Van Richten's Guide to Liches - Dungeon Master Appendix

Of such great powers or beings there may be conceiveibly a survival...
a survival of a hugely remote period when ... consciousness was manifested,
perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of
advancing humanity forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught
a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings
of all sorts and kinds.

- Algernon Blackwood

It would be a shame to use the lich in nothing more than a simple search-and- destroy scenario. A villain as intelligent and evil as the lich should not simply hang around its secret lair and wait for adventurers to flush it out and kill it.

Indeed, the lich is so complex in its abilities and what it has gone through to develop them that it nearly demands to be roleplayed. This is not to suggest that the outcome of the adventure could be handed over to the dice. (Most Dungeon Masters need no lectures about the role of dice in the game!) Rather, a nonplayer character that must accomplish its goals through the process of adventuring can lend an element of excitement to the game for both the Dungeon Master and the players. The Dungeon Master can develop open-ended scenarios where actually anything can happen, depending upon the interplay between heroes and nonplayer characters. The players, unable to step back from the gaming table and say, "The end of this adventure was written before we even began it", will be thrilled at the prospect of holding more of their heroes' destiny in their own hands.

It is strongly recommended that the Dungeon Master generate a lich with a specific personality and goals, but place it into an adventure in which it must overcome several obstacles other than the heroes. Of course the lich has its major objective, but it should have other concerns as well smart heroes will perceive and use in what should be a battle of wits as much as a battle of swords and spells.

In the end, it should be possible to present a force of evil and deception so clever, challenging, engaging, and fun that the lich scenario will not be forgotten.

This scenario is popular in spy thrillers, where the heroes must piece together the plans of the adversary before thwarting him. The master-planning villain hopes to achieve a specific and grand objective, but he does so by layering his intentions within a host of minor crimes designed to throw heroes off the scent. For example, a lich might launch a barrage of attacks upon a large library, only to steal an artifact on the other side of town. The heroes easily fend off the attacks (perhaps too easily), but they remain occupied with the defense of the library while the lich penetrates the superior defenses of the museum where the artifact lies.

Continuing with this example, the heroes should know about the artifact, including the fact that it is well protected, but they will be constantly accosted and cajoled by the librarian and other officials who insist that some volume of questionable value must be guarded like the crown jewels. Other clues might be sprinkled in liberally to subtly suggest that more goes on than meets the eye.

The Dungeon Master's objective is to keep the heroes off balance, divide their priorities, and keep them guessing at the lich's true objectives. A villain who successfully decoys the heroes away from his true objective will gain their respect and lasting enmity, and he will provide an extended adventure for all to enjoy.

This scenario is common to murder mysteries, providing the classic whodunit plot. The lich's penchant for secrecy and its expertise in disguise provide excellent stuff for this kind of adventure. In this scenario, the heroes have no idea of what they are up against. There are multiple suspects, all up to something, and the lich is only one of them - the heroes don't know who the bad guy is.

The players should be initially completely unaware that a lich is behind the troubles they encounter. Once they discover that a lich is involved, they might be led to think (incorrectly) that some nasty person is the lich, perhaps with the lich's help.

In this scenario, the lich makes extensive use of living and undead servants. Given that undead in the Ravenloft campaign are able to completely mask their thoughts (Domains of Dread, "ESP"), the undead servants become especially effective in dealing with and deceiving players.

As the plan unfolds, the focus becomes the heroes' investigation of identities. Even at this point the players should still be unaware that a lich manipulates the plot. Just as the inhabitants of the Ravenloft environment can live out their entire lives not knowing the true nature of their own rulers, so can the players go through almost all of the adventure blind to the true force behind their encounters.

In this scenario, the lich attempts to raise an army of vassaliches (see Chapter Eight). At first this seems to be a good thing - evil wizards are disappearing left and right, and the countryside has not been so peaceful in years. Then, good-aligned wizards begin to disappear, too.

In a related scenario, a powerful, apparently good-aligned wizard seek to recruit a heroic wizard to join his ranks and purge the countryside of evil. In reality, the "good" wizard is a lich who is attempting to make a vassalich of the hero. The lich tempts the player's wizard with great power, perhaps even helping him or her - and the rest of the heroes - to overcome another evil being in the area. As that lich gains the trust and swells the ambition of the naive wizard, it begins to subtly turn the wizard against all close comrades. For example, the disguised lich may invite the heroic wizard to join in a short adventure the advances the cause of good, then reward the wizard with a powerful magical item. In game terms, the Dungeon Master would Find ways for the wizard to gain experience and even levels independently of the rest of the group, thus separating the hero from all close comrades in an attractive way.

If a hero embraces vassalichdom, even ignorantly, then the hero becomes a nonplayer-character villain. The trick is not to encourage evil behavior, but to tempt the hero with enormous power. This particular scenario will take time to play out effectively, to avoid undue suspicion the players' parts, but it also can be the most dramatic of adventures.

If the heroes are too weak to deal with lich (as most should be), the Dungeon Master might create an adversary worthy of the lich, then use the heroes as pawns in an evil chess match between the two powerful combatants This scenario is not limited to a good vs. evil theme, either. Perhaps two liches vie for control of an item or artifact, or the lich and a vampire struggle for domination of one another The heroes might find themselves in a position to switch sides repeatedly, as one monster then the other gains the upper hand. Both evil creatures plan to kill the heroes once their ends have been served, but until then the heroes are valuable to both sides. If the heroes play their cards right, they may send both creatures to mutual destruction.

In each of these suggested scenarios, the outcome remains open to the influences of roleplaying. When a monster of genius intelligence like the lich comes into play, the most realistic adventures will contain plots within plots. A static lich in a trap-laden lair is just another monster, but a Dungeon Master-roleplayed lich is the worthiest of foes.

In a lich-related adventure, mystery could be a cornerstone of the heroes' sense of fear. Just as knowledge is the heroes' strength, ignorance is their weakness and an excellent avenue in which to inspire terror.

For example, consider an exploit in which one of the heroes is kidnapped by the lich (a variant of the "recruiter of evil" scenario). When the other players' heroes question the locals, they discover that a nearby swamp is haunted", and that homes around the swamp are cursed - many who have entered the area have disappeared. The swamp is avoided both day and night. This gives the players an obvious place to start.

The players will eventually realize that a lich is at work, but the Dungeon Master should maintain a sense of foreboding mystery as long as possible. Perhaps the kidnapped hero turns up with no memory of where she has been, only to disappear again without a trace; this can go on repeatedly until the heroes are beside themelves with apprehension. If subtle signs of bizarre experimentation show up on the kidnap victim's body, the alarm is again heightened. Keep throwing small details at the players that defy explanation. If the mysteries involve other heroes directly, so much the better. False clues are good, but frightening enigmas, such as a telltale surgical scar below the left ear, are even better.

If players are made to feel that their heroes' lives are genuinely at risk, then the game is more interesting for everyone. The lich takes advantage of this basic aspect of human nature, which is why it has spells and abilities that are designed to make its lair appear as sinister and dangerous as it is. The Dungeon Master should use this part of lich behavior to the fullest.

For example, a cavern littered with the skeletons of fierce monsters suggests that the inhabitant of the cave is particularly dangerous, and the heroes could very easily end up on the floor as well, for someone else to discover. The players will expect a particularly nasty threat to overcome, and they will prepare themselves psychologically for its approach. They're ready to be thrilled.

Another excellent method of making heroes nervous is through the horrifying death of a nonplayer character. To use this device, the Dungeon Master should introduce a friendly individual to the adventuring group and allow him or her to gain their trust and goodwill. Allow the nonplayer character to save their lives once or twice, early in the adventure. Furthermore, allow the nonplayer character to be at least as powerful as the strongest member of the group. This will subtly tell the players that they are tangling with mighty enemies (because the Dungeon Master is giving them such a powerful "henchman"), thus raising the level of tension in the field, but it will also shock them when the nonplayer character is suddenly, horribly killed before their eyes.

Every Dungeon Master has at one time or another wished to kill off a player's hero. There are a variety of reasons for such a desire, few of which are valid in light of more mature ways of keeping the hero or the player from the game. In the Ravenloft campaign, it is ironically even more inappropriate. Adventures in this campaign are more plot-driven than in other worlds, and the arbitrary death of any hero detracts from the mood and setting.

On the other hand, at times the Dungeon Master will want to put the imminent threat of a hero's death into the players' minds, and that cannot be achieved if the possibility of a hero dying is not genuine. Most players do not expect to be subjected to no-win situations, so an effective way to frighten them is to put their heroes into a hopeless predicament, then play it out very slowly. Let the players see that their heroes are going to die, and let them watch it happen little by little. For example, capture a hero, strap him to a table with a descending blade over his body (as per Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum"), allow his comrades to search for him, and make it obvious that rescue will probably be a little too late.

The lich serves as a good vehicle for introducing this kind of terror. The undead wizard revels in death, and it has virtually no concern with the lives of mortals. In addition, the lich has a wide variety of methods with which to kill, from innate abilities to spells to an arsenal of magical devices.

When the players first encounter a lich's lair, a deep sense of foreboding should be instilled in them. All things that are dark, sinister, depressing, black, and evil should be brought to the forefront of the senses. The key to evoking these feelings lies in the language of the Dungeon Master when describing the setting. For instance, if the lich is secluded within ruins in the middle of a swamp, the following description might be employed.

Despite the fact that it is close to midday, you must light your lamps and torches to see ahead. As you do, shadows reluctantly part to reveal the ruins you have been searching for.

The broken walls are almost entire hidden by all manner of twisted growths and choking vines. The once tall and gleaming stone pillars and beautiful gables are now dilapidated, mossy wrecks. The structure seems to have crumbled from within, collapsed from neglect and centuries of unchecked vegetation that snaked its way into the cracks of the walls and tore them into rubble.

Here, within the ruins, the smells of the swamp have dissipated slightly, and in their place is a most unusual, stifling odor, like that of a crypt feshly opened. It is a dank, rotten stench breathes forth from no apparent source.

Is it the chill of the swamp that your stomach like the hand of a dead man, or is It the dread within the very walls of this great castle, completely in the grasp of the swamp?

For all the heroes know, the ruins are completely empty and harmless. If the description is laced with nouns, verbs, and adjectives that imply the very surroundings are alive, the players might assume that the walls might reach out and grab their heroes. Every room can feel threatening, and every shadow can contain monsters made up purely of players' imaginations. The Dungeon Master can repeatedly point out strange noises in the background that are actually harmless, even unrelated to the matters at hand, but the heroes' ignorance of the source will drive them crazy.

Even common objects can strike fear into heroes' hearts if described correctly. It is not enough for the Dungeon Master to say "You see a chest against the west wall". In a horror adventure, the chest can be made threatening just by being there. Slight embellishments to common objects can make them eerie, adding to the atmosphere of the adventure. For instance, the Dungeon Master might say:

You see an oddly proportioned chest resting a few feet from the west wall. You havenot seen such a chest before. It has an almost cubic shape to it, with gold hinges and fittings. Multiple scratch marks appear all over its dark wooden surface - what made them is impossible to say. You can see the latch plainly, but there is no padlock attached to it. There is an odd chill in the room that might be coming from the chest - but you can't be sure.

This raises all sorts of questions about the chest that have to be answered by players' imaginations until their heros actually open it. With their imaginations working, the players construct their own suspense. After a few narratives like this, the heroes will hesitate to pick up rocks from the ground, for fear of rousing the master evil villain from its lair.

Dungeon Masters who want to learn the "techniques of terror" should consult Chapter Thirteen, "Tenets of Terror" in Domains of Dread.

Sometimes, no matter how hard he or she tries, the Dungeon Master simply can't evoke a sense of fear or horror in the players. While the Dungeon Master attemtps to establish the mood with a juicy bit of narrative, the players make jokes and laugh at the description (which in fact, is a sign of fear - or so one hopes).

The function of the fear and horror check is to force upon a hero those feelings that the player does not experience. These checks can be enormously debilitating, and the Dungeon Master can impose penalties dice rolls to be sure that heroes fail them. If the players refuse to roleplay their heroes or make light of every hair-raiseing sight their heroes confront, the Dungeon Master can tell them their heroes will have to make these checks since the players obviously aren't reacting properly to the situation. After the heroes fail a few checks and suffer the consequences, the players may change their minds about laughing in the face of death.

It is possible for a group of adventurers to build their entire careers around defeating the plans of a single lich, as well as the monster itself. It also is possible for lower-level heroes to defeat a lich without ever coming into direct contact with it. The plans that a lich puts into effect can be massive in scale, involving politics and diplomacy among nations, or they may be as modest as influencing the election of a village mayor. Heroes can defeat a lich simply by defeating the minions that carry out its orders. This way, lower-level heroes can tangle with a lich as can higher level ones, without facing certain death.

Of course, a lich defeated through its minions is still around to create more trouble for the heroes, who will have to build up their strength and experience before they confront the villain directly. The players should, however, be aware that while they are developing their personal abilities, so is the lich that they are hunting. If a far-reaching lich-based plot - one that takes many long nights of play and perhaps several levels of adventuring to resolve - is desired, then the minions of the lich can change from adventure to adventure, always becoming more challenging, until the heroes are strong enough to face the lich itself. This assumes that the heroes don't know who the master planner is. They might go on for years of game time, fighting diverse adversaries and going on long quests, only to discover in the end that they have been fighting representatives of the same enemy the whole time.

Imagine the heroes' (players') astonishment when they realize that a wizard they defeated when they were at the first or second level of experience has been behind all of the campaign's troubles. When the heroes finally know the source of their woes and angrily vow to destroy him once and for all, they are again surprised to learn that he has since become a lich. Now they must fight their way through layer upon layer of defenses before they can finally settle the score. Such a campaign could last for years.

In the realm of the Ravenloft setting, a lich is able (at the Dungeon Master's discretion) to cast necromantic spells with much greater efficiency than liches in other realms - sometimes even beyond the efficiency that necromantic spells already exhibit in the campaign. A general rule of thumb might be that all spells of the school of Necromancy have either double the effect or half the casting time when employed by a lich in this campaign. The Dungeon Master should determine the exact effects in each situation, as some effects cannot easily be doubled. The "doubling" of effects refers to all spells listed anywhere, including those in Chapter Nine, "The Way of the Wizard", in Domains of Dread. The Dungeon Master should always check the rules concerning spells cast in this campaign for specifics. Even if a demilich casts a spell, it is still subject to the unique effects of the campaign unless otherwise noted.

The following are variants of existing necromantic spells. For each spell listed, a corresponding spell appears in, the Player's Handbook. The statistics for each spell - casting time, components, duration, and so forth - remain the same unless otherwise noted. However, all spells should be considered a level higher than their common counterparts. Also, these spells were devised by liches, to be used by liches; they are inherently evil. Liches require particularly evil acts to attract the attention of the dark powers since they are already "part of the club", so to speak. Nonliches, on the other hand, are potential inductees. Therefore, any wizard who attempts to cast these spells will quite likely attract the attention of the evil lands of the Domain of Dread. Hence, nonliches that cast lich spells are subject to a powers check, perhaps with a 25% increase to the chance of being noticed.

Greater Detect Undead (2nd level)
With this spell, a lich is able to detect a! undead within range. Range is equal to the lich's Intelligence score in miles. Detection is omnidirectional, and the lich need not remain stationary. This spell is not hindered by obstacles of any kind. Furthermore, undead are not entitled to a saving throw enabling them to avoid detection.

Improved Chill Touch (2nd level)
This spell improves upon the damage and effects of chill touch. The target must save vs. spell or suffer Id 10 points of damage and become paralyzed from the extraordinary pain and cold. The paralysis lasts in hours equal to the amount of damage caused. Victims who fail to successfully save also lose 2 points of Strength and Constitution, and a full day is required to regain a lost point of each attribute. This spell will also destroy any undead creature that has less than 3 Hit Dice, but if the undead makes a successful saving throw vs. spell, there is no effect.

Sinister Cantrip (2nd level)
Cantrips normally are used to produce innocent parlor tricks. This spell is similarly harmless, in terms of physical effects, but it can be used to create a sinister trick or illusion that strikes fear or disturbs the psyche of those who see it. Sinister cantrip is a favorite prank among vassaliches, testing their new form. Some typical applications of this spell are an illusion of insects crawling out of prepared food, a nagging itch in an impossible-to-reach spot, an illusion of bleeding from the fingernails, and altering the pitch of a victim's voice to make it sound like growling.

Skeletal Hand (3rd level)
This spell is similar to the spectral hand spell, but the image of the hand is that of a skeletal one instead of a ghostly one. The lich can cast touch-based spells of 4th level or less through the hand. In addition, the skeletal hand can deliver physical blows by making a normal attack. The lich receives a +4 bonus to its die roll, and a successful hit inflicts 1d10 points of damage. The hand may be attacked, but it can be damaged only by weapons with magical enchantments. Any damage to the hand ends the spell and inflicts 1d4 points of damage upon the caster. The hand can be kept at bay by a priest of good alignment by attempting to turn the hand as an undead creature with 2 Hit Dice. The lich may move about while it controls the hand, but it may not make other attacks.

Destroy Undead (4th level)
A powerful variation of hold undead, destroy undead disintegrates undead creatures with Hit Dice equal to or less than the casting lich. CIndead with less than 3 Hit Dice are automatically destroyed. CIndead with 4 or more Hit Dice are allowed a saving throw vs. spell. If successful, the targets suffer 5dl0 points of damage. If unsuccessful, they are destroyed. At the Dungeon Master's discretion, vampires, mummies, and other high-level undead may be partially or completely unaffected by this spell.

Feign Destruction (4th level)
Similar to feign death, this powerful spell allows the lich to simulate its own destruction. When badly wounded, the lich may cast this spell. Once done, the lich's body crumbles to dust, and detection spells or abilities will indicate that its spirit has returned to its phylactery. In reality, the lich's body has used teleport without error to reach a secret location. At the same time, a pile of dust and bones has teleported from that same secret location, replacing the original. Iron replicas of the lich's noncloth possessions can be forged and placed on the dust-lich, to be teleported with it. The replicas bear only the shape of the items they replace, not the color. For example, a magical crown adorned with gems will be replaced with an iron one, the gems also made of iron. The range of the spell-that is, the furthest distance that the lich can be from its mock body-is equal to the lich's Intelligence score times 1,000 feet.

Lich Armor (4th level)
This spell works as the spirit armor spell, with the following exceptions: instead of a shimmering aura, the armor takes the form of a black shroud that mystically flows about the body of the lich. The armor offers the protection of plate mail (AC 3), and its protection is cumulative with the effects of other armor and magical devices. When it is dispelled, the lich suffers 2d6 points of damage instead of 2d3.

Lich Touch (4th level)
A step above vampiric touch, this spell inflicts 9d6 points of damage upon a successful attack. In addition, damage inflicted by this spell cannot be healed by spells or magical items, but only by rest or by magical potions. Any added points over the lich's normal total are treated as temporary hit points that dissipate after one day. In all other respects, this spell is the same as the vampiric touch spell.

Mass Contagion (5th level)
The effects are the same as for the contagion spell, except that it affects a mass of living persons within a 10-foot radius, instead of just one individual. The number of people who can be affected is equal to the lich's Hit Dice.

Persona of Death (5th level)
This spell is a variant of mask of death. This spell is generally cast in conjunction with animate dead. When cast, it not only makes a corpse appear to be a specific person, but if animated the corpse sounds and behaves like (has the mannerisms of) that person, making an almost perfect duplicate. Of course, the lich must have a good idea of what the duplicated person sounds and acts like. The persona is fairly superficial, but people who know the person being mimicked can be fooled if they don't examine the corpse closely. The corpse still has to be controlled, and it will not have any of the mimicked person's knowledge.

Corruption
(Enchantment/Charm)
Level: Wizard 2
Range: 30 yards
Duration: 1 day
Area of Effect: One person
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1
Saving Throw: Negates

This spell inundates the target with an emotional flurry of corruption and greed. If the victim fails a saving throw vs. spell (+4 bonus for a priest or paladin victim), he or she temporarily succumbs to the temptations of dark power and becomes transfixed by delusions of grandeur for two rounds. After this effect expires, the victim must roll another saving throw vs. spell or be predisposed to the lich, as per a charm person spell, for one day. If the victim makes the second saving throw, he or she hesitates for one round before attempting any offensive move against the lich or any of its minions or property. Any priest or paladin who fails the first saving throw against this spell will lose the ability to cast spells above 2nd level until a period of one day has been spent in solitude and prayer, or an atonement spell is cast.

Death Sight
(Illusion/Phantasm)
Level: Wizard 3
Range: 30 yards
Duration: 5 rounds
Area of Effect: One person
Components: S
Casting Time: 1
Saving Throw: Negates

The victim of this spell sees every living being around as a walking, decayed corpse or zombie. The victim must make a fear check on the first round of effect, and must make a horror check at the beginning of each subsequent round of the spell's duration if the initial fear check is made successfully.

Sleep of Horror
(Enchantment/Charm)

Level: Wizard 3
Range: 30 yards
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One person
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 7
Saving Throw: Negates

If a save vs. spell is failed, the victim is wracked with nightmares during his or her sleep, completely disrupting any restful effects such as recovering spells, hit points, or PSPs. The victim has Id 10 nightmares during the night, each lasting 1d10 rounds, and he or she must make a horror check upon awakening after each nightmare. A sleep spell negates these effects. The material component of this spell is a pinch of black sand.

Stench of Death
(Invocation/Evocation)
Level: Wizard 3
Range: 30 yards
Duration: 1 hour
Area of Effect: 50-foot radius
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Negates

This spell fills the area of effect with a smell so foul as to cause complete disorientation among those caught I within it. A successful save vs. paralyzation allows a victim to remain within the area of the stench, unaffected by the odor though still able to detect it. A victim who fails the roll is overcome by the smell, doubled over and unable to cast spells, fight, or defend. However, the victim may still flee the area of effect. Once outside of the stench, the victim requires a round of breathing fresh air before resuming normal activities. As this effect is strictly magical, no wind will blow it away. It is, however, subject to the casting of dispel magic. The material component of this spell is a rotted body organ from an animal.

Bone Form
(Alteration, Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 4
Range: 3 yards
Duration: 1-20 hours
Area of Effect: Sufficient bones for the spell (see below)
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cast, the lich is able to create any object less than 3 feet long, high, and deep out of bone matter. The lich must have a supply of bones on hand to create whatever object it desires. Weapons can be created with this spell; such weapons ire considered evil, but they offer no bonuses to attack rolls. The material components of this spell are enough bones to construct the desired item and a drop of body fluid (spittle, blood, or the like).

Bone Seizure
(Enchantment/Charm, Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 4
Range: 60 yards
Duration: 1-10 rounds
Area of Effect: One person
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 3
Saving Throw: Negates

With this spell, the lich can take control of the victim's bones. It does not matter if the target is alive or dead. Control is awkward at best: The lich can make the target walk, lay down, or sit down only. It cannot make the target fight, cast spells, speak, jump, and so forth.

Knoslira's Crypt
(Alteration, Invocation/Evocation)
Level: Wizard 5
Range: 30 yards
Duration: 1-10 days
Area of Effect: 50-foot radius
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 8
Saving Throw: None

This spell causes any inhabited structure to become sealed as a crypt. In effect, all exits are wizard locked. Then the interior darkens over a period of five rounds. No light, even magical, can function in the darkness, nor can infra vision. When the structure is wholly dark, a horrible, musty smell of death permeates the area, prompting fear and horror checks. Optionally, the Dungeon Master may call for madness checks (see Chapter Six, Domains of Dread.).

Sinister Surroundings
(Enchantment/Charm)
Level: Wizard 5
Range: 0
Duration: 1 month/Hit Die of the lich
Area of Effect: 1-mile radius/Hit Die of the lich
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 2 rounds
Saving Throw: None

This spell does not change the look of the affected area as would a hallucinatory terrain spell. Rather, it is used to create a grim and dismal feel around the lich's lair. Nonevil characters suffer a -1 penalty to fear and horror checks within the area of effect; evil beings gain a +2 bonus to all morale checks. Dispel magic has no effect on this spell.

Zone of Despair
(Enchantment/Charm)
Level: Wizard 5
Range: 0
Duration: 1-6 hours
Area of Effect: 100-foot radius
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 8
Saving Throw: Negates

Unless a saving throw vs. spell is successfully rolled, a hero entering the area of effect becomes depressed and suffers a penalty of -4 to initiative rolls. Any emotion-controlling spell, as well as dispel magic, negates this effect on a hero.

Bones of the Earth
(Alteration)
Level: Wizard 6
Range: 10 yards
Duration: 1d20+10 days
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 3 rounds
Saving Throw: None

With this spell, the lich is able to create minor structures out of stone. When cast, a structure, not more than 20 feet high and 10 feet wide at the base per Hit Die of the lich, rises from the ground. The structure is simple and solid, and it can appear in any form the lich desires. It takes two rounds to form, and its creation is always accompanied by extremely loud rumblings. The structure lasts for the duration of the spell, after which it recedes back into the ground. Multiple structures can be created, but they are divided among the lich's total available mass. For example, an 11-HD lich could create one 220-foot-tall structure or eleven 20-foot-tall structures. The material components for this spell are a stone and a weed.

Disrupt Dominion
(Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 20 yards
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: Special
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Negates

By casting this spell, a lich attempts to take control of undead creatures from another commanding entity. The creature in control of the undead rolls a saving throw vs. spell. If successful, control of the undead is uninterrupted. If unsuccessful, the lich has clouded the undead controller with assorted negative energy patterns that disrupt its control. The undead do not automatically become the lich's minions, being now free-willed, but the casting lich is free to exert its will upon them and assume control in subsequent rounds.

Ghoul Lattice
(Alteration)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 0
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: 100 yards/Hit Die
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None

Stealing corpses from graveyards for raw materials can be a time-consuming task without the use of this spell. Casting it creates a small tunnel that extends chaotically from the point where the spell was cast, then dividing into a series of shafts connecting with any number of graves or other subterranean pockets within the area of effect. The tunnels are 4 feet in diameter and circular, and they are situated an average of 6 feet below the surface. The tunnels intersect in a mazelike fashion, but the only place where they emerge at the surface is at the point where the lich stands. (If the lich casts the spell underground, then the tunnels never reach the surface.) The spell creates a random latticework of tunnels through which the lich can summon new minions or harvest necromantic spell components. The material components for this spell are a long fingernail and a pinch of dirt from a grave.

Graft Flesh
(Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 0
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: The caster (lich)
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Negates

Should a lich fall victim to a vorpal weapon or otherwise lose a limb, it can cast this spell and graft a body part from an dead body to its own; the grafted limb functions normally. At the Dungeon Master's discretion, a lich can even graft additional appendages to its body and use them - though, obviously, its abilities will have to be specifically adjudicated. Also, the sight of such an altered creature will certainly evoke a horror check!

Graft Item
(Alteration, Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 0
Duration: Permanent
Area of Effect: The caster (lich)
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Negates

This spell is similar to the graft flesh spell, allowing the lich to graft any item, magical or otherwise, to its flesh. The attachment is instantaneous and permanent. There is no way to remove the object short of cutting it off.

Simulate Skill
(Alteration)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 0
Duration: 1d10+10 hours
Area of Effect: The caster (lich)
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None

After casting this spell, the lich is able to use any weapon or nonweapon proficiency that a dead person possessed in life. The person cannot be more than 12 hours dead, and the lich must have witnessed that person using the proficiency in order to know that it exists. The dead hero is not deprived of the simulated ability, so a resurrected warrior whose skill with arms has been imitated still has that skill. The material components are a magnet and a piece of reflective glass.

Wave of Death
(Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 8
Range: 0
Duration: 2 rounds
Area of Effect: 1-mile radius
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 5 rounds
Saving Throw: None

When a lich casts this dreadful spell, all vegetable matter within the area of effect withers and dies over a 2-round period. The death is irreversible and cannot be prevented; the sight is a shocking event to behold, requiring a horror check for all who see it. Druids and rangers make their checks with a -4 penalty. The material components for this spell are a flower and a drop of poison.

Confer
(Conjuration/Summoning, Invocation/Evocation, Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 9
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: None

This spell is cast in conjunction with create minion for the purpose of creating a quasimancer (see Chapter Seven). When the confer spell is cast upon the created minion, the undead creature's mind becomes attuned to spell memorization. The lich then plants the spell repertoire of a 9th-level wizard (including number of spells and levels) within the minion's mind. The quasimancer can afterward cast the implanted spells at its discretion, as if it were the wizard who memorized them. The lich must expend spell energy equal to the level of the spell placed in the quasimancer's head. In other words, to place a 5th-level spell in the quasimancer, the lich must expend the equivalent of a 5th-level spell from its daily allowance of carried magic. The quasimancer can receive spells from its master only once; when all of its spells are cast, it becomes a mindless undead.

Note that the quasimancer must have all spell components necessary to cast the spells implanted in its mind, This spell cannot be cast upon any undead creature other than one raised by a create minion spell. Casting this spell upon a living person instantly causes insanity that can be cured only by a psionic being using psychic surgery or someone using a wish. Th� material components of this spell are the minion and a bit of brain tissue from a sentient being of at least average intelligence.

Create Minion
(Necromancy)
Level: Wizard 9
Range: 10 feet
Duration 1-20 days
Area of Effect: One creature
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Saving Throw: Special

This spell is used in conjunction with <>iconfer in order to create a quasimancer (see Chapter Seven). When the lich casts create minion, a corporeal undead minion is animated and reinstated with a portion its former life essence, giving it artificial intelligence and spellcasting potential.

In terms of physical traits, the minion becomes, in effect, a wight, having all the abilities and statistics of that creature (as per the Monstrous Manual tome). The newly created minion is entitled to a saving throw vs. spell (as a 5 HD creature) to avoid failing under control of the lich. If it succeeds, it will do its best to escape the lich, then go on a killing spree, resentful of the knowledge that its time of existence is limited. (Some created minions may attempt to find a wizard and force him to cast permanency upon them, thus negating the 1d20 day expiration of the spell.) A minion that fails its saving throw falls under complete control of the lich and acts as its master's agent in the field. Its intelligence allows it to command other undead in its master's name, and it remains susceptible to the confer spell.

A created minion under a lich's control makes all saving throws at the level of its master. It is immune to enfeebiement, polymorph, electricity, insanity, charm, sleep, cold, and death spells. It exudes a fear aura, 5-foot radius, requiring a successful save vs. spell of an onlooker who must flee for 2d4 rounds if the save is failed.

Casting this spell upon a living person requires the victim to make a successful save vs. death magic or the person immediately dies, becoming a created minion entitled to the saving throw against control detailed above.

The material components of this spell are the body to be raised and a bit of brain matter from a being with at least average intelligence.

The following magical items were created in the Ravenloft campaign by liches. They are neither artifacts nor relics, as they can be created by any lich - in fact, any mage - who has the knowledge to do so. However, any mage who attempts to create one should make a powers check. None have any XP value.

Torc of Craftsmanship
This cursed neck ring cannot be removed by any means short of a wish, except by a lich. While the wearer lives, he or she receives a +2 bonus to all saving throws vs. spell of the school of Necromancy. When the wearer dies, the torc automatically absorbs all nonweapon proficiencies the person possessed in life. If the torc is later worn by another person or by a lich, the proficiencies it absorbed become available to the wearer. Only nonweapon proficiencies are available for absorption; spellcasting and weapon proficiencies are excluded. However, the skills to read, write, and speak foreign languages are absorbed and can be used by the wearer. (Conversation generally constitutes such use, as does reading a scroll or sign.) The torc cannot enhance a skill already possessed.

Central to the functioning of this neck ring is a ruby set in its center. Should the gem be taken from the tore, all skills are lost and the tore becomes nonfunctional.

The torc may be used only thirty times to absorb skills. After the thirtieth time it does so, it becomes jewelry of 500 gp value. This neck ring cannot be recharged, but it can be put on a different victim, whose skills will be absorbed into the torc upon death. The wearer has no method of knowing how many proficiency-absorbing uses the tore has accomplished unless a careful record is kept.

This torc is employed by a lich when it has the opportunity to capture live people. Note that the torc does not deprive a living person of skills, but merely copies what is within the person's mind.

Crown of Summation
This ruby-studded circlet is similar in function to the torc of craftsmanship. Instead of capturing skills, however, the crown absorbs the wearer's memories. If the item is placed upon the head of a person within one hour after his death, all of the person's thoughts from the previous 1d6 days are transferred into the gems. The crown may then be placed upon another person's head (usually a lich), and all recorded events are played out in detail for the wearer.

Should a living person put on the crown, 1d4 levels of experience are drained into the rubies. They may be regained by removing the crown and putting it on again, but if this is not done the levels are lost and cannot be regained by any means short of a wish. If another person puts on the crown after levels have been drained into it, that person merely experiences the memories of the previous wearer as described above; the new wearer does not gain the lost levels of experience, nor does the new wearer lose any levels. The drained victim cannot regain any lost levels if another person puts on the crown before the victim does so a second time.

The second wearer experiences the memories of the first as if actually living them. The crown transfers senses and emotions to the wearer, and physical occurrences are experienced, though their effects are not translated into actual effects on the wearer (such as damage). However, psychological experiences are lasting. For example, if the memory contains a failed horror check, the wearer will experience the effects of it even after removing the crown. All actions are displayed at the rate of one day's memories per round. The crown functions only once, then becomes a piece of common jewelry worth 1,000 gp. It cannot be recharged.

A lich might typically use such a device to determine how an infiltrator came to find its lair, who his comrades are, and by what means he arrived. The crown also may be used to become familiar enough with a person to effect a successful impersonation.

Ring of Izmur
This magical item combines the effects of a ring of free action and a time stop spell. It also provides a +3 bonus to the Armor Class of the wearer. The time stop spell may be used up to three times per day, but not for more than ten uses altogether, after which the ring of Izmur loses this power. The Armor Class benefit remains in effect until the wearer is successfully struck by an enchanted melee weapon, whereupon the bonus is lost for one day. The free action aspect of the ring is continuous and permanent.

Those within the 15-foot radius of effect of the time stop spell are entitled to a saving throw vs. wand. Successful rolls negate the effects of the time stop.

Eye of Donoagi
Donoagi is a fabled evil monstrosity made of stone. Legend reports that she has been long asleep, awaiting a time when her faithful stone priests will construct an elaborate temple and cast a succession of powerful spells to reawaken her, allowing her return to the world.

The eye of Donoagi is a 3-inch-diameter amulet that resembles a large tiger's eye. It has three functions. First, the eye allows the wearer to meld directly into stone and reemerge at another point up to 100 feet distant, 1-3 rounds after the melding. While the wearer remains within the stone, he is invulnerable to all forms of psionic and physical attack. However, a stone shape spell cast within 1 round upon the surface where the wearer of the eye disappeared will inflict 3d6 points of damage upon him. Second, the eye also allows the wearer to phase through stone up to 2 feet thick at will. Finally, upon command, the eye transforms any appropriately sized stone statue into a stone golem under the control of the owner (usable once per day; the golem becomes inanimate after one day of use).

A lich who forges the amulet is automatically able to manipulate it. A live person of any sort must swallow a small stone before the amulet will work. The amulet can be used up to five times a day.

Nails of Rending
These are prosthetic, 3-inch-long fingernails found in sets of 5-10 (1d6+4). The nails are concealed within 1/2-inch-wide tubes into which the tips of the fingers are put, whereupon the nails bind themselves to the wearer forever. For undead beings, putting on nails of rending is completely painless. For a living person, however, a horror check is required: failure results in unconsciousness for 1d20 minutes, in addition to the effects described in Domains of Dread, Chapter Six. Also, the pain experienced is extreme, requiring the wearer to roll his Constitution score or less on 1d20 or permanently lose 1 point of that attribute. (A restoration spell returns the affected hero's Constitution score to normal.) The pain lasts for only one minute, during which time the victim can perform no useful actions whatsoever, but bonding is constantaneous. Regardless of the outcome of the horror and "pain" checks, the nails replace the person's natural fingernails. The pointed ends of the nails are made of metal, but they are as sensitive as the fingers to which they are attached.

These nails afford the wearer an additional 1d6 points of damage in barehanded melee attacks. When the nails strike a foe's armor, they have a chance to rend it (use the wearer's Bend Bars/Lift Gates chance), reducing the Armor Class benefit of that armor by 1. Magical armor is entitled to a saving throw vs. lightning to avoid the effects (see Table 29 in the Dungeon Master Guide). After the nails are worn for a few days, the wearer's hands become shiveled and grotesque, appearing withered and dead. Even the application of but one nail evokes this effect.

No method exists, short of employing a wish spell or cutting off the wearer's hands, of removing the nails once they are applied. If a wish is used to remove the nails, the wearer's hands remain shriveled unless a restoratibn spell is cast upon them to restore them to their proper appearance.

Potion of Spirit Flight
This potion causes the imbiber's spirit to depart its body. The physical body constantly dies and can only be resuscitated by a resurrection spell. Psychically, the effects are similar to astral spell in that the drinker is now a disembodied, spiritlike creature floating about the Prime Material Plane, invisible to normal sight and unable to communicate.

While in this form, the drinker is effectively removed from reality, unable to affect the physical world, and unable to be affected by it. The spirit is unvulnerable to all forms of attack and is invisible to all forms of detection except through spells or devices designed to detect the presence of the alignment of the drinker. (Note that such spells are largely ineffective in a Ravenloft setting.)

The spirit of the imbiber is unable to return to his body unless a resurrection. spell is cast upon him. While in this state, he is able only to observe the physical world and travel to the Astral Plane at will. (Again, on the Demiplane of Dread, astral travel is impossible.) If the Astral Plane is entered, the spirit is vulnerable to any hazards endemic to that environment. Otherwise, the spirit continues to move about for as long as its body is intact.

There is one circumstance in which the disembodied spirit is able to affect the physical world: The spirit is able to appear as a ghostly, visible form within mirrored surfaces. The spirit may not appear in any magically enchanted mirror, however. While visible, the spirit is able to move and make any gestures it desires within the confines of the mirror. Likewise, the spirit may appear at any size or scale within the mirror desired. The ghostly image can be maintained for 1d20 seconds each hour, after which the spirit must rest from the exertion of crossing planar boundaries, if only superficially.

Verbal communication is impossible, and the spirit and people in the physical world are unable to hear each other. Not even a speak with dead spell will aid in this endeavor.