Lichkin (5e Race)

Lichkin

“

If the people will not accept me, I will destroy them. I will kill them all, and then they will beg for me. Then they will want me.

”

Dark Magic Risen

By Jason Chan

Lichkin are undead beings that have nefarious origins in dark magic. They are almost exclusively humanoid in shape, but devoid of any traits from their past selves save roughly their size. Their features show deterioration and translucent flesh, pulled over bones to give a gaunt and menacing appearance. Their eyes often glow with an ethereal, soulless hue, and their bodies may harbor unhealed wounds, like that of zombies. This can affect their ambulation, making them a bit slower than the normal humanoid. Black cracks issuing forth energy the same color as their eyes spiderweb over their bodies.

Lich Failures

Lichkin are beings that come about from deceitful deaths of liches, and the proliferation of their horrid phylactery. Some liches can be as paranoid as beholders, seeking more comfort than in one phylactery. As a means of further ensuring their immortality, should they face defeat, some liches managed to either make what is called a splintering phylactery, or multiple phylacteries by splitting their life force further than necessary. This often resulted in a depleted, maddened lich, more so than usual. A splintering phylactery is a special kind of artifact that, when the lich was killed, would scatter the undead mage's life force into pieces. As such, it required a much larger portion of the enacting mage's life force to create. These shards of the lich would latch onto an appropriate host and slowly change them into a lichkin. Such is one way which lichkin come about.
The second method of multiple phylacteries required also a large sacrifice of life force. However, this rendered the pieces of life force highly unstable. Sometimes, the energy from the phylactery would transfer unknowingly into a risen servant of the lich, making them a lichkin. This is a rather rare occurrence. More often, some unknowing mortal may use or wear the accursed phylactery and be overtaken by its dark energies, also becoming a lichkin. The lichkin thus share origins with a lich, and are often very alike to their makers in temperament and alignment. However, it has been seen that lichkin are only partially liches, with portions of their soul having been corrupted by dark desire. Their original selves sometimes are wiped away, but other times remain intact that they retain some prior demeanor or sense.

Shards Of A Self

Lichkin are not exactly the most common of creatures, though many do end up being created by accident as a result of a liches powers leaking into undead or humanoids within their aura's proximity. Often times, this happens unknown to the lich or the new lichkin. They come from an array of backgrounds and are drawn to one another due to having pieces of life force from a single source. Thus, those created by the same lich will often be drawn to the other pieces of that magus' soul. Upon becoming lichkin, many lose aspects of themselves and ties to their original communities are severed. They become like wanderers, drifting in search of their kindred souls. Scholars theorize this is because if enough of the original life force is pieced together, the original lich can reform as was the intention behind the phylactery. However, so long as the lichkins live, it is almost like a part of the lich is forever immortalized anyway.

Half Forgotten

Lichkin bear with them the evil possible and inherent in most liches. Like their foul origin, many come to acquire their appetite for power, longevity, and other dark desires, no matter the cost. Some lichkin have drastic personality changes upon their metamorphosis, becoming alike to their source lich. Others are luckier, gaining some awareness of new magics in themselves, yet retaining some or most of their sanity. Regardless, lichkin have a longing to find and wander in search of their other soul fragments, though they may not always be aware this is what drives their wanderlust. Their temperaments can deteriorate if they turn towards the lich's desires, making them more evil and prone to commit atrocities. Others stand firm and true to their original selves, merely searching for answers to the changes they have undergone.

Lichkin Names

Lichkin sometimes retain their original names. Some cast those off as shackles of a past life, taking on new identities with names that allude to death and darkness. Lichkin sometimes find they have gained a new tongue, often from the repertoire of the original lich. They may use this to forge a new name as well.

Male: Black, Ancev, Pitch, Tenebris

Female: Morsa, Piceme, Tenebria, Koscheia

Lichkin Traits

Lichkin are byproducts of liches
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2, and either your Wisdom or Constitution score increases by 1.
Age. Lichkin are created and do not age beyond that point. They may experience some bodily deterioration but they cannot die of age.
Alignment. These creatures have a tendency towards evil due to the nature of liches. However, they remain beings that often have a semblance of their old selves left, allowing for wiggle room into other alignments.
Size. Most lichkin appear as withered versions of their own race, and are thus slightly smaller/lighter. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Lichkin do not have the best of bodies, which hampers their movement. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Undead Nature. Though you may retain a form of something human, your core composition has irrevocably been changed to something of the undead and necrotic. Your creature type is undead instead of humanoid. As such, spells like cure wounds don't affect you, and you are immune to spells like crown of madness or dominate person because they specifically target humanoids. You do not need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe, but you can ingest food and drink if you wish. You are resistant to necrotic damage but have disadvantage on saving throws while you are in direct sunlight or if you have taken radiant damage since the start of your last turn.
Lich Knowledge. With a fraction of a magus' soul comes great knowledge. You are proficient in one of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Perception, Religion.
Lich Magic. You have a bit of magic gleaned from the source lich. You know one cantrip from the Lich Spell List of your choice. Starting at 3rd level, you know and can cast one 1st-level spell from the list. At 5th level, you know and can cast one 2nd-level spell from the list. You cannot change these spells once you have chosen then. You can cast these spells without using material components. Once you cast the chosen 1st or 2nd-level spell with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. You can also cast either of those spells using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.
Phylacterous Proxy. As undead, you cannot heal in the normal fashion at all. Instead, if you take damage from a spell of 1st-level or higher that deals necrotic damage, you can use your reaction to convert the dark energies and power yourself, taking no damage and regaining hit points equal to the damage you would've taken. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining use when you finish a long rest.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and a language of your choice that the original lich may have had.

Lich Spell List

These are the available spell options for your Lich Magic trait.

• Cantrip: mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost
• 1st-Level: detect magic, magic missile, shield, thunderwave
• 2nd-Level: detect thoughts, invisibility, acid arrow, mirror image

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