Demilich (Dungeons & Dragons)

The demilich is a type of lich found in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition
The demilich first appeared in first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the adventure Tomb of Horrors (1978), and later appeared in the adventure The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth (1982), and was reprinted in the first edition Monster Manual II (1983).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
The demilich appeared in second edition under the "lich" heading in Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and in the Monstrous Manual (1993). The drow demilich appeared in Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium Appendix III: Creatures of Darkness (1994).

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition
The demilich appeared in the third edition in the Epic Level Handbook (2002).

Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition
The demilich appeared in the fifth edition Monster Manual (2014), which also includes a variant for demiliches similar to Acererak.

Description
If a lich exists long enough it may reach a point where it feels it cannot learn any more in its present state and seeks other avenues to attain knowledge. The lich's interest turns away from the physical realm, and its soul voluntarily leaves its undead form and phylactery, using astral projection to travel across other planes of existence. The magics preserving the lich's body against the ravages of time weaken, usually causing the body to gradually deteriorate until only a skull or even a single skeletal hand remains; this advanced form of lich is known as a demilich. Despite its ruined body, a demilich is far from powerless; it is very resistant to most weapons and magic, and if disturbed, the skull will levitate and suck the souls from nearby living creatures.

Notable demiliches
The most notable demiliches are Acererak, found in the classic adventure Tomb of Horrors, and Kangaxx, one of the most powerful adversaries in the PC game Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn.

Reception
Don Turnbull of White Dwarf magazine said of the demilich in the Tomb of Horrors: "what is demi- about this creature of enormous powers, apart from the fact that only his skull remains, is arguable: the skull, in combination with the special arrangements which have been made to guard it, exhibits terrifying powers, and the 'rumour' which players will hear at the start, to the effect that this being possesses powers which make him well-nigh undefeatable, is well founded!"

Screen Rant compiled a list of the game's "10 Most Powerful (And 10 Weakest) Monsters, Ranked" in 2018, calling this one of the strongest, saying "You might think that a floating skull would be easy to smash to pieces, but you would be wrong, as demiliches are some of the most resilient creatures in the game."

Other publishers
The demilich appeared in Paizo Publishing's book Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 3 (2011), a supplement to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, on page 66–67.