What is a Lich?
A Lich is an undead Dungeons and Dragons creature known for its dark magic and widely regarded as a hardcore necromancer. Liches are regarded as some of the most powerful threats in all published versions of the game.
Fun Fact: The term "lich" comes from the archaic use of the word "corpse."
10. Renwick Caradoon
“Renwick "Snowcloak" Caradoon was the eldest of the three brothers whose exploits led to the creation of the Knights of Samular (along with Samular Caradoon and Amphail the Just). Renwick eventually died in the last battle of the Second Troll War, only to return as an archlich”
Renwick is a weird starting point for this list. However, I would like to defend my case here. Renwick not only was great in life, but most archliches come back as liches and have to ascend to archlichood, Renwick skipped the process.
I think what is also interesting about Renwick is how nonchalant he is about his power. In 3.5e, an adventure was published revolving around a group called the Cult of the Black Earth. Renwick was tried for being recruited, which he freely ignored. To put that into context, the Black Earth Cult were not only an enemy in the Princes of Apocalypse adventure in 5e, but they were one of four cults that worked towards taking over the world with elementals.
While there are no outright stats for Renwick, it is notable that he is a level 14 Wizard multiclassed with a level 5 Arcane Devotee, which is more than powerful enough before factoring in his lich-like powers. He’s a sleeper archlich that many seem to ignore, but is, in his own right, powerful.
Renwick Caradoon details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Renwick_Caradoon
9. Zrie Prakis
“I am Cassana's tool, her pet, much like you are, or will be, Phalse's pet, if he gets his way. The wand that controls the Little One also controls me. The farther I am from the wand, the more dead I become. Cassana keeps the wand on her person at all times, and when she travels too far away, I die entirely, only to come back as a shambling form when she returns. She is literally the sun my world revolves around.”
— Zrie Prakis
Zrie is another oddball that I've included here, but mainly because I think he is underutilized and, if not in commitment to Cassana, would be incredibly powerful in his own right, being an incredible threat to players and the world alike.
What catches many off guard about Zrie is that he is a mere lich, which begs the question, why is he higher than an archlich in the first place on this list? It’s because his options for spells are ridiculous. Having the ability to use dimension door, enervation, extension I, polymorph other, conjure elemental, death spell, glassee, finger of death, gate, among many others
He also has a Staff of Power, because of course he does, and his actual commitment can be terrifying in itself. It is often said that Zrie probably could have been an Archlich and should have been by his power level and access to skills in his various stat blocks, but his unwavering loyalty stops that, which is just outright impressive.
Zrie Prakis details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Zrie_Prakis#cite_note-VL-p59-2
8. Rhaugilath the Ageless
"Rhaugilath, known as ‘the Ageless’, was a Netherese human archlich. He was the former Lich-King of the enclave of Orbedal in ancient Netheril and later one of the servitor liches of Larloch the Shadow King of Warlock's Crypt, titled ‘the Shackled Scribe of Larloch’.”
Rhaugilath is an interesting archlich generally. While he was powerful at one point in time, his ruin led him to essentially be his archrival’s, or Larloch’s, puppet for eternity.
However, living up to his name, Rhaugilath is still a powerful lich in comparison to many. His most well known feat being literally not dying during a cataclysmic event (hence ageless). His redeeming factors lean towards his level being well over 30, the fact he is an Archlich, and the fact he is a Lawful Good Archlich.
He is an interesting character that is brought up in Candlekeep as well as many other 3.5e adventurers and is, in his own right, powerful in his magic and by lore standards. It just sucks that he is second-hand to Larloch, who is much more powerful in every way.
Rhaugilath the Ageless details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Rhaugilath
7. Lady Osterneth "Opal"
“Osterneth is a planeswalking lich from the war torn world of Eberron. She came to Earth hunted by the the Gith, fleeing the devastation the Githyanki rained down on her home of Khorvaire.”
My favorite, so I might be a little biased. I think Lady Osterneth is one of the best Liches to not only run, but is powerful in a diplomatic vein more than in power level.
Her first name was Jaela, which she changed with the power of the Silver Flame in Eberron. Then she was displaced during the Mournland incident in Khorvaire, leading to her current fate in the forgotten realms.
She has a CR of 18 as she was first printed in later editions of Dungeons and Dragons, making her a combattal threat to high-level characters alike. Her affiliation with organizations such as The Shadow Court, Office of Strategic Services, and others makes her a calamitous kill, as she can reign nightmares down on a part post-mortem, making her a great all-around threat of a lich.
She also studied Vecna's writings, and if you’ve played Dungeons and Dragons, you know what horrors Vecna’s teachings entail.
Lady Osterneth "Opal" details: https://ddneonoir.fandom.com/wiki/Lady_Osterneth_%22Opal%22
6. Alathene Moonstar
“Alathene Moonstar was the proprietress of the Blushing Mermaid inn, tavern, and festhall in Waterdeep circa the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR. She was also an archlich, the leader of the Maids of the Midnight Moon, and a former matriarch of House Moonstar.”
Alathene was the bane of a group I played with in 3.5e when she was used to her fullest extent in a campaign that visited Waterdeep.
She gets here on a technicality, as she is not directly a lich, but a pseudo-lich. A being of lich-like capability and has been referred to as such a lich in the past, but has not been outright turned undead by any means, being very alive in her first life. She has however, embraced undeath when needed.
She has a power level similar to those earlier in the list, being level 20 in 3.5e and 18 in 2e. She is a devout worshiper of Selûne, the goddess of the moon. While she has not done anything crazy in life, she is a member of The Lords of Waterdeep, a group that essentially ran the city for a time, so her influence is beguiling to many there.
Similar to Osterneth, she can be a fun diplomatic-type villain whose power scales with those that support her, which is a staggering number of people.
Alathene Moonstar details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Alathene_Moonstar
5. Dragotha
“Dragotha is a powerful undead dragon known as a dracolich. He was formerly a powerful red dragon, the mightiest consort of Tiamat. At some point Dragotha offended his mistress, and was forced to leave Avernus. Making his way to Oerth, Dragotha fell in with Kyuss, and eventually became a dracolich”
There is not much known about Dragotha, except two key facts, they are Dracolich and they have a name. They have a scary set of skills and a stat block to set it up.
Dragotha, sadly, is inactive, but that's because, lore-wise, they will kill millions before anyone can come close to stopping them. Just like Thaugilath as well, they could be stronger, but they are stuck under the rule of Kyuss, who is not even technically stronger than they.
On paper, it's terrifyingly strong. You might just need to make a story around them to justify their awakening.
Dragotha details: https://greyhawk.fandom.com/wiki/Dragotha
4. Szass Tam
“Szass Tam was a powerful lich[6] and a member of a group of eight Zulkirs who ruled the country of Thay. He was the Zulkir of Necromancy and commanded the Legion of Bone, a huge legion of undead soldiers, led by his vampire and lich generals. Szass Tam was the ruler of Thaymount.”
Szass Tam, best known for his association with the EWight Zulkirs, is one of the most powerful liches across the first, second, third, and fourth editions of Dungeons and Dragons.He is a perfect mix of something like Rhaugilath and Osternath, with power that rivals, if not trumps, Dragotha.
Szass Tam has a long history of evil deeds and necromancy, from working with a group of Red Wizards to being brought under the guise of undeath by Nyressa Flass after being killed by them. Szass Tam is not only a very in-depth figure with an enriched history.
He has been quoted as having the power to back up his ambitions and is known as one of the most cunning and intelligent beings in all of Faerun.
There is almost too much to go over with Szass, but he is a very formidable and malleable lich to put into campaigns and he has more than enough power to back it up.
Szass Tam details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Szass_Tam
3. Larloch
“Larloch, called the Shadow King, was a Netherese male human and a lich. He was the former Sorcerer-King of the enclave of Jiksidur in ancient Netheril and later the master of the Warlock's Crypt and Shadow King of its undead inhabitants. He was one of the oldest non-draconic beings in Faerûn and one of the most powerful mages”
Okay, how is Larloch only THREE? Says everyone who has fought him and read #8 on this exact list. Well, he is powerful. By all means, one of the strongest out there, might even be higher in technicality, but there is one major problem. We don’t know enough about him.
He was printed twice and only referred to in post-3e, and in his versions, he is scarily strong, but nothing more than the higher two on this list. The biggest issue you will run into is that his pawn is more prevalent and he is more of an overseer. He is as useful as Mastermind on the Rogue in 5e. While actually interesting as a villain, it's hard to nail down his exact level of power, and that becomes the biggest issue.
Now, otherwise, with what we do know, he has high stats, a challenge rating of 34 and is referred to as "The Shadow King". He is outright evil in all ways, but never seems to do anything that threatens the balance of reality, making him known among vets as merely a footnote to characters who have played a few campaigns that mention him.
He is still very powerful and a threat to the highest level of players, but in comparison to the next two, he is disregarded in the conversation.
Larloch details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Larloch
2. Acererak
“Acererak was a powerful lich or demilich who was known and feared by many in the multiverse. He visited Toril in the late 1480s DR to place an artifact of his creation called the Soulmonger in the Tomb of the Nine Gods, causing the onset of the death curse.”
The face of the Dungeon Master’s Guide for 5e Dungeons and Dragons, the creator of the Tomb of Horrors and the builder of the Tomb of Annihilation, Acererak is a terrifying prospect and a demi-lich feared by most and worshiped by many.
It’s very clear why Acererak is here, and for veteran Dungeons and Dragons players, it’s clear who is higher. Acererak is not a god, but he doesn’t need to be as he controls gods. Known to have an Aboleth for fun, a Demigorgen for the lols, and an entire dungeon just to mess with characters by ripping them from their mortal forms and changing their entire reality just because he can.
Acererak is the definition of a memeist, but he is also the scariest lich around. He has a power level that rivals gods outright and could ascend into godhood if he wanted. Despite his challenge rating being lower than Larloch's, he is more powerful in terms of army and scale.
Larloch can’t build an army, but Acererak already has. Acererak has also outright made enough of a name for himself across the multiverse, while Larloch is bound to his current plane. Acererak is the perfect version of a character like Alathene, but with triple the power of a dracolich and the scale of Osterneth’s support and armies that ravage the land when he’s feeling bored.
He is the commander. He makes other liches his soldiers.
Acerterak details: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Acererak
1. Vecna
“Evil is not an absence of good. […] It is not a choice. […] Evil is one of two forces in the cosmos, an agency locked in eternal struggle against its antithesis. […] Only good and evil exist. And not even a hair's width of space separates them.”
— Vecna
No, he is not just on here because of stranger things, despite Dungeons and Dragons' running a whole advertisement and promotional campaign around him. Vecna is a literal god. Hard period.
Acererak is the strongest lich, period, end of story, but he is not a god. Vecna is essentially a god of liches, bending the will of reality to his liking, not for fun, but for profit.Vecna operates like the leader of a cartel and has been referred to by more titles than I’ve ever seen in D&D.
What really puts him up here is that nothing more needs to be said, but I’ll give some more reasons why his title stands. Not only was he recently reprinted in the Vecna Dossier as a ‘fun fight’ for level 20 players, but he was mentioned in a lot of material for 5e, Frostwind Dale, Annihilation, and more. Cults have formed around him, and his own hand and eye have the powers that some liches take years to get.
This list goes on and on and on. Vecna has been reprinted continuously. He is iconic to many players of the game, and being that they made an entire module around him, it’s clear that he will be around for awhile and the sources will be there to run him with many D&D groups going forward.
The God of Liches.
Vecna details: https://www.dndbeyond.com/tag/vecna
