Can Barbarians Work as D&D Villains?
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2023
- Barbarians are seen as the simplest DnD class to play, but can Barbs work as the main villain of your DnD campaign? How about if they were a Barbarian lich?
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Yes! A non-caster lich. THE SEAL HAS BEEN BROKEN 😈
Finally
Can’t wait for the rouge lich to have a treasure hoard the size of Smaug’s, the Ranger lich to be a combination of spec ops with a highwayman, and for the fighter lich to be a walking armory.
Also, I expect the monk lich to literally just be Goku.
@@CyberDrewanfor the Monk, I'm just going to say "Sokushinbutsu". I mean, it's kinda the exact opposite vibe of the martial arts Monk, but that image of an old monk who meditated until he became beef jerky is such a vibe.
@@CyberDrewan eh, Ranger is still a half-caster at the end of the day. There's a LOT of avenues to explore there.
Rise, my brother, the casters shall not hold us anymore😈
If a Fighter Lich becomes a thing, PLEASE let it be called a Draugr.
Agreed
3rding this
fourthing it!
Draugr is just a generic word for ghosts and zombies tho, undead who did not choose to be undead
@@TheKolboShowIn Norse Mythology Draugr were more revenant-adjacent I believe, and I believe someone would become a Draugr if you buried them a certain way, so... you can kind of become one by choice?
The way the creature goes through a town like hand sanitizer only killing 99.99 of germs
This implies that th 0.01 percent of germs keeps the handsanitisor alive.
Man, imagine a dnd party that slowly turns into individual liches
I feel like that's the prequal to the Overlord anime lol
Party hears of a prophecy of a massive apocalypse in 10,000 years brought on by an Eldritch horror invading, so they have to embrace unlife to make sure they're there to stop it
@@Mr.nessertheres only one lich in overlord but if youre saying final boss level characters then sure
@@randomperson5289 Ainz's Squad, I thought they were all undead so I basically imagined a squad of different liches to be essentially them.
Next campaign has you fighting your last campaign's characters but they're liches now.
Maybe for a Monk Lich, maybe something based on those self-mummified monks? Like the mummified body is the phalactory and the Lich is basically a Spectre made of Ki?
I mean monks can just stop aging can't they?
Perhaps a monk lich's motivation lies in keeping their perfected body for even longer? The whole Monk schtick is all about "perfecting the mind, body, and soul" so it makes sense that a Monk would want to live for as long as possible after spending a lifetime to obtain perfection
@@ktosiekbot true, but they can still be killed
I think the other important thing to think about is what would make a monk evil to begin with? Because the only thing I can think of is Shang Tsung (which is basically a normie lich) and Black Dynamite screaming “kung fu treachery!”
But I do like the concept of meditating into mummification, like meditating on suffering and strife, practicing evil ways long locked away, stealing ki to become the unresting weapon, or becoming a sin-eater-like abomination.
Monks are about self perfection and self reflection. Usually these lichens are the core precepts of the class gone wrong. So in this case the monk does the empty body, but also empties it's soul, and now needs souls of others. Maybe they failed as a monk.
An orphaned vendetta that fights the Scourge: "Why did you leave me!?"
The Scourge with a smirk: "So I could live forever."
Kickass character concept
Oh crap you could make a warlock out of this. Where the patron isn t some eldrich being but the part of the lich living insiide him. You could even have a character ark where the warlock learns to reject the hate and accept the tragedy and forgive thus killing the lich inside and ending the Scourge once and for all. Could even be a cursed character that benefits from powers but invariably draws the scourge near it to continue its carnage.
For something so "restricted" it opens up so many interesting story avenues its insane.
I’m gonna be so sad when we run out of character classes… this series has been so great
i wonder wtf a rouge lich will be
@@AshmegaStealing immortality from somewhere? Or maybe sneaking out of the underworld?
I think a thief style one would be easy. Probably imbue parts of the soul into a cache of valuable items stolen through their lifetime, leaving a legend. The phylactery would essentially be the hoard. Every time the Despoiler is killed, a piece of it returns to the location it was stolen from and the undead being is born anew on the spot. They would likely be cleptomanic by nature, yet be unable to touch the item they stole when they are alive. They would clean a place out except for the oddly returned item of value. However, no matter how much they steal, they can never obtain a new piece of phylactery.
I'm just waiting for the Paladin Lich
What about a arcane trickster? With the ability to steal someone's body to extend it's life that way.
I’m imagining the process for stopping a Scourge being like Luke and Vader. These things are nearly impossible to permanently put down through strength of arms, in order to stop them you have to make them let go of their hate.
I'm excited to see the Ranger and Rogue liches
The Rogue Lich has to be called "A Shadow", lol
Ranger lich probably has his pet as his filactery
@@germen2631 Would a Rogue Lich have to steal their phylactery?
I‘m personally excited for a fighter lich, as a fighter is the base line and therefore very bland not necessarily having a gimmick of which could be turned into the core mechanic for a lich variant. So basically because I have no clue how a fighter lich would look I‘m the most excited for it.
@@user-ur1cf1jb8b Olgierd Von Everic from The Witcher 3 Hearts of Stone DLC. The whole questline straight up subverts the bandit lord trope by making him immortal and basically invulnerable to being killed by mortal men like Geralt. The questline is about removing his immortality so you can kill him.
My first thought is a conquest paladin who was marked as a vendetta for the scourge, but knows the truth of its nature. They follow the scourge’s path slaughtering any survivors to ensure that no more vendettas are created, but by the time they reach their quarry they have become every bit the monster that they hunt. Edgy I know, but I think it could be a cool story hook for players
Basically Arthas
That would actually be pretty sick tbh. But it'd have to be a paladin worshipping a deity that wouldn't strip them of their powers. Maybe some take on the oath of vengeance?
yes, but how about oath of redemption, the struggle of having to encourage every survivor to forgive the serial killer that genocided the village.
@@OnTheBackOfBulletsPaladins don't receive their powers from gods in 5e. The only way to lose them is to break their oath.
@@juliamavroidi8601 The more i hear about 5e, the more i get why people pretend it doesn't exist and either play 3.5 or pathfinder.
Honestly, this Lich miniseries in general gives me a great idea for a sort of "court of liches" with all these varients high members that rule the world in their own way. Would love to see more.
a monster that keeps coming back due to rage and hate, now thats a briliant hook for a "circle of violence" story
In the pc backstory, it so would be cool if the scourge was later revealed to be a previous vendetta and so on, so much the original scourges name has been forgotten
Love that idea!
That could be in interesting thing. Could even be an interesting hint to the fact that killing the Scourge doesn't stop it.
"The Scourge stands before you, both eyes glaring at you through it's veil of long wild black hair"
"Wait, both eyes? Black hair? Didn't my backstory describe the Scoutge as half their face scarred with only one working eye and a shock of red hair on its head?"
"Yes, that is correct. But you feel it deep in your bones, the thing staring you down is the Scourge you've been hunting. It looks differwnt, but that feeling you had all those years ago is the exact same. That gaze is unmistakeable."
I'm imagining a character whose village was killed by a barbarian lich but instead of giving in to the anger, they worked through it letting go, they realised this weakened the scourge. And instead of seeking revenge through violence they decided to dismantle their phylacteries by traveling thile land acting as a therapist and helping people work through their trauma and let go of their anger
The ultimate solo cleric campaign.
Ah yes, the "I have no enemies" guy from that manga
@@faytleingod1851 or even a monk could work really well
I imagined an npc who in the past thought they killed the lich then realizing their soul was being eaten so it could have their body they went to a temple or to nature/some druids for help working to let go of that rage and heal, multiclassing into a cleric or druid, then setting out on a quest to help all the others effected by the lich so it can truely be defeatec once and for all. They could meet up with the party at some point either to provide info or to try and to try to help anyone in the party who was affected by the lich.
P.S. it could be pretty great (in a tragic way) if they were making progress with someone only for the lich to end up killing the npc bringing more rage to the person they were trying to help.
They'd still need to eventually kill the scourge though, and the longer they take to do so, the more people will be killed, and the more Vendettas to heal would exist, rendering their efforts worse than mere token efforts.
I wasn't really sold on this concept...but those massive evil villain examples from other media really pointed out the coolness of this expanded lich roster idea
I imagine a character becoming a Scourge through the destruction of their city. The loss of their home, loved ones, and their way of life are completely reduced to rubble. The characters loss justifies (in their mind) the transition into becoming a Scourge. With no way to track down or even figure out who destroyed their home however, they roam and kill indiscriminately in a vain attempt to seek vengeance.
I love the idea of a Scourge and I plan to implement it in my game, in some way. Thank you for the awesome work and ideas as always Pointy Hat
The Scourge idea reminds me a lot of Lucius the Eternal in Warhammer 40k. Basically whenever he's slain, if the person who killed him has even an ounce of pride for beating him, his soul takes control and they morph into him. Could be an idea for a Fighter Lich?
Exactly my thoughts!
I also immediately thought of Lucius the Eternal. Like a World Eater version of him
Man, you just made a whole Lich party. Gonna be hard to pick one as a BBEG.
Oh, I know Lich BBEG party. Former heroes turned to Lichdom to prevent the return of an even more evil BBEG or prepare for their arrival in the future.
Sounds cool
You could even have the Liches secretly be preparing the party to fight the BBEG they know is coming. It could be the reverse of the mentor/patron was the BBEG the whole time trope.
Are they all around the same cr? It would be cool playing the statblocks on a one-shot
After centuries of planification an adventuring party is finally strong and resilient enough to walk into the negative energy plane and hunt down the BBEG that ran from them into it all that time ago, but will they find it or has their undeath corrupted them beyond such worries?
Given that they are all liches you could just have them attempting to stop the incarnation of a living god. The kind that hates undeath.
You know what'd be fucked up on a supreme level? If the reason they all became undead to begin with was because of a prophecy that they heard: of a band of marauders, powerful and coordinated, coming to threaten the world in the future, with the omission (intentional or not) of the fact that these marauders were the party themselves, having become the very evil they sought to protect against in their undeath.
imagine a circle of each of the class based liches, each helping the others fulfil their filactory requirements, eg. the heirarch forces his decendents to learn the bard lich's song.
good ideas
Maybe make it so the bard makes a harrowing super spooky song that the barbarian sings for whoever he keeps alive
@@mishagaming1075 that could work well. at a certain point, the song might become so legendary it could never be forgotten.
and the leader of lich council is lich Warden dragon
@@rashadel2005 the lich council. perfect name.
This is one of my favorite series. Can’t wait for the Paladin Lich
That's a death knight.
I want the warrior lich
Thief lich
Vampire lich. =)
Usually named leech. 👀
In b4: "vampire is not a class!"
Well: dragon isn't a class either, but there's the dracolich. =)
Doesn't make sense?
I don't care! :x
Oh my god, I LOVE this concept. The fact that this type of lich is bound to solitude, since they’re such a danger to any creature nearby, the fact that the only path to victory against it is a long and painful process of forgiveness, …
This one definitely feels a bit less “lich-y” than the other ones, but it is more like an unstoppable force that destroys everything in its path, becoming more and more powerful as it goes. Good job!
Fully agree with what you say, it fills the same role as motivated big bad, just with a different vibe.
It would be possible to run a thinking scourge. Something between "I have no mouth and I must scream" and the Iron Warriors cage massacre. It would play a bit like Strahd with a malevolent big bad stalking the party through his own lair.
The rage of a scourge throughout the centuries could crystallise into an all consuming bitterness. The scourge would then build a dungeon in a network of caves and fill it with traps and monsters, like your typical scheming Lich. But this dungeon just goes on and on. Monsters cut deeper every day and wounds fester untreated. The adventures can never fully rest (maybe shown in levels of exhaustion) because the scourge mounts hit and run attacks any time it finally seems safe. Supplies dwindle and adventurers must live off of caves grubs and moss. Despair sets in and the adventurers become increasingly frustrated with the dungeon, the scourge and even each other. The goal of the scourge is to prolong this process until only one remains from the adventurers. This one is awarded the privilege of suffering eternally in this dungeon to the slow, cruel torture of the scourge. At the point the survivor gives fully over to bitter hate, they become an undead, midboss phylactory haunting the dungeon to torture any newcomers as they have been twisted to distrust and see all as the enemy.
The point of this scourge would be to foment hatred in a deliberate and calculated way coming from a place of loathing for all life or all others in general.
I think part of the reason it feels less "lich-y" is that one of the common traits of a lich isn't just their own undeath, but that they often mess around with the undeath of others. Imagine walking into a lich's lair and not finding a single zombie servant, not even a skull anywhere. It'd be kinda missing that bit of flavor.
That's easily fixable though. Imagine the party coming across a village that's been absolutely wiped out by a Scourge, and they're investigating the blood soaked ruins to figure out what could have done this. Bandits, perhaps? Nothing's stolen, though... Some kind of monster? Best to hunker down for the night, they decide, and they bed down in the empty inn. At some point, they're suddenly awoken by horrific shrieks as what's left of the dead begins to reanimate, powered by the sheer trauma of their final moments. The corpses mindlessly lash out at anything near them as they cry and scream in agony and terror. The party has now found themselves in the center of a small zombie horde, and must figure out how to fight or escape. What's worse is that some of these shambling corpses are much faster, literally burning themselves out with blind vengeance; they alight with magical flame from within, dealing fire damage to themselves, everything they touch, and a blazing trail behind them as they sprint toward any living thing they can see. The buildings in this village are starting to catch, and the party should *REALLY* get a move on.
In keeping with the theme of barbarians/scourges being emotionally powered, I would personally flavor it such that these corpses maintain their intelligence, if not their soul (similar to Speak with Dead), and would be able to speak and shout things at the party. They can not be reasoned with, and they are all completely blinded by the final emotion they felt before death under the Scourge's influence. Anger, panic, helplessness, desperation... There are a ton of mini-encounters you could throw into the larger encounter with specific zombies. Maybe a corpse that's half-crushed under a structure grabs the ankles of a party member as they run past, painfully digging its nails in, begging the PCs to help even though the party can tell that this corpse is clearly beyond saving.
This also adds bonus trauma onto the vendetta PC's backstory, as they were forced to kill the terrified husks of the people they loved in order to survive, and might not have forgiven themselves for it yet.
Another way is to hunt down all the other survivors and kill them, them the Scourge, then, finally, yourself.
@@xfrobie9773 I would just let the barbarian wake the vengeful and otherwise angry dead with a warcry. The hate bringing back those who died with hatred in their hearts. Not just too angry to die but make it everyone else's problem too.
The idea of a lich fuelled by anger and hatred keeps making me think about clockwerk from the first sly cooper game. While his aesthetic is more robotic than undead, he basiquelly was a guy that hated the cooper family so much that he made himself immortal so he could stalk and torment them generations after generations.
Love this! Imagine a campaign where the villain is a vendetta bent on killing all other survivors of a vanquished scourge in order to destroy it permanently and you've got to stop them from killing Innocents... or becoming the scourge themselves!
Do Monk next!
My favorite part of what you’ve done w/ the stat block is that they are “Any alignment” meaning depending on how you want to use it you can add so much more to the story of this lich than just a blinding rampage
This is exactly what I was imagining a barbarian lich to be, great work Pointy Hat.
Imagine an entire party made up of Vendettas. The campaign is to destroy their shared tormentor only to become the enemy when they destroy him. So much fun! Thank you
Sounds awesome to me!
Sounds like a setup for an incredibly shitty third-act "gotcha" to pull on your players. Please be careful about how you execute this.
Awsome and the only way to forgive their tormentors mercy basically quelling their rage inside
@@HunterTracks Yeah, with that one I would like the PCs and players to be fully aware of the dynamics of the Scourge, and the plot would basically be to first change themselves. Specially if consider that, someone else might kill the Scourge's current body first, and then it could hop to one of them too.
Or they learn that they are vendettas JUST before the final fight and have to fucking FORGIVE the Scourge to truely end it.
They have to forgive and forget, keeping it from creating more hate. And they need _someone_ else to kill it. Someone who doesn't hate it. Who maybe doesn't even know what it is.
congrats, you've singlehandedly inspired me to create a campaign based around a continent plunged into corruption and wandering boss lich princes
This is one of the coolest concepts you've come up with yet. Love the "Death Knight", "Lost Soul", "Sith Lord" vibe you've managed to come up with. I can imagine like at least 10 ways to run this as a final BBEG. This is as close to a perfect antagonist as you can come up with Mr. Pointy Hat. 👏
Here's a potential aspect of a Monk Lich. Where the monk can no longer regain its own ki, and must transfer it's soul into a humanoid creature it kills, to regain spent ki.
To causes the monk to be active, one point of ki is expended for every year that passes.
Bro just thought of kai from kfpd 3
good idea but it would need far more ki points then normal but it might be better off living on the life force of a monistary where each person who agrees to join the monistary using a small amount of there life span to maintain him and if he dies he drains a few years of life force from each member and reappears at the monistary (if he cant get enough to sign up he dies)
Very “Alchemy of Souls”
I think a Monk Lich would just be a Monk who's gained heightened Enlightenment and surpassed even death
Monk Lich would become a Lich so that they could experience the other side. They have mastered their living body into perfection, now they wish to master a whole new body. They create phylactery by defeating a chosen target, each one more dangerous than the last. By doing this they are constantly improving themselves. If he defeats them but lets them live, they become a Soul Anchor. As a Soul Anchor they wear a mark on their forehead showing that they were defeated by the Monk Lich. Now even if he dies, the Monk Lich just takes over a Soul Anchor's body and hones that body into its best form. Meaning every single time he dies he comes back with more physical bodies worth of experience and stronger and stronger original foes. The power and wisdom of a 1000 year old monk, in the body of a cloud giant or an ancient dragon. Meanwhile he could siphon ki energy from his Soul Anchors mo matter how far away, giving him a near limitless supply of life force to channel.
Do you think you could do a paladin lich? Perhaps you could incorporate vows into why they are immortal?
That does exist in the base game! In the form of the Death Knight!
Or could become a spirit of vengeance
oh that's a good ideia, like as long as they dont break their oath and remain loyal to their ideals they will continue living
Doesn't Ancient Oaths Paladins have a feature that literally makes them immortal?
@@zaccline7143That honestly sounds like a good place to start, a Ghost-Rider like thing. But I think that would be better as a warlock lich.
After spending so much time learning 40K lore, i am convinced that Angron would be a Scourge and I love this idea
Character concept, the lone survivor of a lone village, sworn to defeat the lich that did it, but in their journey learns of this liches power to return from any killing blow and take control of the body of those who hate them... this leaves them with two options to defeat them,
forgiveness removing the hatred for their enemy,
or death, their sacrifice ensuring that no others have to suffer in their place
I like the idea of a physical combat based Lich using a special weapon as their phylactery, and anyone who wields that weapon for too long, has their life force drained, and once their body is an empty husk, the lich’s soul takes control of their dead body and puppeteers it until it rot. Then, when a new person takes up the weapon, the cycle starts over again.
Might be a good idea for the Fighter since their class fantasy leans more into weapon mastery than pure physicality like the Barbarian. A Fighter's soul bound to a weapon that takes over the wielder, allowing them to walk the path of the Blade forever and also absorb the martial prowess, training, and techniques of their host.
could be fighter.
@@ClasticOne Agreed, that was my first thought too-and this would make a badass lich concept too! Maybe cursed sentient weapons all begin as Fighter-Lich phylacteries that retain their consciousnesses, with the intention of consuming the soul of whoever wields them and retake a physical body, much like how the Vendettas work in this video.
This is in the realm of a Death Knight / Grave Knight, which I’d like to see gain popularity again
I feel like you could spin a greed angle over a super cool magic weapon and give this idea to the rouge.
I think this has potential to be the most compelling lich story, having to make someone who saw their entire town being killed by a scourge forgive them, just to be able to kill them, sounds like an amazing moment
Before "HOW KILL" comes around, there really is only 2 options I can see happening to destroy the LichBarian (TM) phylactery. Please add your own takes on how to stop one of these things, because I have only really come up with:
1. Follow in the LichBarian's path and roll high enough to provide therapy to the survivors, effectively keeping the lichbarian from gaining in power, or
2. Unalive the survivors so there will be no one who could possibly become a phylactery, but this method obviously has its downsides (like having to unalive anyone still alive, including kids and teens, also you can argue about having to do this making yourself a Vendetta).
Incapacitations. Not by simple knockout, but by dismemberment of their limbs. Do not kill them, but keep them. They do not possess magic, and if bound in this way, they cannot do anything but scream. This is a far more horrifying Vengeance for a Vendetta to take as they guarantee the Scourge suffers all the while the Vendetta lives.
@@marshallbernarte8216that's incredibly messed up and I love it.
cast remove curse on the Vendettas or calm emotions on the Scourge
Same way you deal with a normal Lich, Soul Jar as you kill it, so that its soul cant return to its Phylactery.
magic specifically magic that messes with the mind
Vendetta: I don't know Doc I can't see any way I could ever forgive the scrouge
Doc: one moment (magic gobbledygook) there is that better?
Cured Vendetta: yeah I don't remember what I was even angry about thanks Doc
in case it wasn't clear the Doc literally erased the memory of the scrouge and all the rage connected to that memory (like The Society Of The Blind Eye did in Gravity Falls)
scourge: who are you?
vendetta: You killed my entire village and left only me alive!
scourge: Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?
You always know it's a good day when a Pointy Hat video is uploaded.
Yeah
Also means a Dungeons and Dads podcast drops on Tuesday
This is my favourite lich already. Fantastic 10/10. Instant story/antagonistic elements. I think you're getting better at this as you go.
I'm quite partial to the druid Lich myself and I feel you can make quite the campaign centered around it. However, this one is my second favorite, one of the most quality videos sir pointy hat has madd
It’s literally Lucius the eternal
Druid lich has great story potential@@Antiling_the_Squidkid
@@Aconspiracyofravens1 The method to come back from death is Lucuis the Eternal. The method to become a scourge to begin with is Junko from Touhou.
I gotta say, as someone who prefers almost any ttrpg to dnd you're actually making content that makes me want to play and run dnd.
I'm a DM who works full time as a therapist. This is such a cool idea and it's really making my gears turn about RP solutions the players have to come up with when it comes to dealing with the anger. Like will the barbarian have to learn to forgive the surge and work with other survivors to not allow the anger to control them instead healing them. It really turns the problem solving on it's head. Thank you for this. I definitely will be using it
It feels very metaphorical for the way trauma & abuse works, in terms of how it can continue to damage people longterm... and how unexamined &/or unresolved trauma can sometimes warp people's behaviour to the point they damage others.
The scourge just writes its own stories! I love it! I’m imagining a vendetta that learns acceptance and forgiveness, suppressing the scourge piece inside them. They continue hunting down the scourge, but not for revenge, but for duty. As they kill the scourge, they look at it and say “I can never forgive what you’ve done, but I forgive YOU. And I’m sorry for what you’ve become”. The scourge still lives on inside them, but diminished, weak from the lack of anger. They spend the rest of their days with the remaining vendettas, helping them find closure or sadly hunting down those too far gone. When they finally rest, the scourge dies with them
What a cool arc that would be. You’ve done it again pointy!
Huh, kinda like that jerk from Warhammer...
Alternatively you create a propaganda campaign for the scoruge. To make them look like a hero. Soon the population that hates the scoruge will thin. So tracking where he appears after death gets easier. Then you murder his remaing vendettas in cold blood. Problem solved... oh wait we are the villans now 😂
An Oath of Redemption Paladin makes a great "chosen one" nemesis for a Scourge.
Letting go of hatred, bringing the lost back to the light...that could even "cure" a Vendetta!
I like to point out that a vendetta is someone that deeply hate the scourge, so maybe their hatred for the scourge become self-hatred. Maybe they forgive the scourge, but not themself. Maybe they’re a gard that run from it, maybe it just survivor guilt.
Maybe they never forgive the scourge, but have still manage to make peace with there past.
And maybe those thing stop them from becoming a scourge, maybe not.
Perhaps it only weaken the transformations process. Perhaps it weak enough that the fear of becoming the thing they swore to destroy stop them from doing so.
Maybe it doesn’t.
Scourge: NO! FORGIVENESS! MY WEAKNESS!
Honestly, the lich series is by far my favorite. The ideas and concepts are so incredible and the story hooks you present are always so well developed.
I'm currently playing a sorcerer with a hierarch as an ancestor thanks to you and I'm excited how this turns out!
Really wanna see what you come up with for the monk and ranger.
Maybe the Monk could be an immortal wandering master, feeding on the Souls or techniques of challengers or other martial masters and powerfull creatures to rejuvenate himself, their phylactery being every single one of the students, acolytes, neophytes and servants of their home temple. Sounds nice.
as Methos phrased it "you're never truly gone so long as you're remembered by your students"@@joaodeaquino5453
When you get around to the Monk lich, I think taking inspiration from the real-life practice of Sokushinbutsu would make a lot of sense.
Edit: Also, when I heard 'Barbarian lich too angry to die,' I immediately thought of Darth Sion
I had the same thought too about Darth Sion.
Plot twist: the way to defeat the Red Death is forgiveness. Not just letting it go, but forgiving and forgetting.
I've never played D&D before but man I really like your videos and your character fantasy and creation. Keep up the good work!
Out of curiosity, how does someone who doesn't play D&D find this series ?
@@NRMRKLloneliness
Or atleast that's how I did it
@@ddesmarais7251Lmao, or they just are fans of Fantasy media or have an interest in DnD without playing it 😅
@@NRMRKL mostly because recommended from YT, I play lots of RPGS games but never D&D with real people
Every time I think you've peaked in your videos you find a way to outdo past versions of yourself. The concepts, the stories, and the artwork are all fantastic, and somehow alwaya seem to get better! I just introduced my daughter to your channel and hopefully your audience can continue to grow. You're by far my favorite D&D content creator, and can't wait to see what other fantastic ideas you come up with! Thanks for all that you do!
Agreed, I’m def using this in my campaign
I really can't wait to see the Rogue Lich. I'm curious how that'll be done! Maybe Dragon-esc with a Hoard as Phylactery?
Maybe the ritual requires stealing a phylactery of a different lich! That could have very interesting implications with the other liches made in this series! Kidnap a Scourges Vendetta or a Hierarch descendant, root around a memorial for the death bloom, maybe even learn the Magnum Opus of an intoner, or steal an Automaton from a Necromaton. The idea of a Rogue Lich not having a set Phylactery but having to steal one from a different Lich is very intriguing
This is so cool. Thinking of throwing a party of liches into a campaign I'm running, having the party fight a Scourge, Blight, and Carrion Hunter that were companions once upon a time.
Ngl I did not expacted you will make a lich for a martial class. Now I really wonder what you will make for the rest.
Also this barbarian lich is metal af and makes the warhammer 40 nerd in me to try to make a D&D version of Angron using this lich.
Honestly while i was watching this my first thought went to Lucius the Eternal, it's pretty close, rage rather then pride.
I personnaly thought about the average Chaplain that's too angry to die
I can’t wait to see a paladin litch I’m preparing for a folk horror themed dnd campaign and this series has been insanely helpful
I think that's just called a Death Knight.
@@ValsorayuThis.
And the Death Knight is easily one of my favorite monster ever.
Now that I think about it, this reminds me of one the ideas I have had for a long time for a campaign. Let me tell you a *long* story
Basically: the party is tasked to complete a 100 year old quest that has never been completed in all this time, it's about a *spooky castle* that inspires terror in all those near it and caused the land to be abandoned. On their way they get told about the original group that tried to take on this challenge, a Prince from a century ago and his host of Paladins went in the hopes of clearing the place of it's evil influence but never went back, and although they assume it's because they got killed, some think that maybe they fled their duty.
Once the party arrives at the *spooky castle* after a bit of searching they will encounter the skeletal remains of all of the paladins as well as those of adventurers that tried to take on the challenge in the time since before being confronted by a Death Knight.
Once they defeat him, they can explore the castle a bit more as there are still weird and creepy low noises coming. If they do that (instead of foolishly thinking they finished the job), then there are two more things to discover: a weird, extremely deep chasm in the basement of the chasm from which comes a terrifying hum and in one of the room filled with the corpses of Paladins they could find a dull memory shard which one they activate would reveal to be how the Prince transcribed the journey of his party towards the devastated land (weird as the land doesn't look to be devastated, it's in good shape there are just few people nearby by fear of this place) and how they traced the root back to this castle. Except his voice is panting, he's almost sobbing and saying that he's sorry they couldn't stop it, they were taken by surprise by it and most of the group is now dead and he and the few survivors gathered here probably don't have long left in this world. He ends by saying that he's sorry for everything he is about to do and that he's about to receive the wrath of the Gods for his acts, but it's the only way he can think off to stop the Chasm to the Abyss from destroying the entire region. The last image seen is of him holding his sword with his comrades on the ground, holding on to life
As the recording ends, blood curdling screams resonate from the chasm accompanied by the sound of quakes as demons start to poor in from the abyss, and as it happens, the Death Knight awakens again, ready to continue his duty as he will forever be bound to guard this place until the portal to the Demon realm isn't closed
So yeah, I really liked the concept of the Death Knight and wanted to make an entire plot revolving around this monster because of the amount of potential it holds
@@Valsorayu I know I’d just prefer to see pointy hat’s version of it or if he has a completely different idea
This is a really cool setting for a war campaign. Where the opposong sides arent even the true threat, but a being birthed from the hate, that only unlikely forgiveness can slay. A hulk that just roams aimlessly, ending lives wherever it walks.
40k does this pretty well too, angron and the butchers nails leading him down the path of chaos
This is one of the ones I was most excited I feel like paladin and Ranger are both gonna go crazy
Warlock lich feels like it would be easy, but I bet that the hat (and the hat's human familiar who helps make the videos) could make a super interesting spin on it.
There is really only one way that would work, your patron for whatever reason needs an undead weapon and this would really only work for a devil/demon,a death god, a morally questionable but "good" god
I mean maybe like Hellsing Alucard they were made a monster to deal with something worse but the patron turned their back on them and now their hunting for any like them or other warlocks
Today I learned the term Warlock was a witch (m/f) that betrayed their coven.
@@silverblaze8766 But one must consider, at what character level would a person be hypothetically capable of embracing lichdom? If it could be theoretically done at any level, then fair enough. But if you MUST be a master of your class first, and have reached level 20, then a Warlock no longer needs their patron, as they have become powerful enough to act as their own patron. Thus, separating a Warlock from their tie to a patron may free up some room for creativity.
On a similar note, I once read a thread where people were discussing the actual established nature of the relationship between a Warlock and their patron, and it pointed out something very interesting to me: the 5e canon does not specify that a Warlock's *magic* comes directly from their patron, only the knowledge of how to cast it. I love the concept of a Warlock who defies their magical sugar daddy getting cut off from their power, but as the people in the thread stated, the actual concept is more akin to your patron teaching you more and more recipes as you level up, and if your patron were gone, you retain the capability of cooking those recipes, you simply cannot learn any more without them. Frankly, that makes more sense to me, especially given the flavour text of the Warlock describes them as students of occult lore, which also makes a pursuit of lichdom make sense. Perhaps they don't need their patron to turn them into a lich, they just need enough resources taken from them to become one regardless of their patron's opinion.
Sorry for the novel lmao
A great warlock lich would be adapting the fairy tale of "Godfather Death".
will be taking notes when that video comes out
I love this barblich concept, its like the black rage + butcher's nails combined.
Also it stands to reason that such powerful adventurers will have some pretty cool magic items. The stat block only states the Scourge wields a greatsword, but it could totally be a cursed sword. If the sword is sentient, it might even have taken control of the lich, giving it orders in exchange for power and purpose.
Wow the Scourge is amazing! 😍
It's so cool to me that this one really dissolves themself in the process of becoming a Scourge!
I always had doubts about the "when you manage lichdom, you are no longer a PC" thing, but here there is nothing left! The being has gone and become a force of destruction.
And the way you set up the phylactery! _chef's kiss_
It's like a wildfire!
Really, this series just keeps getting better ❤
Honestly, I think it would be an absolutely sick campaign to have to track down a whole former party of these liches, dispatching them 1 by 1.
Hey, if you ever want to extend this series' live beyond its natural lifespan, might I recommend creating liches not for other classes, but subclasses. The Normal Lich is clearly a necromancer wizard, but couldn't this also apply to other wizards. Idea: The 'Last Breath' is a chronomancer, who, through a ritual, kills himself, but can extend his last moments of life into eternity. Could be fun.
good idea
This series is in itself a lich >;3
An idea i had with the scourge for a dnd campaign: The party has nearly everything they need to kill a scourge. There is just one last phylactery: a revenant. They cant directly kill it. They have to find a way to make a being completely devoted to revenge to let go of his vengence.
Now I'm imagining a scourge and death march working together
Within the first 30 seconds of reading "Barbarian as DnD Villain" has me intent on notes. Got an immortal being enacting a trial of strength that could use some reference.
The Scurge Litchfield sounds like a combination of Angron and Lucis from 40k.
Great work on the video. Love this series.
Talented game designer does very good game design for a bunch of people who really like that game: "I never thought it would take off"
For real though, as a semi-recent DnD convert and forever DM I love your videos because all the depth and narrative tied into every decision. I love the way the stats and the story align so seamlessly every time. 11/10, I never really wanted to play a barbarian before but this video really got me hyped.
I like to imagine that other kinds of "rage trance" would mean that changes the process of making vendettas. For instance, a Scourge fueled by happiness would give hope and joy to people doomed by tyrants (really good backstory idea for an aspiring folk hero).
Would love to see a cleric lich, after failing at a task from their deity and dying, offered a second chance in undeath. Keep up the good work!
In Pathfinder 1st edition, there was actually a Cleric Lich!
The Mummylords were once cleric and other such religious leaders would become undead through a mummification ritual carried out both by themselves and their acolytes, starting while they're alive. Their soul is stored inside an object called the Jar of Hearts, as well as their actual heart. To perpetuate their undeath, the Mummylords would capture, kill, mummify, and raise their own acolytes. And, when too many would fall to protect the lich, they would lure in adventurers in order to convert them as well.
They believe that what they are doing will allow them to serve their god and preach their god's will forever. But did their god approve? Or was it all for naught?
Only the sands of time may tell...
Is such a neat concept, derived from mummification being a worldwide religious practice irl, and it absolutely nails the idea of an active lich (what with the luring more people to serve it and it's god,) with baked it conflict in whether or not their god actually approves of it in the first place!
@@JustAnotherJames3bonus points if the god is horrified by the lich but that's the god's last remaining source of followers and belief, so it's either lich or extinction
I think he mentioned in the initial "Which Lich" videos, he addresses that the Mummy Lord is the Cleric variant of a Lich, which helped inspire expanding what counts as a lich.
basically Mummy (Imhoteph) from movie "Mummy"
I think it's also cool that the scourge could be what happens when you remove the pure, distilled rage from a barbarian character. You have a cool villain and a new question: what remains of that character when you remove such an integral emotion from them?
Damn, thats legit OP way of lichdom. I mean - you are already unstoppable force for most small towns, and you just walk few of those, and yore stacked for life with respawns. Continue for every 30-40 years and yore golden. How do you even die for real, when if there are no alive vendettas, you still gonna put some hatred in person who fights you anyway, if he doesnt kill you instantly with mercy... Thats massive.
Oh man, this is the coolest one yet, and the idea behind it are flippin fantastic. Thanks, mate
You literally combined Angron's rage, Lucius the Eternal's reincarnation, and Shin Malphurs and Dredgen Yor's relationship.
I find this impressive as you likely haven't heard of any of those characters.
Been waiting for you to do the barb, Amazing like the rest!
After watching a bunch of dnd shorts videos the add for ryokos guide has a lot more meaning to me.
Man this lich is so cool and scary! Seems absolutely impossible to kill which is so awesome! And the concept of it coming back as people who hate it? Genius.
This series is amazing! The Artificer-Lich was great, and I'm adapting it into my campaign. Pleeeeeease keep making these. :)
The first thing to come to my mind when thinking about concept of being too angry and full of hate to die and thus becoming undead reminded me of Calamity Ganon from BotW. He's become so wrathful that he no longer resembles himself but can rather be considered a force of nature instead of a creature now. He's not as 'physical' as a barbarian, but he's got the rage down.
Easily my favourite series of yours, right above D&D with a twist. The liches make for such amazing BBEG’s, so different from a conventional lich, and really makes me as a DM and story writer think how to incorporate such awesome ideas into my stories. Thank you once again for always writing such amazing ideas, we appreciate your work so much Antonio. Keep it up 💜✨
As a dm for some pretty tight and Hardcore style campaigns I really love how your homebrew content isn’t extremely overwhelmingly powerful. You seem to have an amazing eye for this sort of thing so thank you so much for posting all of that wonderful content for free on youtube. I hope to be able to always come to this channel for ideas and inspiration.
Dude, this might be my favorite lich you’ve made so far! I just love this idea and the implications and the big ideas it has. This…this is just really freaking cool, man! Thanks!
I always share these lich videos, this is my favourite series
currently running a campaign based off of the Druid liches, I am not doing the idea proper justice (DMing for the first time) buuuut hopefully I'll get better by the time my players actually face one, lol
I love to hear all your ideas about role, but specifically, the lich videos are incredible! I think the numbers of your videos speak by themselves, but if you want to hear it directly: your job is awesome, I watch every video you upload and they're extremely inspiring. Even if I don't agree on an specific idea you're saying, just for how you explain it and the creativity you show, I end your videos with plenty of new ideas, and that is worth a lot for me. Mil gracias por tu trabajo
Amazing video! Such great concept and flavor. I just can't stop thinking about that MTG card with the text "hatred outlives the hateful" which is a great reference too. Keep the good work. Shout out from Brazil
There’s a Sith in old Star Wars lore that was “so angry he couldn’t be killed”
I always thought it was funny af, fits perfectly here 🤣
SION
"No longer do your whispers crawl within my skull. No longer do we suffer teachings that weaken us."
"This isn't a battle of words, Exile. *It is a battle of BLOOD!* "
All of these responses are METAL AFFFFFFFDD
This series is straight up what’s brought me to your channel I love that it’s such a labor of love!
Damn the only creature that would finally justify the whole "You should forgive them" trope.
This series inspires me like no other. Thank you.
Love the scourge that’s favorite lich yet, can’t wait for a Paladin lich!
This series is great I can just imagine a Fighter lich whos' devotion to their order or country is so great that so long as that nation stands they cannot die or a monk recounting their fighting style into scripture so that so long as their is a student of their way they still will live.
That fighter Lich would probably be a Paladin Lich, and thats the Skull Knight from Berserk.
All of Dark Souls is fighter undead
Dude just inspired my next arc for my players. Definitely earned a sub , keep up the good work!
A bunch of us were talking about this at a horror festival in Portland, Oregon yesterday. So cool, always good!
This is brilliant and I can see how a scourge threat could quickly get out of hand in any even remotely populated area. I hope that once you do all these you make a physical book it would be great. Also, can you do a monk next? I might need that at some point soon
this has inspired me for what the fighter lich could be. a person so obsessed with making a legend for themselves, and continue to go on grander and more dangerous adventures in order to feed their ego/reputation/ their legend. and to the point that even if they die in battle to a legendary thing, as long as people are speaking the name and telling the epic stories of this adventurer. they will return as a living legend. their legendary stories are the phylactery that keep them alive / returning from the dead, and only will as long as people keep telling their story's (similar to the bards and how the intoner needs their song to be sung.) so this is my idea for a fighter lich.
so, puss in boots.
I love you man, your content is WAY too enjoyable honestly. Like literally every single thing I want you manage to make a video about. Your content is amazing🙌
Yay good video Pointy! Always enjoy your content thank you for such good stuff.
Love this series so much. Can't wait to see which class will get the Star treatment. Hoping its Monks
I have to say that this is my favorite series as well. Both for directly using your ideas and for inspiration. I’ll be happy to watch this for as long as you want to put them out
This video not only made a great concept for conflict in my games. But you also helped with my studies cause it gave me energy to keep going. So thank you for making my day better twice lmao
What I would like to add is that except "branding" them emotionally as their "future host" to brand them physically as well so they will never forget it should be a reminder, a promise , it seems cool to me anyway you are fantastic
I know the wizard is supposed to be the normal lich but I want to see him remake the basic lich or at least describe it in his style
good ideas
I like this consept so much its like Khornate Berzerkers. This series is amazing
Amazing. The Lich whose weakness is therapy.
That just sounds like a Khorne-aligned Lucius the Eternal