Alternative Liches, because Immortal Mages are all the same [3.5, Templates, PEACH]

[Sgt. Cookie]

This is just a mad idea, but why do only Casters (And Warlocks) get the benefit of being harder to kill than crappy film tie-ins? But you know what? I want my Warblade to be so badass, that his corpse keeps on fighting. I want my Shadowcaster to forge himself with Shadow, using it's energies to sustain his own life. I want my Truenamer... to work properly. But that's another thread.

So you know what? Let's give it a go.


Nine Wrought Soul
(Martial Adept Lich)

It is a secret known to those who have mastered the Sublime Way, that death is not the end of their knowledge, that their mastery will not go to the grave. But few are willing to use this secret, as it twists and corrupts the very knowledge they seek to preserve. Only the most unscrupulous masters wound even consider, let alone do.

By marking their bodies with knowledge, they seek to empower their very corpses with their experience, personality and mastery over the Sublime Way. Such twisted abominations are called Nine Wrought Souls.

Creating a Nine Wrought Soul

A Nine Wrought Soul is identical to the Standard Lich, with the following exceptions:

Ability Score Adjustment: Increase from the base creature as follows: +4 Strength, +2 Dexterity. Nine Wrought Souls, being undead, have no Constitution score. However, any HP gained from a high Con score are not lost, see Nine Wrought Toughness.

Nine Wrought Toughness (Ex): A Nine Wrought Soul gains the Nine Wrought Toughness ability, allowing them to use their Charisma in place of their Constitution for HP.
If his unmodified Constitution score, prior to becoming a Nine Wrought Soul, was higher than his current Charisma score, he continues to gain extra HP, as though he still had his constitution score. If his Charisma Score ever becomes higher than his prior unmodified Constituition score, recalculate HP accordingly.


Phylactery Equivelent

Nine Wrought Souls don't have phylacteries, instead they scribe the knowledge of all maneouvers they know onto their own flesh AND into the walls, celing, floor, etc, of a sanctum. This requires the Scribe Martial Script feat*, and some sort of method of making permenant marks.

Marking yourself in such a way costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP, or the actual cost if you were making Martial scripts of every maneouver you know, whichever is greater. Creating a Sanctum incurs no additional cost.

1d4 hours after the Nine Wrought Soul is slain, it reappears in its sanctum (The Nine Wrought Soul predetermines where in its sanctum). 1d10 days later, it comes back to life.

To permenantly destroy a Nine Wrought Soul, you must slay it and destroy its catatonic form, before it comes back to life.


*((DM Note: Change the prerequisite to "1 level in any Martial Adept class", trust me on this.))


Next time: Binder Lich.

[Sgt. Cookie]

Self-Bound
(Binder Lich)

As many know, the first followers of Syfal created small jade cubes that contained the essence of a Vestige to be called upon later. Over time, these cubes spread far and wide. Finding their way into the hands of many Binders.

One such cube became the possession of the Orc Binder Gurzeth, who became fixated and obsessed with it. He performed horrific experiments, hoping to harness its power for himself. Although details of the experiments were lost, what is known is he succeded in creating Vestigies. And became one himself.

Over time, his experiments were lost, replicated and rediscovered and today even the least powerful Binder knows about his experiments and more than a few seek to replicate the results...

Creating a Self-Bound

A Self-Bound is identical to the Standard Lich, with the following exceptions:

Natural Armour: Self-Bound do not gain the Natural Armour of a Lich.

Ability Score adjustment: +2 Int, +4 Charisma. Self-Bound, being undead, do not possess a Constitution score.

Special Attacks: Self-Bound do not gain the Paralyzing Touch special attack.

Create temporary Vestige: The creation of a Self-Bound gives them a unique understanding into the creation of a Vestige and they harness this knowledge against others. Once per round a Self-Bound may make a Touch Attack against a foe. If the foe has 25% or less of its maximum Hp, it must make a Will save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the Self-Bound's HD + Charisma Mod). If it fails, it becomes a Temporary Vestige. The Self-Bound chooses one Extraordinary Ability the Temporary Vestige possess, which the Self-Bound gains for 24 hours. A Temporary Vestige does not count towards the Self-Bound's limit.

Phylactery Equivelent

Self-Bound are similar to normal Liches in that they have a phylactery, except that Self-Bound do not normaly create their's themselves. Instead they perform a ritual that costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP. This ritual simply requires the [Class feature] ability that lets you use the Vestige Phylactary.

The ritual involves turning your soul into a Vestige, permanently binding it to the Vestige Phylactary and then binding it to your body. The Vestige Phylactary turns blood red when a soul is bound to it, making its usage plain.

Permanently killing a Self-Bound is not as simple as just destroying the phylactary, as his soul simply joins the nothingness where all Vestiges reside and then it hijacks the opening created by another Binder. Recreating the Self-Bound's body and the Vestige Phylactary its soul resides in. (A Self-Bound's phylactary otherwise functions as a standard Lich's)


Instead, you must first slay the Self-Bound's body and then a Binder, as long as they posses the ability to use a Vestige Phylactary, expels its soul. This instantly creates a new body, which must be slain within 1d4 hours, or the Self-Bound's soul renters the Vestige Phylactary.



Next time: Invoker Lich (I know Warlocks can become Liches already)