Runecarved Lich

Runecarved Lich Creature19

Rare NE Medium Undead

Senses Perception +32; darkvision

Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal, Necril, Undercommon

Skills Arcana +34, Crafting +38 (can craft magic items), Deception +35, Diplomacy +35, Intimidation +37, Occultism +36, Religion +34, Stealth +33

Str +5, Dex +6, Con +4, Int +7, Wis +7, Cha +10

Items +2 greater striking grievous battle axe, wand of manifold missiles (7th), wand of wall of force

Stored Items The runecarved lichcan store items inside its body, as detailed below. The lich can Interact to remove or store an item. If the lich’s body is destroyed, any stored items appear among their bones.

• Arm Wands (extradimensional) The runecarved lich can store up to two wands in the radius and ulna of one of their arms. These wands can be used as if wielded, and they can’t be disarmed. If an arm wand is overcharged, the lich takes 20 damage if the wand is broken or 40 if it’s destroyed.
• Spell Tome A runecarved lich has a carefully crafted tome, filled with magical power, placed inside their ribcage. This tome can hold up to three spells stolen by the Spellstealing Counter ability.
• Stored Weapon (extradimensional) The lichcan store a single one-handed weapon of 1 Bulk or less, linked to special runes carved into the bones of one of the lich’s arms. This runecarved lich has the battle axe listed in its items, but a different individual might have a different weapon. A weapon the lich wields deals additional damage equal to half the number of dice from its hand attack.

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AC 42; Fort +27, Ref +33, Will +36; +1 statusto all saves vs. positive

HP 330, negative healing, rejuvenation; Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, unconscious; Resistance cold 10, physical 10 (except magic bludgeoning)

Frightful Presence (aura, emotion, fear, mental) A creature that first enters a 60 ft. radius from the runecarved lich must attempt a Will save with DC 38. Regardless of the result of the saving throw, the creature is temporarily immune to this monster’s Frightful Presence for 1 minute.

Critical Success The creature is unaffected by the presence.

Success The creature is frightened 1.

Failure The creature is frightened 2.

Critical Failure The creature is frightened 4.

Rejuvenation (arcane, necromancy) When a lich is destroyed, their soul immediately transfers to their soul cage. A lich can be permanently destroyed only if their soul cage is found and destroyed.

Spellstealing Counter [reaction] (abjuration, occult) Trigger A creature the lich can see Casts a Spell; Requirements The runecarved lich has fewer than three spells stored in its spell tome; Effect The lich expends a spell slot of the same level as the spell being cast to counter the triggering creature’s casting. The runecarved lich loses their spell slot as if they’d cast the triggering spell. The lichthen attempts to counteract the triggering spell (counteract modifier +35). If successful, the spell is countered and added to the runecarved lich’s spell tome.

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Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] battle axe +34 (magical, sweep), Damage 3d8+13 slashing plus 3d8 negative

Melee [one-action] hand +31 (finesse, magical), Damage 6d8 negative

Occult Spontaneous Spells DC 45, attack +37; 9th (3 slots) overwhelming presence, telepathic demand, wail of the banshee; 8th (3 slots) disappearance, maze, mind blank; 7th (3 slots) duplicate foe, energy aegis, paralyze; 6th (3 slots) spellwrack, spirit blast, teleport; 5th (3 slots) black tentacles, false vision, prying eye; 4th (3 slots) confusion, dimension door, fly; 3rd (3 slots) hypercognition, mind reading, slow; 2nd (3 slots) death knell, mirror image, see invisibility; 1st (3 slots) alarm, illusory disguise, unseen servant; Cantrips (9th) daze, detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, prestidigitation

Consult the Text [one-action] (manipulate) Frequency once per day; Effect The runecarved lich causes the pages of their spell tome to flip open, revealing an occult spell of 9th level or lower of their choice. For the remainder of the day, the lich can cast that spell as if it were one of their spells known for every level from its base level up to 9th.

Drain Spell Tome [free-action] Effect The lich draws upon the magic stored in their spell tome to cast one of the spells they’ve countered. This spell is the same level as the one countered, but it uses the runecarved lich’s spell DC and spell attack. Casting a spell in this way removes it from the spell tome.

Steady Spellcasting If a reaction would disrupt the runecarved lich’s spellcasting action, the lich attempts a DC 15 flat check. On a success, the action isn’t disrupted.

Summon Weapon [free-action] Requirements The lich has a stored weapon in its arm and has that hand free; Effect The runecarved lich summons its stored weapon into that arm’s hand.

About

In their relentless pursuit of more magical might, some liches use their rotting forms to hold magical secrets, hiding precious tomes in their ribcage, inscribing formulas on their withered flesh, even replacing some bones with powerful magical items. The process is painstaking, as the soul cage tries to repair any damage caused by such alterations.