Quasi-Lich (3.5e Template)
Quasi-Lich[edit]
A creature who has tapped into the power of lichdom without becoming influenced by the negative energy
The path to lichdom is evil and profane, but great power is reaped by those who succeed at becoming a lich. A quasi-lich is someone who managed to tap into that power without becoming consumed by it. They are not as powerful as true liches, but they have some other abilities and are free from many undead vulnerabilities.
Creating a Quasi-Lich[edit]
“Quasi-lich” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature), provided it can create the required phylactery; see The Quasi-Lich’s Phylactery, below.
A lich has all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Size and Type: The creature’s type and size are unchanged.
Undead similitude: For all effects related to type, a quasi-lich is considered undead. This includes effects that deal increased damage to undead (such as searing light), but excludes spells that have opposite effects on undead (such as cure light wounds or energy drain). It is also treated as undead for the purposes of spells that specifically detect undead, such as deathwatch, detect undead or a symbol of pain set to trigger when a living creature reads it.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Immunities (Ex) Immunity to cold, electricity, poison, sleep, disease, death and fear effects. Will not take nonlethal damage from warm environment.
Can be turned and rebuked as an undead. Has a +4 bonus to turn resistance.
Does not breathe, eat or sleep
Ageless: A quasi-lich no longer ages. It no longer takes ability score penalties for aging and cannot be magically aged. Due to the extensive transformation its body undergoes, this will even remove penalties it might already have incurred. The quasi-lich will not die of old age.
Rebuke undead (Su): The quasi-lich can rebuke undead as if was an evil cleric of class level equal to its total number of hit dice.
Alignment: Any.
Advancement: By character class.
Level Adjustment: Same as the base creature +3.
Quasi-Lich Characters[edit]
The process of becoming a quasi-lich is complicated and dangerous, and is in many ways similar to that of becoming a lich, but when done correctly, there is nothing evil about it. A quasi-lich retains all class abilities it had in life.
The Quasi-Lich’s Phylactery[edit]
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. As a rule, the only way to get rid of a quasi-lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery. Unless its phylactery is located and destroyed, a lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death.
Becoming a quasi-lich is completely voluntary, and cannot be forced even by magical means. A quasi-lich must participate in making its own phylactery, but unlike for a true lich, this process can be assisted by others. The character must be able to cast spells, and at least one character helping must have a caster level of 13th or higher. Creating the phylactery requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. It costs 180,000 gp to create, and costs a total of 7,200 XP. At least 1,200 XP must be paid by the character becoming the quasi-lich, and at least 4,800 XP by the one creating the phylactery.
The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40.
Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.
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