Aspect Codex

Lichdom

Lichdom is an imported aspect from the Jericha Aspect Data sheet. Its full lore and named powers can be expanded here as the canon text is added.

LichdomNon-spellcastingChargesArcana

What This Aspect Does

Lichdom defines a character's supernatural focus, training profile, resource model, and power family. This page is structured so each separate power can become its own linked entry instead of being buried inside a character sheet.

Power Links

42 separate powersReusable by characters, items, curses, and locations
Tier 0ActionAt-Will

Bone Script

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.

Tier 0ActionAt-Will

Soul Spark

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.

Tier 1Bonus ActionAt-Will

Grave Memory

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.

Tier 110 MinutesAt-Will

Phylactery Token

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.

Tier 1ActionAt-Will

Withering Ray

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.

Tier 1ReactionAt-Will

Deathless Concentration

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.

Tier 2ActionAt-Will

Skeletal Familiarity

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.

Tier 2ReactionAt-Will

Dead Scholar's Ward

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.

Tier 2ActionAt-Will

Soul Pin

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.

Tier 210 MinutesAt-Will

Spellbone Cache

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.

Tier 3PassiveAt-Will

Lich Nerves

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.

Tier 3Bonus ActionAt-Will

Necrotic Thesis

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.

Tier 3ActionAt-Will

Vessel Sense

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.

Tier 3ReactionAt-Will

Grave Rebuke

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.

Tier 4Bonus ActionAt-Will

Arcane Cadaver

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.

Tier 4ActionAt-Will

Soul Seal

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.

Tier 4ReactionAt-Will

Deathly Counterform

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.

Tier 4ActionAt-Will

Tomb-Light Ray

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.

Tier 510 MinutesAt-Will

Lesser Soul Anchor

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.

Tier 5ActionAt-Will

Grave Scholar's Insight

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.

Tier 5ActionAt-Will

Command the Lesser Dead

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.

Tier 5ActionAt-Will

Necrotic Formula

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.

Tier 6PassiveAt-Will

Deathless Spellmind

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.

Tier 6ReactionAt-Will

Vessel Ward

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.

Tier 6ActionAt-Will

Soul Leash

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.

Tier 610 MinutesAt-Will

Phylactery Consultation

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.

Tier 710 MinutesAt-Will

Greater Soul Anchor

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.

Tier 7ReactionAt-Will

Sovereign Death Ward

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.

Tier 7ActionAt-Will

Soul Tyrant's Glare

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.

Tier 7Bonus ActionAt-Will

Arcane Unlife

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.

Tier 8Reaction1/Long Rest

Phylactery Reflex

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.

Tier 8ActionAt-Will

Dead Archive

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.

Tier 8ActionAt-Will

Necrotic Spell Engine

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.

Tier 8ActionAt-Will

Dominion Over Lesser Dead

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.

Tier 9PassiveAt-Will

True Vessel Body

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.

Tier 9Action1/Long Rest

Negative Energy Thesis

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.

Tier 9ActionAt-Will

Soul Dominion

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.

Tier 9ActionAt-Will

Necropolis Mandate

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.

Tier 10Bonus ActionAt-Will

True Lich

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.

Tier 10Action1/Long Rest

Perfect Phylactery

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.

Tier 10Action1/Long Rest

Necropolis Crown

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.

Tier 10Action1/Ever

Eternal Vessel

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.

Characters With This Aspect

No character is linked to this aspect yet.