jackels creations

[jackel]

Here is the liche I have been working on.

Liche
AC19
HD 8
Attacks: Spells or touch
Damage: per spells or (1D8? Or 10)
No Appearing: 1
Save As M10?
Morale: *
TT: ?
XP: 1,200
Only +1 weapons can hit, Immune to sleep, charm, hold / Can command other lesser undead
This is a Necromancer who has sold his or her soul to the god/ goddess of un-life.

Also I was think in my world there would be a council of liches. They would squwable among themselves, but if a plan would further the greater evil them they would cooperate, this is where ther Liche Lord comes in. It would enforce the will of the god of un-life.

Liche Lord
AC 22
HD 10+
Attacks: Spells or touch
Damage: per spells or (1D8? Or 10)
No Appearing: 1 only ever.
Save As M12?
Morale: *
TT: ?
XP: 2,000
Only +3 weapons can hit, Immune to sleep, charm, hold / Can command other lesser undead
This is a Necromancer who has sold his or her soul to the god/ goddess of un-life. * The morale of the liche is special. A liche is Highly intelligent. It will never run from a fight if it has the upper hand. Once the situationn becomes unwinnable for theliche it will flee, to 'live' to fight another day..

Tell me what you all think. I want the liche to be a major thorn in the side of the player and hard to 'kill'.

[Joe the Rat]

Is the touch attack a simple bludgeon, or some sort of life drain (drains life/hp, but not an actual level drain effect)? For the latter, a save would be allowable for half damage.

Controlling lesser undead could work as a turning function... but I think it would be simpler to just make it automatic for a certain set of undead types, and give them 20-30 HD that can be controlled.

The best way to make them troublesome is to add some sort of return clause a la the phylactery - but maybe change it up. Each liche has a means to preserve their undead spirit and return to life. The exact nature of this could vary from liche to liche.

[jackel]

I was think the touch could do paralize or such, but I like the level drain. paralize is not fun, but a level drain is scary. Maybe it could drain the level and use it to regenarate..... oh hell that'd scare PCs good. Face the spells cast at 20th level or get close and maybe get the life sucked out of you. On the control, we would have to go on a certain number of HD, 30 or 40. Will have to playtest the bloody thing. If anyone wants to play test please by all means do. Just please let me know, or if you have a suggestion for the liche. is it too powerful? Do I need to buff it up by half, what?

[Solomoriah]

Traditional liches don't level drain, but I don't like adding the complexity of the traditional aging effect to the game.

Need something else...

[Joe the Rat]

Constitution drain? We've already got stat drain and stat recovery in the rules.

Oho... spell drain. With a touch he can drain away prepared spells. (one per touch, save to resist... i dunno how to select) This could be a magic recharge, but I like the idea of them stealing magic to recover health. The rest of the time it uses its freakishly strong hands to pummel or strangle opponents (I see these guys being big on grappling with those who dare approach them. Let them do so one-handed.) With this layout, their favorite targets are magic-users.

I keep wanting to add more powers, but the thing to keep in mind is 1) they have spells, and 2) they likely have magic items in their treasure - and will use said items as needed.

20-30 of controlled undead was based on what an MU or necromancer can create with raise dead - level based on the MU save. It's enough for a zombie T-Rex. If you want them to be able to control more (direct control over all of the undead in their crypt, as opposed to just those in his immediate vicinity), you should up the number.

[jackel]

Hey all, I am haveing a rethink on this. I discovered a retro of the old Rules Cyclopedia, the rule book I loved. I downloaded it and really liked it, but after going over it a few time, I found that I perfer Basic Fantasy. There are a few things that I would like to bring over to BF. One of which is the lich. I really like the design I have above, however I think what I have is way over the top. I will do this liche as above with some mods of course, but as the liche lord. In looking at the lich it is done as a magic user of what ever level has died. It is hard for me to explain. So please tell me, how do I go about converting this with 'stealing' it?

[SmootRK]

Hey all, I am haveing a rethink on this. I discovered a retro of the old Rules Cyclopedia, the rule book I loved. I downloaded it and really liked it, but after going over it a few time, I found that I perfer Basic Fantasy. There are a few things that I would like to bring over to BF. One of which is the lich. I really like the design I have above, however I think what I have is way over the top. I will do this liche as above with some mods of course, but as the liche lord. In looking at the lich it is done as a magic user of what ever level has died. It is hard for me to explain. So please tell me, how do I go about converting this with 'stealing' it?

The short answer is you don't. But, we all know we find "inspiration" in many places. What you use in your games is your own business.

I generally prefer a complete re-imagination over direct ports. However, a Lich is pretty iconic for these sorts of games and have some pretty standard powers. I would simply review each of the game/edition versions and compile your own amalgam of what you want to see.

[SmootRK]

Traditional liches don't level drain, but I don't like adding the complexity of the traditional aging effect to the game.

Need something else...

There is an aging effect in the Field Guide for ghosts. I just tweaked it down a bit from the original draft I got. I believe the effect was a port from SRD version, so it was of course too high powered (see my numerous semi-rants against porting over of higher level creatures from 3e/4e editions). Now, it is still quite potent but but is a tad less one-hit destruction.

Simply encountering a particular ghost for the first time is so terrifying that the creature will age 1 year and must save vs. spells or flee for 2d6 rounds. A ghost's gaze attack is effective up to 30 feet causing the affected target to save vs. spells or be paralyzed in fright for 2d4 rounds. A ghost that hits a living target with its touch attack deals 1d6 points of damage and ages the victim 3d10 years while healing itself of 5 points of damage.

The aging affect causes permanent Constitution damage. Elves can ignore the first 200 years of aging; dwarves the first 50, and halflings the first 20. Otherwise, each 10 years of aging will cause the character to permanently lose 1 point of Constitution. Lost Constitution can be regained at a rate of 1 point per casting of restoration; nothing else (except a wish) can restore Constitution lost to a ghost. If a character's Constitution falls to 0, he or she dies permanently and can not be raised (but still may be reincarnated). Other age reducing effects do not affect these losses or its restoration, as the withering effect is both physical and psychic in nature.

[jackel]

Thanks for the advice Smoot. I want the lich to be feared, but not unbeatable. 3d10 years??? Holy (that should be UNholy) crap! I was thinking more of just a HP drain, once drained of all hit points, you would be rasied as undead. Thanks agwin Smoot. I hope one day to have a li he in your Field Guide.

[Solomoriah]

Honestly, I think I'd like CON drain over aging for both the ghost and the lich.

Aging effects require an official rule for what happens when you get older; CON drain would apply existing mechanics to the character affected, and you could argue that getting older reduces CON anyway. All you'd have to do is indicate the recovery rate, if any.