Lichdom
Lichdom shapes a character's supernatural focus, training, and power set.
Power index
Lichdom Powers
42 powers, grouped by tier. The rules needed for quick reference are shown directly in each row.
Tier 0
2
Trace a glyph across bone, parchment, stone, or dead flesh. The mark can store a brief message, glow coldly, or add 1d4 to an Arcana, History, or Religion check about death magic, undead, vessels, or forbidden rituals.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 1d4
- Type
- Arcane / Utility
Release a pale mote of preserved soul-fire at one creature. Make a ranged power attack. On a hit, the target takes necrotic or cold damage, and you learn whether it is living, undead, construct, or spirit-touched.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 1d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Cold
- Roll
- Attack
Tier 1
4
When you make a concentration check, Arcana check, or save against fear, charm, exhaustion, or pain, steady your mind with undead detachment. Add 1d8 to the triggering roll.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 1d8
- Type
- Focus / Lich
- Save
- INT / WIS
Your mind draws on deathless recollection. Add 1d4 to Intelligence checks involving ancient history, arcane theory, burial practices, undead, magical vessels, forgotten languages, or places of death.
- Action
- Bonus Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 10 Minutes
- Effect
- 1d4
- Type
- Knowledge / Lich
Prepare a minor token, bone, gem, page, coin, tooth, or reliquary as a temporary soul marker. While it is on your person, you have advantage on the first death saving throw or death-effect save you make before the duration ends.
- Action
- 10 Minutes
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 24 Hours
- Effect
- Token
- Type
- Vessel / Survival
Fire a thin ray of deathless force at one creature. Make a ranged power attack. On a hit, the target takes necrotic damage, and if it is below half hit points, it cannot regain hit points until the start of your next turn.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 2d8
- Type
- Necrotic
- Roll
- Attack
Tier 2
4
When you take necrotic, psychic, cold, or force damage, interpose an arcane death-ward. Reduce the damage by 2d10 + your INT modifier. If the damage came from a spell, you also learn its school or magical source if any.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 2d10 + INT
- Type
- Ward / Lich
Touch a corpse, skull, bone, preserved organ, or reliquary. Learn one mundane fact about its age, species, cause of death, preservation, or magical alteration. If it was used in a spell or ritual, add 1d6 to one Arcana or Religion check about that magic.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 10 Minutes
- Effect
- 1d6
- Type
- Corpse / Knowledge
Pin one creature's animating force with a glyph of undeath. It makes a CHA save. On a failure, its speed is reduced by 10 ft., and it has disadvantage on the next save it makes against a necrotic, fear, or death effect before the end of your next turn.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- 1 Round
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Soul / Debuff
- Save
- CHA
Store a minor arcane pattern in a bone, gem, ring, or page. Before the duration ends, you may break or invoke it to add 1d6 to an Arcana check, spell attack, power attack, or save DC of one Lichdom power you use that turn.
- Action
- 10 Minutes
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 8 Hours
- Effect
- 1d6
- Type
- Arcane / Vessel
Tier 3
4
When a creature you can see damages you or disrupts your concentration, answer with deathless force. It makes a WIS save, taking necrotic or psychic damage on a failure or half on a success.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 4d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Psychic
- Save
- WIS
Your body and mind become less living. You have advantage on saves against mundane disease, poison, fear, pain, and exhaustion from lack of sleep. Effects that read heartbeat, breath, or living metabolism have disadvantage to detect you.
- Action
- Passive
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Permanent
- Type
- Undead / Lich
- Save
- CON / WIS
Choose necrotic, cold, psychic, or force. Once per turn for the duration, when you deal that damage type with a spell or Lichdom power, add your INT modifier to one damage roll.
- Action
- Bonus Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 1 Minute
- Effect
- INT
- Type
- Arcane / Damage
- Roll
- Attack
Sense prepared vessels, soul anchors, magical containers, undead hearts, reliquaries, spellbooks, and phylactery-like objects within 60 ft. You learn direction but not exact nature if the vessel is warded.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 10 Minutes
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Sense / Vessel
Tier 4
4
Your body becomes a better vessel for spellwork than life. Gain resistance to necrotic damage, advantage on concentration checks, and advantage on saves against poison, disease, and exhaustion while performing rituals or maintaining magical effects.
- Action
- Bonus Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 1 Hour
- Type
- Body / Lich
- Save
- CON / INT
When you fail a save against a spell, curse, fear, charm, possession, or death effect, let your soul-vessel logic reject the alteration. Add 4d6 to the save, potentially turning the failure into a success.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 4d6
- Type
- Save / Lich
- Save
- INT / WIS
Place a death-glyph on one creature you can see. It makes a CHA save. On a failure, it cannot teleport, possess, willingly leave its body, or benefit from effects that transfer its soul or consciousness until the effect ends. It repeats the save at the end of each turn.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- 1 Minute
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Soul / Seal
- Save
- CHA
Fire a beam of blue-white corpse-light at one creature or object. Make a ranged power attack. On a hit, deal necrotic or cold damage. If the target is undead, you may instead deal no damage and force it to make a WIS save or be unable to attack you until the end of its next turn.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 120 ft.
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 5d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Cold
- Roll
- Attack
- Save
- WIS
Tier 5
4
One mindless undead or spirit-fragment of Tier 5 or lower makes a WIS save. On a failure, it recognizes your lich authority and will not attack you for the duration unless you harm it. This does not create a servant or override another commander's direct control.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- 1 Minute
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Authority / Undead
- Save
- WIS
Consult the dead logic of your preserved mind. Make one Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, or Religion check with advantage. If the subject involves undead, souls, phylacteries, curses, tombs, or ancient magic, add your INT modifier again.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- Advantage
- Type
- Knowledge / Lich
Bind a fragment of your animating force into a prepared vessel on your person. While it remains intact, you can use your reaction when reduced to 0 hit points to drop to 1 hit point instead. The vessel then shatters.
- Action
- 10 Minutes
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 24 Hours
- Effect
- 1 HP
- Type
- Vessel / Survival
Unfold a death equation through the air. Creatures of your choice in the emanation make INT saves, taking necrotic or psychic damage on a failure or half on a success. Creatures with Intelligence 3 or lower make CON saves instead.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self (30 ft.)
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 6d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Psychic
- Save
- INT / CON
Tier 6
4
Your mind no longer depends on living weakness. You no longer need sleep, have resistance to psychic and necrotic damage, and have advantage on saves against charm, fear, confusion, memory alteration, and exhaustion from mental strain.
- Action
- Passive
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Permanent
- Type
- Mind / Lich
- Save
- INT / WIS
Consult one prepared vessel, spellbook, bone archive, or soul-token. Ask the GM up to three questions about a magical object, undead, ritual, curse, or place of death you can study. The answers come from preserved memory, not divine truth.
- Action
- 10 Minutes
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 3 questions
- Type
- Knowledge / Vessel
One creature makes a CHA save. On a failure, you tether its animating force. The first time each round it moves more than 30 ft. from you, teleports, or willingly leaves its body, it takes necrotic damage and the movement or transfer fails.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 Minute
- Effect
- 6d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Soul
- Save
- CHA
When you or a vessel you touch would take damage, be dispelled, be cursed, be identified, or be magically tracked, wrap it in lich-wards. Reduce damage by 6d10 + INT or add 1d10 to the relevant save/check against the effect.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self or Touch
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 6d10 + INT
- Type
- Ward / Vessel
Tier 7
4
Your body becomes a skeletal, jeweled, parchment-skinned, or corpse-light spell vessel. While active, your Lichdom powers and spells that deal necrotic, cold, psychic, or force damage deal extra damage once per turn, and you have advantage on concentration checks.
- Action
- Bonus Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 Minute
- Effect
- 2d8
- Type
- Arcane / Lich
- Roll
- Attack
Bind a stronger soul fragment into a prepared vessel within 1 mile. If you drop to 0 hit points while the vessel remains intact, you may use your reaction to teleport to an unoccupied space within 10 ft. of it and drop to 1 hit point. The vessel then cracks and becomes inert.
- Action
- 10 Minutes
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 24 Hours
- Effect
- 1 mile
- Type
- Vessel / Survival
One living creature, undead, or spirit makes a WIS save. On a failure, it is frightened of you and cannot regain hit points. Undead or spirits that fail also cannot willingly move closer to you unless you allow it.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- 1 Minute
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Fear / Soul
- Save
- WIS
When you are targeted by a death effect, soul effect, possession, banishment, necrotic damage, or effect that would reduce your hit point maximum, impose lich-law on your soul. Gain advantage on the save and reduce any resulting damage by 7d10 + INT.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 7d10 + INT
- Type
- Ward / Soul
- Save
- INT / CHA
Tier 8
4
Open a perfect internal archive of corpse-memory and forbidden notes. For the duration, you have advantage on INT checks, cannot have your memory read or altered by effects below Tier 8, and may treat one failed Arcana, History, Investigation, or Religion check as a success once during the duration.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 1 Hour
- Effect
- 1 success
- Type
- Knowledge / Lich
- Save
- INT
Mindless undead of Tier 7 or lower in the emanation recognize your lich authority and do not attack you or your chosen allies unless harmed or directly commanded by a stronger source. Intelligent undead have disadvantage on Intimidation checks against you.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self (120 ft.)
- Duration
- 1 Hour
- Effect
- 120 ft.
- Type
- Authority / Undead
- Save
- WIS
A ring of bone-script, soul-flame, and dead formulae surrounds you. Chosen enemies starting in the emanation make INT saves, taking necrotic or force damage on a failure or half on a success. Your spells and Lichdom powers ignore resistance to necrotic damage while they remain in the aura.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self (30 ft.)
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 Minute
- Effect
- 8d8
- Type
- Necrotic / Force
- Save
- INT
When you would die, bind your animating force to a prepared vessel on the same plane. If your body is not restored within 24 hours, you reform adjacent to the vessel with 1 hit point, unless the vessel is destroyed by radiant, divine, or Tier 8+ power.
- Action
- Reaction
- Use
- 1/Long Rest
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 24 Hours
- Effect
- 1 HP
- Type
- Survival / Vessel
Tier 9
4
Assert lich authority over a tomb, library, crypt, ruin, or necropolis-like site. For the duration, you know when undead or living creatures enter, can speak through prepared vessels inside, and lesser undead of Tier 8 or lower hesitate before attacking you unless commanded.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 300 ft.
- Duration
- 1 Hour
- Effect
- 300 ft.
- Type
- Domain / Lich
- Save
- WIS
Release your perfected death equation. Creatures of your choice in the emanation make INT or CON saves, taking necrotic and psychic damage and being unable to regain hit points until the start of your next turn on a failure, or half damage only on a success.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- 1/Long Rest
- Range
- Self (120 ft.)
- Duration
- Instant
- Effect
- 16d10
- Type
- Necrotic / Psychic
- Save
- INT / CON
One creature, undead, or spirit makes a CHA save. On a failure, its soul is trapped in your formula. It cannot teleport, possess, benefit from resurrection, regain hit points, or leave its body. It repeats the save at the end of each turn.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- 60 ft.
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 Minute
- Effect
- 60 ft.
- Type
- Soul / Dominion
- Save
- CHA
Your body is a replaceable extension of your soul-vessel logic. You are immune to disease, poison, suffocation, starvation, dehydration, and mundane exhaustion; resist necrotic, psychic, and cold damage; and effects below Tier 9 cannot kill you outright unless they also target your vessel or soul anchor.
- Action
- Passive
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- Permanent
- Type
- Lich / Sovereign
- Save
- INT / CON
Tier 10
4
Declare a mythic lichdom event tied to a phylactery, forbidden archive, dead city, starved god, immortal spellbook, royal tomb, or soul engine. It can found a necropolis, preserve a bloodline of scholars, make a library deathless, or bind your soul to a legendary vessel. It can be opposed only by Tier 10 lichdom, divine intervention, soul-destroying miracle, or a story condition set when declared.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- 1/Ever
- Range
- 1 Mile
- Duration
- Until Resolved
- Effect
- Unique
- Type
- Lich / Story
- Roll
- Varies
- Save
- Varies
Crown yourself with dead law. The area becomes a necropolis aura. Chosen enemies make WIS saves or become frightened, lesser undead refuse to attack you, and your Lichdom powers ignore resistance to necrotic, psychic, and cold damage within the emanation.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- 1/Long Rest
- Range
- Self (300 ft.)
- Duration
- Concentration, 1 Minute
- Effect
- 300 ft.
- Type
- Authority / Necropolis
- Save
- WIS
Empower a prepared vessel as a perfect phylactery for one day. If you die while it remains intact on the same plane, you reform adjacent to it after 1 minute with half your hit points. Divine intervention, Tier 10 power, or a story condition can still sever the vessel.
- Action
- Action
- Use
- 1/Long Rest
- Range
- Touch
- Duration
- 24 Hours
- Effect
- Half HP
- Type
- Phylactery / Survival
Become an apex lich. You are immune to poison and necrotic damage, resist cold, psychic, and force damage, have advantage on concentration checks and death-effect saves, and your Lichdom powers or necrotic/cold/psychic/force spells deal or prevent extra damage once per turn.
- Action
- Bonus Action
- Use
- At-Will
- Range
- Self
- Duration
- 1 Minute
- Effect
- 4d10
- Type
- Lich / Apex
- Roll
- Attack