100% Crunch: Liches by Julian Neale is a role playing game supplement published by Raging Swan Press for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some of it is considered to be Open Game Content.
The supplement is available as a 56-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $6.99 although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle, with two pages being the front and rear covers, one an ad, two and a half the front matter and Contents and one the Open Game License. The PDF comes in two versions, one intended for print and high-end devices, one intended for low-end and mobile.
The Foreword explains that this may be the most ambitious book in the series, as liches are hard to create and can take longer to create than they are used on the table. Rather than have all wizard liches, there are other kinds as well to make them more interesting. A sidebar explains that the layout has more white spaces, so that they are easier to print out and use.
Liches by CR lists the liches, their CR, brief description and page.
The Lich has general details on liches, their phylactery and creating them. There’s a variant lich, the atrophied lich, which exists mainly as a plot device, allowing characters to interact with an inactive but legendary lich. A list of monsters with innate spellcasting abilities from the first three Bestiaries is given, as these might be able to craft a phylactery.
Forsaken Lich is a lich where the attempt at lichdom failed, but they are still undead. Details on creating one are provided.
New Archetypes has three new archetypes, intended for intelligent undead NPCs, such as skeleton lords, liches and vampires. These are the Unliving Bard, Unliving Druid and Unliving Ranger.
The Demilich has details on this ancient remnant of a lich.
The rest of the supplement is taken up by the liches, ranging from CR 12 to CR 20. These cover a wide range of types, both in species and in classes, as well as levels.
100% Crunch: Liches in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Contents is less thorough and is hyperlinked. Navigation is good. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a few black and white stock illustrations up to full page in size. Presentation is okay.
This is, like the rest of the 100% Crunch range, a collection of stat blocks for monsters. In this case, very dangerous monsters. Given liches are powerful, intelligent, usually ancient undead beings, the included liches should probably be developed further and given personalities, so that they aren’t just a collection of monsters; liches should be more than that. There is a wide range of liches included, but forty-two liches are a lot, probably a lot more than most will use. The additional information is useful, with new details and existing ones in the same place. 100% Crunch: Liches can be found by clicking here.
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