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Okay, so at 47 pages, even a cursory glance will tell you that this isn’t a “complete” guide to liches. What is in here is information on the psychology of liches, their tactics, distinctive spells, campaign ideas, and new templates. There some good ideas and some forgettable ideas. Unfortunately, some of the best ideas are only touched on and not developed.
I picked up The Complete Guide to Liches (CGL) because I have been running a campaign in which the party has tangled with one lich and was about to run afoul of a group of liches. I figured that the CGL would have a few useful ideas. It does have a few good ideas; however, those are usually distinct from the useful ideas.
The CGL gets off to a promising start with a cover featuring a female litch wearing sumptuous purple robes, an Elizabethan collar, and with elaborate make-up and hair. Chapter 1 (2 pgs) deals with the origins and physiology of a lich. Here we are introduced to one of the CGL more interesting themes - how a lich can change over its lengthy existence. Chapter 2 (2 pgs) deals with the “social” structure of liches, focusing on the three main reasons a creature decides to become a lich - power mad, intellectual, revenge - and a lich’s potential servants. Much more could have been said and done about the servants and minions of a lich.
Chapter 3 (5 pgs) deals with the cultural habits of a lich. A bizarre heading which more strangely covers lairs, creation, and artifacts. The sections on lairs and creation d not really add anything new. I wish that I could say that about the section on artifacts as it discusses how pieces that break off of a lich as it ages can be used to create a magic appendage. Really, that is probably more than you already wanted to know.
Chapter 4 (4 pgs) deals nominaly deals with combat strategies; however, all it includes is a brief discussion of the use of poisons and puzzle traps and an example of that hoary chestnut the chess board trap. I would have thought that this chapter might be one of the centerpieces of the book, with a discussion of how a lich uses its spells, servants, and other abilities. I would have guessed wrong, though.
Chapter 5 (4 pgs) includes 11 new spells. Four are arcane only; the other seven are both divine and arcane. Most of the spells are designed to emulate the abilities of liches and other ideas from fiction and are well balanced. If anything, many of the spells are of too high a level. For example, the Eyes of Decay is a 4th level arcane spell that applies to a single touched creature and otherwise is similar to, if not less powerful than, the 4th level area effect Fear spell.
Chapter 6 (2 pgs) is about how to use a lich in a campaign and describes five potential settings (urban, jungle, desert, arctic, and underwater) with ideas for other settings. Also included is a brief discussion of a potential motivations for a party to seek out a lich. Again, this section could easily have been one of the meatier sections of a supplement on liches with detailed discussions of how to use liches in campaigns. Another opportunity missed.
The CGL winds up with three appendixes of templates, monsters, and sample liches. Appendix 1 (11 pgs) has templates for drowlich, novalich, philolich, warlich, semi-lich, and the ever popular dracolich. The philo- and warliches are interesting ideas, being respectively a beloved person that the lich wants to have accompany them in unlife and a powerful undead warrior. The warlich I may actually use in my campaign. The novalich is a particularly bad idea as it is a lich that is focused on a single task and that rapidly burns its necromantic energy within a single year. Appendix 2 (5 pgs) features four NPC liches. Appendix 3 (7 pgs) provides sample arcane and divine spell lists and applies the lich template to the standard races in addition to centaurs, locathah, medusa, ogre mage, and yuan-ti.
All in all, a less than complete guide.
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