The Crypt Keeper – Lich Form

[Valore]

“Ahh, sweet death! This is the life!”

Who doesn’t love dark magic? We have Druids, we have Lycan’s what we really need is some undead love for the dark Necromancer in the world of Project Gorgon and so the idea behind this post is to brainstorm some discussion on the future possibility of Lichdom and maybe one day seeing this in-game.

Quest Requirements to unlock: 50 Necromancer / 50 Ice Magic / 25 Corpse Talking

Why the above requirements? After playing Necromancer & Ice Magic the two combo perfectly with each other and it just feels right to see this as a quest requirement in terms of lore and roleplay.

>>>Quest/Story<<<

In a cold dark night, a Necromancer comes across an unburied corpse while exploring for further treasure and relics – he calls upon the spirit and the spirit offers him passage into the spirit world (Necropolis) where a Dark and Powerful God of Death is waiting… (Think Nameless Guardian in size! Maybe even a little bigger!) A sacrifice is required… your very life!

>>>The Crypt Keeper’s Curse<<<

Rather than a traditional skill line like Druids & Lycan’s – I believe the best way to implement Lich form in-game would be as a permanent curse that can not be reversed and rather than replacing the existing Necromancer & Ice Magic skills – the curse modifies the existing skills and perhaps could even allow unique training within each respective skill line that can only be used by Lich Players.

Player Model changes to undead (Benefit of models and animation already done and in-game now)
Lich Form Restriction – Can never be a Druid, Priest, Weather Witch, Lycan etc. – Lich form should be for those dedicated to the dark arts!

Bonus Stats (Strengths & Weaknesses) are modelled on undead skeletons currently in-game

Immune: Darkness
Weakness: Crushing, Fire, Sonic
Resistance: Poison, Trauma

50% Damage Buff to Darkness, Ice & Electricity Damage (a little extra damage couldn’t hurt)
100% Bonus Health & Damage for undead pets (Masters of Death should have the strongest undead pets)

Additional Bonus: As your undead and no longer require air to breath – can swim underwater forever without drowning! (Still requires eating Food/Snacks as a source to replenish your dark powers... perhaps made from special undead recipes like Ur-Bacon)

Now being an undead lich should be pretty rewarding but at the same time we all know how many characters within Project Gorgon despise Necromancers and their skeletons – the same should be very true for undead Lich’s. Walking into town they should be very unwelcome with many refusing to even speak or interact – perhaps even going as far to be hostile and attack on sight (NPC’s in town would be un-killable to prevent any abuse).

“Mask of Life” Skill – Like scary animals such as the Spider a very limited skill could be available which transforms the player back to their original race which would allow them to very quickly interact with NPCS in towns before the illusion fades and goes on a long cooldown.

I do love the idea behind Druid events and perhaps taking the idea further the same could be done for Lich Players – with undead invasions across the lands which give treasure and rewards to all who help with special credits available just for the Lich Players where they can spend directly with the God of Death for special and unique skills.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and if you have any ideas/feedback on Lich being added to Project Gorgon feel welcome to discuss and add them to this post.

[IndigoBlue]

After reading this a second time, I wish we had kudos or likes or something to give this post. It still sounds pretty good after the 3rd read.

My only thought is that I've been reading a lot of Fantasy books lately, where in fact, a Lich-like villian is rampaging through the region, using it's minions to gain power and create more cannon fodder. (Terry Brooks - don't judge <cough, cough>). Anyways, my only issue is that in written fiction, a Lich is usually somewhat bound to it's fortress/cave/mountain/dungeon/graveyard etc.

And since homes are coming, why not give a Lich a special buff to let them interact with town NPC's, but the buff comes from their house. And of course, all other classes get 1 buff from their house as well. Anways, an interesting read and thanks for the suggestions!

Update (because the game is borked right now): Decided to look up Lich on Wikipedia, even though I know the history of the term in general. Also an interesting read. If there was ever a Lich in a movie franchise that stuck around, it would be Voldemort (Harry Potter).

[jordihz]

yeah i want the liiiiiiiiiiiich! lets go guys!

[Valore]

Hey guys thanks for the feedback – seeing Lichdom in Project Gorgon would be awesome one of these days.

Building on the idea of “Crypt Keeper” training – will theorycraft some Lich skills & mechanics that could be learned as a reward for Lich’s building favour with the God of Death via undead invasions.

Soul Phylactery (Teleportation Skill) >>> Allows the Lich to return back to their sacred artefact which houses their very soul >>> This unique item can never be dropped or destroyed but can be held in storage chests (or friendly NPCs?) – kind of building on IndigoBlues ideas and comments above.

Spirit Walking (Dying Skill mechanic)
When a Lich falls in combat they can enter into the spiritual realm with enhanced run speed – they are able to move faster in a realm of shadows and darkness as they race towards their tombstone!
(The best way to describe how this may work would be like WoW – when a player dies their ghost can run back to their body to res – unable to fight or be attacked by any enemies while in this phase – this always seemed like it should really be a dark necromancer/lich skill)

Dark Ice Armor – Infused with the powers of darkness any damage caused to the Lich will result in darkness damage to the attacker! (The lich version of Brambleskin druids enjoy just with a hint of darkness) – Could have multiple ranks with +damage to train.

Dark Ice Spear – The intense cold exposes the soul of the target to increased darkness damage
Rank 1: +5% Vulnerability / Rank 2: +10% Vulnerability / Rank 3: +15% Vulnerability / Rank 4: +20% Vulnerability / Rank 5: +25% Vulnerability >>> (+25% would be the max vulnerability)

Heart Power & Spleen Power >>> Enhanced Duration
Rank 1: 5 minutes / Rank 2: 10 minutes / Rank 3: 15 minutes / Rank 4: 20 minutes / Rank 5: 25 mins

Darkness / Ice / Lightning Damage training (Max of +50% at full training)
Rank 1: +10% damage / Rank 2: +20% damage / Rank 3: +30% damage / Rank 4: +40% damage / Rank 5: +50% damage

Undead Pet Health / Armor / Damage training (Max of +100% at full training)
Rank 1: +20% / Rank 2: +40% / Rank 3: +60% / Rank 4: +80% / Rank 5: +100%

Soul Link >>> Splits any damage done to the Lich to his undead pets – increasing in effectiveness with further training
Rank 1: +10% / Rank 2: 20% / Rank 3: 30% / Rank 4: 40% / Rank 5: 50% Damage Link

Soul Draining >>> Percentage of pet damage heals the life of the Lich
Rank 1: 5% / Rank 2: 10% / Rank 3: 15% life drain (max)

Elemental Bones >>> Bodyheat / Hydration no longer have any effect on a Lich (an extra undead bonus similar to the unlimited underwater air mechanic mentioned in my first post above – would be a nice bonus)

Well just some fun ideas and suggestions to play with… I can dream

[sh0u]

Lichdom is the best, would be great to see a lich transformation in this game

I just wanna be undead

[Mikhaila]

Disclaimer: These comments are based on game balance. The idea of Lichedom is cool. I'm commenting on game mechanics, not the idea of being a liche.

You have to be careful when designing something like this. You have a little too much "I think a liche should be THIS!" and not enough "Is this balanced with other classes"? or "And how will this not be abused?" Gets around hydration and cold. Immune to Darkness. Can't drown. Those are some pretty nice things that get around quite a few things in the game. Then you ask for a 50% buff to fire/ice/darkness? Right there you have something that is now better than any other casting skill.

And the downside? ...Some vendors don't like you, but you have a cooldown to take care of that. Or dump your loot to an alt.

Way too much wishlisting, good RP ideas, needs more balancing of pros/cons.

[snowe]

Way too much wishlisting, good RP ideas, needs more balancing of pros/cons.

Agreed.

As a trade off for not needing to eat or drink, presumably they wouldn't benefit from those buffs either? Perhaps they regenerate power when not in combat only from various skills and by being close to their phylactery (which might well be carried with them). Armor and health wouldn't normally regenerate however, forcing recovery through various skills including an enhanced lich 'life tap' ability.

As a trade off for not needing to breathe underwater due to being dead, they should also have a severe movement penalty underwater as they lack fleshy appendages with which to properly paddle.

For both lich and any future vampiric skill line, it would be appropriate if occasionally an NPC party of, say, 1-3 'undead hunters' randomly spawned and aggressed them (similar to Ursula today). The NPC party would be level-appropriate, target only the undead which provoked their spawn and spawn regardless of whether the lich skillset was active of not. This would be the Lich equivalent of 'druid events' perhaps... but personal.

As a final thought, can undead in Project Gorgon be healed by normal healing magic? If not, perhaps a lich would be immune to normal healing skills - including First Aid.