially a harmless dude puttering around the dungeon being a magical weirdo. He won't take any aggressive actions against he PCs unless they try to steal his spell book (I think).

Sure; the same is true of some well-known older modules as well.

A lich, though, is a sentient and often very intelligent being; and though I have it that they have to be evil both in life (in order to become a lich in the first place) and as a lich when first formed, there's no reason why they can't slowly drift toward neutrality over the long run. (I have a hard time seeing one drift so far as to end up good, but I suppose it could happen)

That said, the very concept of undeath would IMO often if not always be anathema to the living, thus marking undead as fair game regardless of the specific alignment of either hunter or prey. (this echoes an in-character argument I've been having for ages with another player's Necromancer, in the game I play in)

 

[tomBitonti]

Liches are kind of interesting in D&D's progression.

They are typically evil immortally undead spellcasters. But they originally did not require any predatory maintenance like a vampire or draining hunger like a wight, so they mostly were underground doing their research or were just powerful undying bad guys doing their individual thing.

This sort of led to different trends in D&D, making good versions and making them necessarily more evil.

If they are non-predatory immortals the question becomes why necessarily be evil, sounds like a good way for a good or neutral wizard to continue past a normal lifespan.

You get things like the Forgotten Realms Baelnorns where these non-predatory liches are actually good immortal magical defenders of things elven. In Eberron you get the positive energy deathless elves as well.

Alternately you get development of liches to be evil. So the ritual of creating them when fleshed out in a dragon article requires evil actions and icky components to explain the evil alignment and to back up the genre tropes. Sometimes this gets developed in D&D to require evil sacrifices.

This trend eventually leads to the 5e lich requiring regular sacrifices of souls to power their state with failure to do so leading to devolution into a demilich state.

An AD&D lich could be technically evil but someone who just putters around now developing magical stuff in their lair. A party could encounter one in a dungeon and it be essentially just a magical weirdo.

In 5e if you encounter a lich out of the MM they are definitely an active villain, they have sacrificed souls and will continue to do so.

In prior additions, the steps to become a lich were exceptionally depraved. Continued consumption of souls is a new thing. Prior editions did have Acererak attempting to fuel his apotheosis using souls, but that is an added thing.

TomB

 

[Vaalingrade]

One of the big things that differentiates us mere mortals from the gods is that we die and they don't. You take away death and you take away what is a universal human experience.

Gods that don't die is a sign of insufficiently motivated PCs.

This is true. But there are certainly other transhuman science fiction stories, right? The RPG Blue Planet features transhumanism and prolonged life through an alien substance mined off a distant planet.

Transhumanism has only very recently gotten a fair shake in the mainstream recently. And even then, it's still usually abused by the ISO Standard Science Bad trope.

 

[Voadam]

Not entirely true for 5E. Without spoiling it, you can encounter a lich in one of the more popular 5E campaigns that is essentially a harmless dude puttering around the dungeon being a magical weirdo. He won't take any aggressive actions against he PCs unless they try to steal his spell book (I think).

Is that a magical weido who specifically sacrifices souls offscreen as a normal 5e lich, or a magical weirdo who does not?

I would classify the first as a villain even if the PCs never see the villainy.

Knowledge about the basic nature of liches is usually not that hard for PC's to know or to come by in D&D.

D&D, and FR in particular, has had a bunch of puttering liches who are sometimes demented but do not appear as villains in their scripted encounters. Knowing whether they are in the practice of regularly sacrificing souls or not can change how you view such magical weirdos.

 

[MGibster]

Is that a magical weido who specifically sacrifices souls offscreen as a normal 5e lich, or a magical weirdo who does not?

It's a magical weirdo who has been isolated for so long he suffers from memory loss. If he's done any sacrificing of souls it was likely long, long ago.

 

[MGibster]

Transhumanism has only very recently gotten a fair shake in the mainstream recently. And even then, it's still usually abused by the ISO Standard Science Bad trope.

I suspect the eugenics movement made some people a bit leery about the impact transhumanism might have on society.

 

[Voadam]

It's a magical weirdo who has been isolated for so long he suffers from memory loss. If he's done any sacrificing of souls it was likely long, long ago.

I vaguely remember reading something like that in a 5e module and thinking it worked against the 5e MM lich descriptions, though it was in line with a bunch of past D&D and FR lich portrayals.

The 5e MM though is vague on how frequent the soul sacrificing must be and on how long it takes to fall apart if they are not met so there is wiggle room for a trapped lich who cannot access sacrifices or a demented one who forgets to do so.

Soul Sacrifices. A lich must periodically feed souls to its phylactery to sustain the magic preserving its body and consciousness. It does this using the imprisonment spell. Instead of choosing one of the normal options of the spell, the lich uses the spell to magically trap the target's body and soul inside its phylactery. The phylactery must be on the same plane as the lich for the spell to work. A lich's phylactery can hold only one creature at a time, and a dispel magic cast as a 9th-level spell upon the phylactery releases any creature imprisoned within it. A creature imprisoned in the phylactery for 24 hours is consumed and destroyed utterly, whereupon nothing short of divine intervention can restore it to life.
A lich that fails or forgets to maintain its body with sacrificed souls begins to physically fall apart, and might eventually become a demilich.

"Periodically" and "eventually" leave a lot of ambiguity.

 

[Voadam]

In prior additions, the steps to become a lich were exceptionally depraved. Continued consumption of souls is a new thing. Prior editions did have Acererak attempting to fuel his apotheosis using souls, but that is an added thing.

TomB

The steps varied widely by edition and source.

Spoiler: 1e

A lich exists because of its own desires and the use of powerful and arcane magic. The lich passes from a state of humanity to a non-human, nonliving existence through force of will. It retains this status by certain conjurations, enchantments, and a phylactery. (Monster Manual)
Liches were formerly ultra powerful magic-users or magic-user/clerics of not less than 18th level of magic-use. (Monster Manual)
A lich (q.v.) is a human magic-user and/or cleric of surpassing evil who has taken the steps necessary to preserve its life force after death. (Monster Manual II)
The urge for immortality is so strong in some powerful mages and magic-user/clerics that they aspire to lichdom, despite its horrible physical side effects and the usual loss of friends and living companionship. Lichdom must be prepared for in life; no true lich ever is known to have come about “naturally.” (Lords of Darkness)
To become a lich, a magic-user or magic-user/cleric must attain at least the 18th level of experience as a magic-user. The candidate for lichdom must have access to the spells magic jar, enchant an item, and trap the soul. Nulathoe's Ninemen, a fifth-level magic-user spell (detailed in the FORGOTTEN REALMS boxed set) which serves to preserve corpses against decay, keeping them strong and supple as in life, is also required. (Lords of Darkness)
The process of attaining lichdom is ruined if the candidate dies at any point during it. Even if successful resurrection follows, the process must be started anew. The process involves the preparation of a magical phylactery and a potion. Most candidates prepare the potion first and arrange for an apprentice or ally to raise them if ingestion of the potion proves fatal. Preparation of the phylactery is so expensive that most candidates do not wish to waste all the effort of its preparation by dying after it is completed but before they are prepared for lichdom. (Lords of Darkness)
The nine ingredients of the potion are as follows: (Lords of Darkness)
Arsenic (2 drops of the purest distillate)
Belladonna (1 drop of the purest distillate)
Blood (1 quart of blood from a dead virginal human infant killed by wyvern venom)
Blood (1 quart from a dead demihuman slain by a phase spider)
Blood (1 quart from a vampire or a being infected with vampirism)
Heart (the intact heart of a humanoid killed by poisoning; a mixture of arsenic and belladonna must be used)
Reproductive glands (from seven giant moths dead for less than 10 days, ground together)
Venom (1 pint or more, drawn from a phase spider less than 30 days previous)
Venom (1 pint or more, drawn from a wyvern less than 60 days previous)
The ingredients are mixed in the order given by the light of a full moon and must be drunk within seven days after they combine into a bluish-glowing, sparkling black liquid. All of the potion must be drunk by the candidate, and within 6 rounds will produce an effect as follows (roll percentile dice): (Lords of Darkness)
01-10 All body hair falls out, but potion is ineffective (the candidate knows this). Another potion must be prepared if lichdom is desired.
11-40 Candidate falls into a coma for 1d6 + 1 days, is physically helpless and immobile, mentally unreachable. Potion works; the candidate knows this.
41-70 Potion works, but candidate is feebleminded, Any failed attempt to cure the candidate's condition is 20% likely to slay the candidate.
71-90 Potion works, but candidate is paralyzed for 2d6 + 2 days (no saving throw, curative magics notwithstanding). There is a 30% chance for permanent loss of 1d6 Dexterity points.
91-96 Potion works, but candidate is permanently deaf (01-33), dumb (34-66), or blind (67-00). The lost sense can only be regained by a full or limited wish.
97-00 Death of the candidate. Potion does not work. (Lords of Darkness)
The successfully prepared candidate for lichdom can exist for an indefinite number of years before becoming a lich. He will not achieve lichdom upon death unless preparation of his or her phylactery is complete. A successfully prepared candidate may appear somewhat paler of skin than before imbibing the potion, but cannot mentally or magically be detected by others as ready for lichdom. The candidate, however, is always aware of readiness for lichdom, even if charmed or insanity or memory loss occurs. (A charmed candidate can never be made to reveal where his phylactery is – although he could be compelled to identify what the phylactery is, if shown it.) (Lords of Darkness)
The phylactery may take any form – it may be a pendant, gauntlet, scepter, helm, crown, ring, or even a lump of stone. It must be of inorganic material, must be solid and of high-quality workmanship if man-made, and cannot be an item having other spells or magical properties on or in it. It may be decorated or carved in any way desired for distinction. (Lords of Darkness)
Enchant an item is cast upon the phylactery (this is one of the rare cases in which this spell can be cast on unworked material), a process requiring continual handling of the phylactery for a long time, as described in the PLAYER'S HANDBOOK. The phylactery must successfully make its saving throw as noted in the spell description. It must be completely enchanted within nine days (not the 24 hours normally allowed by the spell). Note that the “additional spell” times given in the enchant an item spell description are required. (Lords of Darkness)
When the phylactery is thereby made ready for enchantment, the candidate must cast trap the soul on it. Percentile dice are rolled; the spell has a 50% chance or working, plus 6% per level of the candidate (or caster, if it is another being) over 11th level. The phylactery glows with a flickering blue-green faerie fire-like radiance for one round if it is successfully receptive for the candidate's soul. (Lords of Darkness)
The candidate then must cast Nulathoe's Ninemen on the phylactery, and within one turn of doing so, cast magic jar on it and enter it with his life force. No victim is required for this use of the magic jar spell. (Lords of Darkness)
Upon entering the phylactery, the candidate instantly loses one experience level along with its commensurate spells and hit points. The soul and lost hit points remain in the phylactery, which becomes AC 0 and has those hit points henceforth. The candidate is now a lichnee, and must return to his own body to rest for 1d6 + 1 days. The ordeal of becoming a lichnee is so traumatic that the candidate forgets any memorized spells of the top three levels available to him, and cannot regain any spells of those levels until the rest period is complete. (Candidates usually then resume a life of adventuring to regain the lost level.) (Lords of Darkness)
The next time the lichnee candidate dies, regardless of the manner or planar location of death, or barriers of any sort between corpse and phylactery, the candidate's life force will go into the phylactery. For it to emerge again, there must be a recently dead (less than 30 days) corpse within 90 feet of the phylactery. The corpse may be that of any creature, and must fail a saving throw vs. spell to be possessed. If it makes its saving throw, it will never receive the lich. (Lords of Darkness)
If the creature had 3 hit dice or fewer in life, it saves as a zero-level fighter. If it had 3 + 1 hit dice or greater in life, it saves as if it were alive, with the following alignment modifiers: LG, CG, NG: + 0; LN, CN, N: - 3; LE, - 4; NE: - 5; CE: -6. The candidate's own corpse, if within range, is at -10, and may have been dead for any length of time. The lichnee may attempt to enter his own corpse once per week until succeeding. (A phylactery too well-hidden might never offer the lichnee a corpse to enter. Many lichnee commit suicide to save themselves such troubles.) When the lichnee enters its own corpse, it rises in 1d4 turns as a full lich. (Lords of Darkness)
Seven days after ingesting any part of the candidate's original body, a wightish lichnee body will metamorphose into a body similar to the candidate's original one, and manifest full lich powers and abilities (re-roll hit points using eight-sided dice). (Lords of Darkness)
Consider a lich, for example: a mage or cleric so thirsty for immortality as to try to cheat death, and already powerful at magic. (Lords of Darkness)
Sabirine learned the secrets of lichdom but chose to die a natural death instead. (Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (1e))
A supremely evil human magic-user or cleric can exist far beyond the natural span of life by using certain arcane secrets. This creature, the lich, can exist for centuries. (S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1e))
In actuality, this room is a time trap; time here moves very slowly compared to that in the outside world. One round in this room equals a half hour outside it. The tome is Secrets of Immortality by X. Gig, Magus Paragon, Regum Rex, etc., etc. The book is tied to the lectern by strange silver threads, as thin as gossamer. These are strands from Istus’s web in the plane of Time. They cannot be broken by any force save Istus herself. Nor can any force move or break the lectern. (WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1e))
Secrets of Immortality is readable (although highly technical in its use of language), but it is incomprehensible to all creatures with Intelligences below 21. For magic-users who have Intelligences of 21 who would read it, it would take 10 years of careful study to understand its principles. (A nonweapon proficiency taken in the study of the abstract theories of magic will reduce the time of study to only three years.) If the book is mastered, characters will know how to create an elixir of youth, become a shade or a lich, and understand “general principles of life force extension.” (WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1e))
Liches are high level clerics or magic users who have become very special undead. Before becoming a Lich, the cleric or magic user must have been at least 14th level in life, although 18th level is most common. Once a lich is created, it might drop in level, but below 10th level, one can not exist. (Dragon 26)
Preparation for Lichdom occurs while the figure is still alive and must be completed before his first “death.” If he dies somewhere along the line and is resurrected, then he must start all over again. The lich needs these spells. Magic Jar, Trap the Soul, and Enchant an Item, plus a special potion and something to “jar” into. (Dragon 26)
The item into which the lich will “jar” is prepared by having Enchant an Item cast upon it. The item cannot be of the common variety, but must be of high quality, solid, and of at least 2,000 g.p. in value. The item must make a saving throw as if it were the person casting the spell. (A cleric would have to have the spell Enchant an Item and Magic Jar thrown for him and it is the contracted magic user’s level that would be used for the saving throw.) The item can contain prior magics, but wooden items are not acceptable. (Dragon 26)
If the item accepts the Enchant an Item spell (this requires 18+ (Z-O) hours), then Trap the Soul is cast on the item. Trap the Soul has a chance to work equal to 50% + 6%/level of the magic user/cleric over 11th level. (A roll of 00 is always failure.) If the item is then soul receptive, the prepared candidate for Lichdom will cast Magic Jar on it and enter the item. As soon as he enters the jar he will lose a level at once and the corresponding hit points. The hit points and his soul are now stored in the jar. He then must return to his own body and must rest for 2-7 days. The ordeal is so demanding that his top three levels of spells are erased and will not come back (through reading/prayer) until the rest period is up. (Dragon 26)
The next time the character dies, regardless of circumstances, he will go into the jar, no matter how far away and no matter what the obstacles (including Cubes of Force, Prismatic Spheres, lead boxes, etc.). To get out again, the MU/Cleric must have his (or another’s) recently dead body within 90 feet of the jar. The body can be that of any recently killed creature, from a mouse to a kirin. The corpse must fail its saving throw versus magic to be possessed. The saving throw is that of a one-half hit die figure for a normal man, animal, small monster, etc., regardless of alignment, if the figure had three or fewer hit dice in life. If it had four or more hit dice, it gains one of the following saving throws, according to alignment: Good Lawful, Good Choatic, Good Neutral — normal saving throw as in life; Neutral Lawful, Neutral Choatic, Pure Neutral — normal saving throw as in life -3; Evil Lawful —saving throw -4; Evil Neutral —saving throw -5; Evil Choatic —saving throw -6. The corpse can be dead no longer than 30 days. If it makes its saving throw, it will never receive the lich. The MU’s/Cleric’s own corpse can be dead any length of time and is at -10 to receive him. He may attempt to enter his own corpse once each week until he succeeds. (Dragon 26)
In the wightish body, the lich will seek his own body and transport it to the location of the jar. Destruction of his own body is possible only via the spell Disintegrate and the body gets a normal saving throw versus the spell. Dismemberment or burning the body will not totally destroy it, as the pieces of the corpse will radiate an unlimited range Locate Object spell, Naturally it may be difficult for the lich to obtain these pieces/ashes, but that is another story. If and when the wightish body finds the remains of the lich’s original body, it will eat them and after one week will metamorphosis into a humanoid body similar to that of the lich’s original body. Once the lich is back in his own body he will have the spell he had in life and never has to read/pray for them again. In fact he can not, except once to “fill up” his spell levels. As a lich, he can never gain levels, use scrolls, or use magic items that require the touch of a living being. (Dragon 26)
If his body is disintegrated then the lich can only be a Wightish body unless he can find someone to cast a WISH for him to get the body back together again. The jar must be on the prime material, the negative material or the positive material plane and of course he must have a means of gaining access to the appropriate plane in the first place. (Dragon 26)
Preparing the body of the living figure is done via a potion. The potion is difficult to make and time consuming. It requires these items;
A. 2 pinches of pure arsenic
B. 1 pinch of belladonna
C. 1 measure of fresh phase spider venom (under 30 days old)
D. 1 measure of fresh wyvern venom (under 60 days old)
E. The blood of a dead humanoid infant killed by a phase spider
F. The blood of a dead humanoid infant killed by a mixture of arsenic and belladonna
G. The heart of a virgin humanoid killed by wyvern venom
H. 1 quart of blood from a vampire or a person infected with vampirism
I. The ground reproductive glands of 7 giant moths (head for less than 60 days)
The items are mixed in the order given by the light of a full moon. When he drinks the potion (all of it) the following will occur:
1-10 No effect whatsoever other than all body hair falling out — start over!
11-40 Coma for 2-7 days —the potion works!
41-70 Feebleminded until dispelled by Dispel Magic. Each attempt to remove the feeblemind has a 10% chance to kill him instead if it fails. The potion works!
71-90 Paralyzed for 4-14 days. 30% chance that permanent loss of 1-6 dexterity points will result. The potion works!
91-96 Permanently deaf, dumb or blind. Only a full wish can regain the sense. The potion works!
97-00 DEAD —start over . . . if you can be resurrected. (Dragon 26)
There is no “ultimate recipe” for becoming a lich, just as there is no universal way of making a chocolate cake. Only those things which are generally true are stated in the AD&D rules-a magic-user or cleric gains undead status through “force of will” (the desire to be a lich, coupled with magical assistance) and thereafter has to maintain that status by special effort, employing “conjurations, enchantments and a phylactery” (from the lich description in the Monster Manual). The essence of larvae, mentioned as one of the ingredients in the process (in the MM description of larvae) might be used as a spell component, or might be an integral part of the phylactery: Exactly what it is, and what it is used for, is left to be defined by characters and the DM, if it becomes necessary to have specific rules for making a lich. (Dragon 54)
Several combinations of spells might trigger or release the energy needed to transform a magic-user or m-u/cleric into a lich; exactly which combination of magic is required or preferred in a certain campaign is entirely up to the participants. The subject has been addressed in an article in DRAGON magazine (“Blueprint for a Lich,” by Len Lakofka, in #26), but that “recipe” was offered only as a suggestion and not as a flat statement of the way it’s supposed to be done. (Dragon 54)
Possibly the most powerful of the undead creatures, liches were formerly magic-users, clerics, or wizard/priests of high level. While the circumstances in which a lich arises are somewhat varied, a lich is most often the result of an evil archmage's or high priest's quest for immortality. The process involved in the creation of the lich remains a mystery to most, although some have suggested that through the assistance of a demon, the knowledge can be fully learned. (Dragon 126)
In even rarer cases, it is rumored that a wizard of extremely high level in fanatical pursuit of the answer to some bit of research may continue his work even beyond the point of death. Perhaps due to the years of exposure to magical powers, some inexplicable force allows the soul to remain with its dead shell until the inhabitant discovers the answer to its research or until the body crumbles to dust. (Dragon 126)
Perhaps certain unique individuals of this aquatic race (Ixitxachitl) are in fact undead equivalents of ghouls, ghasts, zombies, and liches as well, animated by their own powerful magical spells or their deity, Demogorgon. (Dragon 126)
Instead of beginning life as normal humans, nephil liches began life as nephilim (the giant offspring of fallen angels and humans), then became liches through the same combination of desire and arcane magic by which normal humans are transformed. (CC1 Creature Compendium)
Lichdom spell. (Dragon 76)

Spoiler: 2e

In order to become a lich, the wizard must prepare its phylactery by the use of the enchant an item, magic jar, permanency and reincarnation spells. The phylactery, which can be almost any manner of object, must be of the finest craftsmanship and materials with a value of not less than 1,500 gold pieces per level of the wizard. Once this object is created, the would-be lich must craft a potion of extreme toxicity, which is then enchanted with the following spells: wraithform, permanency, cone of cold, feign death, and animate dead. When next the moon is full, the potion is imbibed. Rather than death, the potion causes the wizard to undergo a transformation into its new state. A system shock survival throw is required, with failure indicating an error in the creation of the potion which kills the wizard and renders him forever dead. (MCI Monstrous Compendium Volume One)
Often in attempts to attain divine status through powerful rituals or the use of artifacts, failure (in the form of a tacit “no” from Ao) results in the mortal becoming a lich, being transformed into some other form of odd undead creature, or being totally destroyed. (Faiths and Avatars)
In centuries past, the Black Lord had transformed over 35 living High Imperceptors at the end of their tenure into undead “Mouths of Bane”— Baneliches. (Faiths and Avatars)
Throughout the domains of Ravenloft and in countless other worlds, there are few creatures more terrible than the lich. In most cases, these diabolical creatures seek out the means by which they attain unread status, willingly sacrificing their humanity in the quest for forbidden knowledge and unchecked power. In rare cases, the curse of eternal life has been thrust upon someone quite accidentally. Such tragedies are few and far between, but sadly they do occur. (Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendices I & II)
Horror literature contains many tales of people who were too involved in their pursuits, often magical research, to even notice their own deaths. Their concentration is intense enough to bind their spirits to their bodies, and to the Prime Material plane. (Dragon 162)
Perhaps at the time of their physical death, their concentration and willpower was intense enough to bind them to the material world, or perhaps the transition was the whim of a deity. (Dragon 162)
Throughout the domains of Ravenloft and in countless other worlds, there are few creatures more terrible than the lich. In most cases, these diabolical creatures seek out the means by which they attain undead status, willingly sacrificing their humanity in the quest for forbidden knowledge and unchecked power. In rare cases, the curse of eternal life has been thrust upon someone quite accidentally. Such tragedies are few and far between, but sadly they do occur. (MC15 Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix II: Children of the Night)

Spoiler: 3.0

"Lich" is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature, provided it can create the required phylactery. (SRD 3.0)
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which to store its life force. Unless the phylactery is located and destroyed, the lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death. (SRD 3.0)
Each lich must make its own phylactery, which requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The character must be a sorcerer, wizard, or cleric of at least 11th level. 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. (SRD 3.0)
Any who use unnatural means to extend their life span (such as a lich) could be targeted by a marut. (Manual of the Planes)

Spoiler: 3.5

A lich is an undead spellcaster, usually a wizard or sorcerer but sometimes a cleric or other spellcaster, who has used its magical powers to unnaturally extend its life. (SRD 3.5)
“Lich” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature provided it can create the required phylactery. (SRD 3.5)
The process of becoming a lich is unspeakably evil and can be undertaken only by a willing character.
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. (SRD 3.5)
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. (SRD 3.5)
As the quintessential “self-made” undead, a lich is a spellcaster who becomes undead through a complex ritual that takes years of research and careful experimentation. This involves the creation of a phylactery, a vessel to contain the lich’s essence. (SRD 3.5)
The process requires Craft Wondrous Item, 120,000 gp, and 4,800 XP. Discovering the proper formulas and incantations to create a phylactery requires a DC 35 Knowledge (arcane) or Knowledge (religion) check. This check requires 1d4 full months of research. Note that this check represents starting from scratch and can be bypassed entirely if the knowledge is available (such as through a tome or tutor). (SRD 3.5)
Perhaps the most common form of the accompanying ritual for arcane liches—although not the only one—involves the spells create undead, magic jar, and permanency. (SRD 3.5)
When a dread necromancer attains 20th level, she undergoes a hideous transformation and becomes a lich. A dread necromancer who is not humanoid does not gain this class feature. (Heroes of Horror)
Liches surface from time to time as a result of Wizards of High Sorcery lured into false promises of power by Chemosh. (Bestiary of Krynn Revised)
Liches are characters who’ve voluntarily transformed themselves into undead, trapping their souls in skeletal bodies. (Complete Divine)
Many clerics of Chemosh hold their positions for generations, using their powers to cling to control even after death by transforming themselves into liches or other dread beings. (Dragonlance Campaign Setting)
They wish to enter the Necrotic Cradle to transform themselves into liches so that they need not fear sunlight, but they haven’t yet been able to get past the guardian. (Player's Handbook II)
The comparable rite for clerical liches involves create undead, harm, and unhallow. (Dragon 336)
The lich template class has two special requirements. First, the base character must have the Craft Wondrous Item feat so that she can make a phylactery to hold her life force. The would-be lich must craft her phylactery over time, as described below. Second, she must be able to cast spells at a caster level of 11th or higher. It is this power, coupled with the knowledge of the process required, that allows the transformation to occur. (Savage Progressions Lich and Weretiger Template Classes)
To complete her transformation to a lich, the character must create a phylactery using the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The phylactery is crafted in three stages, and the lich transfers a bit more of her life force to it at each stage. It does not, however, grant her any of the normal benefits of a phylactery until it is fully completed. (Savage Progressions Lich and Weretiger Template Classes)
Paying the cost of each stage of its construction is a prerequisite for the corresponding level in the lich template class. Thus, to take the 2nd level in this class, the lich must invest 40,000 gp and 1,600 XP in her phylactery. She must spend the same amount again to take the 3rd level, and once again to take the 4th level (for a total investment of 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP). She can complete the phylactery early if she wishes, though doing so does not grant her any additional abilities until she takes the appropriate levels in the template class. (Savage Progressions Lich and Weretiger Template Classes)
For the purpose of determining item saving throws, the phylactery has a caster level equal to that of the lich at the time she completed the most recent stage of work. For example, if a human wizard 11/lich 1 crafts the first stage of her phylactery, it is caster level 11th. She gains three more wizard levels before finishing the second stage of construction, giving it caster level 14th. At that point, she takes the 2nd level of the template class. She then takes one more level of wizard and completes the phylactery, which is thereafter caster level 15th. (Savage Progressions Lich and Weretiger Template Classes)
The most common physical form for a phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is a Tiny object with 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. Other kinds of phylacteries can also exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items. (Savage Progressions Lich and Weretiger Template Classes)
Perhaps the evil wizard discovered an ancient ritual that transformed him into a lich. (Villain Design Handbook)
The template system makes it easy to quickly create these special types and understand how they work, but there is little detail about the villain’s actual preparations to become such a creature. After all, the villain doesn’t just go down to his laboratory, drink a magic potion and instantly become a lich. It takes time, hard work and the use of unnatural magical powers. (Villain Design Handbook)
Once a villain makes this choice, he may seek one of many paths. One of the most straightforward is to use a miracle or wish spell. For reasons known only the Lord of the Underworld himself, the miracle or wish spell does not allow one to become a lich or a vampire, though it does allow one to become a “lower” form of undead, such as a zombie. (Villain Design Handbook)
Becoming a Lich (Villain Design Handbook)
To become a lich, the base creature must prepare his phylactery himself. This requires he begin with an object worth 120,000 gp. While he need not construct the entire object, he must participate in the creation, assisting the craftsman. Most often, the phylactery takes the form of a sealed metal box with strips of parchment holding magically transcribed phrases. At least one of these phrases must be a special, rare prayer to the Harvester of Souls. (Evil non-followers of the Bringer of the Grave have been known to kill for these prayers. Without this special prayer to Tellene’s god of the undead, the ritual is ineffective.) The box is typically attached to a leather strap to be worn on the forehead or arm. Whatever form the object takes, every aspect must be of the finest materials and workmanship. (The box phylactery is Tiny and has a Hardness of 20, along with 40 hit points and a Break DC 40.) The phylactery can also take the form of a ring, amulet or other object. (Villain Design Handbook)
Once the object is prepared, the potential lich applies his Craft Wondrous Item feat. It takes at least 12 days to complete the complex process of enchanting the phylactery, and uses all of the sorcerer or wizard’s spell slots from magic jar, permanency and possibly limited wish for that entire time. (Though clerics can become a lich through this process, the majority of those who attempt it are wizards or sorcerers.) (Villain Design Handbook)
The preparer may use outside help for reincarnation or raise dead (instead of limited wish). Usually this involves using a ring of spell storing. Another caster charges the desired spell into the ring and the creator of the phylactery then need only use it once, but thereafter that spell can never be placed in that ring of spell storing again. (Any attempt uses the spell slot, but has no effect.) (Villain Design Handbook)
THE FINAL STEP TO LICHDOM (Villain Design Handbook)
Additionally, the caster must have a certain potion for the final ceremony. Most casters refuse to leave the creation of such a potion to anyone else, but the imbiber need not be the one who brews it. The potion can be prepared up to one year before the final ceremony. It must be a lethal concoction, and all the following spells must then be cast upon it: permanency, chill touch, fear, hold monster, protection from energy (cold) and animate dead. (Villain Design Handbook)
The final rite is performed at midnight after the phylactery is complete. The base creature must find a secluded area (often an area cursed by the Harvester of Souls or one of his temples) and, with the phylactery within range of the magic jar, complete the process. This involves drinking the potion. The imbiber must make a Will save (DC 16). If he fails, he is permanently dead. If he succeeds (and the phylactery is not destroyed in the intervening time), he rises as a lich in 1d10 days. (Villain Design Handbook)
A few scholars have suggested that adding certain other spells to the concoction can grant the imbiber a bonus (and presumably also penalties) to his Will save. No villains volunteered for experimentation regarding this possibility (i.e. it is up to the DM). (Villain Design Handbook)
Prerequisites: Minimum 11th level sorcerer, wizard or cleric; Craft Wondrous Item feat; magic jar, permanency, reincarnate or raise dead or limited wish; GP Cost: 120,000 (phylactery, caster level = caster’s current level in the appropriate class); XP Cost: 4,800 XP. (Villain Design Handbook)
To become one, an evil spellcaster must knowingly consume a potion that will end his life only to resurrect him as an unliving vessel of pure evil. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Liches are powerful undead creatures – mortal wizards, warriors, and other beings of might who use the dark necromantic arts to make their spirits immortal. (Complete Guide to Liches)
No one knows for certain how the first liches came to be. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Sages say that the necromantic arts of lichdom came from failed sorcerous attempts to find immortality, or even godhood. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The creation of a lich requires a willing, living subject. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The process of becoming a lich is a dark and arduous one. The secrets and spells that must be learned in order to create a lich are numerous and difficult – it can take a lifetime alone just to learn all that is required. (Complete Guide to Liches)
In order to create a lich or a lich variant, two simple elements are essential above all others: a skilled spellcaster to create the lich, and a willing subject to become the lich. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The spellcaster can be any high-level spellcaster, including epic-level paladins and rangers. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Spellcasting: Caster level 11
Feats: Craft Wondrous Item
The subject must be a willing subject. Should the subject not truly desire to become a lich, or understand and object to the fact that becoming a lich involves actually dying and being reborn as an undead creature, the subject will never become a lich or lich variant. Suggestion, charm, or any other sorts of magic spells and psionics used to convince a subject that becoming a lich is a good idea are not enough, nor is misleading the subject about what the lich creation process entails. Only a subject that chooses to be a lich of his own free will can ever successfully become a lich. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Once both the spellcaster and the subject are ready and willing, a phylactery must be created to begin the process of lichdom. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Creating the phylactery requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. This phylactery costs a minimum of 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create, and possesses a caster level equal to that of its creator when it is made. (Complete Guide to Liches)
With the phylactery (and, optionally, the vessel) in place, a ritual is required to bind the soul to the phylactery. Different cultures and magical traditions have developed slightly different rituals for spellcasters who wish to become liches. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The Potion of Undead Life: A potion of undead life slays the drinker unless he succeeds a Fortitude save (DC 20). A creature so slain cannot be brought back from the dead by anything short of a wish or miracle. If a creature has undergone the necessary ritual to bind its soul to a phylactery (and optionally, its mind to a vessel), the potion of undead life does not immediately slay the drinker; instead, it causes the creature’s physical body to rapidly decompose, turning into little more than dust and ash in less than two days. This is often to the horror of the lich, who cannot be certain the ritual was effective. But 1d10 days after the subject’s body drops dead from drinking a potion of undead life, he returns as a lich, looking very similar to the way he did in life. (Complete Guide to Liches)
Binding the Twin Winds: For this ritual, the prospective lich must find a windy cave, which acts as his phylactery. A ritual binds his soul to the cave, but to make the bonding permanent, he must die amid the cries of both mourning friends and victorious foes – the twin winds of the ritual. After the prospective lich takes its last living breath, his body is suffused with a black miasma of negative energy that slowly dissolves his body. Only once there are no breathing creatures within a hundred feet will the lich be reanimated. Though a difficult ritual to perform, the benefit is that the lich’s phylactery is nearly impossible to steal or destroy. Though the cave only has hardness 8, it has tens of thousands of hit points. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The Sultan’s Curse: A thousand years ago, the sultan of a desert nation was blessed by a djinni to be able to invoke a curse of his choice once during his reign. That curse was lain upon a foreigner who defiled the holiest city of the land, and he was struck down by a bolt from the heavens. But the foreigner’s magic allowed him to steal a bit of the divine essence of the lightning bolt, bonding his soul with the twisted glass created when the lightning seared the desert sands. His body reformed from the sands of where he died, and he lives to this day seeking revenge. Similarly, if a mage prepares the proper ritual, and if he is slain by a spell channeling positive energy, he can corrupt that energy and use it to propel himself into the undeath of lichdom. (Complete Guide to Liches)
The Diary of Riddles: Many loremasters, feeling their pursuit of knowledge is yet incomplete, craft textual phylacteries, recording in extreme detail the events of their lives, typically in a well-bound tome. The mage seeking to become immortal must include at least one mystery he seeks to solve in his undeath, though additional mysteries may later be added to the book. He then writes an account of his own death into the tome, at which point he dies, his soul binding with the pages. (Complete Guide to Liches)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
Liches are created, not born, and their only method of reproduction is the creation of a new lich. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
The Journey (Kobold Quarterly 3)
Only 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. (Kobold Quarterly 3)
It's entirely possible that the crypts could house one or more undead, like the ghouls in location H7. A wight, a ghost, or even a lich could have been entombed here, either rising after its mortal body was laid to rest or sealed in by whatever cult or sinister family created it. (World's Largest City)

Spoiler: 4e

A LICH IS AN UNDEAD SPELLCASTER created by means of an ancient ritual. Wizards and other arcane spellcasters who choose this path to immortality escape death by becoming undead, but prolonged existence in this state often drives them mad. (Monster Manual)
“Lich” is a monster template that can be applied to nonplayer characters. (Monster Manual)
A mortal becomes a lich by performing a dark and terrible ritual. In this ritual the mortal dies, but rises again as an undead creature. Most liches are wizards or warlocks, but a few multiclassed clerics follow this dark path. (Monster Manual)
A lich’s life force is bound up in a magic phylactery, which typically takes the form of a fist-sized metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been written. (Monster Manual)
A dark spellcaster who covets immortality and spend his or her life in pursuit of necromantic power might gain the ability to become a lich. A lich ties its life force to a phylactery, ensuring that its body will coalesce in a hidden location even if some creature were to slay it. (Monster Vault)
To become a lich, a spellcaster must be devoted to evil and adept at performing unspeakable acts of violence. Few spellcasters have a shred of morality remaining after their transformations into liches. The process of attaining lichdom bends the mortal mind in unnatural and crippling ways. Many liches rise up insane, but even they enact cunning plans; they just do so for incomprehensible reasons. (Monster Vault)
A spellcaster must travel far—even across the planes—to collect the scraps of lore and esoteric components needed to enact the ritual to transform into a lich. (Monster Vault)
The act of becoming a lich encases a mortal’s life force in a specially prepared item called a phylactery. The most common type is a metal box that contains strips of parchment with arcane writing. Any small item, such as a gemstone, a ring, or a statue, can be a phylactery. (Monster Vault)
Death knights, liches, mummies, and vampires are created by rituals or processes that tie the soul to an unliving form. Similar creatures could be created in different circumstances. Such diversity among undead reflects the fact that death touches every part of existence. (Open Grave Secrets of the Undead)
Some obsessed knowledge-seekers pursue the spark of life too far, and thereby discover the dark fruits of undeath. They seek death’s secrets because of their fear of death, thinking that if they can come to understand mortality, their fear will be extinguished and their survival assured. Those who tread this road to its conclusion sometimes embrace death completely, and do not become so much immortal as simply enduring. Spellcasters who adopt this existence are commonly known as liches. (Open Grave Secrets of the Undead)
MANY CREATURES HOPE TO ESCAPE DEATH. When such creatures are powerful and corrupt, they sometimes turn to rituals that can transform them into liches. However, immortality comes with a price, and these creatures lose the remaining shreds of their humanity in process. (Open Grave Secrets of the Undead)
Most undead animate spontaneously or arise through profane rituals. A few mortals willingly become undead, though, viewing the condition as a form of immortality. These liches gain resilience from the transformation. (Open Grave Secrets of the Undead)
Liches are evil arcane masterminds that pursue the path of undeath to achieve immortality. (Dungeon Master's Guide)
“Lich” is a template you can add to any intelligent creature of 11th level or higher. (Dungeon Master's Guide)
Prerequisite: Level 11, Intelligence 13 (Dungeon Master's Guide)
Vol’s methods created creatures such as vampires and liches that required life energy or blood from living creatures. (Eberron Campaign Guide)
Undead fuel their minds and protect their corpses from dissolution through powerful necromantic rituals—especially liches, whose never-ending acquisition of arcane knowledge has propelled some into contention with the gods themselves. (Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide)
Death knights, liches, mummies, and vampires are all created by rituals that tie the soul to an unliving form. (Wizards Presents Worlds and Monsters)
As a mortal, Vecna proved willing to do things none of his contemporaries dared. He was the first to sacrifice his body to gain immortality as a lich. (Dragon 395)
Magical mastery enabled Vecna to secure temporal power, with the assistance of his companion Kas. At some point during his ascent, he created the Lich Transformation ritual, then became a lich, and finally authored the Book of Vile Darkness. (Dragon 395)
Where ‘common’ liches are undead spellcasters that selfishly gave their life forces to further their magical might and live eternally, liche priests are chosen by the Black Circle to join their cult as the eternally damned servants of the Queen of Darkness. (Wraith Recon: Enemies Within)
It is commonly believed that it was Lasheeva who crafted phylacteries for Áereth’s first liches and soul weapons for the first death knights, forever changing the world by offering dangerous, power-hungry mortals a dark substitute to mere mortality. (Level Up 2)