It strikes me that there doesn't seem to be very good reasons, except for the following:

1. It is involuntary, you are forced to.

2. It is accidental, you are reduced to an undead due to some error on your part ie. the example in this thread of Lichdom being the result of a failed attempt at apotheosis.

3. You are a fanatical devotee of a necromantic deity for some stupid reason, I guess.

But the whole "If I become undead I will live forever!!" thing is basically stupid; given the number of ways you can live basically forever as a human, once you hit a certain high level.

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Quote from: Melan;4485291) Probably not all methods are available in all times and locales.
2) Adventuring clerics, esp. high-level ones, may not be as common.

Otherwise, if I had a crack at quasi-immortality, I'd probably go with magic jar, which is highly flexible and even a lot less ghoulish than becoming a rotting cadaver.

Magic Jar doesn't work if your natural timespan is up. IIRC the rules specify that explicitly.

@RPGPundit:
GM fiat.
Clerical magic needs approval.
Arcane magic does not.

Pundit doesn't get fantastical things, film at 11.

It varies from version to version, but several editions of D&D, while making early death a curable affliction, make a point of showing that extending the eventual mortal lifespan by a long time to be very difficult. Most lifespan extenders have a cap, diminishing returns, or both.

It is also going to depend on the campaign world. As far as deliberately choosing undeath, as opposed to accidentally becoming undead...

The means to achieve immortality may be unknown or lost, as Melan and Alexandrian pointed out. Think of this as the "DM did not buy the Master's Set" situation.

The path to immortality might require more time and effort than the candidate can afford. If the candidate is already ancient or dying, undergoing an undeath ritual from the deathbed might the last option left.

Or the candidate may lack patience, choosing to become a vampire or what have you early in his career, shortsightedly.

The candidate might not be talented enough to achieve living immortality. In some cases the question "why would anyone become a Lich when they could just live forever" might be equivalent to "why would anyone work a depressing 9 to 5 job they hate when they could just be a movie star?"

If "living" immortality requires an immortal patron of some kind, the candidate for undeath may have some stance of rebellion against the existing immortals. I don't want to restart the "atheist = daddy issues" argument with Pundit here; spite against the gods is a recurring trait in fantastical characters which does not necessarily reflect the stance of the player/GM.

Alexandrian suggested a death fetish and pundit referred to following a necromantic deity for "some stupid reason." Some people are in fact fucked up, and in a fantastic world some people might be fantastically so. Jeffrey Dahmer thought keeping a chopped off head in the refrigerator was just great, which is an idea I am not too keen on, but that doesn't mean someone isn't that crazy.

The candidate may regard being a living thing that eats, breathes, wakes up with morning wood, etc. with a Cronenberg-style disgust and horror. I could imagine a newly minted lich lying among beetles and grubs to have the last of the vile flesh cleansed away, etc.

The candidate might see undeath as an escape from fleshly desires and view becoming undead as a kind of ascetic path. I remember a Ph.D student who used to come into a bar I worked at, who went on a tirade about how much he hated that putting the time and effort into getting laid distracted him from thinking about string theory. "Sometimes I want to just hack it off," he said.

Pundit, I think you are missing something. Think of it this way. Why would anyone "Choose" to become a serial killer or mass murderer? Why would anyone chose to become a Nazi Prison Camp Commander?

Some Folks jest aint right in the head...

Seriously, it isn't an option that a Sane Person would choose but I think that's the whole point...

I do really like the idea of a botched attempt to become a deity.

That aside, imagine a world with 15 wizards strong enough to cast the spell and become a lich. 3 of those guys are running the world, 5 of the rest are happy with their lives, the other 7 are still ambitious.

Of those 7, only two are powerful and young enough to expect a higher station.

Of the last 5, 3 are afraid of death.

2 of them are assholes.

I think it is well within reason to think at least one of those powerful, fearful, nasty and old magical ambitious bastards will cast the spell and take his place at the top.

Yeah, but I've always wondered. What is step four?
 
1) Magic user
2) Lich
3) Demilich
4)
5) Apotheosis

The Arcanum by Bard Games (1985) had a Necromancer class that derived its powers from pacts with demonic patrons. Although Necromancers cannot be brought back to life if slain, they have a Wolfram & Hart-esque perpetuity clause in their pacts and will return as undead in thirteen days. Type of undead was determined randomly.

Quote from: RPGPundit;448682It strikes me that there doesn't seem to be very good reasons, except for the following:

1. It is involuntary, you are forced to.

2. It is accidental, you are reduced to an undead due to some error on your part ie. the example in this thread of Lichdom being the result of a failed attempt at apotheosis.

3. You are a fanatical devotee of a necromantic deity for some stupid reason, I guess.

But the whole "If I become undead I will live forever!!" thing is basically stupid; given the number of ways you can live basically forever as a human, once you hit a certain high level.

RPGPundit

Well then, please regail us with your myriad of preferred methods of achieving immortality. You know, the ones that have all the advantages and none of the drawbacks of undeath. By all means, enlighten us.

In a low magic setting like Ravenloft (at least the way I run it, where raise dead and resurrection are hard to come by) I could see the advantage (especially since many of the undead are quite powerful using any of the creation rules in the Van Richten Guides).

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;448788In a low magic setting like Ravenloft (at least the way I run it, where raise dead and resurrection are hard to come by) I could see the advantage (especially since many of the undead are quite powerful using any of the creation rules in the Van Richten Guides).

Becoming undead in Ravenloft is also like trying to put yourself up for a promotion.  I imagine it's a good way to get the Dark Powers to take notice of you and think "Now that guy has management potential...let's make him CEO of Darkovia."

I always thought they do it just because they don't feel like dying. Sure, you can increase your longevity by who knows how much, but in the end you'll eventually kick the bucket. And when you're Evil Wizard Lord Nihilus Death Von Doom, it's not like there's a whole bunch of people ready to resurrect you if you happen to get toasted.

Plus, from what I remember about the resurrection process in D&D, it costs quite much and has the chance of something going wrong, like a hoighty-toighty paladin bursting into the room where your loyal minions are trying to resurrect you and introducing his great sword to their spleens. Some just prefer to make sure they wont die from natural causes than take their chances with resurrection.

Quote from: Ramrod;448795I always thought they do it just because they don't feel like dying. Sure, you can increase your longevity by who knows how much, but in the end you'll eventually kick the bucket. And when you're Evil Wizard Lord Nihilus Death Von Doom, it's not like there's a whole bunch of people ready to resurrect you if you happen to get toasted.

Plus, from what I remember about the resurrection process in D&D, it costs quite much and has the chance of something going wrong, like a hoighty-toighty paladin bursting into the room where your loyal minions are trying to resurrect you and introducing his great sword to their spleens. Some just prefer to make sure they wont die from natural causes than take their chances with resurrection.

Not really.  Outside of some editions use of a Ressurection Survival check, it's rather standard.  Prepare the spell, get the components ready, cast spell and welcome subject back to the living.  It's as reliable as it gets, and once you're able to return the dead to the living you're also able (or will presently) to permanently extend their lifespan by some means or another.  High-level magic in D&D is very, very powerful indeed and far too few GMs and setting designers take that into account when thinking through such things as the Pundit asks.  Seriously, folks, Undeath is for suckers.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;448696Pundit doesn't get fantastical things, film at 11.

Its not about getting it or not, its about how to have it make sense in the setting.  I actually love the idea of Lichdom as "failed apotheosis" for example; it ties into concepts that exist in both western and eastern alchemy (particularly the latter, with its "false immortals" and whatnot).

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