That Lich Is A Luch
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any |
| Frequency | Very rare |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Night |
| Diet | Nil |
| Intelligence | Supra-Genius (19-20) |
| Treasure | A |
| Alignment | Any |
| No. Appearing | 1 |
| Armor Class | 0 |
| Movement | 6 |
| Hit Dice | 11+ |
| THAC0 | 10 |
| No. of Attacks | 1 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-10 |
| Special Attacks | See below |
| Special Defenses | +1 or better magical weapon to hit |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | M (6' tall) |
| Morale | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | 7000 |
Description
That Lich Is a Luch
Luch
The luch is a special variant of lich (MC1). A luch is created when a wizard of at least 18th level dies from acute alcohol intoxication or alcohol poisoning. At this point, the dead wizard must pass a system shock check and then a save vs. death at -4. If both rolls are successful, the wizard enters a bizarre state of alcoholic undeath.
The luch is always in a state of at least mild intoxication, and always seeks out more alcohol to ease it's insatiable thirst. It takes three times as much alcohol to move a luch to the next state of drunkenness as when the wizard was alive. A luch will only stop seeking alcohol in a 24 hour period after drinking at least two quarts liquor, 10 to 14 quarts of wine, or 16 to 20 quarts of beer, ale, or mead. After 24 hours, the luch returns to a state of mild intoxication and renews it's quest for alcohol. Unfortunately for tavern owners, the luch retains all of it's spellcasting abilities and won't hesitate to use them to get at any source of alcohol.
Combat
Unlike the lich's aura of fear, the luch radiates an aura of drunkenness which increases the level of intoxication of any being that has ever consumed any alcoholic beverage by one level (note: lifetime teetotalers are immune). It's touch will cause extreme intoxication in any being which fails a save vs. spells (duration is 4-16 days). An unfortunate side effect of these abilities is that any being effected by either ability will suffer the worst possible hangover upon sobering up.
Should the luch elect to touch a living creature, its touch cause 1-10 points of cold damage.
Luches can themselves be hit only by weapons of at least +1, by magical spells, or by monsters with 6 or more Hit Dice and/or magical properties. The magical nature of the luch and its undead state make it utterly immune to charm, sleep, enfeeblement, polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, or death spells. Priests of at least 8th level can attempt to turn a lich, as can paladins of no less than 10th level.
Habitat/Society
Luches are solitary creatures. They want little to do with the world of the living except when the drive of alcohol is great, which is almost all the time.
A luch will make its home in some fortified area, often in crypts or sewers of where populous area where alcohol is readily found.
A luch's supra-genius intelligence allows it to create masterful plans to get alcohol. For example, one luch actually took control of a city's entire alcohol trade running it from deep in the earth where he was surrounded with an ample supply of beer, mead, and ale vats. Thus, a luch is more than a crazed creature who bangs down tavern doors to get booze.
Ecology
The luch is not a thing of this world. Although once a living creature, it has entered into an unnatural existence.
Also in this section of the source
A Dragon With More Than a Drinking Problem
Wine, that mounts us to the skies.
--- Francois Rabelais
Good wine is a good familiar creature, if it be well used.
--- William Shakespeare from Othello