Back in 2016, during a one-shot episode, Critical Role featured a terrifying lich version of comedian Conan O'Brien which could be easily adapted into anyone's Dungeons & Dragons game. Named "Critical Role EXTRA – Liam's Quest!" the episode stared Laura Bailey, Travis Willingham, Sam Riegel, and Taliesin Jaffe as themselves fighting strange eldritch horrors through the time-bending adventure. The final boss faced in the episode is the lich version of Conan O'Brien, complete with flying steed and mini Liam O'Brien minions.
Liam's Quest was the twelfth special episode Critical Role had done, and the first time Liam O'Brien had DMed for the show. Liam's Quest was first aired on 30 June 2016 when regular Dungeon Master Matthew Mercer and Marisha Ray were away in Australia for Haven Expo. The events of Liam's Quest were later continued and concluded in "Liam's Quest: Full Circle" almost a year later.
Adapting content from D&D campaign livestreams, podcasts or even other media can be intimidating but using Conan the lich from Liam's Quest or something similar is not as complicated as it first appears. First, a good idea of who and what the character is being adapted is needed to help a DM play the NPC more effectively. Then all that is required is the setting to allow the players to encounter them naturally.
Dungeons & Dragons - Who And What Is Conan O’Brien The Lich?
Conan O'Brien lich is Liam's Quest's horrifying and hilarious big baddie. Conan appears as the team head towards the Warner Bros. water tower to save the world and flies around on a flying horse similar to Venger from the classic 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series. As the DM, Liam plays the lich version of Conan O'Brien with many of the real-life television host's quirks and catchphrases familiar to American audiences.
D&D Monster Manual says that a lich must periodically feed souls into its phylactery to survive, and doing so requires the imprisonment spell, which is 9th level for Wizards and Warlocks. Conan the lich uses the spell power word stun, only available to Bards, Wizards, Warlocks, and Sorcerers. He also uses the cantrip ray of frost, which is on the spell list for Sorcerers and Wizards.
These spells indicate that this version of Conan O'Brien was once a powerful Wizard, perhaps warped by the terrible and confusing events of the time-warping episode. At one point, Conan the lich's D&D 5e cantrip ray of frost does 4d8 cold damage, which means he would be at least level 17. Liam's Quest does not make it clear if Conan O'Brien is already a powerful Wizard or became one to survive the apocalypse.
How To Adapt Conan Or Other Celebrities For D&D Homebrew
A lich is a powerful enemy, so it is usually best to use them against higher-level player characters. It is possible to have a mid-level party take them on depending on the mix of the character classes or if the party is large enough. During Liam's Quest, Laura, Travis, Taliesin, and Sam are only level one, so Liam limited Conan the lich to fewer spells in order not to wipe the party.
Conan O'Brien lich is essentially just a normal Dungeons & Dragons lich, although he does not make full use of all the spells available during the episode. The real fun of the Conan O'Brien lich comes from who it is. To adapt this concept into a D&D game, all a DM would need to do is take a famous person and make them into something fantastical for a home game.
Using a celebrity lich is obviously best for campaigns or one-shots with a heavy emphasis on comedy. It can be tricky to figure out how to work something so outlandish into an existing campaign or come up with the setup in the first place. Perhaps the DM could have the party could have to battle through a film set of their favorite show. Once there, the D&D player party discovers that all their favorite actors have been turned into undead, and they must battle through them to get to the leader, who turns out to be a lich.
American audiences are very familiar with Conan O'Brien, but international players might not want to use Conan for their lich. For Australians or British players, good alternatives could be Graham Norton or Celeste Barber. Ultimately, if a DM wants to work a celebrity lich into their Dungeons & Dragons game, they should choose whoever they think will make their players laugh the hardest.