Lichdom

[kromey]

NOTICE: This project, while not dead, is currently comatose.

See the announcement on page 42 of this thread, here.

 

Clearly, I'm not the first person to conceive of a lichdom mod, however it seems the other projects have unfortunately fallen apart or gone dormant. Even so, none of the others have quite hit the feel that I want, so I would be pushing ahead with my own version even if the others were alive and well and wildly popular.

What is a Lich?

According to the UESP wiki's lore entry, liches in TES are necromancers who have placed their souls in containers called "phylacteries", which seems to grant them immortality (or at least very long life) and magical power.

In my interpretation (drawing from what little there is on UESP and spicing it up with other sources, most notably D&D, plus my own imagination), a necromancer literally sacrifices his mortal coil in his pursuit of power, binding his soul to a powerful magical item in order to perpetuate his existence in the mortal realm as an undead creature. In doing so, he gains immense power, and immortality.

...Well, almost. The lich's unlife is tied to its phylactery; should it be destroyed, the lich is also destroyed. Even without that, though, the phylactery's power is not unlimited -- when a lich is destroyed, the phylactery expends a massive amount of energy to rejuvenate it, leaving both lich and phylactery weakened, and vulnerable.

In practice, this means that a lich that would be killed is instead reincarnated in a weakened form, a shell of his former glory, while his phylactery sustains damage in the process. In this form, a lich is just as mortal as the average undead skeleton or draugr; to reclaim his power, and his immortality, the lich must repair his phylactery and then restore his body's connection to it.

How does one become a lich?

I am envisioning a multi-step process for the player, presented in a free-form quest that encompasses all of the steps required.

Research
The first step is research. The player will find five book fragments that, when pieced together, reveal the journal of an ancient necromancer as he himself researched and undertook the process. (Each fragment will individually grant one piece of the puzzle (i.e. a crafting recipe or a spell), with the exception of one fragment that will in fact be optional to the whole process -- but will provide more information on the powers and abilities you'll have upon becoming a lich.) I plan on writing detailed fluff for this journal that will hopefully be interesting to read, instead of merely Yet Another Quest Book. I also intend on adding a separate book that describes liches in general, and provides clues as to where the journal fragments can be found, stored safely within the Archmage's quarters in the College of Winterhold; acquiring this book will not be necessary, but will make it easier to complete this stage of the quest.

Constructing the Phylactery
Once the player knows all there is to know about the process, and chooses to undertake it, the next step is to construct his own phylactery. This will be a straightforward crafting, requiring some semi-rare ingredients, conducted at the Forge with:
1 gold ingot, 1 ectoplasm, 1 black soul gem, and 2 leather strips
It will only be possible to craft at the Lunar Forge (and only at night time?). The phylactery itself will appear to be a simple diamond gold necklace, however the journal will describe it as a container holding words of power scrawled onto the leather strips to alter the properties of the black soul gem they're wrapped around, the gold itself infused with the ectoplasm to augment the item's power.

The Ritual of Defilation
After the phylactery is constructed, it has to be "primed" to energize the arcane writings on the leather strips and alter the properties of the soul gem to function as a home for the lich's soul, rather than a prison. The ritual is a spell that requires the caster to have the phylactery and a human heart on their person, the latter of which is consumed in the process; the result is a phylactery ready for the final transformation.

The Elixir of Endless Night
The final step in preparing will be to brew a potion the player will consume in the final ritual:
1 bleeding crown, 1 deathbell, 1 falmer ear, 1 nightshade
(Fluff-wise, the journal will mention that this final step is sometimes fatal without resulting in the final transformation to a lich, and it will be implied that the necromancer whose journal you're following succumbed to this exact fate; for gameplay purposes, however, the player will always succeed.) Unlike normal potions, however, the Elixir isn't a simple mixture, but more like a stew, and requires simmering for quite a while in order to be successfully created (i.e. a lore-like excuse for why it's made in a cooking pot rather than on an alchemy table).

The Ritual of Becoming
When all is ready, the player will either cast a unique spell, and they will be transformed into a lich, immediately gaining all of their new form's powers, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. This ritual will consume the Elixir and transfer the lich's soul from their body into their phylactery.

I'm also considering requiring the ritual to be performed outdoors, at night time.

What powers and abilities?

Liches have what amounts to two separate forms -- "lich" and "demilich" "nether lich". The former is the full-power form of the lich, a powerful necromancer whose outward appearance is sufficiently similar to what it was in life that the casual observer (read: NPCs) is none the wiser; the latter, however, is their weakened state, which the lich falls into when it would otherwise be killed.

Both Forms
The lich retains the following while in either form:
Frostfall: Immunity to exposure -- you're undead, what do you care about the weather?
100% resistance to disease and poison and paralysis -- you're already dead, your body simply isn't vulnerable to these hazards.
75% resistance to frost -- cold doesn't bother you, although enough of it can still freeze your flesh and make it brittle.
75% vulnerability to fire -- your dry body is easily set ablaze.
No followers -- you're a lich, an undead abomination, no one will lay down their lives to protect yours. (This is too likely to break quests and just be more aggravation than it's worth; it's up to you to RP your lich as you feel appropriate!)
You are undead -- duh! (The idea here is that anything that affects undead, e.g. the Necromage perk and silver weapons, should affect you because, well, you're undead.)
No well-rested bonus -- you're undead, you don't sleep. (Not possible without modifying the vanilla script, which isn't impossible but I'm putting this aside for now anyway.)
Waterbreathing -- you're undead, you don't breath.
No natural Health or Stamina regeneration -- you're undead, your body doesn't heal itself naturally.
Axes, Maces and warhammers do 40% more damage and critically hit you twice as often -- your bones are easily crushed by these weapons.

Demilich Nether Lich (At least initially will use the dragon priest model.)
Much like a stage 4 vampire, nearly everyone tries to kill you on sight!
-100% to Health, Stamina, and Magicka regeneration -- your frail form is, well, frail.
-60 to Health, Stamina, and Magicka -- you're weakened, like a stage 4 vampire in sunlight.

Lich (Uses the player's regular model.)
+100 Magicka; +50% Magicka regen -- you have access to power mere mortals can only dream of!
+50 Stamina; +50% Stamina regen -- being undead you don't get tired, although you still have limits.
+50 to Conjuration and Destruction skills -- your new form definitely leans toward a certain persuasion... (On further review this is just silly.)
Illusion spells are 20% more powerful -- you are a powerful caster, although not as specialized as a vampire.
50% spell absorption -- you can often turn your enemies' spells against them.
50% magic resistance -- even when you can't turn them back, magic simply hurts you less.
You can have two extra conjured/raised allies -- your new form is adept at controlling the magic needed. (Not possible without modifying Twin Souls.)
TBD boost to Destruction
TBD boost to undead minions
Lich's Command (Lesser Power) -- take control of nearby summoned creatures. (This is like the Command Daedra spell, but an area of effect.)
Paralyzing Touch (Lesser Power) -- paralyze your enemies if they dare to get too close to you.
Mark of the Lich (Spell) -- a rune that explodes and, if it kills its target, resurrects them as a zombie under your command.
Wrath of the Lich (Spell) -- summon multiple wisps to come to your aid; your Magicka does not regenerate while the wisps are out.
Raise Skeleton (Spell) -- instead of resurrecting a corpse as a zombie, raise it as a more powerful skeleton!

What exactly happens when a lich is killed?

You are instantly reborn as a demilich nether lich the moment you are killed. You must always keep your phylactery on you in order to keep your physical form animated and controlled. (Your death would be accompanied by a large area effect that does frost damage and briefly paralyzes those around you as the magical essences binding your body together are explosively released, likely making it easier to escape.)

You don't just get a free pass out of death, though -- while you regenerate with full stats, whatever just killed you is probably still around, and still trying to kill you, and as a demilich nether lich your damaged phylactery is no longer capable of staving off your death. You'll have to repair your damaged phylactery to regain your former power; this will again be a simple crafting recipe at the Lunar Forge, requiring the damaged phylactery, a new black soul gem (to replace the damaged one), and 2 leather strips (to inscribe the new words of power on). Probably a good idea to keep one or two black soul gems in reserve at all times...

Once repaired, the demilich nether lich need only cast the Ritual of Defilation again to regain their former glory.

Want to contribute?

Good! I'm looking for people who want to write books that will be included in this mod, and scattered about the world of Skyrim! More details on what I'm looking for are over here.

Status

Becoming a Lich: 90%
Phylactery: 100%
Elixir of Endless Night: 95%
Ritual of Defilation: 100%
Ritual of Becoming: 80%

Lich Bonuses/Penalties: 90%
Common bonuses/penalties: 100%
Nether lich penalties: 100%
(Full) Lich bonuses: 80%

Lich Spells and Powers: 0%
Lich's Command: 0%
Paralyzing Touch: 0%
Mark of the Lich: 0%
Wrath of the Lich: 0%
Raise Skeleton: 0%

Quests: 50%
Books: 30%
Research quest: 70%
Optional ingredient quests: 0%


Edit 12/26: Added Stamina bonuses and no well-rested bonus; replaced bonemeal with human heart in the crafting recipe.
Edit 1/2: Added waterbreathing ability; updated recipes to reflect current plans.
Edit 1/12: OP should now be up-to-date with all current plans.
Edit 1/15: More updates to the OP to reflect most current plans; added current status.
Edit 1/17: Status update and tweaks to the plan; "demilich" renamed "nether lich" to integrate better into TES lore.
Edit 1/19: Status update.
Edit 1/22: Status update.
Edit 1/25: Status update; added Frostfall compatibility benefit.

Edited July 11, 2013 by kromey

[Dweedle]

will it work with Skyre? hope so, the necromancy spells on Skyre would really suit this. I have always wanted to be a lich.

 

just an idea though, a lich should have infinite stamina, or at least a large boost, undead never rest after all. at the same time make it so a lich cannot gain sleep buffs, much like how werewolfs cannot.

 

also, I see that this is geared to a mage type character but.. if you could incorporate corrupted paladin and spellsword style builds it would be cool too.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Dweedle

[Deleted1308005User]

will it work with Skyre? hope so, the necromancy spells on Skyre would really suit this. I have always wanted to be a lich.

 

just an idea though, a lich should have infinite stamina, or at least a large boost, undead never rest after all. at the same time make it so a lich cannot gain sleep buffs, much like how werewolfs cannot.

 

also, I see that this is geared to a mage type character but.. if you could incorporate corrupted paladin and spellsword style builds it would be cool too.

 

Oh, PLEASE.

Mod's under development and you're ALREADY starting to ask for compatibility?..

Author stated he's trying to keep vanilla things untouched/ edited as little as possible, so it should be quite compatible.

 

 

Anyway, my ideas.

As cliché as it might sound, crafting of the phylactory (or however it's spelled, anyway!) could be probably done at Skyforge.

Skyforge is supposed to be some kind of magical forge powered by ancient hero's souls, but you are using Black Soul gem to craft the phylactery = corrupts temporarily the forge.

Maybe add some more evil things required to craft it?

I think the current recipe is sort-of easy to get, considering the fact that there's quite few liches around. Maybe some completely new items? Powdered mammoth tusk?

Similar things that repairing White Phial takes.

As I understood the Phylactery is sort of "container", which contains the soul of the lich.

White Phial was cracked, but not completely destroyed, as it'd take much greater power to destroy it than simply throwing it against a wall. (But when lich gets "killed", it becomes cracked and thus needs to be repaired)

 

Also, I'm not quite sure about the transformation.. Those sound usually like they are causing some problems.

I hope you're able to make it work.

 

Anyway! Sounds really nice option for necromancers.

I'm just on current playthrough using Requiem, and your mod sounds like really good. Would probably go well with Requiem, as it makes game MUCH harder, and your boosts are nice, but not OP.

Just my thoughts.

[kromey]

will it work with Skyre? hope so, the necromancy spells on Skyre would really suit this. I have always wanted to be a lich.

 

A little early to be thinking about this kind of thing, but as Shadowjin points out I'm aiming to make as few changes to vanilla Skyrim stuff, so compatibility with anything and everything should be a non-issue. Keep it in mind as development progresses, though, and if you do find any incompatibilities do bring them up and I'll see what I can do.

 

just an idea though, a lich should have infinite stamina, or at least a large boost, undead never rest after all. at the same time make it so a lich cannot gain sleep buffs, much like how werewolfs cannot.

 

Ooh, I like this. Not infinite, though -- even the undead have their limits -- but a significant boost (albeit less significant than the boost to magicka) is definitely an option. I like prohibiting the sleep buffs, too, I'll see if I can incorporate that (no idea how at this point...).

 

also, I see that this is geared to a mage type character but.. if you could incorporate corrupted paladin and spellsword style builds it would be cool too.

 

Definitely a good idea (I myself love the spellsword archetype), but likely not for this mod. (Of course, the boosts to Magicka and to Conjuration should help with the summoned weapons spellsword, and adding the stamina boost should further help the spellswords out there.) You've started the gears turning, though, and I've already got ideas for something that focuses largely on weapon enhancement spells...

 

As cliché as it might sound, crafting of the phylactory (or however it's spelled, anyway!) could be probably done at Skyforge.

Skyforge is supposed to be some kind of magical forge powered by ancient hero's souls, but you are using Black Soul gem to craft the phylactery = corrupts temporarily the forge.

 

Ooh, I like this. Or, perhaps the Lunar Forge -- always kind of bugged me that that thing's supposed to be special, and yet... it isn't.

 

Maybe add some more evil things required to craft it?

I think the current recipe is sort-of easy to get, considering the fact that there's quite few liches around. Maybe some completely new items? Powdered mammoth tusk?

Similar things that repairing White Phial takes.

 

I do agree it should be difficult, but at the same time I don't want to make it too difficult that it becomes a tedious, WoW-esque "bring me the ear of this super-common animal, but despite them each having 2 ears you'll only get one every 50 years"!

 

Any ideas for evil things to add to the recipe? I was thinking Briarhearts...

 

The problem with completely new items is that adding them into the game would require either significant alterations to vanilla Skyrim (potentially introducing significant compatibility issues), or massive additions to the game that would be a lot of really tedious work for me; neither is a particularly attractive option.

 

Of course, a super-rare ingredient only found in one place (which maybe just happens to be a dangerous dungeon) could be an option.

 

Also, I'm not quite sure about the transformation.. Those sound usually like they are causing some problems.

I hope you're able to make it work.

 

Hm. That's problematic. It works for werewolves and vampire lords, so at least theoretically it should work fine for liches. We'll see, though...

[Deleted1308005User]

"Lunar Forge"

What the heck is lunar forge?

I've NEVER heard of that.

 

I guess I've missed something in Skyrim. (even after 700 hours of gameplay..)

 

"Of course, a super-rare ingredient only found in one place (which maybe just happens to be a dangerous dungeon) could be an option."

that's something I was thinking about, placing the item directly somewhere in game world.

Idea: There is some known locations which are full of necromancers, maybe those places would be good choices? You could place like two-four of the required items around Skyrim, but players would need to search for them.

Also, totally agree with the "No-need-to-kill-hundread-bears-for-ten-ears" thing. it's just silly.

Briarheart sounds like nice, Hagravens use them to make briarheart forworn as well.

If I remember correctly, Briar heart is some sort of "life's seed", and hagravens corrupt it with their power, replace human's heart with it, thus making the Human much more lively. (And resistant to damage)

Sounds quite nice indeed.

You know, have you played Dawnguard? Soul husks could be really nice, so you couldn't turn into Lich right away, but it might be just too hard to get those. (As you need to get quite far in Dawnguard's questline)

I'll tell ya if I get some nice ideas.

 

"Hm. That's problematic. It works for werewolves and vampire lords, so at least theoretically it should work fine for liches. We'll see, though... "

Aye, true that.

But the creature transformations I've seen have at some point caused problems.

(even if they work flawlessly. I remember I've seen mod which added spell that transformed player into Dragon Priest with working spells and everything)

Maybe it's bloating issue? Can't say for sure. Those mods were removed from Nexus because they contained tons of scripts from vanilla game. (Copyright issue)

 

Also, just some time ago I saw mod which added "Bear transform" spell, it worked flawlessly too, but sadly I can't remember the name of the mod anymore. It would have probably helped your work a lot.

 

Edit: checked the Lunar forge from wiki.

I remember brother mentioned that, but I've never tried it myself, but it'd DEFINITELY be a MUST for your mod!

(If you can figure out how it works that is :biggrin: )

Edited December 23, 2012 by Guest

[kromey]

"Lunar Forge"

What the heck is lunar forge?

I've NEVER heard of that.

 

I guess I've missed something in Skyrim. (even after 700 hours of gameplay..)

Yeah, it's one of those things that's easy to overlook. I don't think there's ever anything that points you toward it, so unless you stumble across it on your own (or read about it on the wiki) you'll never know about it.

 

Then again, since it doesn't actually do anything in the game, you're really not missing out on anything. Probably wouldn't be all that hard to make it do something, though (and I think some mods out there already do exactly that).

 

Another thought along those lines that occurred to me after my previous post: Creating a brand new type of crafting... uh... thingy. Something unique that is the only place in Skyrim where a working phylactery can be built. Maybe inside a necromancer's tower -- perhaps even the former tower of the aforementioned necromancer whose steps you're following in.

 

Idea: There is some known locations which are full of necromancers, maybe those places would be good choices? You could place like two-four of the required items around Skyrim, but players would need to search for them.

This is what I was thinking -- a necromancers' hangout would be the perfect place to find a special, rare, necromantic ingredient. Maybe human hearts? They're in the game, just hard to obtain -- sounds perfect, actually, and I could even add a few more here and there for good measure.

 

You know, have you played Dawnguard? Soul husks could be really nice, so you couldn't turn into Lich right away, but it might be just too hard to get those. (As you need to get quite far in Dawnguard's questline)

Those sound perfect, but I'd prefer not to require Dawnguard or any other DLC.

[Dweedle]

lol didnt meant to sound too direct about Skyre, my bad. compatibility patch would probably come out sometime after the main mod anyway.

 

just had another idea.. could you make it look like the player character is an actualy floating skellyton when a demilich? sort of like how Liches (enemy monster ones) looked in Oblivion? You could probably make them float like dragon priests?

Edited December 25, 2012 by Dweedle

[kromey]

just had another idea.. could you make it look like the player character is an actualy floating skellyton when a demilich? sort of like how Liches (enemy monster ones) looked in Oblivion? You could probably make them float like dragon priests?

That would look pretty cool, and was what I was hoping for, I just didn't mention it because I have no idea if that's possible. I've been out of the modding gig for far too long, I've forgotten what the CK even looks like! :teehee:

Edited December 26, 2012 by kromey

[Deleted1308005User]

As for the looks, you mentioned you'd make the transform be based on Dragon Priest?

 

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/26706 This mod, aaand:

http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/images/26706-4-1352567194.png

The first guy with helmet, it's rigged to Dragon Priest skeleton, thus it would be amazing base, but it's just idea.

You'd need to ask permission to use it.

[kromey]

Those look good. I may get in touch with the author of something like that down the road, but for now I'll just be using the stock Dragon Priest model -- just so I don't have to hassle with figuring out how to import new models just yet ("one step at a time" thing, y'know?).

 

My biggest concern with this is that the final transformation will be uninteresting -- I've got a lot of nifty passive abilities, but not a whole lot of active things that it can do, y'know? Would be really cool to have a few more powers, maybe even a once-daily Greater Power or two, or even some new, unique spells only available while in lich form. I'm just devoid of ideas that aren't OP, uninteresting, or don't feel like they fit in with the concept.

 

I guess it is fitting in with vampires and werewolves, though -- they seem to be largely passive abilities with one or two active ones. Vampire Lords, on the other hand, seem to have a lot more they can do (saying this as someone who has yet to play any of the Dawnguard content, btw), and that's the benchmark I'm aiming for -- if not higher.