Why should a man desire in any way
To vary from the kindly race of men
Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance
Where all should pause, as is most meet for all?
—Alfred Tennyson, 'Tithonus'
A mage, great in power and hubris both, who has overcome Death itself. Trading form for immortality, liches give up their bodies, binding their mind instead to their demesne—a fortress-city, a citadel of bone, perhaps an ancient tower—saving themselves from the tides of time, but binding themselves in place for eternity. Thus, they rely on agents to act on their behalf beyond the borders of their demesne.
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| By Blake Rottinger |
Perk: You speak the tongue of spirits. Passing on decays the mind; corpses often ramble or go on cryptically, and rarely can they recall their deaths.
Drawback: You do not heal naturally. Instead of a ration, you must consume the flesh of a freshly slain creature; broken bones must be replaced with ones scavenged from elsewhere.
The boon of your pact looks as something pulled from a long-forgotten tomb—it might be composed of bone or dark stone, it may look worn with age, it may bear a permanent layer of dust, &c.
All who are sworn to a lich are... twisted, in some way, by their bond. The mark you bear takes the form of...
1. Ghost-pale skin.
2. An ever-present chill.
3. Entirely black eyes.
4. A constant gauntness.
5. A pungent scent of rotting flesh.
6. Permanent bloating.
7. Teeth eerily long and yellow as old bone
8. A different voice, much older than your face.
9. Nothing humans can sense, but animals find you... wrong.
10. One eye that never ceases weeping.
Mishaps:
1. 1d6 damage to you.
2. MD only return to your pool on a 1-2 until sunrise.
3. Random mutation for 1d6 rounds, then make a Save. Permanent if you fail.
4. For the next [sum]*10 minutes, you may see into the realm of spirits and magic directly, but the mortal world is totally dark to you (stolen from Lexi).
5. 1d6 nearby corpses raise as revenants, eager to attack.
6. Save against your body rejecting your spirit. If failed, your spirit shoots out of you as a ghost - choose which one you're controlling, the other causes mayhem. The ghost can do spells and wizardy shit, the body can and will break things and strangle people (courtesy of Locheil).
Dooms:
1. You die. Your spirit is flung from your body until the next sunrise, and from now on you are as any other undead—your form will begin to rot, and you gain another feature from the d10 table above.
2. As above, but your body's rotting progress more rapidly while you are outside it. Disadvantage on initiative rolls and any checks related to reflexes or speed from now on.
3. As above, but your spirit is cast out forever. Your passing tears a hole in the Veil. 4d8 spirits leak through, possessing nearby corpses where available and hellbent on causing harm.
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A continuation from some earlier posts.
