Azalin's spellbook (and spell tactics)

[Irving the Meek]

Now that Azalin's a lich, Enervation does the "drain life force" trick very readily.

I've got this bad habit of continually rewriting Azalin's stats to make him The Ultimate Necromancer; as he's currently written he's much more of a generalist. Right now I've got him tricked out with a few levels of Archmage, and some of the High Magic tricks suit him very nicely. Being able to cast all those touch-based Necormancy spells at range is very nice, and Enevation as a spell-like ability is a good thing when you and all your pals are undead.

There's no point to it, really - my players are investigators, not fighters, and two of my players are Kargatane (and have no idea what they've gotten themselves into), so they're very unlikely to try and throw the smack down on Azalin. But it amuses me, in an obsessive sort of way. Maybe I'll have him whip out a can of whoop-a$@ on the Falkovnia border one of these days... nah. Too much fireworks for my sort of game. I'll just content myself with writing the guy up and chuckling...

[The Giamarga]

Why not post your version? Either here or on the WOTC boards. Here's the relevant WotC thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=270394

[Irving the Meek]

Since you asked...

Here's a variant of Azalin as a Necromancer and Archmage for your consideration. I've used Champions of Darkness and Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead as source materials; please feel free to make corrections. (Calculating skills on an 18th level character will inevitably cause hives...) He's a touch more subtle in this incarnation, but much more scary in my opinion. Perhaps the best thing about this variation is that his magics are focussed on the creation of potent servitor undead instead of tossing fireballs; Azalin's better as a mastermind than an artillery piece.

Azalin the Black

Ravenloft Lich, Nec13/Arm5: Medium-sized Undead (5' 8") HD 18d12; hp 117; Init +0; Spd 30; AC 20 (+5 natural armor, +5 robe); Atk +9/+4 touch (1d8+5 negative energy plus paralysis); SA damaging touch, fear aura (DC 18 ), paralyzing touch, spells, spell-like abilities; SQ +4 turn resistance, damage reduction, lich immunities, lichsight, alternate form, animating touch, undead mastery, proxy travel, arcane reach, spell power, spell-like abilities, imp familiar; AL LE; SV Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +11; Str 10, Dex 10, Con -, Int 26, Wis 14, Cha 16.

Skills and Feats: Bluff +6, Concentration +20, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +6, Hide +8, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (history) +10, Knowledge (noblilty) +10, Knowledge (the planes) +10, Knowledge (Ravenloft) +10, Listen +10, Move Silently +8, Scry +20, Search +16, Spellcraft +22, Spot +10; Bind Lesser Undead, Bind Greater Undead, Bind Salience, Craft Wondrous Item, Greater Spell Focus (necromancy), Improved Counterspell, Life Force Sacrifice, Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spell Focus (necromancy), Spell Focus (enchantment)

Languages: Darkonese*, Balok, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Infernal, Mordentish, Vaasi.

Wizard Spells per day:4/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/4+1/3+1/3+1/1+1. Base DC 19+spell level, DC 21+spell level for enchantment spells, 23+spell level for necromancy. Azalin may not cast Evocation or Conjuration spells.

Signature Posessions: Black Robe of the Archmagi, Crown of Intellect +2, Rod of Greater Spell Empowerment.

Spell Like Abilities: 2/day: Enervation, detect thoughts.

[HuManBing]

I finally overcame the conceptual problems with an undead arcane spellcaster - chief of which was the fact that healing would be a problem.

According to the Libris Mortis, they have an arbitrary rate of healing damage, something like a hit point every 8 hours or so.

However, negative energy magic also provides permanent hp restoration. So Azalin could easily cast various spells on himself to heal his mortal shell - in fact, he could even take a full action attack to use his negative energy touch attack on himself and heal 1d8+5 hp per round. This would also go for his corporeal undead servitors.

You are correct that a lot of these powers are superceded by his current profile as Darkon Darklord, but KotD states he could cast these spells BEFORE he became a darklord and quite possibly before he became a lich. I just wanted to make these into possible spells bearing "Azal'Lan's" before their names. (Why should Greyhawk and Forgotten Realms wizards get all the damn credit, eh? eh?)

The reverse scrying and other suggestions for the "Trace Dweomer" concept is interesting and I'll look into those. Likewise, I agree that the Time Travel spell is probably best left to Wishes to fulfill.

As for alternative stats for Azalin, I've always thought his 2nd ed. version was underpowered for a mighty lich, and wanted to change it for the stronger. In my campaign, after the Grand Conjunction occurred, he returned to Greyhawk in the lands surrounding Knurl, his original birthplace, arriving at a point in time roughly 200 years before the present. Although the kingdom had fallen into disrepair and decay, he felt no duty to rescue it, preferring instead to work from a hidden lair collecting spells to learn, now that he was free from his curse.

By the time the PCs are back in his trail, two centuries of research has passed and Azalin is quite a bit more powerful than he used to be. He now has two extra levels, which he has devoted to Archmage, and is thus a Lvl 20 foe, poised on the verge of being an Epic level character. The PCs have to find him and fight through his defenses. They can't kill him, but they can goad him into action - especially as they remind him of an old score to settle, with the darklord of distant Barovia...

(This campaign setting also meant that I applied the Ravenloft rules across the multiverse for quite a long time, ranging from two centuries on Oerth to just a few weeks on other areas. The other worlds felt the effects of having darklords run rampant.)

One other interesting thing about Azalin returning to Oerth is that he appears on the same plane as his old phylactery, the human infant skull. This phylactery did not make it into Ravenloft with him, and I took the step of making it reactivate after he escapes from Ravenloft, meaning that he has two phylacteries working in tandem. Of course, it's been such a long time since he left, the location of his first phylactery is pretty much forgotten to everybody, perhaps even including himself.

[Glim]

If I recall correctly, the infant skull _did_ make it into Ravenloft, and once there grew and grew and is now one bigass skull phylactery.

I could be wrong though.

[HuManBing]

Azalin, Post-Conjunction Archlich, former Darklord of Darkon
Male human lich Wiz18, ArchMage2: CR 25; Size M undead (5’11” tall); HD 20d12; hp 145; Init +0; Spd 30’; AC 20 (touch 10, flatfooted 20); Atk +13/+7 melee touch (1d8+5 [Will save for half DC 33] and paralysis, negative energy) or +10/+5 ranged touch (by spell); SA damaging touch, fear aura, spells [DC 17 + spell level, +1 if necromancy], paralyzing touch, modify memory, undead dominion; SQ undead, +6 turn resistance, damage reduction (15/bludgeoning, magic), immunities (cold, electricity, mind-affecting, polymorph), lich sight, alternate form, imp familiar (“Squalimous”), SR 17; AL LE; SV Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +19; Str 17, Dex 10; Con –; Int 25; Wis 14; Cha 16.
Skills and Feats: Alchemy +19, Bluff +8, Concentration +26, Diplomacy +16, Disguise +6, Hide +8, Innuendo +5, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +20, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (local) +16, Knowledge (the planes) +9, Knowledge (Ravenloft) +25, Knowledge (undead lore) +8, Listen +10, Move Silently +8, Scry +16, Search +15, Sense motive +15, Spellcraft +30, Spot +10; Brew Potion, Craft Magic Arms & Armor; Craft Wand, Craft Wondrous Item, Empower Spell, Enervate Spell, Forge Ring, Heighten Spell, Improved Familiar, Iron Will, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (Necromancy), Spell Master (dimension door, scrying sending, steal vitality, telekinesis).
High Arcana: Mastery of Counterspelling (counterspells as spell turning). Mastery of Shaping (area-effect spells minimum of 5’, creates ‘safe’ areas 5’ cube).
Languages: Darkonese, Balok, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Flan (Greyhawk), Infernal, Mordentish, Vaasi.
Wizard Spells per Day: 4/6**/6**/6**/5/5/4/4/4/4. Base DC = 17 + spell level, +1 if necromancy. Azalin can use his Rings of Wizardry to double his daily allotment of spells for Levels One through Three. He can only wear two of the three rings, however, and will plan accordingly.
Spellbook: See attached sheet for a complete list of Azalin’s spells.
Signature Possessions: Ring of Wizardry I, II, III; Wand of Ice Storm (level 18); Wand of Emotion (level 18); Crystal Ball with Telepathy; Black Robe of the Archmagi; Stone of Controlling Grave Elementals. Scrolls of practically any spell needed are available, provided he has time to prepare. He also has an extensive collection of magical items, including cursed items, which he allows his foes to ‘acquire’.
Undead Control: Azalin can Animate Dead of 8 HD or lower in a 2-mile radius by thought. These monsters respond to his orders as if he had cast Control Undead. All such undead have +6 turn resistance, and he can see, hear, and act through any of them as needed. These undead also have burning red eyes, like their master, and can use this as a gaze attack to force a Fear check at the start of combat.
Tactics: In combat, Azalin prefers area-affect spells that he can shape around himself and his allies, such as Horrid Wilting, Circle of Death, Acid Fog, and Meteor Swarm. Certain low level spells such as Fireball, Ice Storm, and Cloudkill can be Empowered and/or Enervated. Whenever enemies fall in battle, Azalin automatically animates them as undead creatures. Against strong enemies, Azalin will use single-target spells such as Power Word – Kill, Finger of Death, or Polar Ray. Azalin also likes to prepare an Empowered, Enervated Death Throes spell, which causes devastating damage to living creatures who kill his physical body: 20d8 hp, increased by 50% twice.

[HuManBing]

Level: Canon PHB/GazII -- non-canon PHB/GazII -- non-canon Spell Compendium.

Level 0: Resistance, Acid Splash, Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Daze, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Ghost Sound, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Open/Close, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation -- Amanuensis, Caltrops, Launch Bolt, Launch Item, Silent Portal, Stick.
Level 1: Alarm, Animate Rope, Change Self, Charm Person, Comp. Languages, Enlarge, Floating Disc, Hold Portal, Identify, Magic Missile, Message, Obscuring Mist, Ray Enfeeblement, Silent Image, Unseen Servant -- Shield, Mage Armor, Mount, True Strike, Detect Secret Doors, Sleep, Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp, Color Spray, Magic Aura, Chill Touch, Erase, Feather Fall, Magic Weapon -- Backbiter, Benign Transposition, Blood Wind, Dispel Ward, Mage Hand Grtr, Remove Scent, Summon Undead.
Level 2: Alter Self, Arcane Lock, Darkness, Daylight, Flaming Sphere, Invisibility, Knock, Locate Object, Magic Mouth, Minor Image, Mirror Image, See Invisibility, Shatter, Spectral Hand, Hideous Laughter, Web -- Obscure Object, Fog Cloud, Detect Thoughts, Touch of Idiocy, Continual Flame, Blur, Leomund's Trap, Blindness/Deafness, False Life, Ghoul Touch, Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Eagle's Splendor, Fox's Cunning, Levitate, Owl's Wisdom, Spider Climb, Misdirection -- Bonefiddle, Curse ... Blades, Dark Way, Disguise Undead, Earthbind, Earthen Grasp, Ethereal Chamber, Hurl, Infernal Ward, Phantom Foe, Portal Alarm, Quick Poison, Ray of Sickness, Ray of Weakness, Shadow Mask, Shadow Spray, Stolen Breath, Stone Bones, Summon Undead 2.
Level 3: Clairaudience/voyance, Death Sight, Dispel Magic, Fireball, Fly, Gaseous Form, Haste, Hold Person, Lightning Bolt, Magic Circle vs Good, Nondetection, Suggestion, Summon Monster 3, Wind Wall -- Explosive Runes, Protection from Energy, Phantom Steed, Snake Sigil, Stinking Cloud, Arcane Sight, Tongues, Illusory Script, Invisibility Sphere, Major Image, Gentle Repose, Vampiric Touch, Blink, Flame Arrow, Magic Weapon Grtr, Secret Page, Shrink Item, Slow -- Analyze Portal, Anticipate Teleportation, Chain Missile, Corpse Candle, Curse ... Blades Mass, Diamondsteel, Enhance Familiar, False Gravity, Fortify Familiar, Healing Touch, Incorporeal Enhancement, Mage Armor Grtr, Reverse Arrow, Servant Horde, Shadow Binding, Shadow Cache, Shadow Phase, Skull Watch, Spell Vulnerability, Stony Grasp, Summon Undead 3, Suppress Breath Weapon, Suspended Silence, Telepathic Bond Lesser, Undead Lieutenant, Undead Torch.
Level 4: Arcane Eye, Bestow Curse, Charm Monster, Confusion, Contagion, Corpse Whisper, Dimension Door, Emotion, Black Tentacles, Eyes of Undead, Fire Trap, Ice Storm, Minor Globe Invul., Phantasmal Killer, Polymorph Other, Scrying, Shadow Conjuration, Stoneskin, Wall of Ice -- Bone Seizure, Minor Creation, Solid Fog, Detect Scrying, Locate Creature, Geas Lesser, Fire Shield, Resilient Sphere, Illusory Wall, Invisibility Grtr, Animate Dead, Enervation, Fear, Mnemonic Enhancer, Stone Shape -- Backlash, Burning Blood, Dispelling Screen, Force Missiles, Iron Bones, Know Vulnerabilities, Portal Alarm Improved, Ray of Deflection, Repair Critical Damage, Resistance Grtr, Scramble Portal, Sensory Deprivation, Spell Enhancer, Summon Undead 4, Sword of Deception, Wingbind, Wither Limb.
Level 5: Animal Growth, Animate Dead, Dominate Person, Feeblemind, Hold Monster, Magic Jar, Mind Fog, Passwall, Permanency, Sending, Shadow Evocation, Summon Monster 5, Telekinesis, Wall of Stone -- Break Enchantment, Dismissal, Private Sanctum, Cloudkill, Major Creation, Planar Binding Lssr, Teleport, Cone of Cold, Wall of Force, False Vision, Persistent Image, Blight, Symbol of Pain, Baleful Polymorph, Fabricate -- Ball Lightning, Blink Grtr, Cont. Energy Resist, Cyclonic Blast, Death Throes, Dimension Door Grtr, Duelward, Greymantle, Illusory Feast, Prismatic Ray, Reciprocal Gyre, Shadow Form, Shadow Hand, Spell Matrix Lesser, Summon Undead 5, Symbol of Spell Loss, Wall of Dispel Magic, Wall of Limbs, Zone of Respite.
Level 6: Acid Fog, Analyze Dweomer, Forceful Hand, Contingency, Disintegrate, Eyebite, Flesh to Stone, Geas/Quest, Guards and Wards, Legend Lore, Permanent Image, Planar Binding, Project Image, Reanimate, Steal Vitality, Stone to Flesh, Tree Seeing -- Dispel Magic Grtr, Globe of Invuln, Repulsion, Wall of Iron, True Seeing, Suggestion Mass, Chain Lightning, Freezing Sphere, Mislead, Programmed Image, Veil, Circle of Death, Create Undead, Symbol of Fear, Lucubration, Move Earth -- Ant. Teleport Grtr, Dreamcasting, Fleshiver, Ghoul Gauntlet, Hardening, Probe Thoughts, Ray of Entropy, Resistance Supr, Revive Undead, Ruby Ray Revrsl, Seal Portal, Shadowy Grappler, Sign of Sealing Grtr, Spectral Touch, Stone Body, Transcribe Symbol.
Level 7: Instant Summons, Finger of Death, Forcecage, Limited Wish, Power Word Stun, Spell Turning, Summon Monster 7, Teleport w/o Error, Vision -- Sequester, Phase Door, Plane Shift, Teleport Grtr, Teleport Object, Arcane Sight Grtr, Scrying Grtr, Hold Person Mass, Insanity, Delayed Blast Fireball, Prismatic Spray, Invisibility Mass, Project Image, Simulacrum, Control Undead, Control Weather, Reverse Gravity -- Antimagic Ray, Arrow of Bone, Avasculate, Awaken Undead, Dispelling Screen Grtr, Emerald Flame Fist, Energy Ebb, Energy Immunity, Energy Trans Field, Glass Strike, Planar Bubble, Prismatic Eye, Spell Matrix, Sword of Darkness, Synostodwoemer.
Level 8: Binding, Demand, Incendiary Cloud, Telekinetic Sphere, Maze, Prismatic Wall, Symbol, Trap the Soul -- Protection Spells, Discern Location, Power Word Stun, Polar Ray, Sunburst, Screen, Clone, Horrid Wilting, Create Grtr Undead, Temporal Stasis -- Avascular Mass, Excavate, Flensing, Invisibility Supr, Lightning Ring, Skeletal Guard, Spell Engine, Wall Grtr Dispel, Wrathful Castigation.
Level 9: Crushing Hand, Energy Drain, Foresight, Gate, Disjunction, Wish -- Create Quasimancer, Power Word Kill, Meteor Swarm, Soul Bind, Wail of Banshee, Time Stop -- Absorption, Awaken Construct, Black Blade Disaster, Effulgent Epuration, Eye of Power, Hindsight, Instant Refuge, Magic Miasma, Plague of Undead, Programmed Amnesia, Reality Maelstrom, Reaving Dispel, Replicate Casting, Spell Matrix Grtr, Sphere Ult Dest, Unbinding, Vile Death.

[HuManBing]

Azalin’s Phylactery – Golden Dragon Skull
This minor artifact is a gold-plated dragon skull, with rubies set into the eye sockets and a permanent green flame burning in the jaw opening. It measures about 4 feet 6 inches long, and weighs about 1,000 pounds (size category M).
The skull can be reduced in size if a Dispel Magic is cast on it. This shrinks the skull to about the size of a small child’s skull, over the course of 20 seconds or so. Its reduced weight is still suprisingly heavy – about 10 pounds.
Before Azalin escaped Ravenloft, he infused his phylactery with positive energy, making his phylactery dangerous for undead creatures to touch physically. This served him both as a ruse and as a defence against his most likely enemies (which were also mostly undead).
If touched, the skull can discharge positive energy equivalent to a Cure Wounds spell. The strength can be Minor, Light, Moderate, Serious, or Critical. It automatically selects the most suitable spell based on the health and nature of the creature handling it. In extreme cases, it can even cast a Heal spell. All spell effects are touch only, so the phylactery can be moved through telekinesis or by the use of constructs such as golems, without triggering these effects. Because this positive energy is primarily powered by Azalin’s life force, its spell-like abilities function as though cast by a cleric of the same level as Azalin (18 in Ravenloft, 20 outside of it).
For living creatures, it gauges the relative health of the creature and releases a spell that would most likely bring its hit points to full, or just above full. If a living creature touches it at full hit points, the phylactery discharges a Cure Minor Wounds spell. The creature gains 1 hit point above its maximum, and immediately loses it again, which typically alerts intelligent creatures to the curative nature of the phylactery.
If undead creatures touch the skull, it unleashes the same spells, but according to a reverse criterion. The healthier the undead, the more powerful the healing spell. Of course, undead suffer damage from healing spells, so this frequently annihilates outright any corporeal undead that touch the phylactery. Note that vampires and other undead with shapechanging abilities may end up taking damage and then assuming mist form to escape.
The phylactery recharges itself at a rate of one dice of positive energy per turn. So if it cast a Heal spell, either to heal a living creature or grievously injure an undead creature, it would take 15 turns to be at full capacity again. However, once Azalin is inside the phylactery, he has control over whether the phylactery discharges the stored energy at all. Even more insidiously, he can choose to discharge Cause Wounds spells or Harm, using negative planar energy to do so. Frequently, he will do this to create a new corpse for him to inhabit.
Azalin himself has used this power on several occasions, such as at the end of the adventure Roots of Evil – he allowed himself to be knocked against the phylactery. Although this slew his physical form, his spirit essence immediately entered the phylactery as planned. The positive energy of his phylactery also safeguarded it against his nemesis, Strahd von Zarovich, who otherwise would have taken possession of it to destroy him.
Additionally, the skull serves as a tracking device, with the eyes glittering slightly whenever the skull points towards Azalin’s current host body. The glittering effect is more noticeable when the skull is full-sized, but at that size, it is almost immovable. At its shrunken size, the skull is easily turned from side to side, but the glittering effect is correspondingly harder to see. Most observers would need to make a Wis check of DC 20 just to notice the phenomenon. Determining its meaning is another task entirely.
Finally, when Azalin’s spirit essence is within the skull, he can immediately take possession of any corpse or corporeal undead within 60’, taking a full-round action to do so. (The corpse changes over the round to physically resemble Azalin.) As his spirit leaves the phylactery, it causes a gout of flame to burst forth from the jaws, filling a cone as long as the skull is long. (So if shrunk, the cone would only be a tiny jet about six inches long – this does no damage.) Full-sized, this flame causes 4d4+1 fire damage to those caught in its path. Azalin typically retains whatever spells he had memorized when his former body was killed – while in the phylactery, he cannot regain spells.
The skull has a hardness rating of 60, 40 hit points, and a break DC of 80. It is permanently warded by several spells to foil easy tracking. Nondetection causes divination spells trying to locate the phylactery to fail unless they make a DC check of 29. (If Azalin is currently inside the phylactery, the DC check is 34.) Even if the Nondetection is bypassed, a permanent Misdirection spell makes the phylactery identify as a Blessed dragon skull (caster gets a Will save to bypass). Finally a Nystul’s Magic Aura further confuses the issue by presenting the skull to be a powerful healing amulet (which it technically is) with no mention of being the phylactery of a powerful lich (which it also is).

Humans who find the skull usually do so with Azalin’s tacit permission. Azalin rightly believes the skull is almost indestructible to human means, and sometimes lets it fall into their hands if it convinces them they’ve cleared him out once and for all. Adventurers often keep the skull for its healing purposes, and the illusion of its power as a good artifact is often reinforced if Azalin is previously witnessed to have “died” after touching it. Sometimes, Azalin’s own detection spells will not locate his own phylactery – a fact which does not particularly worry him, since he can locate it unerringly by abandoning his current physical body and retreating to it as a spirit essence.
Through the years, more than one adventurer has disturbed Azalin at work, then walked home in triumph with the skull in his possession. Needless to say, Azalin usually found a readily available corpse to inhabit not long thereafter.

Azal'Lan’s Phylactery – Human Infant Skull
When Azalin first became a lich, his phylactery was a human infant skull. That phylactery remained where Azalin left it, untold centuries ago, when he entered Ravenloft. The Dark Powers granted him a second phylactery, in the form of the golden dragon skull outlined above.
It is up to the DM whether or not Azalin retrieved his first phylactery, but DMs who want to make Azalin a uniquely formidable foe may rule that he has two functioning phylacteries, both of which must be destroyed to eliminate him fully.
The original phylactery is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40. In contrast to the golden dragon skull, this phylactery has no special powers, not even the divination-masking magicks of its larger brother. However, its greatest strength is in its remoteness: it is entirely possible that nobody, perhaps not even Azalin himself, remembers where it lies.

[Rotipher of the FoS]

FWIW, I'm not as convinced as some that Azalin's spellbook needs to be particularly necromancy-heavy. Necromancer-liches are a dime a dozen, in D&D -- they're the most likely specialists to go in for such a template, after all -- so making the Big A less necromantically-focused in his spell selection is actually a way to play "against type" as it were. Plus, apart from his documented life-leeching spell and his quest to restore his son Irik to life (not undeath, but life; most necromantic spells have nothing to do with the latter), he honestly doesn't seem to have had any special interest in the subject over others. Azalin's powers as a darklord -- selected by the DPs to mock his own self-inflicted undead state, IMO, not because he was particularly fond of zombies -- make necromantic study rather redundant, anyway: who needs to cast Animate Dead, when you can just direct your thoughts at any corpse in the land and say, "You! Up! Get to work!"?

[Rotipher of the FoS]

Minor quibble: While some sources disagree, one of the premises of IS:TWAA is that Teleport isn't on Azalin's spell list. Indeed, one of the perennial problems the lich faced during his sojourn in Barovia was keeping Strahd from catching on to why Azalin kept hitching a lift on his Teleports, or moving via conventional means, whenever he needed to travel.

That's not to say that Azalin today couldn't still have easy access to teleportation-magics: if his spell-list does include such a lapse, he would surely require that his vassalich servants all know Teleport (thus giving him minions to transport him about), and could use magic items to cover up for his lack (assuming he'd at least heard of such teleportation-items' existence before he entered Ravenloft). Using minor undead as proxies to carry his orders to the far corners of Darkon would also help conceal this lack.

It's not that I'm trying to nerf the guy -- in any direct confrontation of spells vs spells, Azalin should be as kick-ass as they come, by Ravenloft standards -- but rather, that his "curse" wouldn't be much of a curse if it didn't leave him with at least one significant (though well-concealed) liability. One of the hallmarks of the game-setting is that finding that one hidden weakness of the villain means the difference between survival and a horrific death; if Azalin is given no weaknesses at all, that breaks the pattern and means that PCs who make an honest effort to research him as a foe -- if only to learn how to escape his wrath -- are just wasting their time.

[HuManBing]

Yes, I recall P. N. Elrod kept "Teleport" off Azalin's list.

Then again, you have From the Shadows, which explicitly states that Azalin only ever teleports in and out of his laboratory under Castle Avernus.

As Azalin himself of Kargatane.net fame would say, "DM's prerogative!", but I personally override the TWAA source, even though it is an excellently written novel. I think teleport is so basic a spell that it's unrealistic to imagine Quantarius failed to teach it to Firan when he was in Knurl.

[HuManBing]

One of Azalins more annoying barons asks his former companion from KotD how it is that he's lived so long and what he, the baron, can do to gain such favor. Azalin overhears this and, as an object lesson, drains the life force of the baron and gives it to his former companion. That seems like vintage Azalin to me.

This spell, taken from the Complete Book of Necromancers in 2nd ed., sounds similar to what you're looking for. There's a lot of good magicks on that web page which I think I might try to convert for Necromancers in 3rd ed.

Right now, they're just too darn weak... :/

[Irving the Meek]

FWIW, I'm not as convinced as some that Azalin's spellbook needs to be particularly necromancy-heavy. Necromancer-liches are a dime a dozen, in D&D -- they're the most likely specialists to go in for such a template, after all -- so making the Big A less necromantically-focused in his spell selection is actually a way to play "against type" as it were. Plus, apart from his documented life-leeching spell and his quest to restore his son Irik to life (not undeath, but life; most necromantic spells have nothing to do with the latter), he honestly doesn't seem to have had any special interest in the subject over others. Azalin's powers as a darklord -- selected by the DPs to mock his own self-inflicted undead state, IMO, not because he was particularly fond of zombies -- make necromantic study rather redundant, anyway: who needs to cast Animate Dead, when you can just direct your thoughts at any corpse in the land and say, "You! Up! Get to work!"?

Fair enough; all I can say is, Azalin's the only lich that'll ever appear in my Ravenloft game...

By making Azalin a necromancer, I also got a chance to A) whip out all the nifty toys of VRGttWD, and B) Direct most of Azalin's magical talent towards creating potent undead, instead of throwing out evocation spells that don't fit my view of the setting. "My" Azalin has very few item creation feats; his undead are his tools, and he uses them as such.

Besides, it makes sense to me that the author of "The Rainment of Clarity" would have the skills and feats he describes...

[DeepShadow of FoS]

That's not to say that Azalin today couldn't still have easy access to teleportation-magics: if his spell-list does include such a lapse, he would surely require that his vassalich servants all know Teleport ....

IMC this was the simplest way for Azalin to get around his inability to learn more spells. Remember VR's friend Eldrenn van Dorn from VRGtG? Bound to his master's service, even after being destroyed by powerful magics he couldn't control. Sounds to me like Azalin used those binding contracts to turn apprentices into walking spell batteries. When PC's faced off with Azalin IMC, Eldrenn was always there next to him, bound by his oath to cast the spells his master needed. Yakko Vormoff and the banshee from the upper staircase were also students of Azalin that the lich-king to call on using similar contracts.

[HuManBing]

I liked the idea of vassaliches, but none of Azalin's vassaliches seem to last very long and he doesn't seem to actively seek them out.

In Roots of Evil, his vassalich was Balipur, and Azalin used him mostly as a decoy. He hasn't been mentioned since, so the assumption is he died during that adventure.

In Chilling Tales, Azalin's vassalich was known only by the pseudonym of Werner Ruscheider. This character never reappeared.

In the Requiem trilogy, Azalin has a vassalich, Yako Vormoff, but he doesn't take part in the adventure much. Later he settles down in Necropolis after Azalin's dissolution. I think this character has been mentioned occasionally in other source materials but doesn't do much.

In Gazetteer II, Azalin's vassalich is Foedus, who is quite weak compared to the other vassaliches. Azalin is stated as viewing him as eminently disposable.

It's a pity Azalin really doesn't have a right-hand henchman. In most of the campaigns I run, he has a circle of political underlings (the barons and mayors of cities) but he doesn't really trust them with anything serious. The Kargat members are his true allies but they are relatively small in number and they operate much more like the 1950s British intelligence rather than 21st century CIA. Of his Kargat underlings, none really ranks above the others except in times of national danger.

Drawing on the TIE Fighter computer game for inspiration, I had a campaign where Azalin faced an avatar in Darkon, who began raising armies and taking over cities. Many Kargat defected to the avatar, and those who remained with Azalin ultimately were the ones to survive after Azalin overcame the avatar and hunted down the remaining Kargat. The PCs had a moral choice whether to help the evil they know, or ally with the newcomer.