What would be awesome creatures to fight for a party made of no longer living? Not necessary an evil party. Obscure D&D monsters are welcome.
Since we are on the topic what your ideal PLAYABLE undead party would look like? I'm thinking a Lich, a Death Knight and a Wight/banshee with thief levels.
>Since we are on the topic what your ideal PLAYABLE undead party would look like?
Court Erudite/Stacy with horrible anxiety whose answer to every problem is to blow it up, from other racers to interviews at pit stops.
Holic Gothic/Baroque fireblooded speed demon named "Hot Heels" that serves as the party's ride during the Wacky Races.
Sorority Requiem/Romanesque who has to play team mom and make sure the Court and Holic don't eat each other alive.
Mechanus citizens that shout "eternal life is against the LAAAW". And are led by dread.
A dead party.
As this is an evil undead party, you've got the following you need to do before a party plays as one
>Each PC get's a to roll for their Lich Salient ability (Read Van Richten's Guide to the Lich, then Monsters of Faerun, then the Sword and Sorcery Ravenloft modules) Lichspell, Lich artefact, and Lich Power rituals, the first roll determining how many of these they get
>Each PC rolls for what kind of Lich they are-
To list the following-
>Base Lich (See Blueprint to the lich which progressed onto Van Richten's guide to the Lich, which then went on to the Monster Manual template, then it's Web Enhancement which detailed it as a monster class as well as the transformation process) Effectively this is the default Lich of D&D.
To note, this lich covers all medium humanoids, the only one by canon to apply lichdom to non-humanoids is Lichdom aquired through the Death Master Base class in dragon compendium, making the user Orcus's bitch
>Suel Lich (In a Dragon magazine article for 3.5 and 2e) The Lich from Adventure time, hop from body to body or die trying, you aim for demilichdom to stop the corpse degradation, but from a technical perspective, your very soul is negative energy now, which is hilarious because it means lore-based shenanigans with the like
>Lichfiend
You're a Lich in service to a Demon Lord of the Abyss, and will never die so long as your master wills it, you die, it's off to him and back in 24 hours, just keep him happy and you have eternity to yourself. Despite what the Libris Mortis published on the subject, this is the correct Lichfiend- allegedly (Both might be valid)
>Banelich
You are one of the elite of the God of Tyranny, but he doesn't make anymore of you anymore because reasons though !notHulkHogan with higher CHA doesn't like you much either (monsters of Faerun and 2e)
>Alhoon
Fuck the Elder brain. You're an Illithid Sorceror who took up Lichdom, to note, you did lose some of your natural abilities for making the transformation (monsters of Faerun)
>Elemental Lich (S&S Ravenloft for 3.5 template)
See that Paladin? You can bitchslap him into falling. Also, you get to summon Demiplane of dread issued elementals and you get unique demilich powers when you hit that stage. Fucking great right?
>Drowlich
You're an evil aligned race with an evil aligned deity with an evil aligned set of variant classes, racial benefits an innate abilities, and your Lichdom is also slightly bolstered by you being evil, Not much has changed, (Was not in 3.5, but had a template in a d20 work The Complete Guide to Liches)
>Shadow Lich
You are an undead creature so obscure, that even you're appearances have only occurred three times over the history of D&D, and you're effectively a Shade and a Lich in one, that even your method of disposal is fucking super obscure. The bigger benefit is how your state tremendously helped your shadowcasting, but even better is that you barely look dead barring your eyeless sockets, but your biggest secret is that the means to your transformation are infact the moss stress-free means possible in all of D&D's recorded Lichhood. Talk about fucking lucky. Fuck all Shar worshippers though, the Shadow Weave is concentrated ass. (Mentioned in 3.5 but not covered, see Shade, Shadow, and Lich Template to detail and elaborate, as well as Ravenloft, book of shadows)
Might be 1 or two more of these, I'd have to check that template list.
>Bard Lich
Despite your name, you are not- infact a Lich, or a Dirgesinger for that matter, you just sort of got into one of those-undead-like states caused from over exposure to negative energy signatures associated with a Lich, in a same means in which many necromancers slowly become undead-like over time, the the vein of Orcus's return to life with his undead-like benefits, the Pale Master, the Deathwalker, Mortibund, and practitioners of the eastern school of necromancer wizard variant. Despite your predicament you still have some benefits of Lichdom, barring their natural abilities as undead connected to the plane of negative energy, but effectively, in a sense, you're still the nice guy people remember you to be, if a little-dead looking.
>VassaLich
Rather than sell your soul to Orcus for power, immortality, and strong bones, you managed to convince a Lich to suck on his liqufied black bile bone marrow to become a vassalich, a creature that is in effect, what vampire spawn is to a True vampire. Now you have all the benefits of Lichdom, but are subserviant to your master, and cannot level up unless it is his whim, but soon you will be able to afford the time to craft your own phylactery and become independent of him (2e ravenloft and 3.5 S&S ravenloft)
>Defiler Lich
You are literally the biggest fucking cunt in the multiverse, and equally just as terrifying, you rape nature for your art and destroy entire ecosystems casting spells over the mid-tier mark, when you become a Demilich you can cast curses so detrimental they permanently render people unable to take important functional actions in life, and Druids can sense you, and will do everything to kill you for what you are and what you do. (2e, but is basically the lich template with the Dark Sun defiler feat and table found in dragon magazine + alt abilities to use as a demilich)
>Inheritor Lich
Death doesn't stop your legal proceedings, you just came back and took your property like a real fucking man
>Master Lich
You're a Lichfiend. Except this time you're not limited to a Demon Lord. You're basically Pious from Eternal Darkness, Enjoy letting the Old ones in. You're also weaker than the base Lich for some reason
>Firelich
You fucked up any of the following.
>Psionic Lich
Fuck Astral Seeds, shove all your Psionics in a Phylactery, die, comeback through sheer willpower, in 2e, but S&S's Hyperconscious - Explorations In Psionicshas you covered, though Pathfinder did the same thing but better having you Astral seed your shit as well, but you know, shit happens.
>Dry Lich
Druid or cleric, you can generate limiteless salt, get more phylacteries but can't replace them, and use infinite pocket sand and pocket sand as a variant that instantly kills, requires a PrC. A benefit includes a Planar touchstone for a guild that the PrC for this lichdom lets you into that gives you fast healing. You're a more territorial version of a Tomb king.
>Archlich
A lich that is good, and nerfed for being as such, Liches get to be generalists again anyhow.
>Good Lich
based on your logical curicuits, you repented and got the benefits of an Archlich. You'll probably die anyway.
>Baelnorm
Priveleged Elf cunt with sometimes the same benefits as a Lichfiend, except it's instantanious, and curryman lathereon loves you
>Dracolich
You're stuck with the older 2e standards of regeneration because a Phylactery can't grow a Dragon carcass because of how your ecology works. Luckily, you're not dumb and trained your batshit insane cultists and Kobolds to practice Transmutation to simply MAKE the bodies for you to inhibit via Polymorph.
>judge dread
>an ACTUAL dreadnought
I want this. He could be like an arbites dreadnought
>Spontaneous Lich
Some Magic deity likes you so much they made you undead without you noticing, you'll crumble to dust when you finish your work, but this is the very process that helped change Lichdom in the planes forever, all of modernized 3.5 lichdom is actually based on using this as an exploit!
>3rd Party Lich
You fucking Spell turned the energies of a Necromancers Lich ascention ritual unto yourself and became a Lich, effectively stealing it from him. It's the base Lich Template, but lack of self awareness let's you keep your original alignment. Nigel Turnbottom you lucky bastard.
Kind of amazing no one thought to build that shit in, but there you go, fuck you Sammaster.
>Death Knight (Original, Greyhawk - Demogorgon)
Infused with the hatred of all life as a martial paragon of Unlife, and the Demon Prince of the Undead supplied your hatred of everything else making you a martial champion of evil as he raped you in the eyesockets until you became undead, you're sword is your unlife, you ignore your foes AC and attract undead to you.
>Death Knight (Divine, Krynn)
You pissed the deities off and now you're pretty much unfeeling, immortal, and have the same abilities as the above + two extra (su)s. Hilarious.
And technically finally-
Demilichdom
The Creme of the crop. As a Demilich you can make 100 clones of yourself as a Lich to distribute and control however you please with no penalities to HD CAP, Contact any Evil Outsider in the universe with a DM-issued control of somekind, freely change the weather, and take control of headless bodies to wield their class skills as long as you're attached.
Some powers will vary for your choice of Lichdom, making this stage even more fun, but the best comes from the control of weather, as over the years D&D has wracked up the like of the Black Rain (EAT SHTI CLERICS) and many other fun weather effects, such as Dragon Magazines Arcane Weather Article. Unleash pure fucking hell.
Clerics and Paladins, of course.
>Shadow lich
What is the means to their transformation?
>Dry lich can generate limitless salt
So they're people who are bad at multiplayer shooters like Overwatch and TF2 but who still insist on playing them?
The last remaining robots that wander the earth in the wake of humanity's demise.
Lastly, to note, Demilichdom is applicable to ALL forms of Lich, so there's that little cherry on top for players.
The official 3.5 issued base class means to Lichdom is Dread Necromancer (Humanoids only, and the 3.5 class for 2e's AZN Philospher Necromancer Queen, Kazerabet) Death Master, which applies to all who use the class and not just humanoids, which makes your Orcus's bitch.
And lastly, the Walker in the Wastes PrC.
Honurable Mentions-
>The Obscure not detailed enough Mummy-Lichdom featured for the Neverwinter Nights 1 SOU campaign's Lich
>The Lich's Old Memory globe, shove unwanted memories in here, like another Phylactery for every embarrassing moment in your life on a replay and slideshow!
>People who don't understand the size category to phylactery table issued variants for your phylactery and think you're getting your hands on an Ancient netherse spell owned by a fat Lich who had a contingency spell in place to turn him into a Lich on death that lets him split up his phylectery into bones he can polymorph and hide around his cave
>The fucking Undermountain vampire using a Phylactery because the Twisted Rune love to live up to their silly reputation
>Random non-Lich phylactery users over the course of D&D
>All unlisted non-standard Liches made by curse, and Lich-fiend like Outsider involvement
>Deathless, but they're more or less Undead without the Negative Plane of energy feeding them that secret executable viral code to kill everyone and everything ever, so they can't suffer the "Atropus has arrived, fuck your Necrocracy" asspull
>Half Liches, AKA Kharlat Jhareg, and every Level 4 Lich monster class template NPC that couldn't make it
>The literally no info on this- Lichthrall from the Hombrew Lich handbook on that forum site that is actually made up. There was only ever Vassa-Liches, whoops- well- that and whatever Larloch is doing
Skeletons covered in flesh and skin.
See Dark Souls
Ravenloft's Shadow Virus on the last days of infection + What is basically the Shade Transformation Ritual from Shadovar but as an Alchemical potion which should be possible via the Master Alchemist PrC in Forgotten realms if you wantes to do it yourself.
Effectively, it's a state for the Old 2e Shadow Mage kit before the Shar made the Shadow-Weave and introduced her special brand of bullshit and it works because of that part of the Demiplane of Shadow that borders the Negative energy plane.
As for how it works, instead of the Paralysis touch, the Lich Drains strength as an undead shadow would, it has the Shade's ability to Dim light sources, and affinity for shadows. As for it's apperance, it looks like a shade, but it's eyes are hollow sockets, so it's hard to discern anyhow.
Technically speaking one can still play a 2e Styled shadow mage, you just have to Pick the Variant Base class options from Unearthed Arcana and Transversed Arcana in D&D to get the same benefits from casting shadow spells from the illusion school like the old 2e kit.
Umbran the Shadow Lich is the one in 2e, the 2nd one was in Neverwinter Nights, Shadows of Unrentide as a Netherese Shadovar who was in the degenerated state of Shadow Lichdom due to the Weave fucking up during the Karsus folly, it sort of 'bordered' the old condition You have to read Ravenloft Book of shadows to undrstand it and the one in 3.5 is mentioned in the tome of magic, but whether it is a Shadow Lich in the vein of Umbran and NWN1's 2nd campaign is unknown as it isn't statted beyond it's mention as part of a Shadowcaster guild, so it's probably a Shadowcaster Lich at best.
>Arbiters Dreadnaut of Judge Dredd.
Yes please
As for means to destruction the Lich doesn't use a Phylactery but it's tied the shadowstuff it merged with to become a Shadow Lich in the same manner as a shade is, and it reforms around it's bones, which it can generate, repair and hide under in it's own shadow only way to get rid of it is to Blast it in a containmet field and use light spells repeatedly, but who the fuck would know that? there's no way to even identify it has a Lich beyond the eye sockets and fear aura, for all intents and purposes, it looks like a Shade.
They have to stop king arthur from pullng the sword from the stone. Or get the ring from a hlafling. Or BAD things happen to the world.
Demons. Play heavy metal music in the background and have your players try to out-edge each other.