In general, if you want to become a Lich inDungeons & Dragons, it’s pretty well understood that you’re going to need to sacrifice something. Preferably, you’ll be sacrificing something important, though the concept of importance varies from person to person.
Perhaps you’re sacrificing valuable time, those dear to you, or even yourself just for the chance at eternal life, however miserable it may be. Becoming a Lich is, technically, one of the most evil things you may do in Dungeons & Dragons. But sometimes evil is a little bit fun, so you might as well get creative with how you enter your newfound Lichdom.
1Potion And Phylactery
Poison Yourself And Lock Your Soul In A Box, Easy As Can Be
The traditional way of becoming a Lich is to spend a lot of money (about 120,000 gold) to buy a phylactery to house your soul. After that, you need to make a very complicated, highly poisonous potion filled with things like arsenic, belladonna, a bunch of blood from various magical creatures and odd circumstances, and venom from incredibly venomous creatures.
The actual specifics would probably be up to your Dungeon Master, but just know, if you want to be a Lich, you’ve got to work for it, but at least it’s rewarding.
2Ritual Of Endless Night
There’s Probably A Ritual For Everything If You Think About It
This is another way to Lichdom where you’ve got a name, but it’s up to you and your Dungeon Master to make up the steps. Perhaps you find it in an ancient tome, or some entity beyond death whispers it to you if you get knocked down in battle one day. Perhaps you’ll need tohunt down a Legendary magic itemto sacrifice the magic inside of it for your ritual.
Given that the name of the ritual is the Ritual of Endless Night, it wouldn’t be too far to assume that you may have to seek out the aid (or sacrifice) of some powerful vampires as a decent starting point.
3Deal With A Very Powerful Entity
Find Someone Powerful Enough To Subvert Death And Profit
If you don’t have the power yourself or don’t want to take the time to garner said power, you’re able to seek out an entity powerful enough to subvert death. Keep in mind that the deal you strike to garner said power will not be a cheap one, regardless of how much this powerful entity likes you.
Be careful with your wording lest you end up selling yourself into an eternal unlife of servitude or placing your continued existence into the hands of another entity.
Some entities include Orcus, the Demon Prince of undeath, andMyrkul, the Lord of Bones.
4Eat A Bunch Of Souls
You Will Have To Keep Eating Souls Forever, Though
If you can consume souls or learn from demons how to consume souls, you can achieve Lichdom. By taking the burden of existence off of your own soul and fueling yourself with the lifeforce of others, you could theoretically become a very powerful Lich.
Of course, there is one major downside to this plan, and it’s that you’re going to have to continuously consume souls so your own doesn’t wither under the weight of your sins. Thankfully, as a powerful Lich, this should be a pretty easy thing to keep up on.
5Decipher An Ancient Evil Tome
Who Knows Where It Came From? All That Matters Is It’s Here And Evil
Rather than sacrificing souls, by deciphering an ancient and obviously evil tome, you might stand a good chance at becoming a Lich. Pour enough time into this unholy object, and you might find that you, yourself, have had your essence merge with it.
You haven’t sacrificed any lives to get here, but you have sacrificed a great deal of your own time and your life in order to achieve this. This path to Lichdom could potentially be one of the few times someone becomes an accidental Lich.
6Become Powerful Enough To Subvert Death
Sell Your Soul To Yourself And Break All The Rules
Rather than relying on the system to provide you a pathway to becoming a Lich, think outside of the box. Become powerful enough that you may start dealing with souls and sell your soul to yourself, so not only do you function outside of the rules, but you’re also outside of the system entirely.
While your body withers, your soul remains pristine (so long as you don’t use it for fuel in your magical spells), and eventually, you could replace your functioning avatar with a skeletal form.
7Sacrifice Everyone You Know And Love
Who Needs Love When You Can Be A Dangerous Skeleton?
What’s more of a telling sacrifice of what lengths you’re willing to go to than to sacrifice those dearest to you? In your quest for power, none can dissuade you, not even those you care about. Perhaps, in your eyes, their sacrifice might be for a cause greater than anyone, even those you care about, can understand.
All that matters is your quest for power, to exist outside of the system of life and death, eternal and feared. It would certainly be a move that speaks greatly to your irredeemable, evil nature, should you go down this path.
This one can pair nicely with the aforementioned Ritual of Endless Night
8Even More Blood And Sacrifice
Embrace Your Inner Bathory Or Dracula
If you’ve accepted you’re going to have a lot of blood on your hands metaphorically, perhaps you may accept that you can have a lot of blood on your hands physically. The blood of the divine, of the holy, and of the pure-hearted beings that inhabit your realm.
Embrace your inner Elizabeth Bathory (or your inner Dracula) and go ahead and bath in it, consume it, and become one with it. Pair that with a funky magic ritual and you may just come out changed for the worst, ready to pursue your evil path ahead.
9Use The Wish Spell
Hopefully, It Doesn’t Backfire…
If you’re a powerful enough wizardor sorcerer, why would you rely on anyone else, even as sacrifices? You’re already strong enough that you don’t really need anyone else during a fight (except to possibly be your shield), so you might as well just try your luck on your own.
The Wish spell can do a lot, and that includes possibly being able to turn yourself into a Lich. Of course, this is a pretty big wish you’re going for here, which means that there’s a decent chance it will fail. Hopefully the dice will be kind to you on this fateful roll.
10Find Another Lich
Find Another Lich And Woo Them
Nobody said it was going to be easy, but someone else has already done it successfully, so why not piggyback off of their success? Find another Lich and woo them over to your cause (or just in general), and then convince them to do all the work for you.
That’s about as easy as you could make the process;the hard part is just winning over someone who’s probably heartless. Then again, with a high enough charisma and some persistence, you’re able to probably be the exception, right?
