Step One: The Secret of Immortality

There is no such thing as a typical lich.

Everyone who takes this journey does it on their
own terms. The first step along this road is
deciding that it is something the character
wants and then finding the method.
In other campaigns, there may be divergent
methods. Perhaps ancient moldering scrolls left
behind by a malevolent witch-king related the
method so that his minions may join him in
wicked immortality.
Whatever the method, finding the secret of
lichdom is always a plot moment. It nevers
occurs accidentally.
Requirements:
The Seeker must be able to cast 5th level
arcane or divine spells, they must not have
necromancy as a prohibited school (if an
arcane caster) or as an abomination of their
faith (if a divine caster)
The Seeker must be evil. There is no such
thing as a good or neutral lich. Why that is will
become apparent soon.
The Seeker must have the following feats to
craft the necessary tools: Brew Potion (to
create the potion to usher them into undeath),
Craft Wonderous Item (to create the phylactery
that will be a vessel to their soul), Spell Focus:
Necromancy (Representing their advanced
knowledge of undeath)
The Seeker needs to be able to caste the
following spells: Animate Dead, Enervation,
Magic Jar, Permanency.
Step Two: The Crafting of the Phylactery &
The Concoction

Every lich needs a phylactery and this is by

far the most time-consuming part of the ritual.
The lich must possess the craft wondrous item
feat or have an assistant with the feat willing to
aid him. The phylactery takes 120 days and
120,000 gp in materials. There is a magical item
that will decrease the time (see the onyx
chalice) but nothing can decrease the cost.
The spells Magic Jar and Permanency are cast
into the phylactery as it is being made
Once the phylactery is crafted, it is a
dangerous item for a wizard to possess. The
phylactery counts as part of his own flesh for
the purpose of scrying. Anyone who possesses
the unfinished phylactery can cast spells against
the maker with greater efficacy. The maker
takes a -2 penalty to any such spell. Further if
the phylactery is destroyed not only is all that
work lost, but the maker takes 6d6 damage
thanks to the close bond to the object.
With the phylactery created, the Seeker must

now prepare a potion of death, a brew so

infused with negative energy it annihilates life
upon contact. One mistake in the creation of this
lethal concoction will bring only death to the
practitioner when the times arrives for his
passage into unlife.
The spells Animate Dead, Enervation and
Permanency are cast into it, costing 2,500gp in
alchemical reagents/materials and one week to
brew properly.
Step Three: The Self-Excruciation Ritual

Finally the lich is ready to perform the ritual

of self-excruciation.
This long and arduous ritual takes 24 hours of
elaborate chanting and invoking. It begins at
midnight and ends at midnight the next day.
After the ritual culminates, the Seeker
consumes the concoction an falls comatose for
2D10 days with no means, magical or otherwise,
able to revive him as he slowly dies. At the end
of this time, he must make a Intelligence check
at DC 20 in order to discover if the preparation
of the potion was truly flawless.
The great culmination of the ritual is the ritual
suicide of the seeker. If everything has been
done correctly, the seeker will rejuvenate and
rise from his own death beside the phylactery. If
there are any flaws in the phylactery then the
ritual of self-excruciation is merely a particularly
morbid and elaborate form of suicide.
Obviously this ritual is a moment of terrible
vulnerability for the caster. They must have
trusted agents and a base to carry out this
ritual. The best time to destroy a lich is when it
is first created. After that, they are almost
indestructible.
Many versions of the lichdom ritual require
that the caster not die alone. Some versions
require the sacrifice of an immortal creature or a
celestial. Some require the sacrifice of one
whom the caster loved at some point in his life
in order to cut his connection to mortality. Some
require the sacrifice of one to three escorts
who will, with their own deaths, distract the
Harvester of Souls long enough for the lichs
soul to move into the phylactery.
And some of the rituals are content merely
for the caster cut out his own heart and place it
within the phylactery itself.
After 1d10 days the lich reforms and is reborn
into
undeath.