can I turn a Mastiff or a Rat into a Lich?

[Plane]

These dogs live about 8 years and weigh up to 220 pounds.

One of the moral problems with creating a Lich Wraith is you're morally doing something nearly equivalent to killing/enslaving which is a big deal for stuff like humans.

The enslavement thing isn't as far off from how pets are kept though, and if you picked one that was about to die of old age, in a way you're saving them.

When I began to think of modifying stuff other than humans with the spell (items or pets) and naturally thought of dogs as man's best friend (and necromancer's best minion) it reminded me of https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Arfus

I think the Lich Wraith spell is probably only intended for sapient creatures (IQ6 minimum) which would put pets off limits, but the spell doesn't actually appear to specify that. It says "the wearer" so it seems like in theory you could do this by designing the "amulet" as a dog collar.

Going by B457's "Large Guard Dog" the IQ4 compared to IQ10 assumption for humans that the Racially Innate Spells are probably -6, so they could only be cast at skill 9 instead of the usual 15 for Death Touch / Steal Health / Ethereal Body ?

To get even sneakier, I could see a necromancer turning smaller animals such as rats into Lichs Wraiths. There's even less moral problems since they have shorter lifespans and people seem to be okay with just killing them with cats/traps due to pestilence.

Unlike a dog, a rat might instinctively remove a collar though, so you might need to either Hex the low-cost version so they can't, or else use the double-cost version which makes them Reprogammable so they can't.

Reprogrammable is probably a good idea for a rat since they're probably harder to train than a dog. Even for a dog it's a good idea since Reprogrammable is more of an absolute guarantee of loyalty.

[ericthered]

"Lich" usually refers to a caster who made themselves immortal. Gurps Magic does have the wraith spell, and casting wraith on a dog is something I'd totally allow. Its fairly clever.

[Shuckster]

Step one: Perform Beast possession on the dog
Step two: cast lich at a high enough level to not require incantations or gestures, succeed in your role
Step three: end beast possession.

Would this work?

[Plane]

Originally Posted by ericthered

"Lich" usually refers to a caster who made themselves immortal. Gurps Magic does have the wraith spell, and casting wraith on a dog is something I'd totally allow. Its fairly clever.

Ugh I was looking at the wraith spell the entire time but for some reason typed Lich =/

Originally Posted by Shuckster

Step one: Perform Beast possession on the dog
Step two: cast lich at a high enough level to not require incantations or gestures, succeed in your role
Step three: end beast possession.

Would this work?

Sounds like an interesting idea, makes me glad I goofed

[Shuckster]

Originally Posted by Plane

Ugh I was looking at the wraith spell the entire time but for some reason typed Lich =/

Sounds like an interesting idea, makes me glad I goofed

one of four things would happen, I think

either the dog becomes a lich, the collar is an amulet and you are normal
you become a lich and the dog's collar is the amulet, the dog is normal
you become a lich and the dog is a living amulet, the collar is unaffected
the dog becomes a lich and you are a living amulet, the collar is unaffected

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Plane

Ugh I was looking at the wraith spell the entire time but for some reason typed Lich =/

You could try PMing a moderator to get the thread title changed, and edit the opening post.