Some of the most powerful magic users become liches. Some of the most vile women become hags. So which way might a powerful, old, vile woman go? Both, of course. Some of the most powerful, hateful female necromancers embrace a path that encompasses both the lich and the hag, and they are called lich queens. These undead hags often specialize in the use of staffs and scrolls.
Lich queens look, unsuprisingly, like a cross between a lich and a hag. They are bent double and have wiry, steel-gray hair, and their flesh is shriveled and dessicated, with empty eyesockets filled with red pinpoints of light. Most wear hooded robes to hide their form, or mask it with their change self ability.
Lich queens speak all of the languages they knew in life.
"Lich Queen" is a template that can be added to any female humanoid creature (the character), provided it can create the required phylactery. The creature's type changes to "undead." It uses all the character's statistics and special abilities except as noted here:
Hit Dice: increase to d12
Speed: Same as character
AC: Natural armor becomes +5, or the character's natural armor increases by +5, whichever is higher.
Attacks & Damage: Creatures gain two claw attacks, each inflicting 1d4 damage plus the lich queers Strength modifier, and these also benefit from a touch attack that uses negative energy to deal 1d8+5 points of damage to living creatures; a Will save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 lich queen's hit dice + lich queer's Charisma modifier halves the damage.
Special Attacks: The character retains all of their special attacks, plus gains the additional ones below. Saving throw DCs, where appropriate, are 10+1/2 lich queen's hit dice + lich queen's Charisma modifier.
Fear Aura (Su): Creatures less than 5 hit dice within 60' of the lich queen must succeed at a Will save or be affected as though by fear cast at the lich queen's level.
Paralyzing Touch (Su): Any living creature the lich queen touches must succeed at a Fortitude save or be permanently paralyzed. Remove paralysis or any spell that can remove a curse can free the victim. This effect cannot be dispelled. Anyone paralyzed by the lich queen seems dead, but a spot check (DC 20) or heal check (DC 15) reveals that the victim is still alive.
Spells: The lich queen can cast any spells it could cast while alive.
Dream Haunting (Su):
Special Qualities: The lich queen retains all of the character's special qualities, plus those listed below, and it gains the undead type.
Turn resistance (Ex): A lich queen has +4 turn resistance.
Damage Reduction (Ex): A lich queen has damage reduction of 15/+1.
Immunities (Ex): Lich queens are immune to cold, electricity, polymorph and mind-affecting spells.
Lich Sight (Ex): Lich queens possess 60 foot darkvision, and they can see perfetly well no matter how bright or dark the surroundings are, even if by magic.
Undead Control (Su): Liches are the masters of the undead, and the lich queen also benefits from this power.
Spell Resistance (Su): Lich queens gain SR based on their age, as shown below.
Spell-like Abilities: Lich queens gain the power to change self at will.
Item Creation Efficiency (Su): Lich queens make scrolls and staffs at half the required XP cost, and their potions have a +2 DC to their resistance rolls.
Saves: Receives a +2 bonus to Reflex and Will saves.
Abilities: A lich queen gains a +4 to Strength, and a +2 bonus to Wisdom. It has no Constitution score.
Skills: The lich queen gains +6 racial bonus to Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot checks. Otherwise same as the character.
Feats: Same as the character, plus Alertness and Combat Casting.
CR: Same as the character +3.
Treasure: Standard coins, double goods, double items.
Alignment: Always evil.
Advancement: By character class and table 1-1, below. Lich queens, like hags, are incapable of gaining levels of Druid.
| Catergory | Age | Str | Dex | Con | Int | Wis | Cha | Hag Magic | Aura | SR | AC | CR | |||||||||||||
| One | 40-199 | +4 | +0 | -- | +0 | +2 | +0 | None | None | 0 | +5 | +3 | |||||||||||||
| Two | 200-299 | +5 | +1 | -- | +0 | +3 | +0 | Minor (3) | None | 12 | +6 | +4 | |||||||||||||
| Three | 300-399 | +5 | +1 | -- | +1 | +3 | +0 | Medium (2) | 20 ft. | 14 | +7 | +4 | |||||||||||||
| Four | 400-499 | +6 | +1 | -- | +1 | +4 | +1 | Supernatural Ability | 30 ft. | 16 | +8 | +4 | |||||||||||||
| Five | 500-599 | +7 | +2 | -- | +2 | +4 | +1 | Minor (2) | 40 ft. | 18 | +9 | +5 | |||||||||||||
| Six | 600-699 | +7 | +2 | -- | +2 | +5 | +1 | Medium (2) | 60 ft. | 20 | +10 | +5 | |||||||||||||
| Seven | 700-799 | +8 | +3 | -- | +3 | +5 | +2 | Supernatural Ability | 80 ft. | 22 | +11 | +5 | |||||||||||||
| Eight | 800-899 | +9 | +3 | -- | +3 | +6 | +2 | Major (1) | 100 ft. | 24 | +12 | +6 | |||||||||||||
| Nine | 900-999 | +9 | +3 | -- | +4 | +6 | +2 | Major (1) | 200 ft. | 26 | +13 | +6 | |||||||||||||
| Ten | 1000+ | +10 | +4 | -- | +4 | +7 | +3 | Supernatural Ability | 300 ft. | 28 | +14 | +7 |
With the exception of the Special Abilities catergory, values are not cumulative.
Catergory: the age group the lich queen falls into.
Age: Lich Queen's age in years. Lich Queens cannot begin to deveelop powers until afte the age of 40, so the table starts there.
Ability Score Modifiers: Bonuses added to the Lich Queen's ability scores at every new age category.
Hag Magic: The new powers the Lich Queen receives upon reaching a new age category. Hag magic is further explained below. Hag magic is cumulative.
Aura: The radius of the Lich Queen's corruptive aura for each age category. Corruptive Aura is explained in "Hag Magic", below.
SR: The Lich Queen's spell resistance value for each age category. This is instead of the spell resistance that lich's made from Monsters of Faerun would get.
AC: The Lich Queen's bonus to natural armor for each age category. This supercedes the lich's normal bonus to natural armor, not stacks with it.
CR: The addtional variable added to the CR of the Lich Queen for each new age level, to represent the powers it gains.
The Lich Queen's Potion
In order to become a lich queen, the candidate must first mix a potion that will prepare her body, both to allow her soon-to-be undead form to be able to change, and also to prepare it for those changes. This potion requires the candidate to find many rare, exotic components.
Requirements: Brew Potion, Wizard, Sorcerer or Cleric level 15, 120,000 GP and 4,800 experience points.
The Lich Queen's Phylactery
An integral part of becoming a lich queen is the creation of a phylactery in which to store it's life force. Unless the phylactery is destroyed, the lich queen will reappear 1d10 days after its apparent death.
Requirements: Craft Wondrous Item, Wizard, Sorcerer or Cleric level 16, 120,000 GP and 4,800 experience points, caster level equals the level of the creator at the time of creation. A typical phylactery is a ring, amulet or similar item, and has a hardness of 20, 40 hit points and a break DC of 40.
Hag Magic
Just as hags do, so to does the the lich queen gain unique magical powers as they age. These are done as spell-like abilities.
Minor Magic: Whenever a lich queen receives a Minor Magic power as a result of aging, it receives the listed number of spell-like abilities. These can be any 0 or 1st-level spells from the druid or sorcerer/wizard spell lists. The spell-like abilities gained can be used at will.
Medium Magic: Whenever a lich queen receives a Medium Magic power as a result of aging, it receives the listed number of spell-like abilities. These can be any 2nd-level or 3rd-level spells from the druid or sorcerer/wizard spell lists. The spell-like abilities gained can be used three times per day.
Major Magic: Whenever a lich queen receives a Major Magic power as a result of aging, it receives the listed number of spell-like abilities. These can be any 4th-level or 5th-level spells from the druid or sorcerer/wizard spell lists. The spell-like abilities gained can be used once per day.
Supernatural Ability: Whenever the lich queen receives a supernatural ability as aresult of aging, it may select one special ability from the list below. Saves to resist these powers are made at a DC of 10 + 1/2 the lich queer's HD + the lich queen's Cha modifier.
• Corrptive Aura:
• Cursed Glare (Su):
• Horrific Appearance (Su):
• Soothing Song (Su):
• Weakening Touch (Su):
Coveys
Lich queens can form coveys, just as hags do. Since they are themselves so rare though, they often form them with other hags instead. Still, if three lich queens can find one another, they may form a covey as well. Spells cast by the covey take effect as at a level equal the HD of the oldest lich queen or hag +2, or at 9th level, whichever is higher.
Pictures of Lich and Nymph from Monster Manual from Edition 3.5.
Site Links
