Infernal Lich (3.5e Prestige Class)

Infernal Lich

“	The power I wielded in life is nothing to the power I will wield once the foolish heroes release me from my mortal coils	”
—Morgil, Human Sorcerer, found at page 78 of his Diary shortly after his apparent demise

Becoming an Infernal Lich

Infernal Liches are spellcasters who through a a series of intricate lies and bargains have turned a willing Devil into their phylactery, for use in an obscure Lich Transformation ritual.

The Devils become subservient to the Infernal Lich in the process, but they also gain all the benefit of having many undead traits, with none of the drawbacks, this boost in power can be tempting for weak Devils, especially if the single drawback isn't mentioned until after the process is complete.

Entry Requirements

Alignment:	Lawful Evil.
Race:	Any mortal Humanoid.
Skills:	Bluff 15 ranks, Sence Motive 12 ranks, Spell Craft 15.
Feats:	Craft Wondrous Items, Infernal Pact, Immunity (Infernal), Infernal Soul
Spellcasting:	The Infernal Lich to be must know at least 4 arcane spells from the necromantic school, one of which must be of at least 7th level or higher.
Special:	You must convince a Devil to willingly undergo a ritual that will allow you to use it as a Phylactery after making at least 2 Infernal Contracts with it. (see the book named Evil by AEG for more information)The Devil must have a Friendly attitude towards you, you must also qualify for the Lich Template Note: Once a character begins down this road it cannot take a level in another class until it has reached level 5 in this prestige class

Class Skills (3 + Int modifier per level)
Infernal Liches have Bluff, Spell Craft, Concentration and Sense Motive as class skills

Table: The Infernal Lich

Hit Die: d4

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special
		Fort	Ref	Will
1st	+0	+1	+1	+2	Infernal Phylactery, Vampiric Touch
2nd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Hardened Skin, Vampiric Touch, Empathic Bond
3rd	+1	+2	+2	+4	Infernal Phylactery, Vampiric Touch
4th	+2	+2	+2	+5	Vampiric Touch, Immunity to Poison and Disease, Mental Bond
5th	+2	+3	+3	+6	Infernal Phylactery, Lich Transformation, Resurrect Phylactery, Life-Like Appearance

Class Features

Infernal Phylactery: At First Level the Devil has been bound to you as a Phylactery and your soul is starting to be transferred to the body of the Devil, at this point the Devil, unless aware of it before accepting to undergo the ritual will notice that it is now subject to the Infernal Lich's orders, at 1st level it can try to resist an order by rolling an opposed will check with the Infernal Lich, Devil receiving a -5 circumstance penalty on this check, it can also no longer go more then 20 feet away on its own accord unless the Lich is destroyed, if this happens it will feel compelled to find a safe place to wait for it to reform, no save is allowed for this.

At 3rd level the Infernal Lich's soul starts to meld with the soul of the Devil, causing it to be more submissive towards the Infernal Lich, and more accepting of its role as a Phylactery. The Devil no longer gains a will check to resist an order.

At 5th level the souls have merged completely. The Devil is now completely under the Infernal Lich's sway. The Devil is completely obsessive in its servitude and will follow any order to the letter, even orders of suicide. Should the Infernal Lich be destroyed, the Devil will do whatever it takes to make sure it reforms safely.

The ritual needed to enable the Devil to act as your Phylactery costs 400,000 GP and 43,000 XP, you must succeed a Spell Craft check of DC20 to succeed in the ritual (if the Devil knows the entire effect of the ritual you gain a +10 profane bonus on the check) and you must still qualify for the Lich Template after the ritual is complete or it will fail. The Devil will gain knowledge of the true nature of the ritual if it was previously unaware, even if the ritual fails.

Should the ritual fail, you will not only be drained from the effort, but you will also face a Devil that, unless it were told before hand, is most likely not too happy about nearly losing its free will. If you fail the ritual you must wait 48 hours before attempting to do it again. The ritual takes 5 hours to complete and must be done after sunset in a area that is either Desecrated or Unhallowed.

Hardened Skin: At the 2nd level the Infernal Lich's skin becomes like parchment but also as hard as leather armor giving a +1 to natural armor, this bonus stacks with other enchantments to armor

Empathic Bond At the 2rd level the Devil and the Infernal Lich gain an empathic bond, The Infernal Lich and Devil also know exactly where the other are even if they are on another plain of existence, and can use this to teleport to the location where the other is if it is possible

Immunity to Disease and Poison: At the 4th level the Infernal Lich becomes Immune to all Diseases and Poisons, it be mundane, supernatural, alchemical, psionic or magical

Mental Bond At 4th level the Empathic Bond become so strong that The Lich and Devil can communicate telepathically and share sensory input with another, even if they are on different planes of existence

Lich Transformation: At the 5th level the Infernal Lich finishes the final ritual needed to transcend, however the transformation will only happen if the Infernal Lich is killed by a champion of good, the way this happens is not important, it could be anything from being killed in their lair to a suicidal charge on a paladins stronghold, the only thing that matters is that the killer is of Good Alignment and is unaware of the fact that the person he just killed will rise as an Infernal Lich. If the Infernal Lich if killed by a non-Good creature it will be resurrected by the Devil once, should it be killed a 2nd time by a non-Good creature before finishing the transformation both the Devil and the Infernal Lich forever destroyed, their shared soul shattering. Once the aspiring Lich have been killed by a champion of good, his or her body will turn to dust and then reform at the feet of the Devil they are using as a Phylactery, should the Lich later be killed it will rise at the feet of the Devil in 1d10 + a number of days by the devils choosing, the Infernal Lich cannot remain unreformed for more then maximum 2 weeks, although this is usually not a problem due to the devil's altered psyche. When the Infernal Lich rises it gains the Lich Template, with everything included, but it retains the Devil as the Phylactery, even if it later becomes a Demilich. The Devil gains all the bonuses associated with being undead, but none of the negative side effects, so the Devil would not take any extra damage from a Sneak Attack, but it cannot be turned as an undead being, anything that would affect both an undead being and a Devil affect the Devil normally.

Resurrect Phylactery after the souls of the Devil and Infernal Lich have completely merged, the Devil can be resurrected through a 24 hour long ceremony should it be killed and the Infernal Lich survive, if both the Devil and the Infernal Lich is killed their shared soul are destroyed, the ceremony costs 1000 GP and 100 XP for each level the Infernal Lich have.

Life-Like Appearance An infernal Lich that has gained the Lich Template looks just like it did when it was still alive, it does not rot away unlike normal Liches but seem for intents and purposes like a normal breathing creature of the race it used to belong to, this disguise are so powerful that only a successful Turning attempt, True Seeing, exposure to Holy Water or a Healing spell of 3rd level or higher will reveal the Infernal Lich for what it truly is, this ability also prevents any and all attempts to discern the Alignment of both the Infernal Lich and his Devil Phylactery

Spellcasting: At each level, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level and spells known, as if you had also gained a level in an arcane spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level. You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one arcane spellcasting class before becoming an Infernal Lich, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day, caster level, and spells known. Infernal Liches cast spells as a Sorcerer of its total class level, even if it do not have any levels in Sorcerer.

Vampiric Touch (Ex): at first level the Infernal Lich can use Vampiric Touch, as per the spell with the same name, 3 times a day, this increases by another use each level and becomes at-will at 4th level, this counts as an extraordinary ability for the purpose of overcoming spell resistance

Playing an Infernal Lich

Playing an Infernal Lich is hard, simply because you have a Devil tagging along with you wherever you go, and while you can have the devil transform itself, any and all exposure to holy energy will reveal both of you for what you are, because of this Infernal Liches tend to keep away from societies that do not actively allow Necromancy to be practiced.

Combat: An Infernal Lich behaves like a normal Lich in combat, but it will go out of its way to protect its Devil Phylactery.

The Devil will help its Lich to the best of its abilities, but will flee if so ordered by the Lich to secure their continued existence, The Devil fights as normal for a Devil of its type

Advancement: Infernal Liches usually multiclass into other dark spellcaster classes, but sometimes a select few Multiclass into Blackguard or even Bard, although this is rare

Infernal Liches in the World

Infernal Liches are extremely rare only 1 in 300 liches are an Infernal Lich, as of such the chances of Infernal Liches ever meeting each other is rare, Since their minds are protected from the madness that the transformation usually causes Infernal Liches tend to be sullen and pragmatic after a few centuries, or millennia in the case of an elf, this also means they will join organizations and cults that normal Liches wouldn't due to paranoia or xenophobia, so if an organization includes a Lich there is a 60% chance that it is an Infernal Lich, however in order to draw the attention of such an individual it would have to offer significant amount of magical objects or gold to gain the Infernal Liches loyalty.

“	Why spend eternity alone when you can have someone who knows exactly what you want before you do?	”
—Morgil, The Infernal Lich

Infernal Liches can be anywhere there are people who share their race, in big cities they prefer to keep to the shadier parts of town, but they are just as likely to seclude themselves i ancient fortresses deep in mountains or on other plains of existence, some even creates bastions on the Negative Energy Plane, using their magical might to prevent themselves from being consumed by the negative energy.

NPC Reactions: if NPC's do not discover the nature of the Infernal Lich or its Phylactery they treat them as any other individual of the Lich and devils apparent race, if it is discovered paladins and clerics immediately react to it as a normal Lich and a Devil, and not as an Infernal Lich and its Phylactery, simply because Infernal Liches are so rare

Infernal Lich Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge(Arcana) or Knowledge(Necromancy) can research Infernal Liches to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge(Arcana) or Knowledge(Necromancy)

DC	Result
19	Infernal Liches keep Devils as Phylacteries
28	The Devil Phylactery will do anything to make sure the Lich reform safely
37	Should the Infernal Lich escape but its Phylactery be destroyed the Infernal Lich will resurrect it
46	Should the Devil be brought back to life in another way then through the ceremony held by the Infernal Lich, the Infernal Lich will be destroyed and the Devil will be free, although it will seek out another magic user to which it can become a Phylactery, since their souls and minds have been so drastically altered they can't imagine existing as anything else

Infernal Liches in the Game

Infernal Liches and their Phylacteries are the evil you never see coming, they could be the old couple next door or the best friends that always hand-wrestle down at the pub, they could be the the trainers in the local fighters guild or the strange old man and his young servant in the castle in the deep forest, wherever you find an Infernal Lich you will always find rare artifacts of evil power, as usually one of the first things an Infernal Lich orders the Devil to do is to bring all of its magical items and artifacts to it.

Adaptation: This class can go into any campaign where both Devils and Liches exist, although they should be very rare since the combination of a Lich with any kind of devil above Imp can be a deadly encounter even at high levels.

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