Quote Originally Posted by Psyren View Post
Well if they can't win against the lich himself anyway, isn't the question of dealing with its phylactery purely academic then?

It's like worrying about trying to find space on your wall to mount a dire lion's head when you're a level 1 commoner armed with a twig.
Yes exactly. That's what I'm saying. The DM has set up a situation where the only ones who are able to deal with the BBEG is a few evil gandalf NPCs. The PCs roles isn't to deal with the emperor but to choose which NPC becomes the new emperor, possibly gaining favor.

Or just go on a suicide mission to destroy the phylactery and become an even bigger villain than the emperor.