Medan det finns olika källor, till exempel Monstrous Compendium och Wizard's Spell Compendium, som beskrivs i svaret från Mark Beadles , är det förmodligen den mest inkluderande källan Van Richten's Guide to the Lich , en källbok om cirka 100 sidor som helt och hållet är tillägnad lich. Det beskriver två sätt att bli en lich, en magisk (för trollkarlar och prästerskap), den andra genom psionics.
För att bli en lich genom magiska medel måste man först förbereda en mycket dyr (1.500 gp per nivå av trollkarlen) fylactery of exquisite craftsmanship . Den phylactery är vanligtvis en låda, men det kan också vara något annat objekt med lite inre utrymme:
... the phylactery ... can be fashioned into virtually any item, provided that it has an interior space in which the lich can carve certain small magical designs. Silver is poured into these designs, and a permanency spell is cast on the whole. The designs include arcane symbols of power and the wizard's personal sigil. ... The wizard's personal sigil is a mystical sign of personal significance, and identifying it may convey great power over a lich.
Once ... crafted and properly enchanted, four spells must be cast upon the phylactery: enchant an item, magic jar, permanency, and reincarnation. ... The manner in which the spells are cast and the time at which they are cast are not important, except that the permanency spell must be cast last of all. The rules ... are not immutable. ... The Dungeon Master is encouraged to customize not only the phylactery, but the process of creating it, too.
Nästa steg är förberedelsen av en mycket giftig drake av transformation , som måste konsumeras på en natt med fullmåne:
... the mage may blend several forms of natural poisons, including arsenic, belladonna, nightshade, heart's worry, and the blood of any of a number of poisonous monsters. Also necessary are a heart, preferably from a sentient creature, and the venom from a number of rare creatures such as wyverns, giant scorpions, and exotic snakes.
... If any error is made in the formula or in the concoction and distillation of the potion, irrevocable death results.
When the ingredients are properly mixed, the following spells must be cast upon the potion: wraithform, cone of cold, feign death, animate dead, and permanency. The potion must be drunk during a night with a full moon. Upon ingestion, a System Shock roll is required. If the mage passes the test, then he has been transformed by the potion into a dreaded lich.
If the mage doesn't survive the shock, he is dead forever, with no hope of any sort of resurrection. Not even a wish will undo the lethal potion. Only the direct intervention of a deity (or the Dungeon Master) has any hope of resurrecting a mage killed in this manner.
Det är värt att notera att medan sällsynt beskriver boken också priestly lich:
The cleric lich is created through the same process as is the wizard lich, except that the spells it casts are obviously clerical in nature.
För att bli en psionisk lich, måste psionicisten vara minst 18: e nivå och måste utbildas i olika psioniska krafter. Återigen en phylactery är förberedd och den vore lichen överför sina krafter till den :
... A phylactery can come in any shape, from a ring to a crown, from a sword to an idol. The item is made from the finest materials and must be fashioned by master craftsmen. ... The cost of creating a phylactery is 5,000 gp per level of the psionicist. ...
... the psionicist must empower [the phylactery] with each and every psionic ability that he or she possesses. Although an object cannot normally be empowered with psychic abilities in more than one discipline, the unusual nature of the phylactery allows this rule to be broken. However, before "opening" a new discipline within the object, the would-be lich must transfer all powers from the first discipline into it. ... Once a discipline is "closed," it cannot ever be reopened.
... Each time that he or she gives the phylactery a new power, the psionicist loses it forever. ... Obviously, the last power that is transferred into the phylactery is the empower ability. The effort of placing this ability within the phylactery drains the last essences of the psionicist's life and completes the transformation into a psionic lich. At the moment that the transformation takes place, the psionicist must make System Shock survival roll. Failure indicates that ... the psionicist's spirit breaks up and dissipates, making him or her forever dead. Only the powers of a deity are strong enough to revive a psionicist who has died in this way; even a wish will not suffice.
PS: Som nämns i en kommentar av @TimothyAWiseman är Van Richtens guider Ravenloft-källmaterial. Men böckerna är skrivna på ett sätt som tycks innebära att de i stor utsträckning gäller alla AD & D 2e-inställningar, med "in-game" och sidotext exempel från Oerth, Toril, etc. Till exempel listar VRGttL Azuth, Beshaba, Cyric och Mystra som möjligt dieties för den prästerliga lichen.
Alternativ: Archlich & Baelnorn
Om kreftkandidaten är bra eller neutraljusterad och inte vill bli en ond odöd, är alternativet att bli en archlich, vars procedur beskrivs i svaret från ucbpaladin . Ett annat alternativ i inställningen Forgotten Realms är baelnorn lich . Dessa är vanligtvis LG eller LN elf undead med lich-liknande funktioner. Enligt Cormanthyr: Elvets imperium är förfarandet för att bli en baelnorn genom elven högt magiska ritual som kallas "Fhaor 'Akh' Tel'Quess - Tribute of One's duty to the People". För några detaljer kan du se själva boken, som brukade erbjudas som en gratis nedladdning av kustens guider.