Your reality is built on a thousand piles of defiled corpses, and whatever remained of your humanity was lost during your ascension.
As a Lich, you are a minor antag whose objective is to create your own Lichdomain by turning mortals into your minions or scaring them into submission. The most daring of liches will aim to topple the local sovereign, whole wise ones might decide to form an uneasy alliance with the Cultists.
Starting Out
As a lich, you will notice your body is completely skeletonized and that you have access to powerful spells from the very start.
You are given powerful traits that allow you to stop caring about mortal needs such as hunger, thirst and fatigue, and have high levels of intelligence and constitution at the cost of lowered strength and endurance. You are a masterful alchemist, medic and mage.
You are unable to hide your nature, and are easily identified, so it is best to start out in a remote region of the map until you have amassed enough followers to step into more populated areas.
Strategy
Since the number of minions you can raise is directly proportional to the number of bodies at your disposal, it makes sense to start quietly collecting as many corpses as you can find without attracting too much attention.
When casting Raise Undead, in the best case scenario the owner of the mob or a player ghost will play as your minion, while in the worst it will become a NPC. You are a formidable mage, but an average combatant, so it is best to use your minions as a meatshield while you cast offensive spells and heal them from the backlines.
Your natural enemy is obviously the Church, which will be often allied with the Keep. Your ideal allies are the Cultists, who share your same covert playstyle, however, remember that their Ascension conflicts with your goals.
Philacteries
Philacteries are a unique mechanic that allows the Lich to escape death several times. Every lich begins with 1 to 3 philacteries on their person, it is in their best interest to hide them separately in secluded spots.
When a Lich dies or chooses to utilize Calcic Outburst, they will reincarnate at one of their philacteries, consuming it.
Spells
- Command Undead - Send a message to all your minions.
- Strengthen Undead - Heal yourself or one of your minions.
- Raise Undead - Raise a corpse, turning them into a minion.
- Fireball - ...
- Blood Bolt - Stun a foe, knocking them on the ground.
- Eyebite - Cause temporary blindness to a foe.
- Ray of Sickness - Poison a foe.
- Fetch - Haul the target in your direction
- Secular Diagnosis - Perform a perfect medical analysis on someone.
Roleplaying a Lich
Remember that you're telling a story. Do not wordlessly throw fireballs at random passerbys simply because you can, or pack a room full of skeletons to play tower defence. Act the part of a brutally cynical being which has dedicated its entire existence to the pursuit of forbidden knowledge.
Every Lich still has a backstory, and some kind of twisted personality. Roleplay your actions as if you had a long awaited goal.