Why would anyone become a lich?

[green slime]

Vampire Weaknesses
For all their power, vampires have a number of weaknesses.

Repelling a Vampire
Vampires cannot tolerate the strong odor of garlic and will not enter an area laced with it. Similarly, they recoil from a mirror or a strongly presented holy symbol. These things don’t harm the vampire—they merely keep it at bay. A recoiling vampire must stay at least 5 feet away from a creature holding the mirror or holy symbol and cannot touch or make melee attacks against the creature holding the item for the rest of the encounter. Holding a vampire at bay takes a standard action.

Vampires are also unable to cross running water, although they can be carried over it while resting in their coffins or aboard a ship.

They are utterly unable to enter a home or other building unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. They may freely enter public places, since these are by definition open to all.

Liches can sit on the bottom of the ocean and negotiate with Sahuagin. They can eat garlic. Prick and preen in front of mirror (not that it is going to do much good). You can't keep a "good" lich from gatecrashing your party; they can enter any building uninvited.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

It's a tough one to call. Could it come down to fashion sense?

Lich - you get to wear your robes - end up looking like Skeletor in a dress.

Vampires are required to wear frilly shirts and purple sunglasses.

Your average wizard may not have the panache or confidence to carry off the vampire look? But they've had a whole life getting used to the robes?

Accessorising - for a lich, your phylactery can take almost any form - suits a huge number of styles. On the other hand, as a vampire you get a coffin full of earth - limits you to a bit of a gothic look?

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Heck, I don't think it even has to be human blood, does it? Raise a few pot-bellied pigs or something. Really, this is a non-issue.

Gotta be human blood in my opinion. Vampirism isn't supposed to be a pleasant experience for the Vampire. More often than not it is construed as a curse. It's all about consuming "Life". Vampirisim has also been seen in fiction to be about uncontrollably destroying that which you love.

I think too often in these discussions people get caught up in the bonuses and abilities of template creatures such as the Vampire without giving any real thought to how horrible such an existence would be.

Wizards traditionally become Liches to continue their magical research. They aren't interested in stat bonuses... in most cases they lived their mortal life adventuring with people that were physically more powerful. Time spent hunting for blood is time better spent in research. By going out and killing the populace for blood sooner or later some do-gooders will try to put an end to it. Time spent fighting a party of adventurers is also time wasted. Lichdom allows a Wizard to hole up somewhere and study without concern for food, water, or any kind of sustenance. A Lich could create a "dungeon" in the middle of a mountain and colapse all the enterances so he'd never be bothered. A Vampire at some point would have to leave to hunt... not so the Lich. He could stay there for all eternity.

 

[Henry]

The way I see it, if I were to be an undead, I'd want to be the Lich. The Vampire has too many weaknesses that can be exploited, even with good planning, which is bound to go awry.

The closer analogy - do you want to lose your lower leg and be economically middle class - or be quadraplegic, yet fabulously wealthy? I wouldn't choose either, of course - but if forced into a choice, I'll take the prosthetic and the 9-to-5, please.

 

[Umbran]

Blood's not hard to come by, nor are hapless souls whom nobody would miss.

In the modern world, perhaps. But we tend to live in very high population densities. Pseudo-medieval worlds have far smaller populations, so it is far more difficult to find an anonymous person. Harder still to find a string of anonymous people and have nobody notice.

 

[Saeviomagy]

Looking like skeletor in a dress is
1) Not really a worry for a wizard anyway. He's dedicating his life to the study of magic, remember? Who has time for friends?

2) Not a problem anyway. Alter self lets you become any form of undead with up to 5 hit dice (including "vampire of me, but without the weaknesses and disadvantages"), and polymorph self and polymorph any object let you become fully human again. Finally, if it's just for appearances, buy a hat of disguise.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Some people see being a lich as the ultimate in power. Others may not realize the kind of trouble they are getting into. I mean, why would anyone be a vampire? Well, it may SEEM sleek and sexy (to the goth posers) but when it comes down to it, it would be a miserable existence.

 

[Tiberius]

Vampires also require blood. Drinking blood from humans tends to be...impopular. Then you end up with all these messy holier-than-thou paladins, clerics and undead hunter types chasing you down.

IIRC, the RAW don't specify the need to drink blood. Sure, vampires CAN do it to do Con drain, and it's certainly part of the common conception of the bloodsucker, but there are no mechanical detriments for not doing so.

 

[Sejs]

it would be a miserable existence.

No kidding. You're undead, so you don't have to sleep... but you can't go outside for half the friggin' day or the big, bad sun will kill you.

Talk about frustrating. And boring. At least with most other undead if you want to go out and do something, you can without having to worry about terminal sunburn.

 

[rounser]

Looking like skeletor in a dress is

Likely to give He-Man the willies?