Phylactery Questions

[Igor the Henchman]

There are two D&D creatures who've been described as coming into being when a spellcaster's lich transformation goes awry: the D&D 3.5 grisgol (a vaguely humanoid amalgamation of scrolls and magic components), and the D&D 5e necrichor (an viscous mass of dark ichor that attaches to people like a Marvel's symbiote and feeds on their blood).

I don't think either of these have phylacteries, though.

[Speedwagon]

There are two D&D creatures who've been described as coming into being when a spellcaster's lich transformation goes awry: the D&D 3.5 grisgol (a vaguely humanoid amalgamation of scrolls and magic components), and the D&D 5e necrichor (an viscous mass of dark ichor that attaches to people like a Marvel's symbiote and feeds on their blood).

I don't think either of these have phylacteries, though.

There’s also the Boneclaw, at least in 5e lore according to Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes

[Igor the Henchman]

Huh. Yeah, forgot about the boneclaw. Frankly, I find its current lore to be a bit all over the place, theme-wise: they're the disembodied soul of a failed lich (cool so far), that spontaneously acquires a physical form (!) and immediately bonds with an evil creature that happens to be nearby (the nearest? the most evil? at random?) which it then desires to serve (why?), and can only be destroyed if its "master" dies or stops being evil. Note that this origin story doesn't provide any explanation for its main distinguishing feature: its extensible 15-foot-long claws.

Overall, quite a convoluted origin for a creature originally introduced in 3.5 simply as a clever way to use that edition's Attack of Opportunity mechanics against the players.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

There are two D&D creatures who've been described as coming into being when a spellcaster's lich transformation goes awry: the D&D 3.5 grisgol (a vaguely humanoid amalgamation of scrolls and magic components), and the D&D 5e necrichor (an viscous mass of dark ichor that attaches to people like a Marvel's symbiote and feeds on their blood).

I don't think either of these have phylacteries, though.

Another creature is described in the Shadows and Starlight-trilogy. Liriel Baenre theorizes it was once a wizard who was getting ready for lichdom, only to be attacked by ghouls. The guy somehow combined the two undead states, becoming a powerful, spellcasting undead that ate people: a lichghoul.

[Mistmaster]

A booksworn-lich is a good aligned-lich and their Philacterium is tied to a collection of books they need to be around. Mo souls needed, no paralizing touch, but a permanent sanctary effect always active.

[High Priest Mikhal]

There are two D&D creatures who've been described as coming into being when a spellcaster's lich transformation goes awry: the D&D 3.5 grisgol (a vaguely humanoid amalgamation of scrolls and magic components)

Grisgols in 3.5 are constructs made of used up magic items (used scrolls, wands and staves with no more charges, etc.) with a lich's phylactery at its core. So long as they function, the lich can't reform its body.

It's also worth mentioning that outsiders without the Mists subtype in Ravenloft also get phylacteries automatically unless they're ascended mortals. So they can't reform on their native planes if their bodies are destroyed and thus escape.

[Baron Von Stanton]

Though, between you and me, if I were a lich, I'd rather just animate a new body than have to go through all this trouble to imitate Mola Ram every month.

Trouble? Incinerating peasants not because you really need to but because you just like to? And for no other reason that because your failing body is worth more than their pathetic lives? Sure, sure, it could be easier to get another one, I suppose. As it would be easier for a billionaire to buy from amazon new pijamas every day instead of personally feeding the washing machine with the ones he has.
But come on! Why would you take some of the last vestiges of joy out of your existence?

Tsk, tsk, tsk... I guess you would never make a good lich.

Look at it this way: if you're engrossed in magical research or, in my case, a long term artistic project, would you want to drop everything just to barbeque locally-sourced yokels or would you just possess one of the many corpses you're storing in one of your corpse-closets and get back to work before your groove escapes you?

[Baron Von Stanton]

Pseudolich!

New monster, created when a wizard fails to become a lich but does not "die" in the process...
Their crumbling bodies need negative energy to survive (meaning killing peasants regularly).
I am not sure if they should have a phylactery though, maybe they are trying only to survive, thus their pathetic undead existence has nothing to do with the thirst of knowledge normal liches have.

In I think the Monstrous Compendium Volume 2, there was an undead called the "Arch-Shade," which is formed from a wizard who tried and failed to achieve lichdom, but had enough spunk left to attach what was left of their soul to one of their magic items, which then served as a makeshift phylactery (rather than the one they initially prepared).

[Jeremy16]

Thanks for all the great info, everyone!

I guess I will just come right out and ask it specifically... Is there any advantage for a lich to hide their phylactery in plain sight? Or even outside of their lair?

One advantage I can see is that it will make it harder for adventurers to find and destroy it. One disadvantage, it is easier for just a random passerby to find it (say, if it was hidden in a tree or statue).

I'm not sure a lich would feel "comfortable" with having their phylactery out of easy reach, but I'm trying to write up a scenario where that would make sense.

Any thoughts?

[alhoon]

I usually have lich phylacteries stored in a small-ish chambers that are only accessible through dimension door and they are usually at least 100 ft deep in the stone/earth + some thick worked reinforced stone so that umberhulks, purple worms or earth elementals won't accidentally get in. They usually have copies of their spellbooks there and a couple of magic items.
The problem with this is that this very simple method makes it impossible for the PCs to find the Phylactery. I.e. you cannot destroy such a lich as such rooms were not accessible through locate object or secret room. They were basically a pocket in the earth 100 to 400 ft from a specific corner of the dungeon. Locate object etc don't work. I had a cleric NPC use the equivalent of "know location" 8th lvl spell back in 3.5 to locate the phylactery once the lich was in there once but that was stretching the rules.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

It depends on how confident and/or crazy the lich is.

Take Xykon, the lich in Order of the Stick. For a long time, he was fine with his phylactery being in plain sight because it was A: being worn by the powerful Goblin Cleric Redcloak (it was his unholy symbol), B: had been subjected to every long-term protective spell Xykon and Redcloak could cast on it, and C: he was confident that most people wouldn't know to destroy the thing if they wanted him dead.
No sooner did someone make it clear that they knew exactly what would kill a lich, or Xykon became panicked and wanted the phylactery out of harm's way. When Redcloak lost the damned thing (there was an enemy Paladin involved), Xykon created a tomb/fortress in the Ethereal Plane, full of traps, monsters and spells, to keep the phylactery in.

A truly insane and/or overconfident lich might put their phylactery in plain sight, disguised as something undesirable and common, or imbued with some effect so desirable that the lich couldn't imagine anyone wanting to destroy it for fear of losing the boon.
Your standard reclusive arcanist, who's sacrificed life's pleasures and morality for a chance to study forever? Prooobably not. They'd make sure the McGuffin was safely squirrelled away at all times.

[IanFordam]

What if the phylactery is something that the lich doesn't want sealed away so securely that he can't get immediate access to it? I'm thinking about something with emotional baggage, like a cameo of the only person whom he loved in mortal life but who ultimately betrayed him. If there's an emotional distress associated with the phylactery, that might also explain why the lich can't feel its presence or absence.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

That is a good point.
If the item has huge personal importance, the lich might want it available at all times, yet also safe.
One way to do that could be to put it inside an advanced golem, swaddled in every protection the lich can muster - and maybe with an item that lets it plane shift away if the lich is ever defeated in battle.
Alternatively, if the associated feelings are profound enough, the lich might forego the phylactery's primary purpose and just ward it to the hilt and carry it around with them.

[Igor the Henchman]

I guess I will just come right out and ask it specifically... Is there any advantage for a lich to hide their phylactery in plain sight? Or even outside of their lair?

I could see that occurring if the phylactery happens to be an object that has an important function besides just being a phylactery. For example, it could be a badge of office for a royal line or an important heirloom for a noble family to which the lich feels a residual bond. It could also be a relic or monument strongly associated with a specific place (such as a temple altar or a druidic sundial) with special significance to the lich.

The phylactery could also be a magic weapon or other powerful item that the lich deems more useful out in the field than stashed away, such as a legendary sword that the lich has gifted to its most capable and loyal minion.

Another possibility is that the phylactery is a kind of item that's not easily moved, such as a pool of water or a large tree.

Finally, the phylactery could be something so unique that the lich has no reason to expect anyone to recognize it as such, for example a natural landmark, a vehicle, or a living creature. The 5e adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries has a good example: in one of the adventures, the PCs meet a good-aligned pixie who used to be the best friend of a powerful druid who's recently been corrupted by evil and willingly became a lich. The tiny creature enlists the PCs' aid in thwarting her former friend's plans to despoil the land, but after the heroes finally defeat the undead druid, they find out that its phylactery is actually a living being – the very pixie who sought their aid. This leaves the PCs with a hard moral dilemma – and possibly the grim task of persuading their new friend to willingly end her life.

[Resonant Curse]

One of the dracoliches in the Cult.of the Dragon sourcebook had a dragonbane sword as his phylactery so that if anyone killed him they would be more likely to go kill another dragon for him to possess the corpse of.