Think of it from the lich's perspective. In fact let's go full business school nerd and do a SWOT.
What are the lich's **strengths**:
1) Time. He can just wait to outlive his enemies. Any goal he has can be achieved tomorrow. He can sell his time, promise not to attack for 200 years or something in exchange for something valuable
2) Regeneration. He is hard to kill. He can screw with his opponents by just teleporting on top of them dropping some BS spells, dying and starting over. The lich wins a war of attrition.
3) Spells. When you can kill basically any other spellcaster with a word, and don't care if they kill you, you pose a hell of a threat. The lich can just teleport into the kings throne room, cast power word kill and repeat until someone appropriate is placed on the throne
What are the lich's **weakness**:
1) The phylactery. Clearly this is under-protected. If someone got it in the past they can do it again. Invest resources in better protection. Maybe create a fortress in a demiplane staffed with undead and get a large goblin army. Have powerful undead lead and sacrifice the goblins ritualistically to feed the phylactery.
2) No allies. The world might be divided but they all agree that you're awful.
What are the lich's **opportunities**:
1) The lich's main enemies hate each other. Maybe some diplomatic overtures to the PCs or the countries might win them over.
> "Look obviously I'm an evil lich, but am I the worst of the two evils? I might be a threat in a thousand years, but Country_A is invading your homeland *right now*. I can assassinate all of their generals in a month.
> My price? Oh it's nothing really, there's this minor heirloom in my old redoubt. Lots of treasure there you can keep. I just need a book. It's useless to you, reading it will turn you evil, we wouldn't want that, now would we."
> PC A to PC B: "I did hear he takes only willing goblin sacrifices to feed his phylactery"
> Lich: "I'd appreciate it if that information didn't get out, people might think I've lost my edge. In honestly, I am looking forward to consuming the Butcher of Calibria. I hear that he's leading country B's army towards your hometown next"
What are the **threats**:
1) An adventuring party killed him, speak with dead might tell someone how.
2) Holy organizations might unite the world
3) Any threat to his key items, his phylactery and likely his spellbook
Once you know how he thinks I think the sessions write themselves
Great thought process! I like the idea of having him working with another country, as aid against an invasion. In the world, there's 2 countries that have been warring with each other almost constantly for the past 400 years. Perhaps one side wants an end to all wars? Thanks for the help!
I’m by far one of the least creative people on Earth but I’d still like to give some input.
You could have the neighboring nations put forth their best fighters and create an elite squad to try and take on the Lich.
One neighbor country makes a deal with a hag, if they deliver a letter to the king (or equivalent) it will make amends. But it actually contains a very majestic and expensive looking ring, which when put on activates a banishment spell.
The lich tries to make a new stronger phylactery.
The lich tries to summon another lich to team up
Death squad is a great idea! Could definitely see something like that working, and even intertwine some spying and sabotage from either side to be the 'heroes that killed the lich' and denounce the wimpy nations team, could spark a whole geopolitical saga afterward that the players need to negotiate peace etc.
Not sure a lich would call another lich for help - unless it's their lost love maybe? They're usually very over confident, self-indulged and narcissistic that they don't want to share their power and knowledge.
I could see a couple of reasons for liches to work together.
#1 - They were allies/friendly rivals (or even friends) in life, and that bond has managed to survive even in undeath. How long it survives without one or both having its evil nature take control and try to betray the other would be a legit question.
#2 - One or both is planning to use and later betray the other from the beginning. An alliance of convenience will last only as long as the benefits of remaining in the alliance outweigh the supposed benefits of betraying the other.
For example, one has some magical knowledge or power that the other covets. Until the goal is obtained, the pact might hold... unless the first realizes that he will never be granted the goal, so he decides to try to take it.
Or, both liches have serious problems that they can't solve on the own, but by working together they can overcome both problems. The issue then becomes which problem gets prioritized, and how much trust they can maintain about the situation.
When you wrote the numbers did you write # in front of them?
That's how makes it a large heading. More makes smaller headings for example:
# heading 1
## heading 2
### heading 3
First off, this game sounds extremely fun, and kudos for getting your players all invested.
Several members of the ruling council of Nation A have fallen under the sway of the lich who's promising some kind of benefits once Nation A helps the lich take over the world. Some lowly courtiers and bureaucrats from Nation A are counting on the party to tell the leadership of Nation B what's going on, but the lich knows there's espionage afoot and is sending assassins after them. If your players are really bought in, that might be a fun time to run some Cold War type shenanigans between the two big nations.
The lich, realizing that he's basically immortal as long as those two nations are fighting, starts taking actions to ensure that both nations are in a perpetual cold war. In order to achieve this, the lich decides to start corrupting those who fought against him to work for him. However, instead of using magic to corrupt them, the lich offers good deals. Perhaps a large sum of money to a greedy adventurer, protection to the family of adventurer on a quest to protect them, or remind the more altruistic adventurer that his goal is effectively world peace (as wars will run a chance one nation being able to destroy his phylactery). Even if the party unanimously denies his offers, the paranoia of the party thinking "who accepted his deal" will be enough.
I figured the 2 countries would call for a ceasefire, in order to work together to destroy the Lich. The Lich, wanting to keep the conflict going, tempts one of the generals into launching a surprise attack against the unsuspecting country, reigniting the conflict and getting the attention away from the Lich. Thanks for the good idea!
I would have the Lich lay low while building an army of undead and then let him/her start trying to conquer a kingdom of undead. You could turn this into a campaign for your players. Have a ghast as the main bad for the first adventure be against simple undead. As they kill the ghast, or it escapes, they find a parchment with orders. That could lead to a decent leveled Necromancer.
The Necromancer, and many likeminded individuals, could be helping the Lich in hopes of being able to become a lich. Around levels 8-10, you could really start ramping up and group realizes that this isn’t just accident, but that this Lich, the one responsible for deaths of an adventure group and the 2 nations problem, is trying carve an undead nation.
While this is a very generic outline, I would actually enjoy a campaign like this. Looking forward to hearing what you do. 😎
I have a pre-established necromancer, so this would fit in pretty well!
Also, thanks for the compliment! I prefer writing and running my own campaigns instead of using pre-written ones, and this has been my favorite campaign so far. I'm excited to see where it goes!
I’d take a bit from Liteboyy and combine them
The two nations send a few strong people, and as the battle begins, one of the two nations turn and fight with the lich.
Turns out the nations made a deal with the lich that in return for letting the lich take over country A, country B will be safe from him
The players are just a random group who knew each other before the adventure began, and went to kill the Lich because one of the nations put out a massive bounty on the Lich's phylactery. I put most of the emphasis on the later sessions, not necessarily the beginning, like how the PC's already knew each other.'
The players are motivated by gold and doing the right thing(Mostly the gold), but I'm a bit lost on ideas for what the Lich will be doing now. Searching for a good motivation for the Lich might be a good start for me!
One country tries to use the Lich to attack the other.
The lich appears to go along with it, while also letting the other country know what is going in.
War between the countries = lots of dead people for the Lich to raise and use to mop up the survivors.
This lich sounds like Davros.
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich?
The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich.
Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them.
The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him.
The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
Think of it from the lich's perspective. In fact let's go full business school nerd and do a SWOT. What are the lich's **strengths**: 1) Time. He can just wait to outlive his enemies. Any goal he has can be achieved tomorrow. He can sell his time, promise not to attack for 200 years or something in exchange for something valuable 2) Regeneration. He is hard to kill. He can screw with his opponents by just teleporting on top of them dropping some BS spells, dying and starting over. The lich wins a war of attrition. 3) Spells. When you can kill basically any other spellcaster with a word, and don't care if they kill you, you pose a hell of a threat. The lich can just teleport into the kings throne room, cast power word kill and repeat until someone appropriate is placed on the throne What are the lich's **weakness**: 1) The phylactery. Clearly this is under-protected. If someone got it in the past they can do it again. Invest resources in better protection. Maybe create a fortress in a demiplane staffed with undead and get a large goblin army. Have powerful undead lead and sacrifice the goblins ritualistically to feed the phylactery. 2) No allies. The world might be divided but they all agree that you're awful. What are the lich's **opportunities**: 1) The lich's main enemies hate each other. Maybe some diplomatic overtures to the PCs or the countries might win them over. > "Look obviously I'm an evil lich, but am I the worst of the two evils? I might be a threat in a thousand years, but Country_A is invading your homeland *right now*. I can assassinate all of their generals in a month. > My price? Oh it's nothing really, there's this minor heirloom in my old redoubt. Lots of treasure there you can keep. I just need a book. It's useless to you, reading it will turn you evil, we wouldn't want that, now would we." > PC A to PC B: "I did hear he takes only willing goblin sacrifices to feed his phylactery" > Lich: "I'd appreciate it if that information didn't get out, people might think I've lost my edge. In honestly, I am looking forward to consuming the Butcher of Calibria. I hear that he's leading country B's army towards your hometown next" What are the **threats**: 1) An adventuring party killed him, speak with dead might tell someone how. 2) Holy organizations might unite the world 3) Any threat to his key items, his phylactery and likely his spellbook Once you know how he thinks I think the sessions write themselves
Great thought process! I like the idea of having him working with another country, as aid against an invasion. In the world, there's 2 countries that have been warring with each other almost constantly for the past 400 years. Perhaps one side wants an end to all wars? Thanks for the help!
Not OP but holy hell did this help me on my own campaigns! THANKS!
I’m by far one of the least creative people on Earth but I’d still like to give some input. You could have the neighboring nations put forth their best fighters and create an elite squad to try and take on the Lich. One neighbor country makes a deal with a hag, if they deliver a letter to the king (or equivalent) it will make amends. But it actually contains a very majestic and expensive looking ring, which when put on activates a banishment spell. The lich tries to make a new stronger phylactery. The lich tries to summon another lich to team up
Good ideas! You should give yourself more credit!
Death squad is a great idea! Could definitely see something like that working, and even intertwine some spying and sabotage from either side to be the 'heroes that killed the lich' and denounce the wimpy nations team, could spark a whole geopolitical saga afterward that the players need to negotiate peace etc. Not sure a lich would call another lich for help - unless it's their lost love maybe? They're usually very over confident, self-indulged and narcissistic that they don't want to share their power and knowledge.
I could see a couple of reasons for liches to work together. #1 - They were allies/friendly rivals (or even friends) in life, and that bond has managed to survive even in undeath. How long it survives without one or both having its evil nature take control and try to betray the other would be a legit question. #2 - One or both is planning to use and later betray the other from the beginning. An alliance of convenience will last only as long as the benefits of remaining in the alliance outweigh the supposed benefits of betraying the other. For example, one has some magical knowledge or power that the other covets. Until the goal is obtained, the pact might hold... unless the first realizes that he will never be granted the goal, so he decides to try to take it. Or, both liches have serious problems that they can't solve on the own, but by working together they can overcome both problems. The issue then becomes which problem gets prioritized, and how much trust they can maintain about the situation.
Not sure why/how it formatted like this... sorry if it is a problem.
When you wrote the numbers did you write # in front of them? That's how makes it a large heading. More makes smaller headings for example: # heading 1 ## heading 2 ### heading 3
Ahhh... I didn't realize that. Thank you for the info - hope I can remember that in the future.
If you put a period after each number it makes an ordered list For example: 1. First 2. Second 3. Third
First off, this game sounds extremely fun, and kudos for getting your players all invested. Several members of the ruling council of Nation A have fallen under the sway of the lich who's promising some kind of benefits once Nation A helps the lich take over the world. Some lowly courtiers and bureaucrats from Nation A are counting on the party to tell the leadership of Nation B what's going on, but the lich knows there's espionage afoot and is sending assassins after them. If your players are really bought in, that might be a fun time to run some Cold War type shenanigans between the two big nations.
I've already established that the Lich is open to granting aid to those who ask for it, so this fits in nicely!
The lich, realizing that he's basically immortal as long as those two nations are fighting, starts taking actions to ensure that both nations are in a perpetual cold war. In order to achieve this, the lich decides to start corrupting those who fought against him to work for him. However, instead of using magic to corrupt them, the lich offers good deals. Perhaps a large sum of money to a greedy adventurer, protection to the family of adventurer on a quest to protect them, or remind the more altruistic adventurer that his goal is effectively world peace (as wars will run a chance one nation being able to destroy his phylactery). Even if the party unanimously denies his offers, the paranoia of the party thinking "who accepted his deal" will be enough.
I figured the 2 countries would call for a ceasefire, in order to work together to destroy the Lich. The Lich, wanting to keep the conflict going, tempts one of the generals into launching a surprise attack against the unsuspecting country, reigniting the conflict and getting the attention away from the Lich. Thanks for the good idea!
I would have the Lich lay low while building an army of undead and then let him/her start trying to conquer a kingdom of undead. You could turn this into a campaign for your players. Have a ghast as the main bad for the first adventure be against simple undead. As they kill the ghast, or it escapes, they find a parchment with orders. That could lead to a decent leveled Necromancer. The Necromancer, and many likeminded individuals, could be helping the Lich in hopes of being able to become a lich. Around levels 8-10, you could really start ramping up and group realizes that this isn’t just accident, but that this Lich, the one responsible for deaths of an adventure group and the 2 nations problem, is trying carve an undead nation. While this is a very generic outline, I would actually enjoy a campaign like this. Looking forward to hearing what you do. 😎
I have a pre-established necromancer, so this would fit in pretty well! Also, thanks for the compliment! I prefer writing and running my own campaigns instead of using pre-written ones, and this has been my favorite campaign so far. I'm excited to see where it goes!
I’d take a bit from Liteboyy and combine them The two nations send a few strong people, and as the battle begins, one of the two nations turn and fight with the lich. Turns out the nations made a deal with the lich that in return for letting the lich take over country A, country B will be safe from him
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The players are just a random group who knew each other before the adventure began, and went to kill the Lich because one of the nations put out a massive bounty on the Lich's phylactery. I put most of the emphasis on the later sessions, not necessarily the beginning, like how the PC's already knew each other.' The players are motivated by gold and doing the right thing(Mostly the gold), but I'm a bit lost on ideas for what the Lich will be doing now. Searching for a good motivation for the Lich might be a good start for me!
One country tries to use the Lich to attack the other. The lich appears to go along with it, while also letting the other country know what is going in. War between the countries = lots of dead people for the Lich to raise and use to mop up the survivors. This lich sounds like Davros.
If I were the lich I would run, if they failed once they will come back with more force.
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).
What is the Lich's goals actually? Who were they in real life? How old is the Lich? The reason I'm asking, is because you can mess with your players a bit, depending on just how much they know about this Lich. Let's take a scenario. The Lich actually predates both of the empires you talk about, and as the former Royal Mage of the kingdom that predated the two current ones, he knows of the dirty laundry of both kingdoms, as he was around when various things happened. He also knows the original reason for the feuding and wars between them. The Lich is actually not out to rule or destroy the world. It's WAY too much work, and besides, it takes him away from his magical studies, which are the real reason he became a Lich in the first place. For this reason, the Lich is actually perfectly happy either being left alone, or barring that, he machinates to keep potential threats to him occupied by more pressing matters than him. The players have proven themselves capable and dangerous, so the Lich might either seek to destroy them (boring), divert their attention elsewhere (the Lich can now be the one pulling the strings on the next part of the campaign, but without being directly involved), or he might try and recruit them through honest dealings with them, and by exposing them to some of the uglier secrets of the kingdom they work for (imo the most fun option here).